With a UFC card that 99% of fans should skip coming up Saturday morning, mainly because it’s got three fights between guys worth a damn and … a whole lot of crap. Thank god we’ve god Friday night and one of the most epic nights in MMA of the year as three promotions are putting on fairly solid cards. The best of them is going to be Bellator’s season debut as we have a really stacked card to kick off the 2014 campaign.
Here’s what you need to know going into Friday night’s card.
Rampage vs. King Mo is projected for a title shot … but won’t be guaranteed
Quinton Jackson is facing Christian M’Pumbu. Muhammad Lawal has Mikhail Zayats. Both are expected to win, of course, as they’re gambling favorites. But Bellator did them a pronounced service by making them fight their way through a tough, tough opening match to get to the finals. Bellator’s LHW is shallow, even moreso than the UFC’s, but they gave their two biggest draws in the division legitimate fights to get into a tournament final. They could’ve found a pair of subpar fighters to match up against these two to get a finals matchup, therefore getting both the matchup they want as well as maintain the tournament format, but you have to give Viacom and Bjorn Rebney credit: they aren’t making this easy. These are legitimate wins, not tomato cans brought in to not screw up the money match.
Mike Richman makes a run towards a title shot
Richman’s a fun, exciting fighter starting over in the tournament who lost to another top talent in last season’s final. He’s never dull and this is the start of another tournament for him. He’s a great talent who hasn’t quite gotten to the point of turning the corner and getting good enough to win one. This is an important tournament for him because he’s done better each time through. This is his time to win.
Diego Nunes, Take 2
He came in with high hopes, a borderline Top 10 fighter cut from the UFC, and promptly got blown out of the water in his Bellator debut. Now it’s time for another time around, hopefully to show why Bellator signed him in the first place. Nunes was thought at one point to be good enough to beat his teammate Jose Aldo. That was a long time ago … but he once looked like he was elite. Whether or not he still has it, or can find it again, starts with his second fight in Bellator.
Josh Diekman Looks To Make A Statement
Diekman is on the undercard and is a prospect many people think is a win away from getting into a heavyweight tournament. He’s on the SPIKE.com portion of the undercard but with a win, in particular a great finish, he probably earns his way into the next Bellator tournament.
