Viva MMA? Bellator Knocks On ESPN Deportes’ Door
Loretta Hunt Nov 19, 2008
Bellator Fighting Championships is banking that a mix of the “old
school” tournament style and modern-day storytelling is the right
recipe to keep it afloat in an increasingly difficult to weather
MMA market.
The promotional newcomer will debut its 12-week fight series on ESPN Deportes in April 2009, and will center around four eight-man tournaments utilizing the 145-, 155-, 170- and 185-pound divisions. Live fight events will be taped on a Friday in venues across the country and aired Saturday nights on the Spanish-language channel, which has more than four million subscribers out of the nine million recognized Hispanic cable homes.
It’s an industrious schedule not for the faint-hearted, but one
that former boxing promoter and Bellator co-founder and CEO Bjorn
Rebney believes will produce a plethora of exciting bouts for the
public.
Rebney knows a thing or two about quantity. The former CEO and president of Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing aired 66 live boxing events on ESPN 2 the first Friday of every month under the “Friday Night Fights” moniker from 2001-2004.
Maybe its Rebney’s long memory that drew him to revitalize the tournament format used in the flagship promotion’s early days. Though the Bellator tournaments won’t be waged in one night –- few, if any, athletic promotions would allow it –- Rebney prides himself in giving back a certain amount of control to the fighters themselves.
“What it allows us to do is basically keep everything in the fighters’ hands, which I can’t tell you how strongly we feel about it,” said Rebney. “I’ve always had the strong belief that fighters should be able to control their destiny.”
There is at least one moment in Bellator’s structure which dictates that a matchmaker step in to pair up the fighters. In the first round, Bellator will resemble the system utilized in the NCAA college basketball’s “March Madness” tournament, where the top-ranked seed meets the lowest rated opponent. Bellator’s rankings will be determined by its matchmakers, who Rebney didn’t name.
In the first round, fighters will make $10,000 to show with a $15,000 win bonus if they advance on. The second round graduates to a $25K/$25K pay scale and the final round nets the fighter $40,000 for his efforts with an attractive $60,000 victory purse. Higher profile prospects are being lured to the promotion with signing bonuses.
Bellator’s pay scale is significantly above the industry average, which usually rewards a fighter a $3,000-4,000 starting wage in the upper echelon events, and double that for a follow-up effort.
The numbers have already drawn fighters like American Top Team’s Jorge Masvidal, who signed on to fight in the lightweight bracket. Rowdy TUF alumnus War Machine, formerly Jon Koppenhaver, has also been secured for the welterweight ranks, while manager Monte Cox confirmed that he’ll have standout client Eddie Alvarez join as well if the Dream star’s tricky contract will allow it.
But beyond a few notables, Bellator’s real test will be finding 32 applicants to fill its four tournaments. Most of the top names in those divisions are spoken for, which opens the door for newcomers but makes it imperative that the lesser-known commodities are promoted with gusto to peak viewer interest.
Brad Epstein, producer of feature films like the Steve Carrell vehicle “Dan in Real Life,” and Hugh Grant’s “About A Boy,” will oversee the biographical montages that accompany the fights themselves. Epstein is a co-founder and COO of Bellator.
“We’re going to be actually going to their homes with crews. We’re going to be going to their gyms,” said Rebney. “When the fighters appear on our show, you’re going to see a legitimate back story and feature piece on these guys that are competing in the tournament, so you understand something about them.”
Bellator -- which translates to “warrior” in Latin –- will undoubtedly need a little good fortune to get things off the ground. On an 84-day shooting schedule, fighter injuries and suspensions will be paramount to the show’s success, though 30- to 60-day medical suspensions are commonplace nowadays. To stack the odds more in their favor, Bellator will outlaw elbows on the ground in the first round and re-introduce them in the second and final sets. Reminiscent of Steve Jennum’s coup at UFC 3, fighters that don’t win their first-round bouts will serve as alternates in later rounds, if necessary. Bellator fights will take place in a circular cage.
Rebney said the two-hour episodes will be shot with separate Spanish and English-speaking commentary teams. The English version is currently in negotiations to find its home, said Rebney.
If Bellator is renewed for a second season, Rebney said a pay-per-view event could be launched after 24 episodes.
With promotions like the International Fight League failing without live event broadcasts, Rebney said the one-day tape delay is only a temporary fix. MMA's most successful television vehicle, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” will not be a model either.
“I’m not a fan of reality programming. This isn’t about reality programming,” said Rebney. “This is absolutely the opposite of reality television. What we’re doing here is two hours of programming, once a week, primetime Saturday nights, and it will be as pure athletic competition as you could hope to see.”
