There’s no denying the system worked before. When the concept was fresh and new, MMA legends Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell were at the helm for TUF 1, and when they clashed on pay-per-view it was epic. Season Two lacked such a pairing with welterweight and middleweight champs Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin in the top slots, but TUF 3’s prefabricated hatefest between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock was prime next-day discussion material for office water coolers and Internet message boards alike. In terms of TV, BJ Penn and Jens Pulver performed nicely in their TUF 5 roles, and delivered well enough to drive the live finale. However, the next arranged marriage, of TUF 6 coaches Hughes and Matt Serra, failed to bear fruit for a year and a half thanks to Serra falling prey to an injury. Their fight happened long after the sizzle had left the steak. And while TUF 7 coaches Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin and TUF 8 coaches Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira had grand affairs in the Octagon, their chemistry on television made for a lot of respect and smiles yet little to no tension or sparks.

Then there’s Bisping and Henderson, whose collective efforts of representing the UK and the US while coaching a team of UFC hopefuls produced the kind of heat that wouldn’t cook a snowflake. The Brit obviously made a go of it, attempting to draw the Pride champ out with challenges and bets. But at his most venomous, a sedate Henderson matter-of-factly declared Bisping a “douchebag” before walking off camera – the most emotion he’d shown in a dozen episodes, and even then it was about as passionate as two icebergs mating. Fans hoping for Ortiz/Shamrock-esque scuffles or Hughes/Serra-esque trash talk got zilch. Clearly, it takes two to tango on television, and Henderson is the worst kind of dance partner. Poor Bisping was left dancing with himself.

How many will tune in on July 11th just to see Bisping and Henderson go at it? Of the thousands upon thousands of pay-per-view buys – and thanks to Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir and Georges St. Pierre versus Thiago Alves there will be thousands upon thousands – how many of those will have been solely because of the match-up between the two TUF 9 coaches? Probably not very many. Bisping and Henderson’s patriarchal gigs put them out of competition for nine and six months respectively, and the payoff for fans will be the same as if they’d skipped coaching and faced each other earlier in the year. The Brit and the American’s time kept out of the middleweight mix, filming in a drama-less vacuum when they could’ve been picking off contenders for a shot at the belt, was time misspent.

The coach versus coach motif is no longer viable. Unless the powers that be are sure that there’s chemistry that will lead to a worthwhile payoff, subjecting the general public to two top-level mixed martial artists who fail to inspire even the slightest bit of emotion or interest does nothing. For fans, it’s just a big waste of time.

Best Fight: Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki (WEC 40)
Tabbed as a late replacement for the injured Brian Bowles, few gave Mizugaki much of a chance against the pound-for-pound great Miguel Torres. Apparently someone forgot to tell Mizugaki, who gave Torres everything he could handle in this 25 minute firefight. Mizugaki dealt with Torres’ impossible range on the feet while wisely avoiding Torres’ area of expertise: the ground. The five round war put on display some extremely high level MMA tactics, featuring great inside fighting and some truly innovative clinchwork. Though Torres won the hard-fought decision to retain his belt, Mizugaki did something few fighters have managed: climbed the rankings and won accolades in defeat.

Also Considered:
- Martin Kampmann vs. Carlos Condit (UFN 18)
- Thierry Quenneville vs Doug Evans (XMMA 7)
- Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro (Dream 9)

Best Knockout: Fedor Emelianenko over Andrei Arlovski (Affliction: Day of Reckoning)
The unparalleled drama of this KO in one of the year’s biggest bouts is undeniable. Andrei Arlovski represented a true #1 contender to MMA’s heavyweight king, and for the first few minutes, looked to be every bit of that threat. Arlovski lept through the air for a flying knee as Fedor rebounded off the ropes, and was met with a huge overhand right in mid-air. Arlovski came crashing to the mat face first, sealing Fedor’s place atop the heavyweight and pound-for-pound ranks, and putting the exclamation point on one of the great KO’s we’ve seen in MMA.

Also Considered:
- Jose Aldo over Cub Swanson, Flying double knee (WEC 41)
- Yahir Reyes over Estevan Payan, Spinning backfist (Bellator VI)
- Matt Hamill over Mark Munoz, Headkick (UFC 96)

Best Submission: Toby Imada over Jorge Masvidal (Bellator V)
In perhaps the easiest category to award, Toby Imada provided one of the best submissions of the sport’s young history, let alone the year, in a spectacular inverted triangle late in the third round against Jorge Masvidal. Imada had been losing the fight for two and a half rounds and was on his way to being eliminated from the Bellator lightweight tournament. But his last second heroics turned an evitable Masvidal slam into a piece of highlight reel material. As great as the submission was in and of itself, its effect was even more spectacular: it thrust Bellator directly onto the main stage with MMA fans and made subsequent Bellator shows “can’t miss” events.

