d-d-d-dAz

Cain was so close to being the classiest loser in history. But he’s changed his mind, presumably after seeing the excuse the MMA community had made up for him, and is now saying he wasn’t hit and it was all knee. Okay, sir.

The Kofi thing is a symptom of things in wrestling never feeling truly exciting/special - nothing ever comes out of nowhere, the road to the top is often long and circuitous. Or, even if it is a bolt from the blue, it’s been reported about online or on social media. Having something come completely out of nowhere I think reignites the ‘fan gene’ in people that can see pushes as they’re happening and spend a lot of time on the internet reading about wrestling. It was the same when they had Santino in the last 2 of the Rumble once. People were going fucking spanners, yet if you were to catch them once their stiffies had abated they’d probably have told you they didn’t want Santino to headline wrestlemania.

The knee expedited the finish, but Francis forced it with his power. There was a short uppercut that caused Cain to drop, which blew the knee out. I feel bad for Francis as the commentators missed it, so now the narrative is that it was a freak finish. He won the fight, simple.

I thought, in a vacuum, the angle was pretty well executed. Made Becky look like a fucking lunatic. Whether it was deliberate or not, Ronda grabbing the other crutch and trying to block the shots really sold the violence of it. RONDA ROUSEY WAS FUCKING HIDING. Also, Charlotte was screaming like a victim from Saw, and belted a decent sized ‘FUCCCKKKK’ down the camera. It was a brutal angle, and I think it’s going to (re)heat Becky, erasing a bit of the damage from the apology. But, in context, the storyline is an unnecessary mess. Also, really, should anyone have to take that sort of damage for a scripted entertainment show?

That crutch beatdown was genuinely uncomfortable to watch. Charlotte Flair looked fucking distraught. I appreciate them trying to get heat back on Becky, but the injury story and Charlotte’s existence is so needless that I still feel quite cool on the whole story. These unforced, overcomplicated detours WWE take (when they could just travel the simplest route from A to B) are so deflating. Struggled to get into Kofi/Bryan only because it seemed obvious they weren’t going to put the belt on Kofi.

Going to bed, but just a thought for the morning for you Brits: Forgetting rd 1, if you didn’t like that fight you are a moron (I’m bias) And whilst it was razor close, MVP proved that his striking is legit: Daley looked scared of him on the feet, and even though MVP’s wrestling was terrible, he showed he might be able to reverse you at the very least. I thought he won the fight, but it was razor thin. Lima should FUCK him up though. the projected May 11 card (live, only on DAZN and Sky Sports) is MVP vs Lima, Chandler vs Pitbull, Swagger vs TBD and AJ McKee vs Pat Curran. Fuck you if that doesn’t tickle your pickle. *edit* don’t know if it got on the broadcast but Jarrel Miller came and at sat next to me during the fight (as I was as with the DAZN crew... A) he’s the nicest guy ever. Literally as friendly, clever and polite as it comes but b) he’s kind of a kickboxing genius. I know he fought professional kickboxing previously (lost 2 UDs to Cro Cop, one of which he clearly won), but it was genuinely surprising sitting next to him as he called everyone’s next move on the feet. He knew everything that was coming off the smallest show.

Surreal. One of the fights I’ve looked forward to for years, and I’m right up front.

I was front row last night, and I’m fairly sure I heard Kharitonov’s ball pop like a water balloon. The finish in the Kimble fight was crazy, and was another highly thought of prospect going down the tubes. Bellators recent record of hype trains coming off the tracks is really remarkable. ...doesn’t bode well for MVP!!

Brent Primus is in the main event, against Tim Wilde. Nothing else announced, yet.

Which probably tells you what show Sky really wanted, and that taking a years worth of events was probably the price of admission. I bet hardly any money swapped hands, truth be told. Just seems like both sides get what they want out of it, without even getting to the license fee.

I was all up for having a little laugh at Aaron Chalmers and his cunty Geordie Shore mates, but Helwani’s tweet spun me 360 on the matter. Sometimes, I can really see what grinds Dana about Ariel. He can be a smug, snide shite at times. Was his opposition great previously? No, but he still put in the work and fought what was in front of him. You can’t just say anything that came previously didn’t count, but the one he loses does. Fuck that. He won some fights, he lost a fight. That’s it. He’s always been fairly honest about his level, and now we’ve probably seen exactly where his ceiling is. ...still funny he lost after they built an event around him though.

Bobby Knuckles is hands down the worst champion in UFC history, no? Sure, he’s a warrior but he’s always dull, injured and dull again. Fuck off mate.

That's the look of a man who would need a wet wipe to clean his chopper before you took your seat..

It’s alright fellas, Kota’s gone to great lengths to make you feel better about it:

So the European Series events are sold as a seperate package (hence why no one is currently slated to show them as a US): Sky have the regular numbered events (which includes James Gallagher in Dublin later this month), and Channel 5 are going to show the European Series live. Pretty good week for Bellator.