The Bellator 120 fight card went through some changes today as lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez pulled out of the event with a concussion and Michael Chandler will meet Will Brooks for the interim title.
The interim title fight is now the co-main event of the fight card and the new main event will be the light heavyweight tournament final as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson meets Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
The changes to the card were announced by Bellator MMA Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney during a conference call with the media on Saturday.
During the call, Rebney announced that the event would remain on pay-per-view and TheMMAReport.com asked for him to explained the decision in leaving the event on pay-per-view instead of moving it to Spike TV.
“It’s remaining on pay-per-view because it’s a pay-per-view worthy card,” Rebney said. “It’s a must-see card. Its got Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson coming back from after having two first round knockouts and looking like Quinton ‘Rampage’ of old. Its got King Mo in a must win fight. Having the best training camp he has ever had with American Top Team.”
“We got the Shlemenko-Tito fight. He have Mike Chandler and Will Brooks, who are – different people are going to come up with different list but you are talking about two of the best lightweights that we got in the game today. It also now has the Blagoi Ivanov-Alexander Volkov heavyweight fight. It has all the pieces. It’s a premium level event. It’s a must see event and it’s going to remain on pay-per-view.”
“There was never a question or hesitation to keep this level of an event on pay-per-view. He had an utterly spectacular show and now we got a spectacular show and could not be happy about it. It’s staying right where it is.
Rebney also confirmed that the price point for the event will not change, even though the main card has changed with Alvarez no longer being on the card. The event will range from $35-$45 depending on your carrier and whether it’s purchased in standard or high definition. After we asked Rebney if the price point for the event would change, Brooks took issue with people complaining about the price of the pay-per-view.
“I am getting kind of annoyed with people asking this question, why don’t the price change. Why is it still on pay-per-view,” Brooks said. “I personally think you are a fool if you ask that question just because if you think about it, what is the UFC doing with all of their pay-per-view events? They are charging you butt loads of money for what is it like $50-$60 a pay-per-view fight. Once in a while — a lot of times recently, we have been getting pay-view-cards that are a little bit watered down and they are not as good as they are supposed to be.”
“Now people are asking the question, why is Bellator selling a pay-per-view for $30 here, or whatever and I exactly don’t know how the ratings go and how much the price goes. Really, all people are doing is when they ask this question, all you are making yourself sound like is a cheap ass. You are devaluing the fighters, the event, and the organization.”
“So then I start asking the question, why do you even watch the free events if this is a problem. If you have such a problem with the card and the fighters on the card, why are you paying attention. Why even do this job, or be a fan. It does not make sense. It’s a simple thing. Either you watch, you watch. If you don’t watch, you are a damn fool.”
After Brooks made his statement about this fight remaining on pay-per-view, Rebney chimed in to say he agreed with everything that Brooks stated.
“I am 100 percent with Will Brooks, Rebney said. “Everything he just said, I agree with whole hardly. Could not be in more agreement with him. Divorce yourself from the math hits. Divorce yourself from the logos. Look at the fights on the card. Measure it according to the fights on the card and then make your decision. I don’t think anyone could have said it better than Will just said it.”