OSJ Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 22 hours ago, AxB said: Bellator Japan (main card) aired live on Sky Sports' Freeview channel, so I actually got to watch it, having watched the Tito vs Chuck 30 for 30 earlier that night. Mark Hunt still being good in his mid 40s looks even more impressive now. Rampage looked awful at 265 lbs. Fedor still has his power and hand speed, but his footwork seemed kind of unsteady. He was lucky he was in a legends match with someone who had fallen off harder than he did. MVP looked good though. He generally does, except when he's fighting a top level guy. Then he looks tentative and inactive. Fedor at 43 is still an awesome force. Rampage looked like some chubby guy they found working as the doorman/bouncer at a local strip club. At least have the pride to work out a little bit before going on tv and making a fool of yourself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRR Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 I don’t know what was funnier about the Observer coverage. The line about Rampage now looking like his idol Junkyard Dog or the wrestling bubble line about someone coming out to a wrestling theme which was Limp Bizkit Rollin which correct me if I’m wrong was not created specifically for wrestling. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setsuna Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Cruikshank dd come out to Real American if my memory serves correctly. 2021 has to be a make or break year for MVP. Either he takes the plunge and gets in there with contenders on a regular basis or continues taking tune-up fights in his prime. I get that this card was a bit of an exception with the Bellator-Rizin motif but he's going to be 33 by the time his next fight rolls around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 (edited) Ougikubo vs. Ishiwatari from Rizin's NYE show... Glorious violence. Check that shit out. Holy fucking shit, Prochazka dropped Dolloway with one punch more or less. He looks massive for 205 though obviously bigger guys like Jones make the weight. This 8+ hour show (including multiple crazy long intermissions) has been a blast so far. Rizin rarely disappoints. Miyuuuuuu got the W too. All is right. Edited January 1, 2020 by Oyaji Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Aaaaah, the final of the Lightweight GP featured two incredible power punchers but one was a bit quicker than the other, whereas the other was stronger/more durable. Spoiler Patricky earned Musayev's respect with the faster hands early. Musayev finally caught Friere with about a minute to go in the first after Pitbull flew in recklessly and that slowed down the latter considerably. What an awesome fight. Freire slowed down in the second and that's with his stalling tactics (lol) after getting dumped out of the ring (one of Musayev's corner men tried to yank Pitbull up!). Third round was all Masayev. Horiguchi and Rampage were ringside to watch too. So far this has been one of the more enjoyable MMA shows I've seen this year. Obviously not watching live and being able to skip stuff certainly makes the ludicrous show length more bearable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Ham(asaki) fight started like a flippin' Rocky movie with zero blocking and head movement. Settled in after about a minute of swangin' 'n' bangin' but Ham was getting touched up with that Hamasaki jab on the regular. Ham was doing a stanky legg after round 2 because she had a triangle for the majority of the round. Third round was the inverse, more or less. Great fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 If they had a condensed three to three and a half hour edition of the Rizin show, I would probably watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 Also, Bader wants to avenge his fallen comrade CB Dollaway and fight Jiri Prochazka. Shit, that's easily the best fight you can make at 205 or HW outside the UFC. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hail Sabin Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Ray Cooper III was able to avenge his demons of Last year's Finals and win in the 2nd Round by TKO to get the Belt plus the $1 Million. Kayla Harrison won the Main Event as everyone expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Hail Sabin said: Ray Cooper III was able to avenge his demons of Last year's Finals and win in the 2nd Round by TKO to get the Belt plus the $1 Million. Kayla Harrison won the Main Event as everyone expected. The six or seven consecutive title fight structure doesn't really work even though I get what they're going for. If you have one fight go the distance, that leaves virtually zero time for the winner to say something between the novelty check and belt presentation. This is suppose to be their moment in the sun, and the fighter gets out three words before Randy Couture yanks the mic away. It just comes off kinda ghetto that a company isn't cognizant of possible time constraints. They make it feel not special that someone just won a million dollars. If you're going to treat the winner like a UFC prelim fighter who just starts rambling for no reason, then what's the point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 This is interesting to read in hindsight given it's quite a gamble putting a somewhat unproven commodity in the main event of a NYE's card. