mma / Columns

Bellator & Ryback: A Perfect Fit

September 28, 2016 | Posted by Jeremy Lambert

Hey gang, have you heard this one before? A former WWE star wants to try his hand at MMA. Did you hear about this? According to reports, Ryback (real name, Ryback) is in talks with Scott Coker and Bellator to fight for the promotion.

Allow me to by hypocritical and just say that this is the best thing I’ve ever heard.

Why am I so excited for Ryback fight in Bellator when I against CM Punk fighting in the UFC and thought it was a joke? Because Ryback fighting in Bellator is a joke as well, but at least we all know it. Ryback isn’t delusional. He’s not lying and saying that fighting in MMA is some dream of his. He wants to capitalize on whatever popularity he has and capitalize on the CM Punk hype and he wants to make money. And he’s doing it the right way. He’s going to Bellator.

Bellator is the second biggest MMA promotion in the world, but it’s Bellator. This is the same company that gave us Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000 and Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock just seven months ago. This is the same promoter that booked Herschel Walker to fight. Multiple times at that.

A few years ago Samer Kadi and I came up with this MMA promotion called TRY FC (shouts to Mark Radulich) where we booked dumb gimmick fights featuring fighters past their prime or guys who had no business fighting. Bellator is the real life version of TRY FC. They aren’t trying to be a real MMA company with legit champions and contenders, they’re trying to be a reality television show that delivers sanctioned trainwrecks.

Bellator and Coker aren’t going to sign Ryback with any grandeurs of delusion that he’ll become their next heavyweight champion. They don’t even have a heavyweight title. They’re not going scour the local scene and book him against a 24-year-old prospect. They’ll find some drunk fat guy at Dave & Buster’s talking a bunch of shit. That’s what I respect about Bellator. There’s no false premises. They don’t lie and say that titles are important or that they only want to put on the best fights with the best fighters.

MMA is sports entertainment and far closer to professional wrestling than it is to the NFL. Bellator is the best sports entertainment promotion in MMA. They build up fights through mystery training partner reveals and attacks with wrenches. Sure, they have some good fighters and do your traditional MMA build of, “these guys are good, watch them fight.” But nobody watches them fight. We watch Shamrock vs. Gracie or Kimbo vs. Dada or Ortiz vs. Bonnar because we want to how much of a mess it will be. And Bellator uses those messes to highlight their masterpieces. It’s what Coker did with Strikeforce, and it’s what he’ll continue to do with Bellator.

That’s why Bellator is the perfect promotion for Ryback. They aren’t going to present him as a legitimate MMA fighter who has been working hard to realize his five-year lifelong dream. They’re going to present him as Ryback, a former pro-wrestler who just wants to give this MMA thing a shot. They’re going to stick him in the co-main event, sandwiched between Michael Page and Michael Chandler.

That’s why Ryback is smart to choose Bellator. He knows what kind of company they are. He doesn’t want to try and prove himself against a top guy. He just wants to make money. If he wins, and can say he has one more MMA victory in his career than CM Punk, even better. He knows that Bellator is his best chance at cashing in. They’re on television and are always looking for any kind of ratings spike. Ryback wasn’t a huge name in the world of professional wrestling, but any pro wrestler who crosses over to MMA will generate some kind of buzz. And Ryback’s name is actually bigger thanks to Punk and his comments on that podcast.

Don’t think that Ryback isn’t doing this to as a way to troll Punk either. If he can say that he’s 1-0 in MMA and that barely trained and that he just did it for the money while Punk is 0-1, trained his ass off, and did it for love. He’s going to say it with a huge smile on his face. He’ll probably walk out to Cult of Personality, except Bellator will spring for a live version because Bellator is the best when it comes to production.

Ryback and Bellator fit like a glove that WWE wouldn’t sell. Two institutions that are desperate for attention and know that they can use each other for the greater good of both brands.

Follow me on twitter @jeremylambert88

article topics :

Bellator MMA, Ryback, Jeremy Lambert