Bellator End of Year awards

[TheEmperorRises]

2016 may have been a shitty year for the world at large, but for MMA it's been pretty great. The year was filled with spectacular knockouts, shocking submissions, suplexes, and blood spilled on the canvas for our amusement New stars emerged for Bellator, and 2017 looks to be their biggest yet. But with last nights show in Dublin being their last for the year, we can take a look back and pick out the moments, the fighters, and the fights that stood out as the best of 2016.

Submission of the year:
Joe "Baby Juggernaut" Taimanglo's guillotine choke vs Darrion Caldwell
(Bellator 159)

It came out of nowhere and derailed Caldwell's rise in the bantamweight division. 1 fight previous, Darrion had completely decimated former 2 division champion Joe Warren. Rounds 1 and 2 vs Taimanglo looked to be more of the same. Jiu jitsu is an amazing martial art, in that it can save you from certain defeat if your opponent makes even the slightest mistake. Caldwell did, and Joe shocked the MMA community.

Knockout of the year:
Michael Venom Page's knee from hell vs Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos
(Bellator 158)

It almost looked like he had been figured out. Cyborg weathered the early storm in Round 1, gotten him to the ground, and although he didn't attack with much, he did manage to keep Venom grounded (something no fighter who stepped in the cage with him could claim). Round 2 didn't go as well. After absorbing a hard kick to the liver, Cyborg, visibly hurt, lunged forward attempting to respond with some offense of his own. He was hit with one of the best flying knees I've ever seen (certainly the most devastating, as Cyborg's X-ray after the fact will attest to). Vicious.

Fight of the year:
Benson Henerson vs Michael Chandler
(Bellator 165)

I remember thinking this was a risky fight for Bellator, because an early finish would set critics off either way. If Chandler finished Benson early, then it just meant 'Benson was on the decline'. If Benson finished Chandler, then Bellator just 'wasn't good enough'. So for it to be a success, it needed to be a war. They must have sent an email, because Chandler and Benson delivered. Definately a fight that I hope has a sequel sometime in the next few years.

Fighter of the year:
Douglas 'Phenom' Lima

After spoiling Benson Henderson's Bellator debut 1 fight after taking the title from Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov looked to be well on his way to a dominant run in Bellator's best division. Lima shattered that image. He began his year with a dominant win over Paul Daley on Daley's home turf, and in doing so Lima got the chance to win back the title he lost last year and didn't disappoint. He battered Koreshkov's legs with the nastiest leg kicks from anyone in the WW division and forced the champion into desperation. In doing so, he found his moment to strike and unloaded a bomb on Koreshkov's chin. Now he's set to take on Rory MacDonald next year in unquestionably the biggest fight of his career.

Story of the year:
Free agency

Bellator used to be something akin to the island of misfit toys- a place where fighters past their prime or not yet big enough to catch the UFC's eyes could try to fight and change their fortune or make a name for themselves. But the times, they are a changing Benson signing was a big deal- a fighter on a win streak chosing Bellator over the UFC. But maybe a one time thing, like people thought Phil Davis signing was, right? Wrong. It hasn't stopped yet, and with Ryan Bader and Lorenz Larkin on the market now and fighters like Fabricio Werdum and Joe Duffy deciding to fight out their contracts instead of taking whatever the UFC offers, it doesn't appear to be stopping anytime in the near future. Fighters now have a legit option to choose outside of the UFC, and MMA as a sport will be better for it.

 

[Mix6APlix]

I like this thread.

 

[regular john]

good thread and I can't argue your picks.

I'm gonna be an ass though and say that I get strange vibes from Bellator since Coker took over.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

good thread and I can't argue your picks.

I'm gonna be an ass though and say that I get strange vibes from Bellator since Coker took over.

No worries- I prefer it to the old days, but thats just me. Everyones different. To me , the tournaments devauled themselves by having so many going at once. I love the tournament format, but one at a time so it gets the attention it deserves.

 

[regular john]

No worries- I prefer it to the old days, but thats just me. Everyones different. To me , the tournaments devauled themselves by having so many going at once. I love the tournament format, but one at a time so it gets the attention it deserves.

yes the tournaments were getting messy. but I loved that Bellator had its own identity - and that it was so different from the ufc. since Coker took over it seems like they try to do the same thing that the ufc does but at a much lower level.

 

[Rambo John J]

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[TheEmperorRises]

yes the tournaments were getting messy. but I loved that Bellator had its own identity - and that it was so different from the ufc. since Coker took over it seems like they try to do the same thing that the ufc does but at a much lower level.

Oh I disagree completely on that. 1 night LHW tournament. Bellator Kickboxing. Dynamite shows that have the ring and the cage side by side. The entrances. The sponsors. Most of what I enjoy about Bellator is how different they are.

