'Fight Master' not yet renewed for second season, says Bellator boss

Bellator and Spike TV have yet to decide if the promotion’s first foray into reality TV will get a second season.

This past week, a tweet from MMA and pop culture website Middle Easy said “Bellator MMA: Fight Master” has been renewed, but Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said the show’s fate is still up in the air.

“That is news to me as the executive in charge of the Bellator brand,” laughed Rebney when asked if Season 2 is a go.

Featuring a fighter-centric elimination tournament and veteran MMA coaches, “Fight Master” debuted in June on Spike TV and drew an average of just under 489,000 viewers. The show was moved mid-season from Wednesday nights to Thursday when ratings sagged and ended a 10-episode run with an average viewership of around 600,000.

The show’s finale is set to take place on the preliminary card of Bellator’s first pay-per-view card, which takes place Nov. 2 at Long Beach Arena in California and airs on Spike TV. The event’s main card features a light heavyweight headliner between ex-UFC champs Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson.

In the reality show tournament finals, welterweight veterans Joe Riggs and Mike Bronzoulis square off for a $100,000 check and a spot in Bellator’s Season 10 tournament.

Rebney, who spoke to MMAjunkie.com immediately following this past Friday’s Bellator 101, said Bellator and Spike’s focus is on the immediate future.

“(Spike TV President) Kevin (Kay) and I have had a lot of talks about it, but Kevin and I have been really heavily focused on this season and the pay-per-view,” he said. “So any kind of consideration of other shoulder programming is really going to have to wait.

“There’s no official announcement on ‘Fight Master.’ It’s a good show; Joe (Warren) was great, Frank (Shamrock) was great – they were both here tonight. But there’s no official statement on that at this point. It’s literally not the central focus of what we’re doing right now.”

Bellator and Spike announced the creation of “Fight Master” during a press conference in February in Los Angeles. The show featured MMA veterans Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Greg Jackson and Joe Warren as coaches while a 32-member cast fought to earn a spot on the show. The fighters lived at a compound in New Orleans and chose both their coaches and their opponents during the tournament.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Joe Riggs)