When Bellator has put on what it calls its major "tentpole events," it has featured older and past-their-prime fighters such as the late Kimbo Slice, Dada 5000, Royce Gracie, Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen, Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
In essence, it makes sense. The belief is that having those fights helps the undercard fighters get noticed and helps them become stars.
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Bellator 149 with Shamrock vs. Gracie along with Slice vs. Dada 5000 averaged 1.96 million viewers. Bellator 138 featuring Slice vs. Shamrock did 1.58 million viewers, and Bellator 170 with Ortiz vs. Sonnen averaged 1.4 million viewers.
But those shows did nothing to help the undercard fighters become household names and headline major Bellator events.
That has a chance to change Friday night at Bellator 179 from The SSE Arena in London when Rory MacDonald battles Paul Daley in the main event of the show.
It is a sight to see and something Bellator should be doing more often.
MacDonald, 27, (18-4) is the biggest free-agent signing in the history of the promotion. The former UFC welterweight title challenger is a young guy in the prime of his career, choosing to leave the UFC and not the other way around because he either got fired, he's older, needs the money or wants to remain in the limelight.
Daley, 33, (39-14-2) was fired from the UFC in 2010 after sucker-punching Josh Koscheck after their fight at UFC 110 in May of that year. If it wasn't for that incident, Daley would probably still be in the UFC.
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MacDonald and Daley are two of the most exciting and high-profile fighters in the sport. They give everything they have and leave it all inside the cage. Fights like this are what Bellator should be promoting and putting in the main event position.
The older generation of fighters will not be around forever. Eventually, their time will come and ride off into the sunset. Unfortunately, that isn't the way Bellator president Scott Coker does when it comes to booking fights. He likes putting the older fighters in the main events to draw ratings and help with advertising revenue, but it doesn't help the long-term growth of the company.
If they choose to stay around, there can be a place for them on the show. Putting them in the co-main event spot would be the route to go. Fans would tune in for the entire show, wouldn't turn the channel after the fight ends and would stay around for the main event. Which in turn would help the younger fighters grow and become names not just for the hardcore MMA fans but for the casual who is turning on the channel for the older fighter.
The rating for tonight's show will tell a lot. If it does well like many fights fans and media think it will, then MacDonald vs. Daley should be a page turner for the way Bellator does things going forward.
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, "The Fight Club Chicago," and subscribe on iTunes. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.
