Opinion: Bellator MMA has become "Legends League" Vitor Belfort talked about

Has Bellator truly put together a legends league?


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BY PATRICK AUGER
JAN 4, 2020

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

Dazn is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here and live stream 100+ fight nights a year.

In the twilight of his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort had an idea: create a “Legends League” where older athletes who were past their prime or even retired could fight each other. According to Belfort, the league would be held within the promotion, giving “more opportunities so [older athletes] can make more revenue.” UFC Hall of Famer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira supported the idea so long as there were no rule changes, stating that the concept “makes sense” for those close to hanging up the gloves and even for those who have already hung up the gloves but who still wish to compete for the financial incentives that are now available in the sport. The idea never gained any traction among UFC executives, however, fading into the background as nothing more than a blurb from an interview with an MMA legend.

While the UFC may have passed on Belfort’s vision, another promotion is essentially making it a reality. Bellator MMA hosted its last event of the year, Bellator Japan, on Dec. 28. The card featured a main event between two longtime veterans of the sport, Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton Jackson. Unsurprisingly, the bout lasted just under three minutes, with “The Last Emperor” landing a devastating right hand that sent Jackson to the canvas. While it first appeared that Emelianenko was hanging up the gloves after the match—again—he clarified that it would merely be his last bout in Japan and that he was planning on competing once more in the United States before ideally retiring in Russia in 2021.

The main event of Bellator’s end of the year event wasn’t the first time in the past few years that the promotion had two old warhorses go at it. In 2017, the organization renewed the rivalry between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen in a headlining bout at Bellator 180, a pay-per-view card which saw Douglas Lima defend the 170-pound belt in the show opener and Ryan Bader defend his light heavyweight championship on the prelims. Earlier that same year, Sonnen made his return to MMA after a four-year layoff in a match against Tito Ortiz, deemed a fight in the “'was relevant 5 years ago' division,” according to emails between UFC matchmakers. In 2018, Silva fought the aforementioned Jackson for their fourth bout spanning 15 years while Emelianenko faced off with former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the first round of the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix.

It may not be a formal league, but the amount of older name-value fighters who are still competing under the Bellator banner is certainly higher than most other organizations. All of the athletes mentioned so far in this article have stepped into the Bellator cage past the age of 40, and that doesn’t include other fighters on the promotion’s roster such as Roy Nelson, Matt Mitrione and former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Although some of them have left the organization or seemingly retired for good this time around, many still plan on fighting into the next decade with no signs of stopping.

Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articl...ends-League-Vitor-Belfort-Talked-About-168305
 
Sooo true.

Bellator is like a pie. You got 1/4th freak show fights, 1/4th legends league, 1/4th Bjorn era contenders who are fading, and the last 1/4th I'd categorize as some form of legitimacy. Bellator is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.
 
Bellator had the potencial to really compete against the ufc,if they invested their money on good promising fighters and actually good deals,to have old fighters as your main events in the beggining is normal but the problem is that they decided to go with these guys as their main option,instead of promoting their real stars they go and put them in undercards to this old guys fight,is not only very bad in quality but also very dumb,Rampage vs Fedor did terrible numbers and i really hope all this "legends fight" keep having this numbers,cause they all suck
 
Bellator had the potencial to really compete against the ufc,if they invested their money on good promising fighters and actually good deals,to have old fighters as your main events in the beggining is normal but the problem is that they decided to go with these guys as their main option,instead of promoting their real stars they go and put them in undercards to this old guys fight,is not only very bad in quality but also very dumb,Rampage vs Fedor did terrible numbers and i really hope all this "legends fight" keep having this numbers,cause they all suck
bellator is crap rampage vs old people
 
View attachment 705449
BY PATRICK AUGER
JAN 4, 2020

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

Dazn is the exclusive streaming partner of Bellator MMA. You can sign up here and live stream 100+ fight nights a year.

In the twilight of his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort had an idea: create a “Legends League” where older athletes who were past their prime or even retired could fight each other. According to Belfort, the league would be held within the promotion, giving “more opportunities so [older athletes] can make more revenue.” UFC Hall of Famer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira supported the idea so long as there were no rule changes, stating that the concept “makes sense” for those close to hanging up the gloves and even for those who have already hung up the gloves but who still wish to compete for the financial incentives that are now available in the sport. The idea never gained any traction among UFC executives, however, fading into the background as nothing more than a blurb from an interview with an MMA legend.

