A Look at the Upcoming Bellator Heavyweight Tournament

A Look at the Upcoming Bellator Heavyweight Tournament
November 21, 2017 
By Ryan Porzl

Just recently, Bellator had announced what some have suspected would happen and that is a tournament to crown a new Heavyweight Champion. To say the least, this is interesting as Bellator is now planning to finally fill a vacancy that's been in effect for nearly two years while finally reviving the division that's been in limbo with fighters still competing but don't have a championship to compete for. That being said, is this the best way to go about it and what about the participants? Like anything, this has positives and negatives so let's take a look at them and decide for yourself if it's a good idea or not.



A tournament format is a great way to reintroduce the division. While there have been heavyweight fights, there hasn't been a title bout since 2014 and the championship has been vacant since 2016. Given the fact it's been a long time since we got both a champion and a title fight, you want to reintroduce the division and you want it to get the most eyes on it. A tournament is a great way to tell people that this division is back, better than ever, and you're rolling out the big guns. Even better is that Bellator was built on tournaments and there are many fans who yearn for the tournaments that were around in the early years so those fans should be excited and if they did leave years ago, maybe this can bring some of those fans back. Fans of Strikeforce or their Heavyweight Tournament should also be excited since Bellator CEO Scott Coker is clearly trying to recreate the magic of that tournament.

Whoever wins will earn it. Barring an alternate winning, the winner will have to fight three times. Nobody can argue that whoever wins it will earn it. While you could argue on the participants, you can't deny that whoever wins will be the best out of the eight. A tournament is probably the closest thing to "purity". While a promoter may have their favorites, former Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said it best when he said how by putting a fighter in a tournament you're telling them that your hands are out of it and it's all up to the fighter & their hands, feet, elbows, and knees. It can also be considered a breath of fresh air for those fans who have been frustrated with the way certain fighters have gotten title shots that they probably didn't earn. When the smoke clears and the dust settles, whoever is left standing after having to go through three fights will deserve the championship.

There's lots of stories in this tournament. Fedor Emelianenko and Frank Mir has been a fight that is interesting and Mir has been wanting it for awhile so it's something to look forward to even if both are past their primes. Both Fedor and Roy Nelson have lost to Mitrione so this tournament gives them a chance to potentially avenge those losses. Despite their recent fight not being the most exciting, Mo and Rampage have one win over each other so they could eventually meet in a rubber fight. Mo and Bader was supposed to happen in June before Mo got hurt but we could see that fight during the tournament. Bader is the Light Heavyweight Champion and if he becomes the Heavyweight Champion, he would make history by becoming the first Bellator fighter to hold two championships at the same time. Fedor, Mir, and Nelson are all former Heavyweight Champions and are near the end of the careers so the question is can they win one more Heavyweight Championship? Fedor's recent appearances in America have not been successful and his recent comeback has come off like a mistake but can he make it right and after having won titles & grand prixs in RINGS, PRIDE, and WAMMA, can he add Bellator to the list? Mir's had a big Hall of Fame run in the UFC including runs as UFC Heavyweight Champion and UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion but it ended in disgrace after failing a drug test but he now has the chance for redemption by coming back and once again becoming a heavyweight champion. Mo was seen as a guy who was a near guarantee to be a future Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion which hasn't happen but he now has a chance to finally win a Bellator championship five years after coming in. Sonnen also retired in disgrace after a string of failed drug test but now has a chance to make a comeback and become a champion which eluded him in the UFC. Guys like Mo and Sonnen are Light Heavyweights so if they somehow run into Bader and beat him then they can make an argument that they deserve a future Light Heavyweight Title shot.

The length is the first problem with this tournament. Unlike Bellator's past tournaments which usually went three months or even PRIDE Grand Prixs which went four months, this tournament is likely to go all year as Bellator has implied that the conclusion will be at the end of 2018 which means we have to wait another year before we get a Heavyweight Champion which isn't good. Bellator hasn't had a heavyweight title fight since April of 2014 and it's championship has been vacant since April 2016. With all that said, you would think you would want to fill the vacancy as fast as possible instead of stretching it out so long. A tournament is fun and I understand these fighters will not agree to fight three times in ninety days like the old days but a year is just too much and is asking for trouble. Anything can happen in a year and it also doesn't help that this can get boring as fans wait and wait for it to conclude when they're ready to move on. Anybody that's presenting something knows that you want to leave your customers or fans wanting more. It's like a movie or giving a presentation, you want to end it with your audience wanting more instead of having them looking for the time and waiting for you to get it over with. A lot of fans could be excited now but fast forward a year and they'll likely be fatigued. Another factor is Ryan Bader is the Light Heavyweight Champion so if he advances then there will be no Light Heavyweight Title fights in the foreseeable future.

