Bellator 200: On Reflection
How you judge Bellator 200 is a difficult one, as stand alone show forgetting the ‘200’ tag it was a very enjoyable and entertaining card.
But here lies the problem for me, Bellator 200 was a milestone event and one that I believe should have had a little more star power on the show. Remember UFC 200, and the names they had on that card, the UFC went to town to ensure it was something special.
Bellator in my opinion didn’t do that, and I take into account the different levels of depth each company has at their disposal talent wise.
Paul Daley should have been on the card if not facing MVP, at least on the card to sell a potential future fight between the pair. A round of the heavyweight grand prix would have been a welcome addition. Aaron Pico the heavily hyped prospect, show him off to another audience, help build him up further, grow the Pico brand.
But all said and done, we still had a show with much to enjoy, albeit with a niggle or two thrown in.
Carl Noon should have been nowhere near to be seen last night, an 11 second loss highlighted the poor matchmaking, a truly abysmal booking.
Aaron Chalmers will never convince the masses, and with his limited experience he needs booking carefully and slowly, but he can fight, to what level we will find out in the next year or so.
MVP was scintillating and he beat a decent opponent in David Rickels, not many fighters have that something special, he might. But Page needs to keep active, forget any other ambitions and concentrate on MMA, talent is one thing, dedication and commitment another.
Gegard Mousasi is someone who you just can’t understand why the UFC let go, it’s not that he won, its the manner of the victory.
Overall Bellator 200 highlighted the good and the bad of Bellator.
Main Card Results:
Gegard Mousasi def. Rafael Carvalho via TKO at 3:35 of R1
Michael Page def. David Rickels via submission at 0:42 of R2
Aaron Chalmers def. Ash Griffiths via submission at 1:55 of R1
Mike Shipman def. Carl Noon via TKO at 0:11 of R1
Kate Jackson def. Anastasia Yankova via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Phil Davis def. Linton Vassell via KO at 1:05 of R3
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