“The darkest hour is just before the dawn.”
English theologian and historian Thomas Fuller was the first to commit this proverb to print. More than 350 years later, it’s a good way of looking at Bellator MMA as the organization embarks on a new era with new president Scott Coker at the helm.
There have already been several changes since the former Strikeforce boss took over for Bjorn Rebney with rumours of more on the horizon.
For a limited time get Sportsnet Magazine’s digital edition free for 60 days. Visit AppStore.com/RogersMagazines to see what you’re missing out on.
Gone are the tournament format and seasonal structure that helped put Bellator on the map when it was first introduced, replaced with a more traditional event-based approach that will bring a condensed schedule compared to previous years. Near the end of June, close to 20 fighters were released from their contracts, though the organization says that took place prior to Coker taking over.
More recently, Bellator announced the signing of veterans Paul Daley and Melvin Manhoef and there have been whispers of interest in former Internet sensation and UFC castoff Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.
Tuesday, a light-heavyweight championship bout was announced pitting titleholder Emanuel Newton against Joey Beltran, who had gone 2-7 with one no contest in his 10 fights prior to submitting veteran Vladimir Matyushenko in April, and over the weekend, speculation ran rampant that current lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez’s next appearance would not come under the Bellator banner, but rather in the UFC opposite Donald Cerrone.
The collection of potential moves and the freshly inked championship pairing seem to run in contrast to each other.
How can an organization like Bellator allow one of its top talents and current champions (Alvarez) to exit stage left while (a) making a questionable championship matchup and (b) bringing in more veterans that have been around the block a time or two or three?
My answer is to just sit back and trust Coker and his team.
At its apex, Strikeforce was wildly entertaining.
While the final few events featured more big names withdrawing from fights than actually competing, the company enjoyed a solid run of success by putting together fun fights that captivated the passionate MMA audience. They stacked cards with as much talent as possible, running eight “major” events in both 2010 and 2011, while mixing in a handful of Challengers series shows along the way.
Rather than trying to sell events built around fighters fans didn’t necessarily know or care about, every large scale Strikeforce card from the April 2009 event featuring Nick Diaz and Frank Shamrock through to the last show on Jan. 12, 2013 was headlined by someone fans were familiar with and already invested in.
They may not have been facing stout competition all the time (see: Luke Rockhold vs Keith Jardine), but it was always enough to capture the attention of the hardcore audience that wanted to see exciting fights, even if there were a few blowouts here and there.
In hindsight, the Challengers series was a tremendous tool, having served as the proving ground for such fighters as Rockhold, Tyron Woodley, Lorenz Larkin and some former Olympic judoka you might have heard of named Ronda Rousey.
Given the solid core of talent already on the roster and the willingness of Coker and matchmakers Rich Chou and Sam Caplan to bring in perennially exciting fighters like Daley and Manhoef, the foundation is there for Bellator to replicate a lot of the things that Strikeforce did well.
Additionally, Coker and Co. have a much stronger platform and financial base to work with this time around. If the old regime was able to get the go ahead to make a sizeable offer to a free agent like Gilbert Melendez as they did earlier this year, it would stand to reason that Coker would have the same latitude and that could make things interesting going forward.
In regards to the Alvarez situation, it seems like a case of cutting ties and starting fresh. The animosity between the lightweight champion and the company dates back to before Coker’s arrival and no one believes that the Philadelphia native has any intention of re-signing with Bellator once his contract is up, so an amicable parting of the ways now makes more sense than having him face off with either Michael Chandler or Will Brooks and potentially saddling one of those two with a loss to a departing fighter.
Allow Alvarez to bounce, drop the interim tag from Brooks’ belt and have him square off with Chandler again to either cement his status as top dog in the division or set up a trilogy bout that can really kick this new period off with a bang.
Just like last week’s discussion of rushing to judgment of fighters on the UFC roster, fans need to pump the brakes and give Coker time to get settled, make some moves and start shaping the organization affectionately referred to as “Spikeforce” on the Internet into whatever he and the brass at Viacom want it to be.
Trust in Coker.