Also Considered:
- Seth Dikun over Rolando Perez, Flying Triangle (WEC 41)
- Demian Maia over Chael Sonnen, triangle (UFC 95)
- BJ Kojima over Yuki Shoujou, RNC (Shooto Tradition 6)

Biggest Upset: Joe Warren over Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (Dream 9)
Coming off an upset of former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe, Joe Warren was supposed to be a walk-through return fight for Japanese star Kid Yamamoto. With just months of MMA training, Warren proceeded to take the fight directly to Kid, despite taking several vicious kicks to the body. Warren continued to put Yamamoto on his back and took a very close decision from Yamamoto on his home turf. While Paulo Thiago performed an upset equaling shocking, it is important to note that this was Warren’s second consecutive large upset (the first being vs. Chase Beebe), earning him the honor in our eyes.

Also Considered:
- Paulo Thiago over Josh Koscheck (UFC 95)
- Brett Rogers over Andrei Arlovski (Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields)
- Joe Warren over Chase Beebe (DREAM 7)

Come-From-Behind Win: Scott Smith over Benji Radach (Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz)
In a bout that stole the show for Strikeforce’s first promotional offering on Showtime, Benji Radach spent the better part of three rounds outmaneuvering Scott Smith and staggering him with power shots. Entering into the third round, this observer had Radach winning the fight 20-17 and cruising en route to a decision win. With heroics reminiscent of his win over Pete Sell, Scott Smith dug deep and pulled out a right straight that sent Radach crashing into the fence with just a minute and a half remaining. In a year featuring several great come-from-behinds, Scott Smith edged out Toby Imada with the most dramatic one.

Also Considered:
- Toby Imada over Jorge Masvidal (Bellator V)
- Hiroyuki Takaya over Yoshiro Maeda (Dream 9)
- Thierry Quenneville over Doug Evans (XMMA 7)

Best Fighter: Lyoto Machida
When the UFC purchased the WFA and select fighter contracts, including Quinton Jackson and Heath Herring, few dreamt that the crown jewel of that acquisition would have been the enigmatic Lyoto Machida. With a unique style and a very reserved persona, Lyoto seemed to be as much a promotional challenge as tactical challenge. But with back to back dazzling KO victories over undefeated fighters Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida earned himself a UFC title, pound-for-pound consideration, and international stardom. Truly remarkable in such a short amount of time.

Also Considered:
- Mike Brown
- Fedor Emelianenko
- Georges St. Pierre

Comeback Fighter: Michihiro Omigawa
After going 0-3-1 in four fights, including a disastrous 0-2 run in the UFC, Omigawa entered the Sengoku featherweight tournament, playing the well traveled veteran in a field packed with young talent. Showing reinvented stand up skills and an airtight grappling game, Omigawa dispatched two early tournament favorites in L.C. Davis and Nam Phan. Omigawa now finds himself slated for a semifinal bout against the undefeated Marlon Sandro in what could be the tournament’s best fight yet.

Also Considered:
- Cole Escovedo
- Mauricio Rua
- Toby Imada

Breakthrough Fighter: Joe Warren
Joe Warren began the year without an MMA bout or a place in MMA fans’ consciousness. In just 6 months, he has become a star on two continents and serious contender to win the Dream Featherweight Grand Prix. Warren’s first round berth against Chase Beebe drew criticism that a 0-0 fighter could be slated against some of the sport’s best in a high stakes tournament. Two fights later, Warren has pulled upsets over Chase Beebe and Japanese superstar Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. Next up for Warren: another impossible bout against Bibiano Fernandes. But why count Warren out a third time?

Also Considered:
- Jose Aldo
- Dan Hardy
- Muhammed Lawal

“I compressed my L4, L5, you know, I was just wrestling light, shot in, somebody sprawled on me, I heard it pop, and you know I sat out for like five minutes and as soon as I started pulling down, it was bad. I couldn’t even move.”

Despite an impressive 7-0 record in MMA competition, Brian Bowles has the deck stacked against him when he faces Miguel Torres next month. Bowles recently did an interview for the Versus web page talking about recovering from his back injury and how it will impact his title fight on August 9th in Las Vegas against Torres.

“The back’s feeling real good. You know, I’ve got it you know I think it’s 100%. It’s better than it ever has been. It’s ready to go.”

It’s one thing to say that you’re ready, but it’s another thing to have the injury linger in the back of your mind.

“No, the injury’s always there, you know, I rehab it every day, I’m doing all I can to strengthen my back, strength my core, so it won’t happen again, you know I got avoid positions, you know, I can’t just recklessly just pick people up and you know it’s always in my mind but you know I’m 100% confident that it’s ready to go, though.”

Bowles was originally supposed to fight Torres in Miguel’s hometown of Chicago on April 5th. Then the back injury happened and Takeya Mizugaki replaced Bowles. Mizugaki put on a classic performance against Torres, and it was the kind of performance that can potentially make you a household name. All Brian Bowles could do was sit and watch the fight.

“Ah man, it was, it made my hair stand up to see him come out, you know, I wanted it to be, when I got injured you know it was like it was depressing, you know, I hated to call the WEC and let them know that I had to back out, you know it was a long road to earn the fight and to have to back out you know it was a nightmare. It sucked bad.”

It may have sucked to watch, but in the end Bowles was happy with Miguel winning.

“You know I would have rather fought Miguel, he’s got a bigger name, you know, a win from him on my record would be huge. Yeah, I was definitely looking forward to fighting him, you know, in my mind I’ve been preparing to fight him and just being mentally and physically preparing to fight him and I was really looking forward to fighting him.”

