Bellator 120 to remain on PPV, Chandler meets replacement Brooks for interim title
Despite the loss of one of its planned headliners, next week’s Bellator 120 event will remain a pay-per-view offering.
Following today’s earlier news that Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (25-3 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) suffered a head injury during a training session two weeks ago and had been forced out of the May 17 event, the organization today announced his opponent, former champ Michael Chandler (12-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA), instead will meet Will Brooks (13-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA).
According to Bellator CEO and Chairman Bjorn Rebney, Chandler and Brooks will fight for an interim lightweight title. The bout has been moved from the main event to the co-headliner slot.
Bellator first attempted to make its PPV debut back in November with Bellator 106, but when scheduled headliner Tito Ortiz was forced out of a fight with fellow ex-UFC champion Quinton Jackson, the event shifted to Spike TV.
However, that won’t be the case this time.
As originally planned, the event’s main card will air on PPV (with a price tag ranging from $30 to $45, depending on your local provider) following prelims on Spike TV and Spike.com. The event takes place at Landers Center in Southaven, Miss.
Brooks (13-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA), who recently won a Bellator tournament, originally was scheduled to fight Nate Jolly (13-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on Bellator 120′s main card. Brooks had earned the right to fight for a title, but with Alvarez and Chandler booked for and tied up with the trilogy fight, he was going to fight Jolly to stay busy.
Rebney said they hope to keep Jolly on the card but need to find a new opponent.
According to Rebney, Alvarez was officially ruled out of the fight just today. Although he suffered a head injury two weeks ago during a training session, Rebney said that Alvarez continued cardio training but reported he was still dizzy. Rebney said Alvarez’s camp told him they’d keep the fight executive updated on his progress, but by Friday, they reported he was still at just “70 percent†capacity. This morning, Alvarez officially pulled out of the fight, Rebney said.
A timetable hasn’t been set for the champion’s return.
While the loss of the Chandler vs. Alvarez trilogy bout certainly hurts the card, Rebney believes the new Chandler vs. Brooks title fight, as well as the heavily billed Jackson (34-11 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) vs. Muhammed Lawal (12-3 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) light-heavyweight tournament final (which was named the new headliner), will provide PPV buyers something worth buying.
“I’m obviously disappointed,†Rebney said. “But we still have a huge card ahead of us with an amazing amount of value.
†… It’s remaining on PPV because it’s a PPV-worthy card, and it’s a must-see event. We used to have an utterly spectacular show, and now we have a spectacular show.â€
Rebney also said a heavyweight tournament final between Blagoi Ivanov (11-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and Alexander Volkov (21-4 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) has been promoted from the Spike TV prelims to the PPV main card.
The latest Bellator 120 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Quinton Jackson vs. Muhammed Lawal – light heavyweight tournament final
Will Brooks vs. Michael Chandler – for interim lightweight title
Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko – non-title fight
Michael Page vs. Ricky Rainey
Blagoi Ivanov vs. Alexander Volkov – heavyweight tournament final
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV, 8 p.m. ET)
Cheick Kongo vs. Eric Smith
Fabricio Guerreiro vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev
Mike Richman vs. Goiti Yamauchi
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 6 p.m. ET)
Austin Lyons vs. Zach Underwood
Justin Frazier vs. Mike Wessel
Ben Brewer vs. Andy Uhrich
Anthony Lemon vs. Codie Shuffield
Brian Hall vs. Cortez Phelia
