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By Alvin Benjamin Carter III, MMA Torch Specialist
Bellator Fighting Championships recently announced a "Super-Fight" between current Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez and UFC veteran Josh "The Dentist" Neer. A fight of this caliber should definitely bring in a good number of viewers to the televised event since Alvarez is one of the top ranked lightweights in the world, and is also one of Bellator's more well known fighters. I spoke with Eddie Alvarez about becoming Bellator's Lightweight Champion, his sponsorships, and potential MMA business opportunities. (A link to the phone interview is at the bottom of this article.)
It will be interesting to see if ratings spike during this super-fight. Exciting fighters, like Alvarez and Neer, often peak the interest of hardcore fans and casual fans alike. This past season of The Ultimate Fighter saw the ratings spike drastically when Kimbo Slice fought, and this might be the case for Alverez vs. Neer.
Like any other sport, mixed martial arts relies on champions and marquis-level athletes to keep fans interested and excited. Alvarez provides that piece of the puzzle for Bellator. Still, there are other pieces to the puzzle that play a key factor in a promotion's success like marketing, organization, and matchmaking. Affliction is a great example. They had plenty of marquis-level fighters, but they could not get the other pieces of the puzzle together.
Bellator has the athletic talent and an organized tournament format that allows for the promotion to setup two seasons of events at the same time. Having a solid, extended schedule will allow for proper marketing giving this new promotion an edge that most new MMA promotions do not have. Bellator has also made a simple marketing move by announcing a call for ring girls. Not only does an announcement like this get covered by most of the MMA websites, it also creates the potential for a future celebrity status ring girl like the UFC's Arianny Celeste. That remains to be seen, but it is a possibility depending on who Bellator selects.
While ring girls will always be of interest to many fight fans, champions and top contenders are the heart of any fight promotion. Fighters like Alvarez add value to any promotion they compete in, and Bellator presents fighters like Alvarez with the opportunity to increase their fan base and evolve as a fighter. Bellator and Alvarez have ended up in an advantageous situation that could greatly increase the brand of the promotion and their champ at the same time.
Alvin Benjamin Carter III is an MMATorch Specialist columnist focusing on the business and statistic side of the sport of MMA. He trains in SanDa / Shan Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and MMA. He also has a business background in music production, management, and clothing. He has launched two companies which cater to niche markets, giving him experience in examining trends and attitudes that can affect a particular business model, which he applies in his weekly column for MMATorch to the sport of MMA.
[Eddie Alvarez photo provided to MMATorch courtesy Bellator]
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