The participants leave something to be desired. Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Mir, and Rampage Jackson are all time greats while Roy Nelson and Chael Sonnen have had great careers but they are all way past their primes and probably shouldn't be fighting anymore. Bader has never fought at Heavyweight and as Light Heavyweight Champion, he should be focused on that division which, despite lacking an obvious number one contender, could now suffer from a logjam. Even worse is that if Bader were to win the title then he would go from not being a title challenger in UFC to being a two divisional champion in Bellator which would make them look weak. While you want star power, you also want some of your best or even some up and comers with potential. The tournament has tons of sizzle but not much steak. Notably missing from these participants is Cheick Kongo & Sergei Kharitonov as well as up and comers Augusto Sakai, Valentin Moldavsky, and Justin Wren. Now, you couldn't put all of them in but a few would've been good. Kongo is the biggest head scratcher because, like him or not, he has the best record at heavyweight at 9-2 while having been the most recent one to challenge for the title. There's really no excuse for Kongo not to be in this tournament unless he's injured or declined but the latter seems unlikely. Kharitonov not only won his recent fight in Bellator but he's currently riding a three fight win streak as he's racked up two more wins in Russia. Sakai is a good prospect with his only loss being a split decision to Kongo while having since bounced back with his recent fight in Brazil. Moldavsky won his Bellator debut and is no stranger to tournaments as he made it to the semi finals of Rizin's 2016 Openweight Grand Prix. Wren is 3-0 in Bellator and deserves a chance to move up the ladder. Also, having some of those fighters in instead of a bloated Rampage, Sonnen, and Bader, we could've had a good mixture of big names along with Bellator's current top names and prospects which gives us a good mix of past, present, and future. Scott Coker is clearly trying to recreate the magic of his Strikeforce Grand Prix from 2011/2012 but the problem is that everyone in that tournament were all considered among the best heavyweights in the world. Here, we got a bunch of names but a lot of the participants are either past their prime (Emelianenko, Mir, Jackson, Nelson, and Sonnen) or natural light heavyweights (Jackson, Bader, Sonnen, and Mo). With the absence of guys like Kongo, I don't even feel like I'm watching the best heavyweights in Bellator let alone in MMA.

Some of the fighters could eventually lead to big headaches to Bellator either during the tournament or after. Other than 2011 where he fought four times, Fedor has not been an active fighter as he's fought once a year since 2010 not counting 2013 or 2014 when he was retired. Can Bellator be assured that Fedor will fight three times in 2018 should he advance? Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen have flunked drug tests in the past with Sonnen having failed probably more drug tests than any MMA fighter except Josh Barnett. Can Bellator be assured they will pass all their tests and not be forced out if they flunk one? Rampage can be a primadonna and has had his shares of contract disputes and periods of unhappiness. Will he complete the tournament without pulling out or having any contract problems? Mo has been plagued with injuries lately as he was forced to pull out of a June fight with Bader and then an October fight with Liam McGeary. Will Mo be able to see it through or will he be forced out or delay things because of injuries? Bader is already the Light Heavyweight Champion but if he wins the Heavyweight Championship then they have a problem as Bader will have to go back & forth and with fighters usually fighting twice a year, that means Bader will only be able to defend the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Titles once each. Another issue is that some of these participants are near the end of their careers so what happens if someone like Fedor, Mir, Nelson, Sonnen, or Rampage win? Bellator can find themselves in the same position that UFC is in with GSP winning the UFC Middleweight Championship as everyone is speculating about whether he defends or if he retires. The last thing Bellator needs is for one of the aging fighters to win and either immediately retire or maybe has one title defense, retains, and retires cause that means Bellator is right back to square one and a tournament they spent a year on meant nothing in the long run.

Like anything, the upcoming Bellator tournament has it's share of positives and negatives. It's not perfect but it will be interesting to see how it unfolds and gives people another reason to pay attention to Bellator in 2018.