 

[Lukewarm Carl]

Oh I disagree completely on that. 1 night LHW tournament. Bellator Kickboxing. Dynamite shows that have the ring and the cage side by side. The entrances. The sponsors. Most of what I enjoy about Bellator is how different they are.

I definitely prefer their entrances. They put enough into them to make the events seem more special without going all carny like JMMA and Russian MMA events do. The notable exception being whatever that weird shit was with Ken Shamrock and the singer.

I give zero damns about the sponsors though.

Kickboxing would be sweet if they actually featured it instead of seemingly burying it, or in the case of the most recent event, delaying it by a week and then airing late night. The way they are doing it now makes it seem like it's just an afterthought or filler.

The tournament and the side by side ring/cage are just gimmicks and do nothing for me.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

I give zero damns about the sponsors though.

Let me elaborate on that- by that I mean a) it's grwat that they're still allowed to go get that extra income and b) they don't all look the same. They're still afforded the opportunity for a little personal touch, or creativity. Cro Cop had his Croatianflag shorts, Saku had his orange shorts, BJ Penn had his black belt shorts, etc. Those are all things the current UFC would never allow. In Bellator, they could.

 

[Lukewarm Carl]

Let me elaborate on that- by that I mean a) it's grwat that they're still allowed to go get that extra income and b) they don't all look the same. They're still afforded the opportunity for a little personal touch, or creativity. Cro Cop had his Croatianflag shorts, Saku had his orange shorts, BJ Penn had his black belt shorts, etc. Those are all things the current UFC would never allow. In Bellator, they could.

Yeah. I get it. And it's cool that the fighters have more liberties like that.

But as a consumer, I really don't care. I just want to see talented fighters fighting. They could be wearing potato sacks for all I care.

 

[regular john]

Oh I disagree completely on that. 1 night LHW tournament. Bellator Kickboxing. Dynamite shows that have the ring and the cage side by side. The entrances. The sponsors. Most of what I enjoy about Bellator is how different they are.

good calls but I would only give significant weight to the tournament. the rest are meaningless IMO and Bellator Kickboxing is not even worth taking seriously so far. and even so the tournament kind of backfired.

overall the vibe I get from Bellator is "look what a great show we put with all these stars and high level fights" which is the same as the ufc but they don't quite pull it off.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

overall the vibe I get from Bellator is "look what a great show we put with all these stars and high level fights" which is the same as the ufc but they don't quite pull it off.

Help me understand- so you don't like that they try to promote their own stars and put on a good show....?

 

[regular john]

Help me understand- so you don't like that they try to promote their own stars and put on a good show....?

they try to promote the ufc's old stars more than their own homegrown stars - that's one big issue; I also don't like that they try to go toe to toe with the ufc in terms of putting a big show with big names when they just can't do it. I liked Bellator much more when they were a legit alternative where you'd see a completely different product with lots of homegrown fighters and the sports approach of having a tournament to set up the title fights without no politics involved.

I'm aware I'm in the minority and wouldn't try to convince anyone about this though - only the part where they have to stop obsessing about old fighters.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

they try to promote the ufc's old stars more than their own homegrown stars - that's one big issue; I also don't like that they try to go toe to toe with the ufc in terms of putting a big show with big names when they just can't do it. I liked Bellator much more when they were a legit alternative where you'd see a completely different product with lots of homegrown fighters and the sports approach of having a tournament to set up the title fights without no politics involved.

I'm aware I'm in the minority and wouldn't try to convince anyone about this though - only the part where they have to stop obsessing about old fighters.

It doesn't happen as often as you think. More often than not, if an "old UFC guy" is in the main event, it's against someone from Bellator. I'll highlight them for you (and not counting Daley- he's had more fights with Bellator than he did the UFC)

Bellator 148 Daley vs Uhrich
Bellator 149 Shamrock vs Gracie 3
Bellator 150 Kongo vs Spartan
Bellator 151 Caldwell vs Warren
Bellator 152 Pitbull vs Souza
Bellator 153 Koreshkov vs Henderson
Bellator 154 Davis vs King Mo
Bellator 155 Carvalho vs Manhoef
Bellator 156 Galvao vs Dantas 2
Bellator 157 Dyanamite 2 (Rampage vs Ishii)
Bellator 158 Daley vs Lima
Bellator 159 Caldwell vs Taimanglo
Bellator 160 Henderson vs Pitbull
Bellator 161 Kongo vs Johnson
Bellator 162 Shlemenko vs Grove
Bellator 163 McGeary vs Davis
Bellator 164 Koreshkov vs Lima 2
Bellator 165 Chandler vs Henderson
Bellator 166 Dantas vs Warren 2
Bellator 167 Caldwell vs Taimanglo 2
Bellator 168 Sakara vs Beltran
Bellator 169 Mo vs Ishii


- so only twice all year, the first being the highest rated show they had. Their young guys are taking over. Coker will keep using names that draw numbers, but he'll use that to bring attention to guys like MVP, Pitbull, Chandler, Lima, Caldwell, Dantas, Fortune, Pico, Ruth, etc.

