Bellator MMA: Four Man Tournaments Falling Flat
The ninth season for Bellator MMA is currently in full swing and the last tournament of the season is scheduled to begin this Friday at Bellator 102. The four, yes I said four, man heavyweight tournament has been assembled in an abbreviated format to eventually take on the Bellator heavyweight champion.
Former UFC fighters Cheick Kongo and Lavar Johnson will make their Bellator MMA debuts against fighters with much less experience. Kongo will be facing fellow striker Mark Godbeer, who is also making his Bellator debut. Johnson will take on the Team Nogueira fighter Vinicius Kappke De Queiroz who is 1-2 in his last three, including a UFC loss to Rob Broughton.
Bellator introduced the four man tournament format during their recent summer series, due to the time constraints of only having three events. The summer series saw a light heavyweight and a heavyweight tournament champion crowned with both winners considered to be the clear favorites. Now the short tournament format made since under these circumstances, but future four name tournaments should only be instituted if there is a staked lineup.
The second consecutive four man heavyweight tourney is definitely not a stacked and while you could try to pass it off as a product of a weak division, it’s disheartening. With an eight man tournament a fighter must win three fights and more often than not the semifinal and finals are tough matchups. Now with a four man tournament not only do you have to win one less fight but if the card isn’t stacked the winner could end up with two cake walks. For example take a look at the 2013 summer series light heavyweight tournament in which King Mo won.
King Mo dominated the tournament and by no means am I trying to take anything away from him. With that being said though, I know for a fact I wasn’t the only person questioning the other three fighters in that tournament. Like so many others, I’m a fan of the tournament format but what makes these tournaments so exciting is the competitiveness. That competitiveness is something that has been lacking thus far in the first few Bellator MMA four man tournaments.
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