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A comprehensive round up of all news coming out of Bellator 54 including results, signings, gate, attendance, injuries and suspensions.
Just one step away from his second shot at the Bellator middleweight tournament finale, Bryan Baker ran into the freight train that was Vitor Vianna's right hand. The fast-rising Brazilian prospect punched his ticket to the finals with a dazzling knockout just 54 seconds into the first round at Bellator 54.
As the rollercoaster ride that is Bellator Fighting Championships' fifth-season presses on, promotion chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney is already looking towards the future. Despite producing electrifying cards on a weekly basis, Bellator has felt the burden of the ratings beast, dancing from records highs to record lows, sometimes just seven days apart. The flippancy of the figures have caused some to question the promotion's chosen time slot.
Working in collaboration with broadcast partner MTV2, Bellator airs events on a Saturday night primetime schedule. The weekend model would suggest success in theory, however the reality is farther from the truth. Often facing direct competition from the UFC, Strikeforce, or college football, Bellator's struggles to gain a consistent audience have become well-documented, creating situations where a replay at a later time slot draws a larger audience than the live broadcast.
The dilemma is one that promotion officials are well-aware of, and as the incentive for change grows, Rebney's team has begun to research alternatives.
"We've had some consistent amount of investigation and due diligence into what's the best time, the best day," Rebney said to MMA Junkie. "Where can we reach the largest number of consumers with the Bellator product we've been putting out there?
"In season six when we kick off in the first quarter of 2012, it remains to be seen. We're not dead set on any specific [time slot] when we determine what's best."
Thus is the inherent problem for a fledgling promotion trying to carve out its niche in mixed martial arts. As the UFC moves to network mega-giant Fox next year, the dearth of MMA programming in the seven day broadcast schedule will shrink even further. Yet Rebney has remained steadfast with his belief that Bellator will find it's place in the sport.
"We try to consistently evolve," he explained. "We consistently try to move the bar forward and move the bar up."
Bellator bossman Bjorn Rebney announced that the promotion has signed UFC veteran Maiquel Falcao yesterday during the Bellator 54 preliminary fights stream on Spike.com. Falcao is best known for a one fight stint with the UFC that saw him beat Gerald Harris at UFC 123.
That bout was shrouded in controversy. Not only did a time keeper's error likely prevent Falcao from getting a rear naked choke tapout win over Harris at the end of the second round, but neither fighter ever returned to the UFC. Harris was cut after the fight, despite a 3-1 record with the organization. Falcao was cut after legal issues in his native Brazil prevented his return at UFC 134.
Falcao, a middleweight, is 2-1 since leaving the UFC with two TKO wins and one submission loss to Jiu-Jitsu world champion Antonio Braga Neto. He'll be an exciting addition to Bellator's middleweight division and will likely enter their next middleweight tournament as a favorite. Beyond that, he's a fighter who could give Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard a serious run for his money.
Bellator 54 was held last night in Atlantic City, NJ and saw the semi-final round of the Bellator season 5 middleweight tournament as well as a non-title fight featuring Bellator bantamweight champ Zach Makovsky.
Alexander Shlemenko endured a tough first round at the hands and feet of Brian Rogers before coming back to blast him out in the second. In the other middleweight tourny bout, Vitor Vianna made short work of Bryan Baker after catching him charging into a right hand for a 0:54 TKO.
Makovsky was able to submit Roberts toward the end of the first round with a nifty north-south choke.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card (MTV2)
185 lbs.: Alexander Shlemenko def. Brian Rogers via TKO at 2:30 Round 2
185 lbs.: Vitor Vianna def. Bryan Baker via TKO at 0:54 Round 1
135 lbs.: Zach Makovsky def. Ryan Roberts via submission (North-South choke) at 4:48 Round 1
155 lbs.: Jacob Kirwan def. Rene Nazare via unanimous decision
Undercard (Spike.com)
185 lbs.: Duane Bastress def. Daniel Gracie via TKO at 5:00 Round 2
205 lbs.: Tim Carpenter def. Ryan Contaldi via TKO at 2:16 Round 1
185 lbs.: Joey Kirwan def. Lewis Rumsey via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:30 Round 1
125 lbs.: Andria Caplan def. Adrienne Seiber via unanimous decision
135 lbs.: Claudio Ledesma def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision
Bellator 54 Ratings Rebound With 185,000 MTV2 Viewers
Bellator Fighting Championships' fifth season ratings roller coaster pressed on over the weekend, as viewership for Saturday's Bellator 54 broadcast rebounded from Bellator 53's all-time MTV-2 low. According to reports from MMA Junkie, the primetime event drew 185,000 viewers, up from the dejecting total of 103,000 the previous week. An immediate replay drew 116,000 viewers.
The jump in numbers can likely be attributed to a lack of direct competition. For the first time in a month, Bellator owned Saturday all to themselves, as the the UFC kicked-off their two-week break between shows. Though, it's quite possible that primetime college football still managed to syphon off some viewers.
Bellator 54 was held on October 15th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and headlined by a pair of semifinal matchups for the season five middleweight tournament.
Ratings rankings of MTV2-televised Bellator shows:
Oct 18 11:05a by Shaun Al-Shatti - 0 comments