Right now,
Topps is the only company making MMA cards, they own the UFC license and they have
done a stellar job. But, there is more to MMA than UFC, with one competitor being
Bellator MMA.
My point is,
I would love to see other options for MMA cards. Ryan Bader, my favorite
fighter and a PC for me, is currently with Bellator and hasn’t appeared on
cardboard since he left the UFC last year. There are other fighters jumping ship from UFC
too, sure some are in the twilight of their careers, but some left because of
lack of opportunity to fight higher ranked opponents, money squabbles or just
looking for another option.
While I was watching
Bellator 203 this past weekend, I started to think how much I would love to see
Leaf, who has released MMA sets previously, come in and get the Bellator
license. Look at what Leaf had done with those early sets (2010 Leaf MMA Champions autograph above) and imagine what they could do now. If they were to put out a Leaf Metal
Bellator set focused on only a base set and one or two autograph inserts they could make a killing.
Right now,
former UFC fighters Ryan Bader and Rory MacDonald are the Light-Heavyweight and
Welterweight Champs (respectively). The Women’s Flyweight Champion is Ilima-Lei
MacFarlane, she is 8-0-0, scrappy and more charismatic than Ronda Rousey.
What I am saying is that the talent is there and while the younger fighters may
not be able to carry a set there are fighters like Royce Gracie and Tito Ortiz
that are on the roster; plus announcer Big John McCarthy, referee Herb Dean and
cutman extraordinaire Stitch Duran all work with Bellator.
And it's not like Leaf is doing anything else interesting!
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't watch Bellator anymore, I wouldn't mind a set that wasn't UFC. Even if it featured more than just Bellator fighters (I'd love a Ben Askren card at some point) I think they could do around 150 card set and could prove to be popular. Plus it could not only open a new revenue stream for the other MMA leagues, but could introduce new people to them.
ReplyDeleteHaven't watched any Bellator this year... but that's not saying much. Outside of a few key fights, I haven't watched much of UFC in 2018. Still love the sport, but life has forced it into the back seat.
ReplyDeleteSide note... the Bellator Fan Fest takes place at a nearby D&B. I went a few years ago and met some mma legends like Royce Gracie and Randy Couture. It was a really cool event.