Bellator MMA holds virtual press conference TODAY (Tuesday, February 9, 2021) at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT. The place and time were first disclosed to the mixed martial arts (MMA) media in a massive “save the date” email campaign, but the details have not been officially revealed … yet.
As today’s press conference happens, we’ll bring you live updates below on what Bellator has in store for 2021. Is he announcing the full show list for this fight season? Is the promotion moving to another platform under the Viacom / CBS umbrella? Have you hired any fighters recently released by the UFC?
It may even be a combination of all of the above, or something that none of us had considered before. Watch the stream in the embedded player above and stay tuned here at MMAmania.com for the latest news.
Mauro Ranallo informs that Bellator MMA is moving to Showtime. He joined Showtime president of sports and events programming Stephen Espinoza and Bellator president Scott Coker at the table. Coker is saying that he is very excited to return to Showtime, now with Bellator instead of Strikeforce, of course, and Espinoza reminds us that they are exclusive to Showtime from April 2 with three consecutive weeks of Friday nights .
On April 2 it will be Patricio Freire x Emmanuel Sanchez, with the winner advancing to face AJ McKee in June. Coker also announced that there will be a Light Heavyweight Grand Prix starting on April 9 and continuing on April 16. On May 7, there will be a fight for the title between Juan Archuleta and Sergio Pettis. Showtime is offering a 30-day free trial and will then cost $ 4.99 a month for the next six months for new subscribers.
Espinoza: “What attracted us to Bellator at this time was the talent base. They are as strong as any organization in this sport. We can bring the premium touch, our experience in combat sports, to the great team that Bellator already has. We believe that we can pollinate the boxing and MMA audience in a way that benefits all combat sports. “
Coker: “We will start with the three fights in April, so we will probably go twice a month for the rest of the year. It will revolve around that number in the future. “
Coker: “Fridays is Bellator’s home on Showtime at 9 pm ET and 6 Pacific.”
Coker: “Traditionally we like to hold one tournament a year, we are kind of overlapping due to the situation with COVID, but in the future it is definitely an option. When we signed with Rumble and Romero, I said okay, we have to do that (for light heavyweights). So we said okay, let’s give the fans what they want to see, and we’ll do that on Showtime. “
Coker: “We will announce the tournament with Mauro in a few minutes, but it will be an eight-man tournament.”
Mauro passes the broadcast to Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell of the Morning Kombat. Thomas says it’s all complete, since Rich Chou was the matchmaker at Strikeforce and Scott Coker was the president of Strikeforce, so it all makes sense with the same names in place. He admits that working for Showtime is biased, of course, but he believes they have the best combat sports schedule, and Campbell says that Bellator’s list is the most hungry and strongest, where the best of the best now has the best partner on Showtime.
Thomas launches a video package for the Featherweight Grand Prix, and we return to Mauro Ranallo presenting tournament finalist AJ McKee. He will face the winner of the champion Patricio Freire x Emmanuel Sanchez, in the long awaited rematch. Both men are also introduced, with “champion” Freire coming out last.
McKee: “Preference for preference I prefer to fight Sanchez, and then face Pitbull for the 155 pound title.”
Sanchez: “(It is) to get that win back and go to the finals and also get that back.”
Freire: “Everyone is tough here, everyone knows this, but my focus is Emmanuel Sanchez. Let’s do this first. “
Sanchez: “I know my potential and I know what it is capable of, and I’m excited to go out there and show what I can do.”
Freire: “I already know that I am the best featherweight on the planet and (AJ) is undefeated, but I will prove it again.”
Ranallo returns to Morning Kombat for his analysis of the semifinals and potential finals against McKee. They play back to Ranallo to find out more about the 205 lb tournament.
Corey Anderson will face Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.
Ryan Bader faces Lyoto Machida on April 9.
Anthony Johnson will face Yoel Romero.
Vadim Nemkov will face Phil Davis on April 16.
Anderson says he will treat Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov as if he is the best in the world, even though he has a name that no one has ever heard of before. Davis says being on stage with that talent is incredible and the winner is really the best light heavyweight in the world. Machida says he cannot predict what the rematch with Ryan Bader will look like.
We are now accompanied by Juan Archuleta. “Patrick (Mix) was a tough opponent, I knew that in the last few rounds his grappling would decrease and I would enjoy the striking. You are not chasing the dragon (as a champion), now you should be able to act from now on. I think if he follows his game plan, Patricio will come out on top (in the tournament) and we will cross again at some point in the future. “
Sergio Pettis is right here: “I don’t like to think about what I’m going to do. He’s a tough guy and he’s a great platform, but he means more because it’s for the title. “
Coverage now shifts to the Bellator conference call with the fighters and Bellator President Scott Coker, who will be the first on the conference call.
Coker:
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