Bowles will need all the help he can get when preparing for the upcoming fight. Mizugaki put the pressure on Torres and stood toe-to-toe with him for five rounds. It was an amazing fight performance. It also highlighted just how tough and dangerous Torres is as a man and as a fighter.

“Torres is a case where his physical skills line-up with what he’s actually good at,” Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen recently stated in an interview with us. “He’s got his naturally dynamic, aggressive submission game and an unwieldy set of long limbs that assists in that. Also, the fact that he’s brilliant on the ground and really learned well under Carlson Gracie, which means he’s been able to take more time as he became the head of the class to work on his stand-up and really improve there.”

When Bowles watched Mizugaki fight Torres and extend him the distance (a full five rounds), did the Japanese fighter show the world a game plan on how to beat the champion?

“Kinda,” Bowles softly stated. “You know, he showed some weaknesses. I think he just fights like he fought, you know, and the fight didn’t work out to his advantage but he definitely showed some holes in Miguel’s game.”

Torres, in a recent Versus official web site interview, said that Mizugaki’s strategy may have worked on April 5th, but it isn’t going to work any more as a blueprint.

“I think he tried to [create a blueprint]. I think the next guy that I fight that tries that kind of a style’s going to get knocked out. Takeya was abnormal. I was hitting him with knockout shots and knees to the body that would drop anybody and he took an abnormal amount of punishment, you know. Normally, I always thought that it was going to be a guy that has the toughness that I have, I just haven’t met him yet and I met him in Takeya, so there are very few far and between but the next time I fight him or I fight somebody as tough as him I’m going to knock him out for sure.”

“I did underestimate him. I was doing so many promo for the fight because it was in my hometown. I wasn’t getting sleep, training was kind of getting rough, I was training at like 2 in the morning, so I mean there’s a lot of little things people don’t know about. But there’s no excuse — Takeya came, you know, he came with a great game plan. He came with a strong chin and a big right hand and I give him a lot of credit. He fought with his heart and I love guys that fight that way. For me, the fight was perfect. The fact he didn’t get finished was perfect.”

“I’ve watched that fight a thousand times already. I thought I performed very well. First round I gave it up, start using my jab and he was ready for it with a right hand. So I was trying to get his rhythm a little bit, second round I came out good. Third round he cut me, and after he cut me I kinda went crazy, so… that fight taught me two things: 1) I gotta switch my game up every now and then because guys get used to a certain style that I fight with. 2) I’m tough as shit, man.”

Breen said that Bowles doesn’t have the same skills as Mizugaki to pull off a similar kind of performance against Torres.

“[Mizugaki] jabs hard and moves his head better. Bowles straight runs at guys throwing punches, so if Miguel is gonna jab, it’s just linear geometry that he’s gonna get hit in the face. Mizugaki-Torres was essentially a kickboxing bout. Even though Bowles likes to punch, he always ends up wanting to take guys down. That’s really where he closes guys out, but Torres is going to be too dynamic in the sweep and submission department.”

As both Bowles and Torres gain spotlight and notoriety as fighters, the two men are having to get used to the limelight. In the case of Brian Bowles, it’s learning the act of trash talking and PR.

“You know, I’m getting more and more used to it. It doesn’t really bother me to do it but I’m just not all that great at it but yeah, I’m getting more and more comfortable with it every day.”

When Torres faced Mizugaki in Chicago, the hometown advantage turned into a disadvantage according to the champ.

“You know what, it’s not even really the pressure, it’s just everything you have to put up with. You know, you do double the promos, I speak Spanish and English so I gotta do promos in English and I gotta do promos in Spanish and it’s double because it’s in my hometown and it’s a title fight, it’s a main event fight. Everyone that you know is going to come out of the woodwork, they want tickets, they want to talk, they just want a piece of your time because they know you and they want to feel special. It’s just rough. It gets pretty rough.”

How’s life as an MMA superstar right now?

“You know the reaction is different. I’m the same person I’ve always been, nothing’s changed about me, it’s just that I’m getting more recognition for what I do now. For me, it’s a big plus because it makes my life a little easier but at the same time it makes it a lot harder, too, so.”

Preparation for Brian Bowles won’t be any easier.

“You know I think Brian Bowles, out of all of the guys that I’ve fought think he’s one of the main guys that deserves his title shot. He beat the #2 Marcos Galvao, he beat Damacio Page, I mean he’s beat tough guys, guys that are very strong fighters. Brian has a strong right hand, a good left uppercut, and he’s got a great guillotine so he’s one of those fighters that can fight you anywhere. I’m looking forward to go out to a war with Brian, I want to do a big show with him.”

Are there any weaknesses that Torres, the best 135-pound fighter in the world, possesses? Jordan Breen says yes, but that the champion knows how to cover for them.

“He’s helped by the fact that his style and even the benefit of being a champ — fighting five rounds — helps camoflauge his weaknesses. Torres has absolutely putrid takedown defense. This guy can’t stop any man who gets a hold of his legs. However, he’s so active that he can win a round off of his back even if he can’t sweep or submit you. You can’t just go in hoping to lay on him because of that. Even if you were able to stifle his guard game, you would have to do it for 25 minutes and win at least three of those five rounds, which is a much taller task than winning two out of three over 15 minutes.”

