Trading Shots: Was Bellator's big night a big success?

In the wake of Bellator’s first pay-per-view event, MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes joins former UFC/WEC fighter Danny Downes to discuss whether this counts as a win for the organization, and what that means for Bellator’s future.

Fowlkes: Well, Danny, Bellator pulled it off. Was it weird? Kind of. Did it drag on longer than it needed to? Definitely. But Bellator put together a pay-per-view event that, again, partially for its weirdness quotient alone, seemed pretty darn entertaining.

Did you have as much fun watching it as I did, and if so, were you equally as surprised? Perhaps more importantly, would you watch another one? You know, eventually?

Downes: To paraphrase “King Mo” Lawal, “Of course I was entertained … that’s a dumbass question.” Bellator 120 had a little bit of everything. A back-and-forth lightweight title fight, questionable judges’ decisions, Tito Ortiz busting out the gravedigger dance, and “Rampage” Jackson in a lackluster finish. All in all it was a solid night of fights. I would agree that the pacing was an issue, but the promo packages helped a little bit.

Was I surprised? Not really. If you’ve watched Bellator before, you’ve seen this type of show. Other than the construction of the fight card, they didn’t deviate from their usual formula too much. They delivered what I expected. I would watch it again, but content is king. I don’t care how many times I could watch a “giant fight a regular dude,” I’m not sure Bellator’s roster is deep enough to put on pay-per-view cards with regularity. The real question then becomes, “Did we expect too little?”

If your C student kid brings home a B- on his/her report card, you’re ecstatic. If a straight-A student brings one home, there’s going to be problems. People expected a train-wreck and those elements were present (i.e. Ortiz’s post fight interview), but they were fun in a snarky kind of way. Did you really like watching the Bellator pay-per-view, or did you only enjoy it like an ironic Montanan hipster?

Fowlkes: I actually enjoyed it. I think. To be honest, I feel like I’m still sorting through my thoughts on it. On one hand, like you said, lowered expectations changed the calculus somewhat. So did a lower price tag, at least here in the 406. As soon as Eddie Alvarez pulled out, this event seemed doomed. Then it happened anyway and, whaddaya know, it was actually pretty fun. There were plenty of surprises, just enough weirdness to make it seem like absolutely anything could happen, and at least one legitimately good fight, thanks to Michael Chandler and Will Brooks. It felt way more like MMA without a net than your standard UFC event does. Seriously, just try and imagine a UFC fighter talking to Dana White the way “Mo” Lawal talked to Bjorn Rebney immediately after his fight. I can picture the bulging forehead vein now.

I still can’t help but wonder, what does this actually do for Bellator? Did it create new fans? Will more people tune into the next Spike TV event because of this? You’re the one who lamented the fact that so many people seemed to be actively rooting against Bellator. Did anything happen on Saturday night to change that, or are we still mostly comfortable with Bellator as a sort of wacky alternative to the grizzled professionals over in the UFC?

Downes: I think last night’s event improved Bellator’s status. Sure, the metrics by which we categorize Bellator 120 as a success may be low, but a win’s a win right? Regardless of the long-term implications, I think everyone can agree that the event was enjoyable and worth watching. How long will that last, though? Bjorn Rebney sidestepped questions about the initial gate at last night’s press conference, and that’s probably not a good sign. Then, whenever the buy rate numbers come in, I’m sure everyone will rush to social media to say, “SEE! Bellator failed!!!! [insert number] buys?!?! LOLZ!!!!”

You can debate the importance of pay-per-view buys in general, but I think they’re especially inconsequential this time around. We wanted to see if the organization could put on a pay per view event, and it did. Will it go down in the annals of MMA history as one of the greatest events ever? No, but it didn’t need to accomplish something that lofty. It needed to appear capable and create buzz around the promotion. There’s still a long way to go, but you know, one step at a time, and all that stuff. What is that next step? Bellator has a little momentum now, but how does it maintain it? Is it all going to go away when the television experts take to Twitter and discuss pay-per-view orders?

Fowlkes: I have to think that Bellator wasn’t expecting big pay-per-view numbers, especially after Alvarez pulled out of the most pay-per-view-worthy fight on the card. The best it could hope to do was a) demonstrate that it could actually follow through on the promise of a pay-per-view, and b) give us something that would convince us to spend our Sunday talking about some non-UFC MMA for a change. It did both those things. Mission accomplished. Now it has to set the bar higher.

It’s cool to exceed expectations for one night. It’s fun to throw us some curveballs that leave us feeling like we got our money’s worth. But if Bellator wants to be a true competitor to the UFC, it needs consistency. This is a good start, but I’m not sure how far you can get just by being the weird kid on the block.

Downes: Who says you can’t make a career out of being weird? Lady Gaga has been doing it for years. Unfortunately, I don’t think that fight shorts made out of raw meat will help Bellator climb the ranks.

Society may be more receptive to MMA than it was a decade or two ago, but it’s still a fringe sport. It took years for the UFC to be taken seriously, and Bellator has many of the same hurdles to clear. Even last night, as fans begrudgingly gave Bellator kudos, the snideness was palpable. There are a number of respected MMA media people trying to assert that the Tito Ortiz/Alexander Shlemenko fight was a work. Oh, they’ll deny it by saying that, “Hey! I’m just asking questions,” but that’s the nonsense defense of every person trying to give credence to conspiracy theories. There will always be ungrounded claims in any sport, but do you think that they would say the same thing if it were a UFC event?

Bellator still has a long way to go, but last night was a success. No matter what happens from this point, we have to at least concede that point. The organization has done a lot of things worthy of our distrust and ridicule. Last night, however, it earned our praise. Now we’ll see if it can maintain our attention.

For complete coverage of Bellator 120, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.