Bellator’s pay-per-view debut delayed
By BOB EMANUEL JR. | Scripps Howard News Service
Bellator MMA’s debut on pay-per-view will have to wait.
The anticipated main event for Saturday’s planned pay-per-view, which was to match former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson with Tito Ortiz, was scrapped last week after Ortiz suffered a fractured neck in training.
With the main event no longer available, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and Spike TV president Kevin Kay decided to move the card to 3 p.m. HST on Spike, Bellator’s regular outlet.
“I’ve said it since the day we announced the fight that Rampage vs. Tito was a fight I had wanted to see for years,” Rebney said, “and it’s unfortunately something I’m going to have to continue to wait to see.”
Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler (12-0) will now headline Bellator 106 in a rematch from his 2011 title victory over Eddie Alvarez.
Chandler, who entered Bellator with a 3-0 record in 2010, won his first two bouts with the promotion to earn a position in the Season Four lightweight tournament. Three fights later, he upset Alvarez in a four-round brawl that many consider the best fight in Bellator’s brief history.
Alvarez, 24-3, has fought just twice since the loss to Chandler. After a protracted contract dispute with Bellator, Alvarez returned to the promotion specifically for the rematch.
“The first one that we did was the best MMA fight I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen more MMA fights than probably anybody on earth, or at least amongst the top four or five on earth,” Rebney said. “Everybody always thought about it as a pay-per-view … It positions them as the main event on a huge show that will probably be one of the highest-rated shows we’ve ever done and an amazing, amazing night.”
The Chandler-Alvarez fight is one of three title fights on the card, all of which are rematches. Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran defeated Daniel Straus in 2009 before either was involved with the promotion. Light heavyweights Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Emanuel Newton will meet for the interim title. Newton defeated Lawal earlier this year en route to his win in the Season Eight light heavyweight tournament.
The main card, to be held at the Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, Calif., also will feature the welterweight showdown from this summer’s Fight Master reality competition show — Joe Riggs and Mike Bronzoulis. Featherweights Mike Richman and Akop Stepanyan will also appear on the televised card.
The preliminaries, which can be seen on spike.com at 1 p.m. HST, include: lightweights Terry Etim vs. Patrick Cenoble; welterweights Karo Parisyan vs. Vristiano Souza; welterweights Jesse Juarez vs. Joe Williams; featherweights Joe Camacho vs. Cleber Luciano; light geavyweights Brandon Halsey vs. Hector Ramirez; lightweights Mike Guymon vs. Aaron Miller; and lightweights Darren Smith vs. Josh Smith.
