Since winning his title two-and-a-half years ago, Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard has defended his belt just once.
The same goes for lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
But that could soon change. As Bellator CEO and chairman Bjorn Rebeny told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com), the addition of more tournaments, the elimination of non-title fights, and continued between-seasons events all could result in the champs defending their titles more often.
Bellator, of course, has carved out a niche in the MMA industry with its eight-man (and eight-woman) tournaments. The only way to win a Bellator belt or to get an opportunity to challenge for one is to win a tourney – which requires fighting three times in as little as 10 weeks.
Recent tourney winner Jay Hieron recently earned the right to fight welterweight champion Ben Askren, who squeaked by with a split-decision victory at Bellator 56. It was a good, competitive fight with plenty of pre-event buzz, and many feel a rematch is in order. But Rebney said his policy isn't going to change.
"Absolutely not," Rebney said. "It was a great fight ... but Jay would have to win another tournament to get another shot."
Thankfully for Askren, he'll have his next challenge soon enough; a season-five welterweight tourney wraps this weekend with Bellator 57's finale between Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima. But that hasn't been the case in other weight classes. Bellator currently boasts eight champions, but despite five seasons and 56 shows, no champion has had the opportunity to defend his title more than once.
Part of the reason is the infrequency of tournaments. Currently, Bellator hosts four tournaments per 12-week season (a tourney also was held during three monthly "Summer Series" events). So without top contenders continually churned out, Bellator has booked a number of "super fights" – non-title bouts pitting a champion vs. what's usually an underdog opponent. For a couple years, Bellator avoided any disasters, but this past month against veteran Travis Wiuff, light-heavyweight champion Christian M'Pumbu earned the dubious honor of becoming the first champ to lose a super fight.
Eliminating "super fights"
The loss obviously tarnished M'Pumbu's championship, but Rebney said he may curb such gambles in the future.
"We've talked about eliminating the super fights," he said. "It's a consideration."
But if champions already are having a hard enough time getting fights, wouldn't the elimination of non-title fights just compound the problem?
"What we'd do is hold more tournaments each season," he said.
During early-season events, Bellator's MTV2-televised main cards are comprised solely of opening-round tourney fights. With four tournaments, that's a month's worth of shows comprised solely of opening-round tourney fights.
So how could Bellator cram in more tournaments and still wrap all three rounds within 12 weeks?
More tournaments
Rebney said the addition of more tournaments would require some restructuring.
He doesn't have a definitive game plan, but he said some opening-round matchups could be featured on the Spike.com prelims instead of the televised main cards.
Another option?
"Perhaps we could do longer show times," he said. "We could have each event run longer and get more fights on TV."
Bellator will remain on MTV2 for season six, which is expected to launch in March, and season seven, which likely kicks off in September 2012. But with Viacom recently purchasing a majority stake in Bellator (and with the UFC's vacated slot on Spike TV expected to go to Bellator in 2012), longer event broadcasts certainly are possible.
One option Rebney doesn't like, though, is doing four-man tournaments instead of eight-man tourneys. He likes that fighters have to compete three times to win a tournament. And though four-man tourneys would allow Bellator to determine a winner and have him fight for a title all in the same season, Rebney believes it'd come at a cost.
"[The eight-man tourneys] really produce storylines," he said. "It's enough time to really get to know a fighter and know that he earned his title shot. Through this season's tournament, there's no question someone like Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima have done an awful lot to establish their names and prove they deserve a shot at Ben's title."
He also points to current middleweight-tourney finalist Vitor Vianna, who looked mediocre in an opening-round win over Sam Alvey but spectacular in a semifinal victory over tourney favorite Bryan Baker. A four-man tourney wouldn't have given him that second chance to impress before the tourney finale.
Whatever ultimately is decided, though, just don't expect the tourney format to disappear.
"It's worked for us," Rebney said. "Title shots are truly earned, not given. The fighters appreciate that. I think the fans do too. The format has worked for us."
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