While the UFC may have passed on Belfort’s vision, another promotion is essentially making it a reality. Bellator MMA hosted its last event of the year, Bellator Japan, on Dec. 28. The card featured a main event between two longtime veterans of the sport, Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton Jackson. Unsurprisingly, the bout lasted just under three minutes, with “The Last Emperor” landing a devastating right hand that sent Jackson to the canvas. While it first appeared that Emelianenko was hanging up the gloves after the match—again—he clarified that it would merely be his last bout in Japan and that he was planning on competing once more in the United States before ideally retiring in Russia in 2021.

The main event of Bellator’s end of the year event wasn’t the first time in the past few years that the promotion had two old warhorses go at it. In 2017, the organization renewed the rivalry between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen in a headlining bout at Bellator 180, a pay-per-view card which saw Douglas Lima defend the 170-pound belt in the show opener and Ryan Bader defend his light heavyweight championship on the prelims. Earlier that same year, Sonnen made his return to MMA after a four-year layoff in a match against Tito Ortiz, deemed a fight in the “'was relevant 5 years ago' division,” according to emails between UFC matchmakers. In 2018, Silva fought the aforementioned Jackson for their fourth bout spanning 15 years while Emelianenko faced off with former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the first round of the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix.

It may not be a formal league, but the amount of older name-value fighters who are still competing under the Bellator banner is certainly higher than most other organizations. All of the athletes mentioned so far in this article have stepped into the Bellator cage past the age of 40, and that doesn’t include other fighters on the promotion’s roster such as Roy Nelson, Matt Mitrione and former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Although some of them have left the organization or seemingly retired for good this time around, many still plan on fighting into the next decade with no signs of stopping.

Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articl...ends-League-Vitor-Belfort-Talked-About-168305
bellator sucks rampage checks bigger cash at 280 pounds than everyone under 30
 
Unfortunately, Bellator has turned into a great plus Freak Show promotion... I mean it is entertaining in some way...
 
Vitor took my idea about the legends league and ran with it to Bellator. Google search Mr. Belfort and you’ll see what I’m talking about hahaha
 
Bellator had the potencial to really compete against the ufc,if they invested their money on good promising fighters and actually good deals,to have old fighters as your main events in the beggining is normal but the problem is that they decided to go with these guys as their main option,instead of promoting their real stars they go and put them in undercards to this old guys fight,is not only very bad in quality but also very dumb,Rampage vs Fedor did terrible numbers and i really hope all this "legends fight" keep having this numbers,cause they all suck

The reality is the UFC is such a monster that competition will most likely ever exist now or in the future. The UFC sprinted so far ahead of any potential competitor that the organization can waltz to billions more in revenue. There was a time perhaps when Bellator had an inkling if a chance to attempt to compete along with Strikeforce but gimmicky shit doesn’t hold water for long. And let’s face it, Dana is hands down the ultimate MMA promotor and probably the best fight game promotor of the decade. The UFC has done what others could not and has eclipsed boxing and done in such a short time what has taken boxing a century to do. Bring it boxing fans! Haha
 
They should allow TRT. Many older fighters could still be competitive with it.
 
Sooo true.

Bellator is like a pie. You got 1/4th freak show fights, 1/4th legends league, 1/4th Bjorn era contenders who are fading, and the last 1/4th I'd categorize as some form of legitimacy. Bellator is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

Yes. The same goes with their divisions. 1/3 have some form of legitimacy (FW, LW & WW).

HW, LHW, MW, BW and Women's divisions are shallow or at least very top-heavy (2/3).
 
Yes. The same goes with their divisions. 1/3 have some form of legitimacy (FW, LW & WW).

HW, LHW, MW, BW and Women's divisions are shallow or at least very top-heavy (2/3).

And I mean, wmma isn't for everyone, and I have had my moments with it, but Bellator's wmma is just bad, I mean baaaadd. I have had to suffer through some pretty rough ones just to get to something decent. That is one of their weakest points.
 
i didnt read the first sentence but im guessing it was something negative about bellator. u cant even dl bellator torrents without viacom emailing u telling to stop or they shut down ur internet.
 
Here's the thing though. they run legitimate cards all the time.

It's not just Bellator's priorty, it's their lack of ability to create stars. Some of last years main events:
  • Bellator 221: Chandler vs. Pitbull
  • Bellator 228: Pitbull vs. Archuleta
  • Bellator 229: Koreshkov vs. Larkin
  • Bellator 233: Salter vs. Van Steenis
They probably did crap. Whereas the cards that did the best are probably the Old Pride geezer vs Old UFC Hall-of-famer cards. They can't get the star power to rub off.

UFC fighter wins in Bellator? "of course, they're not UFC level."
UFC fighter loses in Bellator? "of course, he's washed up. Glad he's out of the UFC."

And round and round we go.
 
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