With four seasons under his belt, Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney knows his organization has shined in a few key areas.With a hodgepodge of TV deals that ultimately led to MTV2, ratings have been a mixed bag. And grabbing MMA fans' interest following the UFC-Strikeforce merger has been tough.
But Rebney, who kicks off a three-event "Summer Series" of shows later this month, knows the organization's summer tournament is proof of two accomplishments: international recruiting and a solid featherweight division.
Rebney, a recent guest on MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), traditionally runs weekly shows as part of a 12-week season. But to bridge the gap between the fourth season, which concluded in May, and the fifth season, which kicks off in September, Bellator is hosting monthly summer shows.
The first, Bellator 46, airs June 25 on MTV2 from Hollywood, Fla. It kicks off a star-studded eight-man featherweight grand prix.
Rebney thinks the three-round, three-month tourney could produce and solidify some top-10 talent, which the recently concluded fourth-season tourney accomplished.
"I got the most recent issue of 'FIGHT! Magazine' and looked at their rankings," Rebney said. "At 145 pounds, we've got three of the top six-ranked fighters in the world between Daniel Strauss, Patricio 'Pitbull' (Freire) and (current champ) Joe Warren.
"And then you look at who you've got coming up this summer, and you've got Marlon Sandro, you've got Ronnie Mann, and you've Pat Curran. Jumping down you've got Nazareno Malegarie. You have some rock stars in the Summer Series tournament who don't even get mentioned in the top-10 breath, and anyone of those guys could be in there. Featherweight is stacked for us."
One of the biggest scores for the tournament is Sandro, a longtime World Victory Road/Sengoku veteran who makes his American debut. Sandro takes on Genair da Silva in an opening-round tourney bout that headlines Bellator 46.
It wasn't easy convincing the Brazilian to move to the U.S., but the efforts ultimately paid off.
"He's a beast," Rebney said of Sandro, an early tourney favorite. "We were just putting everything in order to let everything flow in terms of getting everyone around him comfortable with coming over and making this his home in the States. And we were finally able to do it. ... We had been pursuing him for 18 months."
But it's a philosophy Bellator long has embraced, thanks in large part to matchmaker Sam Caplan and a team of immigration lawyers. Rebney said international recruiting is simply good business. It's also an opportunity to shine in an area other organizations, including the UFC and Strikeforce, haven't necessarily cornered.
"The process has always more about bringing in the best fighters in the world that we can sign as opposed – well, it's never been a casting call," he said. "It's always been about who we can find. I don't care where they're from, what language they speak, or what nation they call home. It's, 'Can you fight?' That's where you find Alexander Shlemenkos and Christian M'Pumbus and fighters like that."
As with M'Pumbu, the season-four light-heavyweight tourney winner, and Alexander Shlemenko, a season-two middleweight tourney winner, Bellator's tourneys can provide great exposure for international talent. They can also introduce North American prospects who haven't quite hit the international stage.
Want an example? Rebney said to look no further than season-four lightweight tourney winner Michael Chandler, who soon meets lightweight champ and top-five-ranked Eddie Alvarez.
"That's the magic of the format we've got," he said. "If you're a guy like Mike Chandler ... and you put in the time and put in the effort have the ability, in three months, you can take yourself from unknown to pending star. That's what Mike Chandler has done."
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