Bellator fans were mostly OK with Bjorn and liked his tournament concept…and also kinda liked he was sort of cutthroat like Dana rather than a passive players coach like Coker. After Strikeforce fell right as it was on fire on a standard venture capitalist sell off and Coker seemed weak the whole time SF was in the game …it was interesting to see a guy like Bjorn who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and had some money behind him. He was probably the type of guy that a true competitor would need.
But the Eddie saga probably hurt his standing with fighters. He definitely went a little too hard to keep Eddie. Being able to lock him down using only technical contract language rather than actual numbers was pretty low. It was also when Bellator more or less had the promotional upper hand there. EA won a couple fights in a row but Chandler had one over him. The deal he made with Eddie was too risky. It not only hurt his image with fighters but probably pissed off the suits at Viacom who maybe didn’t see the point in risking so much to keep Eddie when they had Chandler.
Ali Abdelaziz also openly didn’t like Bjorn and that might’ve not been a big deal at the time…but it would’ve become a big deal.
ultimately, I think Bjorn has his particular vision of what his MMA promotion will be. He wants his tournament format. He was openly very resistant to Viacom wanting to move away from it.
I think this is why he hasn’t turned up in another league. I think Bjorn wants to have full control. He doesn’t want to be somebody who is brought in like a manager or head coach and then reviewed after a year or two.
He probably just doesn’t have the money to get going again with a new organization.
Bjorn was invested in building a true alternative product and building new stars and league with continuity. There was a feeling Bellator was always growing with Bjorn. It’s felt stagnant for some years now even though it’s become more talented.
![[<diva2]](https://i.imgur.com/MGiu8g2.png "Diva1 [<diva2]")