Does Bowles have a chance of pulling off the upset and becoming the new WEC Bantamweight champion?

“Bowles does a great job at being accurate and he’s got power. I just think Bowles is a B+ guy in all areas who has really been able to just be a good fighter and capitalize on the weaknesses of the guys he’s fought as any MMA fighter should.”

“I think asking him to avoid submissions over 25 minutes from Torres is just a little too much.”

If you talk to both fighters, neither man thinks that the fight is going to a decision.

“I’m winning by knockout,” Bowles exclaimed.

“Knockout in the first round or submission in the second round,” stated a confident Torres.

Win or lose, Miguel Torres is clearly the king of 135 pounders and has recently stated in a radio interview with Steve Cofield that he would like to help build up the 135 pound division the same way Urijah Faber has helped build up the 145 pound division in terms of popularity. So, where does the champion see himself right now in terms of his fighting career and his philosophy as an active competitor?

“You know what, I don’t think I have anything to prove. I think for me being the champ and having the belt is extra. I take every fight seperate. For me, every fight is an experience, it’s a moment in time that never gets to happen again. When I fight somebody I try to change their life, I want to change the way they think about fighting and the way they think about me and every fight’s seperate. I have nothing to prove to anybody except the guy I’m fighting.”

Benavidez has trained with WEC ace Urijah Faber in Sacramento for a while now, but it wasn’t until an offer made by DREAM last year that Benavidez’s name started to gain traction publicly. He had been offered a fight against Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto last Summer. It was going to be, by far, his biggest and most high-profile fight ever. Instead, Yamamoto would soon suffer a knee injury and be out of action for nearly a year. Benavidez was being marketed as “a protege of Faber vs. Yamamoto,” since K-1 was heavily pushing a storyline of wanting to book Yamamoto vs. Faber in a dream match.

Benavidez would instead have to settle for a win over Junya Kudo. After the one fight in DREAM, Joe signed a deal with WEC to fight in the 135 pound Bantamweight division. His first two WEC fights, against Danny Martinez and Jeff Curran, were decision wins. In his previous 8 fights, Benavidez had finished everyone. Now on the WEC stage, the competition is tougher than he has ever faced.

After his last fight with Curran, Benavidez expressed some disappointment with not being able to finish off the veteran. In comments made in a recent Versus.com interview, Joe clarified his post-fight remarks.

“I felt really good. After the fight, you know I made a comment that I wasn’t satisfied with it but that’s just me, I’m never satisfied. I want to go in there and finish him and stuff, but you know watching it I mean Curran’s just a competitor you know and he’s a great fighter that I went in there with, so, getting the win over him is the biggest you know getting the W and I was impressed by my performance you know. Of course I always look and think that I could have done things different and stuff, but overall I was impressed by him and I think that fight made be better as a fighter and better than my last fight so I’m just going to keep getting better.”

“I just wish I would have finished him, you know. You know maybe landed some cleaner shots and you know capitalize on the ground more, but like I said he’s just tough, he’s just a really good survivor you know, I could feel his experience in there more than anything, you know, people say how strong a guy he is and everything but I could feel his experience every time he was in danger. You know he put a stop to it and he’s just seeing everything so that was it. I had a pretty good pace for the fight but I’d even like a faster pace, so.”

The young star has major-league wrestling credentials, as he was a big-time star in New Mexico high school circles. Eventually he landed in Sacramento after missing Urijah Faber for a scheduled meeting. The two would soon form a close bond and become training partners. After earning a win over the tough Curran (who Faber previously beat), Benavidez thinks he deserves to be ranked.

“I know on the some of the rankings you know it definitely threw me into the Top 10, you know, but I definitely think I’m one of the Top 10 in the division. There’s so many tough guys and there’s guys out there that people, a lot of good fans don’t even know about who should be in the Top 10. My next opponent I think should be in the Top 10, but you know I’m definitely up there and I think I’m a contender. I can give anyone in the division a really good fight and beat pretty much anyone at my weight. I think I can beat anyone in my weight but at the same token anyone at the weight can beat me, just everyone’s that good so pretty practical.”

Benavidez has a lot of respect from hardcore MMA fans and insiders. According to the latest rankings by the Independent World MMA Rankings committe, he is ranked the 5th best Bantamweight in the world. A look at the current rankings:

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)

1. Miguel Torres (37-1)
2. Brian Bowles (7-0)
3. Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2)
4. Masakatsu Ueda (9-0-2)
5. Joseph Benavidez (10-0)
6. Akitoshi Tamura (14-7-2)
7. Will Ribeiro (10-2)
8. Rani Yahya (14-4)
9. Damacio Page (11-4)
10. Manny Tapia (10-2-1)

Benavidez’s name has surfaced recently as a possible replacement for Brian Bowles in the upcoming August 9th WEC title fight against Miguel Torres. The Bowles/Torres fight was originally scheduled for April 5th, but Bowles had to back out due to a training injury. Takeya Mizugaki would end up being Bowles’ replacement that night and ended up in a Fight of the Year candidate bout with Torres. Bowles is back and says he is 100% ready to fight Torres. Joe says that he has no hard feelings about not getting a title shot against Torres right away.

“No, I’m not disappointed. No, I just take everything in stride and look at everything as a positive. If I would have got the title shot after Curran, you know in my mind I would have thought, ‘Oh this is a great thing, I’m going for the title” and not getting the title shot, you know, I just kind of in my mind like, “Alright, I’m getting another fight. This is good, too, more experience and I’ll be better when I get the title” so, just trying to look at it as a positive either way you know, it would have been good either way. You know, another fight against another great opponent can’t hurt me, so, you know I’m ready to do that.”

Benavidez will be facing a tough opponent in Dominic Cruz, a man whose 13-1 record is only blemished by a loss to… Urijah Faber. There are clearly some advantages for the young star to be able to train with Faber in order to prepare for the upcoming fight against Cruz.

“You know I think that’s a good thing, you know, it’s me and Urijah have similar styles as people know and you know Urijah’s the only guy to beat him (Cruz). You know, that prepares me a lot mentally seeing Urijah beat him and you know we train the same every day, same coaches, same trainers, so in my mind I’m like there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to beat the guy. I put that in my mind, just that I’m go out there and get the win, I’m going to do it. As far as him as an opponent, I think he’s as dangerous an opponent as anyone in the division, you know, besides the two top Torres and Bowles, you know, but he’s as dangerous as anyone and you know lots of people haven’t seen him because he’s been on the undercard and winning his decisions but I mean anyone that’s seen Dominic Cruz fight live are really impressed by him and know how bad of a guy he is, so I’m looking forward to it. He has a great pace, I have a great pace, and it’s going to be a fun fight. I’m looking forward to it.”

“The most is his pace and cardio, you know, he has the physical gifts of his reach and stuff, he just uses that to a good advantage. Besides that, the guy just I don’t I’ve seen anyone in MMA throw more punches than him you know so I’m going to have to get away to slow that down somehow and you know, but I can throw a lot of punches myself so that’s what impressed him about me, his cardio and no one’s seen his wrestling and it’s impressive that no one’s really heard of the guy and how good he is.”

Given the track record of both men, expect this fight to be exciting but to go the distance and go to the scorecards. Benavidez’s two WEC fights are decisions and Cruz’s last three fights in WEC are all decision wins as well. Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen thinks that three round fights may actually be a detriment to Benavidez’s skill set.

“I think [Joe] can finish him, but I expect a points win. Cruz is much improved and is tough, and really Benavidez isn’t a guy well-suited for three rounds. He’s an active fighter, but he’s a grinder in that he wears guys out. But he isn’t suited to the 15-minute bout. A Tyson Griffin sort of deal.”

Benavidez is confident in his ability to beat Cruz on August 9th in Las Vegas.

“My fight, I’m going to definitely you know win, beat Dominic Cruz, I got a lot of respect for him, but all I can really think and say in my mind I just can’t think about being defeated so you know, of course I’m going to go in there and win. My prediction for the most part is that it’s going to be a great fight, you know. Definitely looking for the finish. I’ve finished all of my fights before I got into the WEC and now I’ve had just two really good opponents that are really good at surviving and you know Dominic Cruz is going go in there and mix it up so I want to look for the finish but I just want to get the W either way and I think that’s going to happen. Improve my record, stay undefeated, and you know hopefully go for the title after that.”

We all know that Dana White is MMA’s master pitchman, but he has a lot of weaknesses to go along with his strengths in this department. Bjorn Rebney, the boss of Bellator FC, goes about business a little differently.

While the two men may end up using similar business tactics and acumen, Rebney is the complete opposite of White. He’s an excellent speaker with a sports marketing background. At times, Bjorn sounds like he came from the casting call of Jerry Maguire, but don’t be fooled — he may use marketing clichés such as Q score, pieces of the puzzle, and growth curves, but Rebney’s message is starting to resonate with the general public and fight fans across the States.

Bellator recently finished up their first season of fights for ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language channel seen around the world. Ratings for Bellator on ESPN-D were excellent for the channel, mostly ranging in the 1’s. On Discovery Channel, drawing a 1.5 rating is a minor success (like Billy Mays did with Pitchmen). Drawing a 1.5 on ESPN Deportes, however, is pretty impressive no matter how you slice it.

“Our show is going on ESPN Desportes to a spanish-language audience,” Rebney said recently in an interview with TheFightNerd.com (Matthew Kaplowitz) after a Bellator show in Connecticut. “The Spanish-language audience until Bellator hit on Deportes had never had a show produced for a spanish-language audience in real time that had Spanish-language announcers. It was being broadcast week to week. So, we’re hitting real virgin territory. If we’re able to do numbers that are better than in many instances the top dogs in the game and comparable to hitting an audience that knows nothing about this great game.”