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 It'll be difficult to build around them because they are both pretty reckless, Kai in particular. Mikuru was a bit more measured in his fight with Teixeira. They are aggressive and put on crowd pleasing fights, plus win-loss records aren't as important in Japan as is with the UFC. Tenshin, Rena, Miyuu, Horiguchi, Hamasaki, and the Asakura brothers is a pretty good stable of Japanese fighters to build around though. Ishii less so. But yeah, Japanese MMA is kind of at where it's at and it ain't going to turn around anytime soon. The building seemed mostly full, so that's a thing. Didn't know about Maeda's Outsider project. That's very neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hail Sabin Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said: The six or seven consecutive title fight structure doesn't really work even though I get what they're going for. If you have one fight go the distance, that leaves virtually zero time for the winner to say something between the novelty check and belt presentation. This is suppose to be their moment in the sun, and the fighter gets out three words before Randy Couture yanks the mic away. It just comes off kinda ghetto that a company isn't cognizant of possible time constraints. They make it feel not special that someone just won a million dollars. If you're going to treat the winner like a UFC prelim fighter who just starts rambling for no reason, then what's the point? Next Year they should start the 6 Title Fights at 6 pm and end it at Midnight that way they get more time to talk plus entrances, video packages etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 26 minutes ago, Hail Sabin said: Next Year they should start the 6 Title Fights at 6 pm and end it at Midnight that way they get more time to talk plus entrances, video packages etc. I think the best viewer friendly option would be to break it down over two nights, December 30 and December 31. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hail Sabin Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 I'm probably just use to really long shows with all the IWA-MS DVDs or VHS I have watched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Not great but hopefully it is a rebuilding rather than viewership abandoning long-term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) This could eventually turn into a big story as far as MMA is concerned. Edited January 16, 2020 by Elsalvajeloco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Good, bad, or just different do you figure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Just now, Oyaji said: Good, bad, or just different do you figure? If the ratings don't turn around on Paramount, I think Coker gets ousted (probably Rich Chou out as matchmaker as well) and they bring in someone to make changes. Whether that particular move is positive or not, we will just have to find out. I just opened the recent Observer just a couple minutes ago and saw that even Meltzer was critical of the Fedor/Rampage rating. When Coker's homeboy can't even put spin on a rating, you know it's not good. I get that when a show is available in another format (DAZN in this case), it can diminish a TV number. However, you can't tell me Bellator has 200,000-450,000 people watching on DAZN in addition to the viewers on Paramount. Whenever Meltzer would put out those articles with the Paramount ratings on MMA Fighting, he would say that it's partially because the shows are also on DAZN. For me, that's a "HOW, SWAY?!" moment. First off, no one has the numbers including Dave. Second, besides MMA websites and their social media accounts, I hardly see anyone discussing Bellator shows. Third, the numbers were heading down BEFORE they had shows on DAZN. If we were to see Bellator's numbers on DAZN, how likely is it a 50/50 split? I would say between 0 to 10 percent. All these tournament ideas, partnership with Rizin, bringing in 50 Cent, etc. have not stopped the bleeding. Coker's job was to make these events feel special and he hasn't done that. To probably the hardest of hardcores? Probably and that a big probably. To a much bigger audience? No, it's been downhill since Kimbo passed away and that's damn near four years ago now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 25, 2020 Author Share Posted January 25, 2020 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Aaron Pico just knocked out a Bellator jobber with his wrist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Hell yeah. HE'S BACK, BABY! In all seriousness, I really do hope he can get going properly here. What a wild career for such a talented but obviously raw talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 23 minutes ago, Oyaji said: Hell yeah. HE'S BACK, BABY! In all seriousness, I really do hope he can get going properly here. What a wild career for such a talented but obviously raw talent. I mean this was a fight that really wasn't going to tell us anything we already didn't know. It was basically wrestle in the first round and see if the guy had anything. He doesn't? Knock his head into the fifth row in the second round. His problems are going to come against live bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 I'm glad I went with my gut and picked Caldwell over Borics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Looked like Sergio Pettis killed a man. Whoa, that was nasty. That right hand counter followed by a bunch of punches and then going out in a choke. Frank Trigg don't give a FUCK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts