...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator has made a curious move this week, announcing the signing of "The American Psycho" Stephan Bonnar.
The veteran is coming out of retirement essentially to fight Tito Ortiz, calling out his fellow UFC Hall of Fame member in Bellator's press release announcing the signing.
"I want everyone to know I'm coming out of retirement because it's time to free the MMA world of the virus that's known as Tito Ortiz," Bonnar said. "We've been suffering through his boring fights for too many years, and it's about time that someone beats it out of him once and for all."
New Strikeforce President Scott Coker pointed to Bonnar's past with Spike TV as one of the reasons for Bonnar's signing, as well as the potential for fights against Rampage Jackson and "King Mo" Lawal, among others.
"Stephan is a guy that has been a huge part of this sport and we are excited have him part of the roster," Coker said. "He was one half of probably the greatest and one of the most important fights in MMA history, and it happened on Spike. When you look at our Light Heavyweight division, with names like Rampage, Tito, King Mo, Emanuel Newton and others, there are a lot of fights Stephan can be involved in. Big fights against big names. After talking to Stephan, I know that's what he wants, and we want to provide that to our fans."
Bonnar retired after his short notice loss to Anderson Silva in October of 2012, and ultimately failed a drug test for steroids out of that fight as well. Despite that, he went into the UFC Hall of Fame alongside Forrest Griffin almost exclusively for their TUF 1 Finale bout.
Penick's Analysis: I mean, OK. It seems like a very TNA-esque move, one that seems more a Viacom call than anything. There should be less reliance on irrelevant names and more focus on getting fighters on the roster who can be amongst the best in the sport. Sure, people will probably watch Bonnar-Ortiz, but it's a fight that means very little in 2014, and doesn't mesh with the direction Coker has discussed for Bellator's future.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.