“I think that we’re poised to do some really great numbers when we change over to English language and I think that going into the second season, we will do consistently stronger numbers in Spanish language because the fan base will know it I mean you know you can’t believe how many people came to us in terms of Spanish-language media saying, “Well explain this to us. Is it real? Are those real fights?’ There was a complete lack of understanding of this great game so, it’s gotten… it’s strong and I look at it from that perspective, I love it to be you know north of 1’s but it’ll get there.”

Bellator, during season one, crowned new champions — Lyman Good, Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard, Joe Soto, and Toby Imada are the names that most hardcore MMA fans recognize as being pushed by the organization. Now that season one is over, how will Bellator create new stars and challengers for their new crop of aces? Rebney told Kaplowitz that the matchmaking formula won’t change all that much.

“What you’ll see is much of the same, you’ll see Challenger series, 8 guys fighting to become the #1 challenger to challenge Lyman Good, to challenge Joe Soto, to challenge Eddie Alvarez or Toby Imada and to challenge Hector Lombard or Jared Hess. You’ll see guys fight for the right to fight for our championship. So, we’re not going to change the format. We didn’t do the format and say, “Oh, this is a great tournament and then we’re going to switch it on its head and go to old-school matchmaking formula.” It’s not going to happen.”

Being on free/cable TV or premium pay-to-watch TV like Showtime has been a primary method for a lot of MMA groups so far, since most have failed on PPV. Rebney says that the economics of MMA determine that Bellator will need to make the move to PPV in the near future.

“Happy right now on TV, but obviously the dynamics in this business require that you get to PPV. So, my hope and the vision was you’ve got four tournaments running simultaneously. Who knows if at the end of that all four of those guys are A-level guys? I think we have some guys right now with the ‘it factor’ I think the guy you saw win a title here tonight has the it factor. You look for all of those different parts of the ingredients. He can fight inside the cage, he’s got great talent, amazing drive, he looks like belongs on the cover of GQ, you know, he could be the evil or the good character in a Conan the Barbarian movie, he’s got all those kind of unique factors working together. And you want to take a person like a Lyman and he keeps working the way he’s working and create somebody that can fight him that becomes the A- or B- to his A and then you’ve got the ability to conceivably to move onto PPV.

Bellator second season will kick off in the Fall. And what I can say is that you will see Bellator in both English-language and Spanish-language. That’s as much specificity as I can give.”

While Eddie Alvarez is the name that the hardcores know the most about in Bellator and care the most about, the name Lyman Good is one that should be on your radar screen. In addition to his charisma, looks, and ability to fight, he potentially makes a very good candidate to become the poster boy for Bellator. Will Bellator go with one primary ace or will they use the ‘deck of cards’ theory that has been used in other fighting genres?

“I think Lyman has done an amazing job. Like I said he’s got an awful lot of pieces to the equation. We took him to what is called a Car Wash at ESPN where he went through literally about 9 or 10 interviews in one day. He was the consummate professional, started at 6 o’clock and done about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. But there are a lot of … we’ve been very lucky. Eddie Alvarez, whose fighting for our Lightweight title is another guy who generates a huge amount of buzz wherever he goes. He’s got an electrifying personality and a beautiful wife and great kids. Jared Hess, whose fighting Hector Lombard, is this magical kind down home Americana Oklahoma boy who’s a world class wrestler and strong as an ox and Mom travels with him and Mom loves him and Dad… I mean there are a lot of guys in this organization that could conceivably elevate themselves to the next level. Joe Soto who fought last week, who’s soft spoken and as kind as can be, walks up and is just like the most pleasant understanding guy. We got a lot of guys who’ve really stepped out of the box. Um, and it’s… I mean, Wilson Reis who Joe Soto beat has got this gregarious kind of over-the-top personality with huge big smiles and he loses and all he wants to do is give the guy that just beat him a hug and you know what I mean, he’s just… you got a lot of guys who we can get traction with, so I wouldn’t want to classify anybody as the poster boy but if there was going to be um we could a heck of a lot worse than Lyman Good as the face of this organization. He is a very high quality individual outside the cage and a very, very talented fighter inside.”

If you notice, Bjorn Rebney makes sure to always stay positive and praise his fighters. With Dana White, he’ll praise someone if they are on his good side but when the fighter is on his or Lorenzo Fertitta’s bad side, UFC management is not afraid to criticize or raise their volume when talking about said person in the media. It’s fair to say that UFC management can be very combative at times when talking about talent under contract (and even fighters who are not under contract to them).

One of the recent interviews Lyman did at ESPN was an interview segment for MMA Live. He came across as a star during the interview with Jon Anik. If the way to succeed in MMA is to build new, fresh stars, how does Rebney see Bellator’s role in the process and how does it impact the company’s marketing & booking philosophy?

“From my personal perspective, seeing a guy like a Lyman Good who I met three months who nobody knew who he was, he had no Q score, he really was an unknown fighter but for a small contingent and niche group in the Northeast and now to know that we’re getting blogs and people logging in, people coming to our site, people talking to us from California, Minnesota, you know, New Mexico and on, talking about Lyman Good, that’s very cool. It’s very cool to know that we kinda criss-crossed the nation, it’s very cool that 3-4,000 people come to our site every week, are looking at these fighters and going ‘Wow he’s an A-level guy, I want to see him, I want to learn more about him’, and people start to talk when people when to start talk about Lyman Good versus this guy or that guy and for to mention top guys in the UFC at 70 or start to mention top fighters from Japan at 70, very cool, it’s very cool for us. I don’t think that’s a defining moment, but it’s a real good growth curve moment.”

