This past Saturday, Bellator crowned its first ever “champ champ” in Ryan Bader, who is the light-heavyweight champion and now also the heavyweight champion after knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in 35 seconds. While being the champ champ of a major MMA promotion is nothing to scoff at, this makes one wonder about the state of Bellator right now. Were Bader still in the UFC, he’d probably find himself between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith (#3) in the light heavyweight rankings, with no inclination of moving up to heavyweight anytime soon. Ryan Bader being the simultaneous champion of the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions of a promotion consistently trying to be mentioned in the same breath as the UFC should be cause for some concern.

Ryan Bader won a heavyweight grand prix that was riddled with light-heavyweights and even some middleweights, where one Matt Mitrione was probably the consensus favorite. This is certainly not a knock on Ryan Bader, but on Bellator. It was strange from the beginning to create a tournament to find the “best heavyweight in the world” from a pool of fighters which included the likes of Chael Sonnen and King Mo, just to name a few. Now that the tournament is over, something just seems tainted, for lack of a better word, about Ryan Bader’s champ champ status. He is not the best light-heavyweight in the world nor the best heavyweight, but Bellator will market him as such, and the whole thing just seems wholly disingenuous to the MMA community. Bellator’s heavyweight division, or lack thereof, has been exposed pretty badly by this grand prix, and Bellator will probably play it off as the part of the “greatness” of Ryan Bader. Ryan Bader is clearly a top-tier, phenomenal mixed martial artist, but he is not a legitimate champ champ. People recognize this. It’s not Bader’s fault, but Bellator’s.

Additionally, perhaps the most talented prospect MMA has ever seen in Aaron Pico suffered another devastating loss on Saturday night. Bellator would have much preferred Pico be victorious and continue a path to stardom similar to Jon Jones (pre-shenanigans). However, Pico became over-zealous in a fight he was winning and got knocked clean out in a brawl he didn’t need to be in. It’s obvious that Pico has world class talent; he passes a simple eye test with flying colors. However, this is twice now that Pico has lost a fight to an inferior opponent, which continues to diminish his star potential. That said, he’s definitely got the skills to be a champion, especially in Bellator. In fact, he may never lose again, who the hell knows? This may be premature, but watching Pico get knocked out on Saturday night kind of reminded me of Luke Rockhold; someone who is clearly as talented as anyone else but keeps losing fights he should be winning in devastating fashion. Hopefully, for Pico and Bellator’s sake, the kid can turn it around and become the mega star he seems destined to be.

Finally, and this isn’t nearly as big a deal as the Bader and Pico stuff, but Jack Hager, albeit who did look good, defeated a literal tomato can in his mixed martial arts debut. The obvious Brock Lesnar comparisons were made throughout the night, but there was one huge difference that really bothered me. In Lesnar’s MMA debut, he faced a world class fighter at the time in Frank Mir, who ironically was at the Bellator desk on Saturday night discussing this topic. Lesnar lost, which was nothing to be ashamed of, but he still managed to build a very successful UFC career out of it. So, while the UFC threw Lesnar to the dogs in his debut, Bellator gave Hager the building’s custodian who comes in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This just seemed so ridiculous, as Hager towered over the poor guy. It’s not like Hager is another CM Punk. Hager is a highly credentialed, record holding division one wrestler from Oklahoma. He obviously didn’t need to fight a prime Frank Mir for his debut, but, like, come on Bellator. It was almost insulting, like “Here Jake, even though you’re a legit professional athlete, fight this guy we found on the street, just in case you’re not that good yet”. In any case, Hager dominated, as expected, and could become a star for Bellator in good time. It just would have been a better look for Bellator to give Hager someone who at least stood a chance though.

Hell, Hager might even be the best heavyweight on Bellator’s roster right now.

AM