Getting to know Bellator Fighting Championships: Part III
While a great idea and a quality business plan are a great start to a mixed martial arts promotion, it takes a group of high-level fighters and dedicated fans to achieve success.
Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney recently explained to MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) how the organization plans to market itself to its ESPN Deportes audience, and what talent the company hopes to employ.
Today we present the third part of our series on the latest promotion trying to establish itself as a successful organization at the national level.
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FINDING THE MAGIC NAMES
While Bellator Fighting Championships gained some instant notoriety when its partnership with ESPN was revealed, the instant question that most MMA pundits asked was, "Who is going to fight for them?"
Unfortunately, Rebney isn't quite ready to tip his hand just yet.
"We're going to make some announcements relative to the officially signed fighters," Rebney said. "And the way we were hoping to do it, and that we anticipate doing it, is kind of announcing it in different weight divisions."
Of course, one name has already been officially linked to the new organization. Top-ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez was recently confirmed as the first participant in the organization's lightweight tournament.
"As we finalize the matchups for the top eight at lightweight, our hope had been to kind of announce them all at once," Rebney said. "And obviously fighters talk and guys are excited, and that's magic. So obviously some of the names are kind of squeaking out."
A few other names have squeaked out as well, including Hector Lombard, Jorge Masvidal, Wilson Reis, Paulo Filho and War Machine. Rebney wouldn't confirm that list, but did little to deny the possibility.
"All of those names sound magical to me," Rebney said. "I'm very, very happy that we've been able to sign some really top-tier, great, world-class guys that are willing to step in and compete in this tournament format and really just kind of put it to the test."
Rebney believes the organization will ultimately strike a balance between established fighters and up-and-coming talent.
"We wanted to have enough competitors over the four weight classes so that there was some substantial variety. That there were seasoned, world-class competitors that people looked at and could recognize were amongst the best in the world. We wanted to sprinkle in younger fighters, the 6-0, the 7-0, the 8-0 guys that everybody kind of feels like, 'Hey, this guy could be the real deal but he really hasn't fought at the elite level yet. Let's see what happens.'"
HEALTH CONCERNS
With Bellator Fighting Championships committed to an aggressive 12-week taping schedule, further questions have been issued regarding the organization's ability to deal with the inevitable injuries and medical suspensions that will arise during the tournament.
Rebney recognizes the challenge that lies ahead but believes his group has put together the best possible plan of action.
"We structured the tournaments in a way that its full run is a 12-week period, three months," Rebney said. "We recognize that based on a cut -- or based on a commission suspension -- a guy could fight in his first fight in week No. 1 and then get a 30-day, or a 45, or even a 60-day (suspension). So what we did is we built in the flexibility with the network, and with our structure in terms of the format of the show, so that we can move the fights around.
"So if a guy wins, and yet gets a 30-day, or a 45, or whatever that suspension might be based on having had a fight and the commission handing it down, we can move the fight back to a later date. And then fill, because of course we have four different divisions -- feather, light, welter and middle -- and then fill with other fights so that you're continually seeing tournament fights as a fan watching on TV."
Bellator will also be able to fill air time with single fights that are not held as part of the planned tournaments. But the group's plan was developed in hopes that winners will be able to continue to the completion of their bracket.
"You've got sprinkled in with tournament fights feature bouts featuring great light-heavies and heavies, bantams, and the rest of the guys that round out our stable of fighters," Rebney said. "What we want to try to avoid at all costs is having a guy win and then because of time constraints be unable to continue in the tournament. So we built that in to allow for that type of flexibility and give. And I think we've got enough time where we can make it work and we can keep the winners in play."
ESPN DEPORTES?
With Rebney's grand plans and a budding relationship with ESPN, many have wondered why Bellator Fighting Championships has elected for a Spanish-language distribution with ESPN Deportes.
Rebney believes the brass at ESPN recognized the potential market the Hispanic community represents.
"I think that, and this is just my conjecture having spent a lot of time with them, I think the decision makers at ESPN are probably very aware of the Hispanic consumers' comfort level and familiarity with the fighting sports," Rebney said. "And I think that probably was a lynch pin relative to ESPN Deportes embracing this programming so strongly."
