Bellator now owns the second best division outside of the UFC and is set to have just their second-ever pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden. With a number of high level fighters jumping ship from the UFC to Bellator and an increasing number of fighters growing disgruntled with the UFC, is Bellator turning the tide against its top competition?
Lorenz Larkin, Rory MacDonald, Benson Henderson, Paul Daley, Michael McDonald, Ryan Bader, Chael Sonnen… the list of former UFC fighters transferring to rival promotion Bellator appears to be growing by the day. As noted by Yahoo Sports, with Larkin’s transfer, which was preceded by UFC welterweight contender Rory MacDonald’s the year before, Bellator’s welterweight division is now the best division outside of the UFC.
This is an interesting development for the two top MMA promotions in North America. On one hand, the UFC appears to be focused on manufacturing “big-money” fights, bypassing deserving contenders in favor of fights featuring big names, in an effort to ease the burden of the $4.2 billion price tag for the new owners. On the other, disgruntled UFC fighters are getting better deals with the rival promotion, who is set to have just their second pay-per-view event in company history with Bellator 180 in June.
“It’s all about respect – it wasn’t about who I might be fighting down the road, but more about how things played out,” Lorenz Larkin told Yahoo Sports. “I can’t tell you why [the UFC] did things the way they did, because you’d think they’d be able to market someone with my style who has been winning fights.” As noted by Yahoo Sports, Larkin has wins over Jorge Masvidal – who is scheduled to fight No. 1 UFC welterweight contender Demian Maia – former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, and Neil Magny.
As noted by MMA Fighting, with a stacked welterweight division, Bellator now has a string of intriguing fights centered around the Lorenz Larkin – Rory MacDonald – Douglas Lima – Paul Daley foursome. MacDonald is set for his Bellator debut against Daley in May, while Larkin and Bellator welterweight champion Lima is fighting in the main card of Bellator 180. If the show does much better than the previous Bellator PPV event (which did 100,000 buys), it could signal a shift in the power structure of MMA.
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