 

[stielar]

and fighters like Fabricio Werdum and Joe Duffy deciding to fight out their contracts instead of taking whatever the UFC offers

What? How many fights does Werdum still have on his contract? Didn't he sign an 8 fight deal with ufc when he won the belt?

Edit: MVP's knockout of Cyborg is not Bellator knockout of the year, it's knockout of the year period.

 

[regular john]

It doesn't happen as often as you think. More often than not, if an "old UFC guy" is in the main event, it's against someone from Bellator. I'll highlight them for you (and not counting Daley- he's had more fights with Bellator than he did the UFC)

Bellator 148 Daley vs Uhrich
Bellator 149 Shamrock vs Gracie 3
Bellator 150 Kongo vs Spartan
Bellator 151 Caldwell vs Warren
Bellator 152 Pitbull vs Souza
Bellator 153 Koreshkov vs Henderson
Bellator 154 Davis vs King Mo
Bellator 155 Carvalho vs Manhoef
Bellator 156 Galvao vs Dantas 2
Bellator 157 Dyanamite 2 (Rampage vs Ishii)
Bellator 158 Daley vs Lima
Bellator 159 Caldwell vs Taimanglo
Bellator 160 Henderson vs Pitbull
Bellator 161 Kongo vs Johnson
Bellator 162 Shlemenko vs Grove
Bellator 163 McGeary vs Davis
Bellator 164 Koreshkov vs Lima 2
Bellator 165 Chandler vs Henderson
Bellator 166 Dantas vs Warren 2
Bellator 167 Caldwell vs Taimanglo 2
Bellator 168 Sakara vs Beltran
Bellator 169 Mo vs Ishii


- so only twice all year, the first being the highest rated show they had. Their young guys are taking over. Coker will keep using names that draw numbers, but he'll use that to bring attention to guys like MVP, Pitbull, Chandler, Lima, Caldwell, Dantas, Fortune, Pico, Ruth, etc.

it doesn't need to be a math thing where you count them up and conclude either A or B.

one card of Shamrock vs. Gracie/Kimbo vs. Dada or Tito vs. Chael gets all their attention and hype while Lima vs. Koreshkov is not even on live tv.

the theory that Coker is doing the same thing he did with Strikeforce sounds good but he turned it up a notch on the bad side and down one in the good side. Frank Shamrock headlined the Strikeforce show designed to bring attention then his older brother headlined Bellator cards 10 years later and Bellator's roster is nowhere near as good as Strikeforce was.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

What? How many fights does Werdum still have on his contract? Didn't he sign an 8 fight deal with ufc when he won the belt?

Not sure, but he said this recently-

"Once my contract is up, I don't know if I'll renew it,” Werdum said. “Many things can happen but I'll say this. I'm 100% a company man, be it a sponsor or an organization, I'm the kind of guy people can always count on. However, when it's not reciprocal, there's no way I can be the company man. When I'm happy, I do everything for things to turn out the best way they can, but when I'm unhappy, and I'm not happy at all with the UFC, at the moment, it's hard to be like that."

 

[TheEmperorRises]

one card of Shamrock vs. Gracie/Kimbo vs. Dada or Tito vs. Chael gets all their attention and hype while Lima vs. Koreshkov is not even on live tv.

They do that for the ad revenue- if they air that live at 3pm, it won't get as many viewers as the tape delayed show Friday night does. They aired the Italy show live at 3, but that was more to avoid UFC 206 then anything. And they promoted the hell out of Chandler vs Henderson, a legit LW title fight, and it did nowhere near the numbers Gracie vs Shamrock did. People complain, but they tuned in big time for that shit fight.

Frank Shamrock headlined the Strikeforce show designed to bring attention then his older brother headlined Bellator cards 10 years later and Bellator's roster is nowhere near as good as Strikeforce was.

Exactly- Bellator's roster isn't where Strikeforce's roster was, but it's getting there.

 

[regular john]

They do that for the ad revenue (...) they promoted the hell out of Chandler vs Henderson, a legit LW title fight, and it did nowhere near the numbers Gracie vs Shamrock did. People complain, but they tuned in big time for that shit fight.

I know they do it for money but I don't have to like it or agree with it. again, not trying to convince people one way or another, I just don't like it and don't care about their reasons.