“What I preach about fighters controlling their own destiny, they can do it and they can do it here. So, that is very cool for me for a personal defining moment about what we’ve done.”

Rest assured that this was not the only problem between the two sides during Ortiz’s long tenure with UFC.

Outside of Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz is a marketing icon closely associated with UFC. His matches still air on Spike TV re-runs all the time. He’s still one of the most popular figures in all of MMA. Ortiz likes to call himself a brand, which is a fair claim to make. However, he also gives back to fighters by not only marketing them but by also sponsoring them. Of course, given UFC’s tactics these days in terms of who can sponsor what fighter and how a sponsor reportedly has to pay UFC the right just to even sponsor someone, it seems as if Zuffa wouldn’t be disappointed if companies like Tito’s were left on the outside-looking-in.

If only MMA Memories had existed a few years ago, I would have written about 30 articles about Dana White’s boxing match with Tito Ortiz and the Spike TV special that White made sure was on television to show just what great shape he was in and what a pussycat Ortiz ended up being.

We know what the history is between White and Ortiz. The great irony is that is no matter what White has tried to do to Tito, it always seems to reflect off of Tito like teflon and not cause any damage. Case in point — the last two notable fights Tito had in the UFC were against Rashad Evans a few years ago and against Machida. Tito and Evans went to a draw in Sacramento and Machida beat Ortiz by decision. Evans and Machida would end up facing each other and Machida would become the Light Heavyweight champion. When Ortiz and Machida were booked against each other in Tito’s UFC farewell match, it was clear that a lot of people thought Ortiz would get humiliated and damaged in the fight. Instead, the affair was largely boring and didn’t really hurt Ortiz’s stock all that much. White didn’t get the ultimate payoff that he wanted.

Despite being gone from UFC for over a year now, Ortiz keeps getting asked by the media as to whether or not he will return to Zuffa. During this time period, Tito has made several claims about potential contract offers from Affliction or Strikeforce or other parties, but nothing ever seems to come to fruition.

In a recent Trib Total Media interview with Jusitn Labar, Ortiz announced his latest business declaration.

“I’m starting my own organization also with Strikeforce called Punishment Fighting Championships so not just as a promoter, I’ll be competing also and bringing some of the other guys around, try to make some more superstars and for me to get a chance to fight in Pittsburgh would be awesome, I’d love it.”

And as for a return to UFC?

“Not as long as Dana White’s the President of UFC. It’s just, I have too much integrity, I have too much respect for myself and to be taken advantage of, to be talked as bad as I have from him, he does not have my best interests as a businessman or as a fighter he has no respect for me so I live my whole career and my life on respect and for me to grow on and show that successful no matter what that’s the most important thing in showing that I’m just not a fighter, I’m a brand and I’m a businessman, I’m a smart businessman and I’m going to make sure to look out for my future and for there I will lose complete integrity if I do go back.”

Set the odds to 3-1 that Tito makes a comeback to UFC by next year if and when the organization needs him to pop them a good PPV buy rate. Count on it.

One person Zuffa can count on to be their mega-superstar in Hispanic markets is Miguel Torres. Unfortunately, Miguel fights for their baby sister promotion WEC and he fights at 135 pounds. Oops. Dana White finds his Spanish-speaking super talent and somehow, Torres doesn’t fit into their scheme in UFC.

In an interview with Superstar Steve Cofield and Smokin’ Dave Cokin interview last week on ESPN 1100, Torres talked about his upcoming fight against Brian Bowles in Las Vegas on August 9th. Torres, who is taller than the majority of his opponents, has to train against smaller guys in camp in order to prepare himself for fights.

“Whenever I have a fight coming up I try to find guys who are almost the same height and the last time I fought in Vegas I fought Manny Tapia and I had to find guys that were like 5′4″, 5′5″ and I could not believe how tall I was than those guys. I was like man I got to go up in weight, I got to start put on some weight, and my metabolism is so crazy I can’t do it and when I fought Tapia it was so easy that I was so much taller than him. So I don’t know, it’s kind of crazy.”

While Mike Brown is the WEC’s ace at Featherweight (145 pounds), Torres is the promotion’s king at 135 pounds and overall the company’s best fighter. Nobody matches up with him in terms of speed, skill, stamina, and heart. What does Miguel think separates him from the rest of the pack?

“Well, I mean, it’s just the mentality, how you think about it. For me, fighting is a lifestyle. Mixed Martial Arts is a lifestyle for me. I do mixed martial arts to be a martial artist in the most pure sense. I don’t consider myself a fighter. I do this for enlightenment, I did it to learn more about myself, challenge myself, and you know for me it’s a process. A lot of other guys that get into the sport, you know, they played football, they wrestled in High School, they get into the sport in their mid-20s, they do it because they think it’s cool and they want to make a lot of money, they’re trying to break onto the scene and their mindset is a little bit different. Their training is not going to be focused 100%, their body’s not going to be there 100%, so it’s two different levels. A good example of that is when you had Machida fight against Rashad Evans. A guy who’s flourished his whole life, in the back of his head, this is his time and his moment in time to become a world champion, he’s been waiting his whole life. Evans is the world champion who came off The Ultimate Fighter, so you have two different mindsets.”

