For some reason, our Sunday Morning Rumor Mill is consumed by a multitude of people in the short span of only a five hours. People are ravenous when it comes to theoretical scenarios, rumors, allegations and seemingly extraordinary claims. We’re a world full of yentas insistently yenting for the sake of yenting. That’s relatively the extent of my Yiddish. I also know ‘tukis’, ‘schlemiel’ and ‘agita’ compliments of Howard Stern.
In our last edition of the Sunday Morning Rumor Mill, a lot of stuff was aimed at Bellator, specifically the imminent financial problems that faced the organization. All of our stuff comes from relatively reliable sources, however it’s important to note that everything is the Sunday Morning Rumor Mill is just that, rumors. Apparently Bellator CEO, Bjorn Rebney, believes that everything in our latest edition of the Sunday Morning Rumor Mill is ‘ridiculous’ and has ‘no connection with reality’.
MMAFC: Have you read, or are you otherwise familiar with this Rumor Mill piece and its allegations?
BR: Yes.
MMAFC: Is all, or any of it true? What can you tell us about it?
BR: It is totally inaccurate. It is patently inaccurate and ridiculous. It is totally and completely meritless, with absolutely no connection to reality.
MMAFC: The next section runs through a list of dollar figures, which ends by saying that each show “leaves them in a substantial hole…”. Is this accurate?
BR: Every dollar amount listed is completely inaccurate. Again, patently inaccurate and ridiculous.
MMAFC: Next, we read that the hedge fund is “just not happy with the financial results thus far.” Is this true?
BR: No, it is not. I talk to our investors regularly, and they have frankly never been happier than they are right now. I just had a Sunday breakfast meeting with them, and to say that their overall mood was jovial, would be an understatement. Over the two years that we have been involved with our main investor, a Business Development Corporation (not actually a hedge fund) worth approximately $500 million, we have met all of our projections. That coupled with our multi-year television alliance, no more pre-emptions, and greatly increase market share has them very happy.
MMAFC: Have you given away a “substantial portion” of your share in Bellator to investors to ensure that they do not “pull the plug” on you?
BR: No, nothing of the sort has taken place. We structured our deal with our primary investor, and that has remained unchanged from then until now. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth, talking about investors pulling the plug. We have solid plans for Seasons 4, 5, and 6, currently in place. In 2011 we are going to have 25 shows, and in 2012 we are going to have 26 shows. With these plans, and our new TV deal, we have never been in a better place than we are now.
I know some of you aren’t that savvy with abbreviations, so BR stands for Bjorn Rebney and not the chemical element Bromine. We’re not the only ones who claimed that Bellator may be going through financial problems. Robert Joyner actually composed a piece where he gives some explicit numbers regarding Bellator back in May of this year. He’s noted the numbers mentioned in our Sunday Morning Rumor Mill seemed to be somewhat congruent to what he’s been hearing.
For the sake of MMA, I hope that we’re wrong. I want to believe Bjorn Rebney. If you’re a fan of the sport, then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t want to see a weekly show featuring a variety of weight classes banging heads for the sake of your entertainment. Personally, I don’t want to see Bellator go away. This wasn’t an attack on Bjorn Rebney, but just stuff that we heard from a few reliable sources (including Robert Joyner). Now that you’ve cleared that up, focus on assembling Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez — because we all know that Gilbert is already celebrating. Props to Miss Rara for the find. [Source]
