Should Bellator Clear Up Their 170lb Title Picture With A One Night Tournament?
by smoogy2 on Nov 3, 2011 7:51 PM EDT
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PrintBen Askren vs. Jay Hieron last weekend for the Bellator WW Championship was a very close fight and the decision in Askren's favor had some (like Hieron himself) suggesting an immediate rematch. The problem with that, of course, is that the next WW tournament winner will be crowned Nov. 12th and he is guaranteed a shot at the champion. I propose a simple, elegant solution to the problem that might even draw some new interest for the company heading into next season if they promote it right.
The Season 6 premiere show should have a four man, one night tournament with the following format:
Semifinal A: Ben Askren vs. Lima/Saunders winner - 3x5
Semifinal B: Jay Hieron vs. Rick Hawn - 3x5
One Non Tournament Fight - 3x5
Final: A Winner vs. B Winner - 5x5
This scenario would solve most of the perceived problems in the division:
-Barring an injury in the semifinal round, the night ends with one unquestioned #1 at 170lbs in Bellator
-The Lima/Saunders winner gets his shot at Askren in a timely fashion
-Hieron, at 35, doesn't have to go through another 8 week tournament
-Many felt Season 4 Finalist Rick Hawn got hosed in his fight with Hieron
-It frees space in the planned Season 6 tournament, where they already have plenty of returning tournament vets to choose from such as Brent Weedman, Luis Santos, Chris Lozano and Lyman Good
Thoughts?
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Let me get this straight
You want the winner of Hieron/Hawn to fight a second fight about 30 minutes after their first fight?
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I like injuries as much as the next guy, but I'll take a pass on this one.
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Fighters by rule can’t fight more than 25 minutes in one night. Plus one-night tournaments are illegal in a lot of states
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by ElliotMatheny on Nov 3, 2011 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Not a bad idea, but totally implausible
When was the the last stateside one-night tournament? Over a decade ago? It’s just not gonna happen.
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Nah, there have been more recent one-night tournaments
Strikeforce just did one last year with their female 135-pounders. If a promotion wants to do it badly enough, they’ll find a commission to allow it.
Not to say Bellator will or should do this, but they could if they wanted to.
by MichaelDavidSmith on Nov 4, 2011 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Someone would. California probably would. They allowed Strikeforce: Four Man Enter, One Man Leaves to happen.
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by Leland Roling on Nov 4, 2011 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah but wasn’t that really weird rules like 2 rounds a referee decisions rather than judges
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Sure, but it was still allowed to happen.
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by Leland Roling on Nov 4, 2011 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions
Nah, that was in Armando Garcia's reign
George Dodd would never allow it IMO.
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by Dallas Winston on Nov 5, 2011 9:35 AM EDT up reply actions
One night tournaments?
please no.
I voted no, but I think a rematch is the best option, OR a 2 night mini-tornament
Imo
tournaments don’t clear up much of anything, rather they seem to cloud it more. i prefer seeing the proper matches made, with the fighters fighting under best possible conditions.
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I appreciate your "outside-the-box" thinking
But more than anything, this just highlights how stupid it is to combine the tournament format with belt holders. It needs to be one or the other or you’re forced to deal with this kind of ridiculousness. Add in completely random judging outcomes and there’s really no solution.
I vote for abandoning the belts and going with giant novelty trophies like they used to give in Pride. 3 ft. for participation, 5 ft. for semi-finalists/runner-up, 7 ft. for tournament champion. Everybody wins, especially trophy retailers.
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by Forbidden Psychological Technology on Nov 4, 2011 1:54 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
The first fight
just didn’t scream robbery to me. I had it 48-47 Askren but a couple of the rounds were so close that it could have went either way. I think Askren wins 7 out of 10 times or more, his take downs can’t honestly be as ugly and sloppy as they were in that fight. I see the winner of Saunders/Lima beating Askren quite soundly.
How about Ben Askren rematches Jay Hieron ASAP and then the winner is matched against the Lima/Saunders winner? I don’t see what’s wrong with that scenario. I’m as big of a Bellator fan as you’ll find, and I want to see that rematch. The first first was basically a draw, and it would just be nice to see Hieron get another shot.
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The only problem
is that your intention of fleshing out the WW pecking order would inevitably be distorted by the injuries and performance issues that always plague same-night tourneys.
"And when I am entombed in my place, Be it remembered of a single man,
He never, though he dearly loved his race, For fear of human eyes swerved from his plan."
"The days pass over me, And I am still the same;
The aroma of my life is gone With the flower with which it came."
It's rematch or back of the queue
After M’Pumbu’s non title loss and Askren’s near miss (I thought he lost actually) Bellator need to figure something else. This idea is a bit wierd though, people have pretty much covered all that’s wrong with one night tournaments. Another big problem is that this kind of has the same problems as the regular Bellator format. Sure, it would be a quicker way to settle it, but it still means Askren and Hieron are a fight away from the rematch that everyone wants to see in reality.
I think Bellator should bring a certain amount of flexibility into their structure. Ideally I love their format, it takes away the politics from MMA which is great. But in reality they’re going to suffer if they can’t their top fighters 3 or 4 meaningful fights a year and if dubious decisions can’t be settled?
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