Rebney said the channel, while currently not in the majority of American cable homes, can be added to most anyone's programming simply and cost-effectively.
"Deportes is available all throughout the country," Rebney said. "You can always call your local cable operator and Deportes to your programming with a lot of ease. It's relatively inexpensive to do so, and that's something we're talking to a lot of people about."
Rebney believes the Hispanic community's proven track record of supporting fight sports presents an impressive potential fan base.
"Deportes is ultimately, I feel, a great launch pad for us," Rebney said. "You have the Hispanic consumer in the United States that has never had a real MMA show that's been focused and directed toward that market segment.
"Looking at the trends in terms of buy rates on pay-per-view -- look at Hispanic fight fans. When you look at the fighters that have become superstars, it's the Marco Antonio Barreras, it's the Erik Moraleses, it's the Julios Cesar Chavezes. It's guys that literally fight in a phone booth. And if there's any boxers -- I don't think there's many similarities in the world between boxers and mixed martial artists -- but if there's any boxers who more closely resemble the intensity level of mixed martial artists, it's those guys that plant their feet and take three shots to get one.
"And so when I look at the Hispanic consumer, I see a consumer-base that has shown a huge allegiance to the fighting sports, get tied up and wrapped up in it, disproportionately buy pay-per-views, and yet to this point have been virtually ignored by mixed martial arts promoters in terms of really focusing on a show with on-air talent speaking Spanish, and with 40 percent or so of the fighters being from South America, Central America, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, etc.
Rebney doesn't view Deportes as the final destination for Bellator Fighting Championships. But the Hispanic community's familiarity with fight sports will allow the organization and the network to explore future opportunities for MMA programming on the world's most powerful sports television network.
"We just thought of it as an amazing, amazing launch pad for what we're doing," Rebney said. "And of course to be the first mixed martial arts promoter to have an allegiance and an exclusive engagement with any member of the ESPN family, from my perspective, is just gold. We've been working on this for over two-and-a-half years with them trying to put the right deal in place. We couldn't be happier. They are the best at what they do."
THE LIVE FIGHT EXPERIENCE
While Bellator Fighting Championships' success will certainly be measured by the television ratings it can earn, Rebney said the experience of fans in attendance has not been overlooked.
"Whether you go to a live mixed martial arts event, whether you go to a live boxing event -- any kind of live sporting event you go to -- if the house is packed and there's thousands of people there, and they're going nuts and they've got a vested interest, and they're off their feet and they're excited, that's what translates to great television," Rebney said. "So we're going to have live crowds at every single event."
Rebney said the organization will be filming the events at venues across the U.S.
"We're going to be traversing the country going to casinos and different venues," Rebney said. "We're going to be working in concert with a series of casinos and venue partners to heavily, heavily pre-promote these shows. Bring the fighters in in advance, do major press outings to try to put as many butts in seats as humanly possible."
Rebney said thats fans who attend any of the 12 first-season shows can plan on viewing a full night of quality fights.
"Obviously as we get less and less fighters in the tournament structure as guys qualify for the semis, and ultimately finals, the number of supporting and feature bouts will go up dramatically," Rebney said. "If you come to a live show, you'll get to see 12 to 13 fights on the card.
"There will be a lot of competition, a lot of stuff being taped. We've got a lot of young fighters in different weight divisions that, although are not part of the tournament right now, we want to really test and match-up the right way so that we can see if they are potentially the right fits for a second season tournament or for different weight class tournaments, etc."
While television is the driving force behind Bellator Fighting Championships' plan, the live fight experience will also be monitored closely by the organization.
"Ultimately when you're producing a show for television, all the people at home sitting on the couch should feel like they're missing something. Ultimately, if you're doing it right and you've got the right matchups, and the right fights, and the right back stories, and the right production, the people at home should be looking at going, 'Wow. If this gets anywhere near my home, I've got to buy a ticket because I feel like I'm missing something.'
"So that's really our focus. We will be all over the country at casinos and venues. We will be selling tickets and promoting it like crazy."
