Thursday 1 August 2013

Tito Ortiz - Quinton Rampage Jackson - Bellator PPV November 2?

I started to see news of this announced fight bouncing around the Internet late last night and was not all too surprised it has been booked. I am shocked Bellator have opted to screen this on PPV though.

Tito has recently stated he needs to return to the cage due to money problems. These problems are all linked to Tito's colourful love life and failed relationship with porn star Jenna Jameson. The ex Huntington Beach bad boy & now "Peoples Champion" has had a pretty in fact very poor showing in the cage over the last few years. After beating Ken Shamrock back in 2006 he has been on a downward spiral besides beating Ryan Bader in an upset of the year performance in 2011. Since beating Bader he has lost to Rashad Evans, Lil Nog & Forrest Griffin. Tito does not belong in the UFC anymore that's for sure and Dana White has been vocal about Tito never fighting in UFC again.

An then we have Rampage - a pioneer of the sport from the Pride era and aggressive brawler with great take down defence. Rampage has been painful to watch over the last few years. Many argue that his heart is no longer in fighting after starring in a movie. Rampage seemed set to face Roy Jones Jr in a boxing match before his fight with Tito was announced. The man who unified the Pride & UFC light heavyweight titles is currently on a 3 fight losing streak including a failed title big against Jon Bones Jones. Rampage left the UFC of his own accord and doesn't seem to have the money problems Tito is suffering.

Tito
I have seen allot of negative stuff posted about both of these fighters recently regarding this fight. I totally understand the negativity when it comes to it being a PPV event but some of the criticism of these two I feel is uncalled for and from fans who clearly have no idea what these two fighters did for the sport. People seem to forget that Jon Bones Jones has only just matched Tito's record of 5 title defences at Light Heavy Weight. Tito brought so much interest to the sport with all his trash talking and actions towards the Lions Den & the Shamrocks personally. Tito is also a UFC hall of famer and rightly so. He was incredibly dominant in his prime!

Rampage made slamming people unconscious cool back in his pride days. One of the most aggressive and brutal fighters in his day Rampage has put it all on the line for years. It seems to me he has lost a fair bit of interest in fighting. Either that or something is going wrong in his fight camps as he always looks gassed after the first round. Maybe Rampage just didn't evolve with MMA? Either way to unify the UFC and pride titles is not an easy accomplishment and hats should be taken off for that alone.

Me personally I wont be paying to watch this fight but I will be interested in the result and viewing figures. I do feel Bellator have dropped the ball in putting this on PPV and I imagine Dana is laughing smugly at that choice. If this was on free to air TV I honestly believe the viewing numbers could have been tremendous and a great platform for Bellator to work off.


No comments:

Post a Comment