There’s that name again, Machida. We know Machida’s father taught his son karate and other martial arts as a kid, but we also know that Ryoto/Lyoto first came to prominence under the marketing of Antonio Inoki. Machida’s win over Rich Franklin on NYE 2003 in Japan is what got everyone’s attention. From that point forward, Machida was destined to become the king of his weight class, just like Torres is the king of 135 pounders.

Will Torres stay at 135 pounds, however?

“Well I’m happy where I’m at now, 135, I want to cement a legacy, I want to be, I’m one of the first fighters at 135 that’s actually been in the weight class and the popularity. I’m doing what Urijah Faber did for 145, so I want to do it at 135, you know I think a couple more of years here, two more years here at this weight class, and then before I retire I want to move up in weight just for some really big fights, some higher profile fights.”

The problem for Torres has more to do with the way UFC looks at WEC and handles their own affairs as opposed to his skill set, his marketing ability, and his fight style. Torres is the complete package and much like Urijah Faber, it is evident that these two prime talents should be on a bigger stage rather than watching the peak of their careers in a league that Zuffa treats as secondary to UFC for business purposes.

Since WEC isn’t on PPV and is a TV-only property, the salary structure is going to be lower. The live event ticket prices are lower than UFC’s, so the gates are smaller. For men like Torres and Faber who put on fight-of-the-year caliber matches while fighters in heavier weight classes make anywhere from 5-10 times the amount those guys do on undercards or midcard slots on PPV, it has to be incredibly frustrating.

“They do take care of us, they give us undisclosed bonuses and perks on the side but you know I have a family and I got things I want to do with my gym and I have other venues I can get into as far as making income. Fighting, I love fighting and I can stay and fight another 10 years, it’s just the training process, it’s just so rigorous not just on my body and my mind but being away from my family and just so much traveling and so much, you know, there’s so much other sacrifices that I make to get ready for a fight especially being at the level where I’m at now that I don’t get to have any fun in my life and you know depending on where the money is at in three or four years would depend on if I stick around but I’m planning on staying in 3 or 4 more years and then getting out.”

Money is always a top priority for fighters, no matter how much MMA is a lifestyle to them or not. Torres should be positioned by Zuffa in a much higher profile slot, but he isn’t. For years, Dana White clamored about finding that Spanish-speaking superstar that could help him expand operations into Mexico and other Latin America countries. Now that he has that fighter, not a lot is being done for expansion plans. Combine this along with the end of Setanta Sports and suddenly the European expansion plans compared to focusing more time, money, and energy expanding into Latin America is looking like a big mistake.

We know Torres is the real deal. As a guest host on MMA Live, he comes across as humble, yet very much his own man with his own opinions. In other words, he’s about as good as Rich Franklin when it comes to speaking and marketing. That’s a pretty good man to be compared to.

Given the limited shelf life that fighters have in MMA, Torres has to be frustrated. After all, he puts in an incredible amount of time into training, into marketing and hyping fights, and into doing PR for WEC. What is it that separates Torres from the rest of the pack as far as being an elite-level fighter both in training and during the actual fight performance itself?

“Well the biggest thing when you’re getting ready for a fight is getting your mindset right and if you’re training for a fight and the days coming up, you got two months to get ready for your fight and you’re going out and you’re having a good time and you’re going to the movies and playing video games and doing a lot of other stuff where you’re not focused on what you got to do, when the fight comes that night the day of the fight you think back on your training process, you know, that’s the ground that’s the base of what’s getting you ready for this fight and you think about that process and what did you do to get ready for that fight. You go back in your head, you know I was drinking, I was eating fast food or I was out partying or I was hanging out with these people and I wasn’t in the gym or you know, you got to be focused on what you got to do. The physical part is the easy part, anybody can be in shape, but to mentally be prepared for a fight that very few people can do and that’s what I do when I get ready for a fight, you know, wake up in the morning and I train, I’ll eat, I’ll take a nap, I’ll go back to the gym, go for a run at the beach, so I’m at the beach but I’m not really having a good time at the beach because I’m training, I’m running, when I get out of the beach I got to get back and sleep again so that the sun’s real hard on your body, then at night I train again so there’s no time to go out, there’s no time to do anything else but to eat and go to sleep because you got to do it all over again in the morning. It’s just a process.”

In the co-feature, the pound-for-pound king of mixed martial arts, middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, tests the waters at 205 pounds once again when he battles former light heavyweight champ and Ultimate Fighter season one winner Forrest Griffin. * Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian * Light Heavyweight bout: Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin * Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks * Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida * Lightweight bout: Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Preliminary card * Lightweight bout: Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley * Welterweight bout: Tamdan McCrory vs. John Howard * Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Alessio Sakara * Welterweight bout: Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer * Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Rob Emerson * Welterweight bout: Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort