[adrotate group=”25″]Bellator 120 was Bellator’s biggest event of all time, but it felt more like Wrestlemania than the UFC…
The event was packed full of drama, controversy and WWE style interviews that were hosted by Frank Shamrock. Fans were even treated to a Hulk Hogan inspired speech from Tito Ortiz and King Mo trash talked the owner of Bellator after his fight with Rampage Jackson! This wasn’t the Survivor Series or Summer Slam. This was Bellator’s first ever PPV!
The spectacle of Bellator 120 was often entertaining but not all of the comparisons to WWE were positive…
It’s no secret that professional wrestling is scripted with pre-determined outcomes and certain sections of the MMA community and media have accused Bellator of fixing some of the fights.
At first this sounds like a shocking accusation, but some MMA organizations have been accused of fixing fights for their own personal gain in the past.
Some fighters have openly spoken about how they were asked to lose a fight or fight in certain ways to favour their opponent. Just last week Bob Sapp spoke openly about the Yakuza’s involvement in Pride FC and how fighters were frequently asked to lose fights in order to boost the popularity of the organization’s biggest stars.
All this seems unthinkable in our modern age of professional sports, but how else can you explain some of the events that unfolded on Saturday night?
I don’t want to sound like a bad loser because I lost money on this event. After all, I won a little back from the dodgy decision in the Rampage fight. I’m just saying that what happened at Bellator 120 went beyond the usual bad judging and controversial refereeing that has plagued MMA.
Here’s how each of my betting tips played out…
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MICHAEL CHANDLER vs WILL BROOKS
OUR BET: 10.00 Units on Michael Chandler to win inside the distance at odds of 1.53 | -188 | 53/100
OUR PROFIT / LOSS: 10.00 Units lost
I’m not sure if Will Brooks won this fight because he was really good, or if he won this fight because Michael Chandler was really bad, but either way, Michael Chandler looked terrible in this fight.
Despite Chandler’s disappointing performance I still feel like he did enough to win the fight. At best Will Brooks could claim a draw after the beat down he put on Chandler in the second round, but even then I’m not sure if I’d score the second round 10-8.
I’m still confused as to how the judges scored the fight in favour of Will Brooks, because Chandler clearly won 3 of the rounds in the fight. I feel bad for Chandler because he’s been on the wrong end of some questionable judging twice now, as I personally feel like he also won his last fight against Eddie Alvarez.
I got this one horribly wrong. I didn’t expect Will Brooks to be that good…
WE INCORRECTLY PREDICTED THAT MICHAEL CHANDLER WOULD WIN THIS FIGHT ITD
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2 FIGHT PARLAY – CHANDLER AND SHLEMENKO TO WIN
OUR BET: 10.00 Units on Michael Chandler and Alexander Shlemenko to win at odds of 1.44 | -227 | 11/25
OUR PROFIT / LOSS: 10.00 Units Lost
I’ve already given my breakdown for the Chandler vs Brooks fight, so I’m just going to talk about the Alexander Shlemenko vs Tito Ortiz fight in this section.
The Shlemenko vs Ortiz fight was undoubtedly one of the shadiest matchups that I have ever seen. If ever there was a case for a fight being “fixed”, this was it.
Tito came out aggressive at the start of the fight and looked TERRIBLE. I mean he looked really bad. He looked like how my dad would look if he decided to have an MMA fight. He was slow and sluggish and looked rusty as hell.
The fight seemed to be going well for Shlemenko when all of a sudden Tito managed to close the distance and drag the Russian to the ground. Shlemenko then proceeded to lie on his back and casually move his arm into place for Tito to lock in an arm triangle choke. Minutes later Tito was getting his hand raised and the rest of history.
I’m happy that Tito got a much needed win, he’s one of my favourite fighters of all time, but there was something very dodgy about this fight…
Why would the Bellator Middleweight champion decide to call out a Light Heavyweight and challenge him to a meaningless fight? He had nothing to gain from beating Tito.
What’s even more weird is how Tito’s company used to sponsor Shlemenko and how Tito openly admitted that they were friends. Why would the Bellator Middleweight champion call out a friend and business partner to have a meaningless fight? It just doesn’t make any sense…
The final weird element of this fight was how Tito kept repeatedly saying in the post fight press conference how the fight played out exactly how it was supposed to and how he’s seen that outcome unfolding a million times in his head. He kept referring back to how the fight was always going to play out like that.
Why keep referring to the fight in this capacity? Tito has never been the strongest public speaker and it sounded like he might have been trying to cover something up, by inadvertently mentioning it all the time.
The way this fight played out was very strange. Bellator had a lot more to gain from Tito winning this fight than Shlemenko. Tito now goes on to gain a big fight against one of the high profile stars in Bellator’s Light Heavyweight division, whilst Shlemenko goes right back to where he was.
I’m just tossing it out there, but I think this fight was a fix…
WE INCORRECTLY PREDICTED THAT SHLEMENKO & CHANDLER WOULD WIN THIS FIGHT
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MUHAMMED “KING MO” LAWAL vs QUINTON “RAMPAGE” JACKSON
OUR BET: 10.00 Units on Rampage Jackson to win at odds of 1.47 | -212 | 47/100
OUR PROFIT / LOSS: 4.70 Units Won
I don’t feel as passionate about this fight, because I won a little money, but I also feel like this fight was a fix.
King Mo clearly won the 1st and 3rd rounds and yet the judges scored the fight in favour of Rampage Jackson.
Bellator had a lot more to gain from Rampage winning this fight and I personally feel that this fight strengthened the case for fights being fixed at Bellator 120.
Tito and Rampage winning their fights was massive for Bellator. They are undoubtedly the organization’s biggest stars and both of them winning now means that Bellator can move forward and continue putting on big fights in their Light Heavyweight division.
If Tito and Rampage had both lost, it would have been a disaster for Bellator and I believe that Bellator did everything in their power to make sure that didn’t happen.
WE CORRECTLY PREDICTED THAT RAMPAGE JACKSON WOULD WIN THIS FIGHT
I lost 15.30 units on my bets for Bellator 120 and it’s going to be a long while before I consider betting on Bellator again.
I’d really like to hear your thoughts on the events that unfolded at Bellator 120, so please stop by our
MMA Betting Forum and let us know what you think.
