Bellator: Proving Doubters Wrong
Posted by Dave Walsh on June 25th, 2009
When the buzz started over Bellator Fighting Championships it all seemed sort of like a bad joke. A promotion run by businessman Bjorn Rebney and Hollywood producer Brad Epstein being broadcast on ESPN Deportes in Spanish that was buying up younger talent, notably Hispanic and relatively fresh fighters into exclusive contracts it seemed doomed from the start. First of all, the concept of a fight company running in Spanish on a premium cable Hispanic leg of ESPN seemed strange. The demographics that the UFC pulls in tends to be the 18 - 34 white male demographic, not the 18 - 34 Hispanic demographic. Building a new promotion from the start with no name value, no major hype and no major players seemed like something we’d be joking about right now after a few failed shows; we aren’t actually laughing right now, though.Bellator just finished up their first successful season, crowning champions and running some extremely fun cards in front of some extremely energetic crowds and apparently drawing above 1.2 ratings on the obscure ESPN Deportes. Crowning Joe Soto at 145lbs, Eddie Alvarez at 155lbs, Lyman Good at 170lbs and Hector Lombard at 185lbs Bellator as quickly established that they have quality fighters and are already creating stars. The big winners in the initial season of Bellator were easily Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard, whose domination through their respective divisions have made them the posterboys for Bellator over the course of the first season. On top of that, they have made some decent money. Tournament wins were $25,000, winning the tournament netted $125,000. While this isn’t Rampage or Chuck money, for young fighters whose name value isn’t that of your average UFC fighter, this money is incredible in a world where your average TUF contestant signs a contract for $8,000 to show and an additional $8,000 to win.
Bellator has proven us wrong not just by surviving, but by signing talented and exciting fighters and putting them in interesting match ups. Sure, some of the matches were a bit one-sided, but that is generally the nature of single elimination tournaments and have made for some exciting finishes. On top of putting on exciting fights between talented young fighters, Bellator has done their best to market their product for little money. Many of their highlight reels have gone viral on YouTube and attracted a lot of new fans. Finishes from flying triangles, spinning backfists and flying knees have caught the attention of people who have had no interest in this Bellator experiment as well as the more casual fans stumbling upon them on YouTube.
I fully admit to being a skeptic about Bellator. Sure, there were some videos of some cool finishes and there were some interesting prospects fighting for them, but the shows were airing when other stuff was going on or a line-up of no names just wasn’t that interesting. At this point I’m burning through the back episodes of the season after watching the excellent finale and the first two shows over the weekend. While their success won’t be able to rival the UFC right now or any time in the near future, Bellator has been anything but a failure and I’m looking forward to the possibility of seeing Bellator on ESPN2 or ESPN for the next season as well as the fights that they’ll put together.
I’m sold.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
It’s a minor quibble, but TUF winners generally make $15,000 - S20,000 to fight and get the same amount as a win bonus. For example, check out: http://www.mmaringreport.com/recommended-articles/sports-illustrated/ufc-fight-night-payouts.html
Your point still stands though. Joe Soto isn’t making $25,000 a fight in the UFC. Alvarez probably would make more, but I’m sure whatever his current career plan is, it’s the most profitable for him.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Thanks for that catch, I meant TUF contestant. The winners turn out OK, but the average contestant ends up with a rather poor contract.