The promotional newcomer will debut its 12-week fight series on ESPN Deportes in April 2009, and will center around four eight-man tournaments utilizing the 145-, 155-, 170- and 185-pound divisions. Live fight events will be taped on a Friday in venues across the country and aired Saturday nights on the Spanish-language channel, which has more than four million subscribers out of the nine million recognized Hispanic cable homes.
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Rebney knows a thing or two about quantity. The former CEO and president of Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing aired 66 live boxing events on ESPN 2 the first Friday of every month under the “Friday Night Fights” moniker from 2001-2004.
Rebney and Leonard parted ways under strained circumstances in 2004
when the legendary boxer joined the cast of NBC’s “The Contender”
series. However, the former agent of Oscar De La Hoya said he
already had his sights set on the combat sports’ alternative since
its 1993 inception with UFC 1.
Maybe its Rebney’s long memory that drew him to revitalize the tournament format used in the flagship promotion’s early days. Though the Bellator tournaments won’t be waged in one night –- few, if any, athletic promotions would allow it –- Rebney prides himself in giving back a certain amount of control to the fighters themselves.
“What it allows us to do is basically keep everything in the fighters’ hands, which I can’t tell you how strongly we feel about it,” said Rebney. “I’ve always had the strong belief that fighters should be able to control their destiny.”
There is at least one moment in Bellator’s structure which dictates that a matchmaker step in to pair up the fighters. In the first round, Bellator will resemble the system utilized in the NCAA college basketball’s “March Madness” tournament, where the top-ranked seed meets the lowest rated opponent. Bellator’s rankings will be determined by its matchmakers, who Rebney didn’t name.
In the first round, fighters will make $10,000 to show with a $15,000 win bonus if they advance on. The second round graduates to a $25K/$25K pay scale and the final round nets the fighter $40,000 for his efforts with an attractive $60,000 victory purse. Higher profile prospects are being lured to the promotion with signing bonuses.
Bellator’s pay scale is significantly above the industry average, which usually rewards a fighter a $3,000-4,000 starting wage in the upper echelon events, and double that for a follow-up effort.
The numbers have already drawn fighters like American Top Team’s Jorge Masvidal, who signed on to fight in the lightweight bracket. Rowdy TUF alumnus War Machine, formerly Jon Koppenhaver, has also been secured for the welterweight ranks, while manager Monte Cox confirmed that he’ll have standout client Eddie Alvarez join as well if the Dream star’s tricky contract will allow it.
But beyond a few notables, Bellator’s real test will be finding 32 applicants to fill its four tournaments. Most of the top names in those divisions are spoken for, which opens the door for newcomers but makes it imperative that the lesser-known commodities are promoted with gusto to peak viewer interest.
Brad Epstein, producer of feature films like the Steve Carrell vehicle “Dan in Real Life,” and Hugh Grant’s “About A Boy,” will oversee the biographical montages that accompany the fights themselves. Epstein is a co-founder and COO of Bellator.
“We’re going to be actually going to their homes with crews. We’re going to be going to their gyms,” said Rebney. “When the fighters appear on our show, you’re going to see a legitimate back story and feature piece on these guys that are competing in the tournament, so you understand something about them.”
Bellator -- which translates to “warrior” in Latin –- will undoubtedly need a little good fortune to get things off the ground. On an 84-day shooting schedule, fighter injuries and suspensions will be paramount to the show’s success, though 30- to 60-day medical suspensions are commonplace nowadays. To stack the odds more in their favor, Bellator will outlaw elbows on the ground in the first round and re-introduce them in the second and final sets. Reminiscent of Steve Jennum’s coup at UFC 3, fighters that don’t win their first-round bouts will serve as alternates in later rounds, if necessary. Bellator fights will take place in a circular cage.
Rebney said the two-hour episodes will be shot with separate Spanish and English-speaking commentary teams. The English version is currently in negotiations to find its home, said Rebney.
If Bellator is renewed for a second season, Rebney said a pay-per-view event could be launched after 24 episodes.
With promotions like the International Fight League failing without live event broadcasts, Rebney said the one-day tape delay is only a temporary fix. MMA's most successful television vehicle, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” will not be a model either.
“I’m not a fan of reality programming. This isn’t about reality programming,” said Rebney. “This is absolutely the opposite of reality television. What we’re doing here is two hours of programming, once a week, primetime Saturday nights, and it will be as pure athletic competition as you could hope to see.”
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