So now that Strikeforce is owned by Zuffa, that makes Bellator the de facto number 2 promotion in North America right? Maybe even the world? Mark Pavelich might have something ugly to say about that, but for right now it looks to be true. MMAJunkie.com sat down with Bjorn Rebney to discuss just WTF is going on in this MMA universe of ours and if Bellator will meet a fate similar to Strikeforce. Read below.
“I am a big fan of controlling one’s own destiny. It’s what got me to this point. … It’s that type of control of controlling your destiny that is everything our organization is about. It’s our very, very core.”
“If there’s a great fighter, and he’s available, and it makes sense, and he’d like to be in Bellator and on MTV2, and we’d like him to participate for us … absolutely we’d be interested.”
“There’s no potential way for someone … to come over here, no matter how good they are, and get a title shot,” Rebney said. “You’d never see a situation in Bellator like with what happened with Dan Henderson, where he was brought over (to Strikeforce) and through a matchmaking formula be given a title shot.
“Under no circumstance would we make that exception. Paul Daley or anyone else from Strikeforce or anyone else’s roster, they’d have to go through the same exact process Eddie Alvarez and other fighter have gone through.”
If this takeover of Strikeforce means we get more incredible tournaments from Bellator I’m all for it. Last nights 155 pound opening round was superlative.
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