Bellator's light heavyweight champion, Attila Vegh, told Wojslaw Rysiewski of MMARocks.PL that the promotion made him sit out of an upcoming fight in order to set up for a rematch between former Strikeforce champion and 2013 Summer Series winner "King" Mo Lawal and the man who beat him earlier this year, Season 8 Light Heavyweight Tournament-winner Emanuel Newton.
He wrote on twitter:
"so Bellator is all about competition, not "hype and matchmaking politics"
"Meanwhile Bellator LHW champion Attila Vegh tells us he's shoulder is fine but BFC made him sit out and matched Lawal vs Newton for the belt"
That is most unflattering news for the California-based promotion.
Bellator MMA has always promoted itself as a sport-first promotion, running opposite to the UFC, which sometimes prioritizes popular fighters ahead of legitimate contenders in their championship matchmaking. However, in recent months the promotion has started to let that notion slip.
Bellator and its president, Bjorn Rebney, have been criticized heavily for what seems to be a complete indifference to the fact that their long-time welterweight champion, Ben Askren, is openly fielding offers from the UFC, coupled alongside recently-announced bouts between former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, as well as a rematch between lightweight champion Michael Chandler and former champion Eddie Alvarez. Season 7 Lightweight Tournament-winner David Jansen is the on-paper top contender at 155 lbs at this time.
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He wrote on twitter:
"so Bellator is all about competition, not "hype and matchmaking politics"
"Meanwhile Bellator LHW champion Attila Vegh tells us he's shoulder is fine but BFC made him sit out and matched Lawal vs Newton for the belt"
That is most unflattering news for the California-based promotion.
Bellator MMA has always promoted itself as a sport-first promotion, running opposite to the UFC, which sometimes prioritizes popular fighters ahead of legitimate contenders in their championship matchmaking. However, in recent months the promotion has started to let that notion slip.
Bellator and its president, Bjorn Rebney, have been criticized heavily for what seems to be a complete indifference to the fact that their long-time welterweight champion, Ben Askren, is openly fielding offers from the UFC, coupled alongside recently-announced bouts between former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, as well as a rematch between lightweight champion Michael Chandler and former champion Eddie Alvarez. Season 7 Lightweight Tournament-winner David Jansen is the on-paper top contender at 155 lbs at this time.
Go Check out all of our social media
– You can now follow me (Andy) on my Twitter account is at https://twitter.com/AR_Official_94
_ You can like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AR_Official/244148072390274
- Official Twitter
- Are Brand New Facebook Page