Bellator Champions Series

[Egg Shen]

A new era for Bellator. Thought i'd let the old thread go and start a new one for this new Championship Series the PFL are keeping together. Can't help but feel this is the promotion of unwanted toys now as a bunch of the Bellator roster has moved into the PFL for the upcoming seasons, and only a couple of up and coming PFL fighters appear on this show, it does feel like leftover fighters. Still, holding a Bellator belt now will lead you into the big Bellator vs. PFL shows so there's a goal beyond the belt now which I think is pretty cool. I'm interested to see if this is basically Bellator with PFL production which would be great, because I think Bellator's production was a big reason why the show wasn't translating well to TV (coupled with the fact that the fights rarely delivered). Hopefully they keep Big John off commentary too. 

The show has been moved to DAZN too, so I guess that means the BBC deal is toast. I'll double check that later in the week though.

This really is standard Bellator Ireland fair, but they were always some of Bellator's best shows. Here's the skinny:

A lot of the undercard looks like standard Bellator Europe matchmaking, just matching their English and Irish figthers up randomly but lots to like, and a very strong main card. Nice to see them squeeze Pitbull on here after his Saudi cancellation too.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2024 by Egg Shen

[Egg Shen]

Bellator has a pretty nice new home in the States:

 

[Egg Shen]

The official fight day graphic, few changes from the initial post:

[wandshogun09]

Few fights worth checking out but I can’t be watching Corey Anderson main events.

I don’t keep tabs on Bellator as much these days. Barring the odd show, I think pretty much all my Bellator knowledge comes from @Egg Shen posts on here. Only just twigged that Nate Kelly is the same kid from the Conor McGregor press conference years ago! 

[Egg Shen]

Take Anderson/Moore out and I think you have a cracking main card. Just pretend Pitbull/Kennedy is the main event then hop into bed.

[Kfogg1991]

Watching live now jesus Christ I love early fight cards for us they are always so much more enjoyable. 

So far everyone has come to get a finish and it's been a good card so far. Very very excited for the entire card thus far has showed up and been great 

[Egg Shen]

Watched it up until the Alfie Davis fight then got sidetracked and didn't go back to it, standard. I'll keep the thread alive though just to keep people upto date. 

One note though, they had completely altered the production and got shot of Big John and Josh Thomson which was a huge improvement (though Big John pops up in the Din Thomas role, which he's good at).

[Egg Shen]

Wasn't even gonna post as interest outside of a UFC card is at an all time low here, but thought better of it because Cedric Doumbe is sneaking in the back door this Friday and fighting in Bellator against Jaleel Willis. Feels like the hype is super quiet for this compared to his last fight but it's going down Friday on DAZN.

 

[Kfogg1991]

Looking forward to this one with the debut of doumbe should be a good one 

[Egg Shen]

https://twitter.com/PFLMMA/status/1791147447479099425?t=e-olTHIMBHJyyTNNU2zc1Q&s=19

Yeah, i'll be watching. Here's the final card:

Edited May 17, 2024 by Egg Shen

[Kfogg1991]

Pretty hyped for this one honestly I could get used and live in a world where we get these start times 

Five in the afternoon and get live scraps absolutely stunning the main and co main are great fights with good potential 

Aspen Ladd being second on the card is mad she has significantly lost value

[Egg Shen]

enjoy buddy

[Kfogg1991]

Loving it so far had some good scraps.

I think I enjoy belator because there shows do seem to have fight's that deliver and both fighters want the win and want to put on a show for fans both in the venue and at home.

Not saying the UFC don't have the same but there are fights where it feels less engaging because they run shows every week pretty much now belator don't so the card can feel like there greatful for the spot and want to prove their worth on their if I'm making sense there I do question sometimes lol 

[wandshogun09]

Didn’t watch it and I was only really arsed about Doumbe’s fight anyway. Glad to see he won and it sounded like he looked really good. I saw clips on Twitter of the little face-off with Anthony Pettis after and I’d be up for that. I’ll believe it when I see it though. Wasn’t long ago they had Doumbe facing off with MVP and we saw where that went. Doumbe vs Pettis would be a cool fight. But no doubt Doumbe smashes him at this point in both their careers.

I liked this from Doumbe playing off the old splinter in the toe thing from his last fight ?

[Egg Shen]

Yeah it was decent in all. The jury is obviously still out on Doumbe, but this was the first time I actually thought he may do pretty well in MMA overall. There seemed to be more there than just being a kickboxer who's transitioned over. Willis was clearly caught up on the occasion and lost composure in there but Doumbe handled it well. Crowd were fantastic again.

By all accounts the Pettis fight is a done deal. Pettis has re-signed with the PFL on a 1 fight deal. The issue they have now is that it was going to be in Saudi, but both fighters are now pushing for it to be in Paris, so it could come later than expected.

The new commentary team has given the show a shot in the arm too, makes a big difference.