CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPWINDOWS APPRSS
NEW FORUM

GOT THE MMATORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Kindle Fire
Windows Phone
MMATORCH IPHONE APP

MMATORCH

All the MMA News • Plus Intelligent, Brilliant, Addictive Points of View!
Independently Covering MMA Since 1993 • No Big Corporate Bosses

Bellator
Stephan Bonnar signs with Bellator, wants to "free the MMA world" of the "virus" Tito Ortiz
Aug 27, 2014 - 11:30:44 AM
Stephan Bonnar signs with Bellator, wants to "free the MMA world" of the "virus" Tito Ortiz
DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM
...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!



Stephan_Bonnar_wide.jpg


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!
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson returning to Bellator MMA after settling litigation
Bellator's Coker defends "legend fights" like Shamrock-Gracie III: "Why not? We have something for everybody"
Bellator's Scott Coker: Discontent from Champ Will Brooks "how it works" in MMA, "just part of the business"

comments powered by Disqus
HERE ARE EVEN MORE ARTICLES THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU

SELECT ARTICLES BY CATEGORY
SEARCH MMATORCH BY KEYWORD


MMATORCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS
CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING MMA EVENTS
CLICK TO SEE A UFC VIDEO BELOW

ARTICLES OF INTEREST ELSEWHERE
MMATORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!

Will T.J. Dillashaw and Urijah Faber eventually fight?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Do you think Daniel Cormier will defeat returning Jon Jones to legitimize UFC Light Heavyweight Title reign?
 
pollcode.com free polls

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS

MMATORCH WEEKLY LIVECAST
Listen to the weekly MMATORCH LIVECAST on Blog Talk Radio


MMATORCH STAFF

EDITORS:

Wade Keller, supervising editor
(mmatorch@gmail.com)

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.

MORE MMA SITES
CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPWINDOWS APPRSS
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY