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It's like for the first time in a long time that Bellator was preparing a card that interested fans. Not only did they kick off the long-awaited Welterweight Grand Prix with a rubber match between former champions Andrey Koreshkov and Douglas Lima, but the middleweight competition between Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald failed. Clearly, the latter was the most urgent contest because it was not just a fight for the title, but it was a champion fight against champion. In the end, MacDonald failed in his quest to be the first double champion in the history of Bellator while Mousasi dominated.
Although the action in the cage went well, it would not be a Bellator event without something weird crumbling. No, I'm not talking about the fourth competition between Wanderlei Silva and Rampage Jackson; even if the senior circuit competitions usually have a lot of quirks. This time everything was technical. Here is the essence of how things went.
winners
Gegard Mousasi: After some precarious performances on his arrival at Bellator, Mousasi finally seemed to be the fighter that Bellator thought he would receive. His shot was on the point, restoring MacDonald with jabs and rights. When MacDonald decided to lead the fight on the ground, Mousasi had no problem with the change of venue. He methodically found the mount and beat the welterweight champion. Apart from a stroke of luck similar to Uriah Hall, there does not seem to be a member of the Bellator list that could pose a legitimate threat to the Mousasi title. Mousasi expressed his belief that Rafael Lovato deserves the next shot. Although Lovato is not a bad choice, does anyone see Mousasi fall on him? Mousasi should reign over the middleweight division as long as he wishes.
Jackson Rampage: I know a lot of people are putting my Jackson back on the stage. I understood. He's fat. Guess what? It also means he did not have to reduce weight, which he has been complaining about for a long time. Again, what did Jackson not complain about? Nevertheless, Jackson injured Wanderlei several times before ending about 30 seconds before the end of the second round to tie the game. Given that they are now tied at two wins each, the question is whether Scott Coker will try to field a fifth contest. I may have been entertained by this contest, but I really hope that it will not do it.
Douglas Lima: His unilateral victory over Koreshkov was therefore not the most exciting in the world. It was smart, methodical and more than enough to win a victory. In fact, he fell asleep on the last lap to mark the trilogy between the two. The biggest key – apart from the low blows of Lima of course – was the surprisingly strong defense of Lima. Lima has always been a dangerous striker. Although he has never been a silly fighter, he has become one of the smartest fighters in the sport.
Aaron Pico: Bellator is called to protect their young prospects for years, Michael Page being the most notable example. They did not do anything with Pico. In his fifth professional fight, he faced a guy from Leandro Higo, who was competing for the Bellator's bantamweight title last year. Pico just demolished this guy. It's a 22-year-old kid who is still young in his career. Calling the LeBron James MMA can cause an eye roll, although no one immediately rejects the comparison. This in itself should say a lot about the quality of this child.
Gaston Bolanos: He is not yet known by all means, at least by the MMA standards, but Bolanos has progressed at a pace that delighted the Bellator brass. Each of his fights he has won, he has finished within the bounds of distance in an impressive way. The next step for the Peruvian is to beat an opponent we have heard about. Seriously, who is Ysidro Gutierrez? Be that as it may, I do not blame Bellator for taking time with the youngster.
losers
Rory MacDonald: Unlike Mousasi, MacDonald's performance since coming to Bellator has steadily worsened. Again, his competition has gradually improved. Whatever the case may be, MacDonald has done nothing significant to make the contest competitive from a distance. Accustomed to being the biggest man in the cage, he could not take off. After eating several hard knocks on his nose (remembering that MacDoanld's nose had been severely damaged in previous competitions), MacDonald chose to go to the ground. If he had tried to use his fight, I would have agreed with that strategy. Instead, MacDonald went with … an Imanari roll? Really? Yeah … Mousasi had no problem turning that into an advantage.
Fortunately for MacDonald, he is still the welterweight champion. Unfortunately for the fans, it seems like we may be waiting for MacDonald to take part in the welterweight tournament. On both previous occasions, his nose was broken, he was gone almost a year. If his nose was similarly damaged this time, we could wait until next summer.
Andrey Koreshkov: Remember when Koreshkov seemed unstoppable? Burying Henderson after taking the Lima belt in their first contest? Even though it was only two years ago, it looks like a distant memory. Koreshkov looked like a deer in the headlights, afraid to do anything but get up and shoot. Did his loss of KO in Lima after their second competition stay in his mind? Who knows. Whatever it is, Koreshkov needs a rebound in the worst way.
Leandro Higo: Higo did not look bad. He kicked heavy shots on Pico while having the impression of being able to fend for himself. But it has in truck By Pico, it took a lot of unnecessary mess in the process while Mark Smith was late to stop the contest. Higo may not have all his age at 29, but he's been fighting as a professional since 2006. He has a lot of miles below him and could very well be a disadvantage to his career.
Mark Smith: It seems that there is at least one card contest where a referee authorizes the action too long. This time, Higo was the victim and Smith was the culprit. Smith is not one of the best-known sports referees at the moment, although I imagine most people who follow the sport know him well. At this rate, there will no longer be a referee in the sport with which the fighters will feel comfortable to protect them.
DAZN: The streaming service was not really available to fans because many of them had problems to solve for the service to go through. Since it was the first time that it broadcast a Bellator show, we probably expected some bugs. Not so, however. It may not have been as catastrophic as McGregor-Mayweather's streaming problems last year, but it was not a good start.
British viewers: Once the time was up at 6 am in the UK, Channel 5 – which featured the event – decided not to Peppa Pig… as the main event began. Many fans tweeted angrily on Channel 5 and Scott Coker. The NFL has the Heidi Game, now MMA has the Peppa Pig Fight.
Or
Wanderlei Silva: Of course, it was a loss. A loss of TKO to that. Let's be fair though. Silva did not look as bad as many thought. He has hurt Jackson many times, proving that he could still participate in a fun contest … as long as he was properly associated. Given these factors, most would agree that Silva's shares rose after this contest. There is no future competition that I can think of in the future, but there is no better way than to put Coker in the place of Senior Circuit.
Keri Melendez: A tight decision on a fighter without a single professional contest is not what the German Bellator had in mind when he opposed it to Dakota Zimmerman. Melendez showed a weak ground game while Zimmerman's first-round triangle attempt should have been avoided. Melendez got the last two MMA competitions and took them quickly. Either Zimmerman is much better than we all think or Melendez is not what we thought we were. Most likely, it's a combination of both. Nevertheless, she came out with a win, preventing the night from being a disaster.
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