Bellator alters tournament format, creates new class for former tourney winners
Bellator MMA is shifting its format, and now former tournament winners may have an easier path back to a title shot.
As long as a fighter wins a Bellator tournament, he will be placed into a pool of fighters who can be given a title shot at any time in the future. The promotion announced the change on Thursday.
“Just like we’ve done since Day One, any fighter who wins ‘the toughest tournament in sports’ will still be guaranteed a world title fight,†Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney stated. “The addition I’m making here that I’m really excited about is if you’ve won a tournament, you’ll join an elite group of athletes who we can grant a world title fight to at any time.
“For example, if you win a tournament, fight for the world title and lose, you forever remain in that elite group of fighters who can be awarded another shot at the title. We will place some fighters back into tournaments, while others may lose a world title fight, win some non-tournament fights and be awarded another shot at the title.â€
Rebney said the new method won’t be an automatic for anyone. Rather, the promotion will look at things on a case-by-case basis to decide if a tournament winner who loses a title shot should be thrust back into a fight with the champion.
In recent months, former lightweight champion Michael Chandler lost his title to Eddie Alvarez this past November. But instead of Chandler having to win a lightweight tournament to get another shot at the belt, he was put into a trilogy rematch with Alvarez.
That fight was set to take place a month ago at Bellator 120, the promotion’s first pay-per-view. But the week before the fight, Alvarez had to pull out thanks to a concussion. Instead, Chandler fought Will Brooks for the interim belt and lost a close decision.
But as past tournament winners, all three of those fighters now are eligible to be put back into a title fight at any time.
“We won’t be implementing any hard and fast rule as to when a fighter will go back into a tournament and when he’ll fight non-tournament fights and potentially be granted another title shot,†Rebney stated. “What’s great about this addition is that it allows us to stay true to our core format, where title shots can only be earned through a tournament win, while also providing us tremendous flexibility to make the great fights fans want to see.
“And, we can do all this while keeping our fighters busy and battling in meaningful fights on a re-occurring basis. This is another step in our constant evolution and most importantly it’s a win for the fighters and the fans.â€
The new format appears to sit well with at least a couple current champions, as well.
“When I heard about this change, I instantly fell in love with it,†interim lightweight champ Brooks stated. “This is a way to keep guys active after they have proven themselves in a tournament. You always want to stay in the mix as a fighter, and it’s really exciting to me that Bellator is taking the fighters and fans opinions to heart and making decisions to put on the best fights possible. It’s refreshing to see and be a part of, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.â€
Staying busy is something welterweight titleholder Douglas Lima wants to be able to do, as well.
“At the end of the day, everyone wants to see guys they know stay busy and active,†he stated. “As fighters, we want to stay busy and keep fighting, and this new change helps keep the talent pool fresh and creates new challengers for us. I know the tournament isn’t going anywhere. It’s how we all came up and got our titles, but now we have a chance to keep staying busy and keep defending our titles.â€
The change allows a Bellator champion scheduled to fight a tournament winner to still defend his title, even if that tourney winner drops out with an injury. If there are no other tournament winners lined up in that division, Bellator now has the option to give a past winner another title shot.
The fighters currently eligible for title shots in the new format includes:
Bantamweight: Champion Eduardo Dantas, interim champion Joe Warren, Marcos Galvao, Rafael Silva
Featherweight: Champion Pat Curran, Patricio “Pitbull†Freire, Magomedrasul “Frodo†Khasbulaev, Shahbulat Shamhalaev, Daniel Straus, Joe Warren, Daniel Weichel
Lightweight: Champion Eddie Alvarez, interim champion Will Brooks, Michael Chandler, Pat Curran, Rick Hawn, Dave Jansen, David Rickels
Welterweight: Champion Douglas Lima, Karl Amoussou, Rick Hawn, Andrey Koreshkov
Middleweight: Champion Alexander Shlemenko, Doug Marshall, Brennan Ward
Light Heavyweight: Champion Emanuel Newton, Quinton “Rampage†Jackson, Muhammed “King Mo†Lawal, Christian M’Pumbu, Atilla Vegh
Heavyweight: Champion Vitaly Minakov, Cheick Kongo, Alexander Volkov
