As if losing Hector Lombard (and then having him exposed) wasn't bad enough, there newly crowned Bantamweight Champion, Eduardo Dantas was knocked out cold in a regional fight in Brazil this past Saturday. I guess that's the risk of not being slave-owner type promoters like the UFC. How valuable is Dantas now considering he was drubbed by an unknown his last time out?
Can't spin it into a positive, but Dantas has to be the least known Bellator champ. Although I saw the Zachovsky fight, I couldn't have named him.
Actually, their Light Heavy Champ, Christian M'Pumbu is less known. :giggle:t That being said, M'Pumbu lost in a non-title fight to Travis Wiuff on a Bellator card. That's the other problem with Bellator holding non-title fights with their Champions. I love the promotion but think about these events (don't fault the order): 1) Ben Askren gets a gift decision against Jay Hieron that he should have lost and now Hieron is in the UFC. 2) Joe Warren gets starched, twice 3) Eddie Alvarez gets subbed by Michael Chandler 4) Lombard leaves the promotion 5) Dantas loses in Brazil It looks like Alvarez will have one more fight for Bellator in October against Pitbull. But otherwise the organization isn't where it probably wanted to be with the move to Spike coming up in 2013.
I thought the Hieron fight was close, but not really a gift decision? Their format isn't really set up to make for long-reigning champs--grab 8 guys with very good records and let the winner fight your champ. That makes for a tough challenger almost every time. And if you are some superstud, you probably aren't going to be fighting for Bellator. But, when they get a long-reigning champ, I suspect the guy will make a lot of money. Most of us like watching Bellator and that should equate to $.
Good points. Personally I'll watch them because I love the tourney format. It really does force good fights. Most of those guys fight like there's no tomorrow. By the way, I personally thought Askren lost. But then again I don't score highly for takedowns that don't lead to damage. Askren had a hell of a time taking Hieron down. Hieron has become a damn good fighter. He's a natural athlete with a solid wrestling background and great hands. Hieron is supposed to fight Jake Ellenberger on the UFC on FX5 card. Mark my word, Hieron wins that fight.
