The Remix, Vol. 29: The All-Bellator Edition

E. Spencer Kyte

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The Remix, Vol. 29: The All-Bellator Edition image

Friday night in New York City was a showcase of everything that is great about Bellator MMA and Scott Coker and company deserve to be applauded for the entertaining wrinkles they offer up in the MMA space.

While there are always going to be elements to be critical about, Bellator 222 was one of those cards that highlighted just how great it is to have a Coker-run company in the world because in addition to offering up competition to the UFC, the former Strikeforce boss always finds a way to mix things up and make them even more interesting. From tournaments to co-promotion and historically doing a very good job of showcasing emerging talent, Coker finds a way to give fans a little something different in a landscape that can often feel like overwhelming sameness.

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And Friday night's event had a little bit of all really fun stuff Bellator MMA now brings to the table. So, this edition of The Remix is dedicated exclusively to that event and that promotion … sort of.

Is Kyoji Horiguchi the best fighter in the sport right now?

Before you scoff and dismiss the notion, sit back and take in what the Japanese standout has done since his “too soon” title shot against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186 in Montreal:

  • Three straight wins to close out his UFC run, including a victory over former title challenger Ali Bagautinov
  • Nine consecutive victories under the Rizin FF banner, including a nine-second knockout of Ian McCall and a submission win over Darrion Caldwell to win the promotion’s bantamweight title
  • Unanimous decision win over Caldwell in the rematch at Bellator 222 to claim that promotion’s bantamweight belt too
  • 13 consecutive victories, two title wins, 2017 Rizin FF Bantamweight Grand Prix

There are a number of other fighters with very good cases for top spot on such a list, but with his win over Caldwell on Friday night, Horiguchi made his case for inclusion in the global pound-for-pound rankings and being considered the best fighter in the sport right now.

It’s a shame that the UFC has no interest in co-promotion because a “Double Champ vs. Double Champ” fight between the 28-year-old standout and Henry Cejudo is honestly the most intriguing matchup out there right now and feels like it would be all kinds of entertaining. It’s unfortunate that they never crossed paths in the Octagon and that the UFC allowed Horiguchi to walk, but it has worked out to Rizin’s benefit and now that he’s Bellator bantamweight champion, he has to compete there at least once a year as well.

Some will surely argue that Horiguchi couldn’t do against the top UFC stars what he’s done to the various opponents he’s bested during his ongoing run of success, but he just out-worked the Bellator champ off his back and the only guy to beat him in the last seven years is an all-time great whom he faced far too quickly.

He’s probably not the best fighter in the sport at the moment, but it’s a conversation worth starting because the way he’s going, Horiguchi is only going to continue strengthening his case and making everyone question his place in the hierarchy even more in the next couple years.

Chael Sonnen: A modern day MMA pioneer

Chael Sonnen announced his retirement from MMA on Friday night following a second-round stoppage loss to Lyoto Machida, bringing a close to one of the most influential and important careers of the last decade.

Without winning a title* and despite a checkered track record inside and outside of the cage, Sonnen’s impact on the sport is undeniable.

(*Sonnen should have been awarded the WEC middleweight title after beating Paulo Filho; it’s not his fault the champion missed weight)

After losing his UFC debut, Sonnen won three straight to stamp himself as the top contender in the middleweight division. Following his win over Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, he was confident and respectful, which makes what has followed over the last nine years all the more impactful.

By the time the UFC rolled into Vancouver that June, Sonnen had adopted “The American Gangster” persona — the trash-talking, ultra-confident, blur-the-lines-of-reality competitor who turned what many expected to be a lopsided fight against Anderson Silva that carried little initial interest into a must-see grudge match. He brought professional wrestling-style promos to MMA, literally, having borrowed from Pacific Northwest fixtures like Len Denton when crafting his verbal attacks on Silva, the Nogueira Brothers and Brazil as a whole.

Since then, Sonnen has been one of the biggest stars in the sport, despite a sub .500 record since that initial loss to Silva. His personality and ability to infuse interest into the most benign matchups kept him at the top of the card and helped him transition into a successful, prominent on-camera career as well.

And there is no denying the influence he’s had on the next generation of fighters.

Today, everyone wants to be like Conor McGregor, but “The Notorious” one is cribbing from Sonnen’s notebook, adding a little more spice and vitriol and enjoying greater success, which is how evolution is supposed to work.

Despite this being his final fight, Sonnen will remain an ever-present figure in the sport and his influence will continue to be felt for years to come.

We have to talk about Aaron Pico

Heading into his bout with Adam Borics on Friday night, Pico had said and done all the right things — he moved his camp to Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque and talked about needing to learn how to fight — and through the first five minutes, everything was going well.

The highly-touted prospect used his wrestling to ground the unbeaten Hungarian, playing to his strengths for the first time in his MMA career, reducing the potential for getting knocked out and piling up the control time in the process. But in the second round, Borics started stuffing takedowns and with a little over a minute left, he elevated and planted a perfectly-executed flying knee on Pico’s jaw, sending the youngster to the canvas once again.

Pico is now 4-3 in his mixed martial arts career with all three of his losses coming by way of stoppage in fights where he has been rocked on the feet. Heralded as the best prospect ever, he has shown flashes of potential greatness in blistering wins against overmatched opposition and earned a very good win over Leandro Higo, but since then, he’s gotten starched by stiffer competition and should now be forced to reconsider how he wants to approach his career.

Following his loss, Twitter was alight with talk about what to do with Pico going forward and it’s a difficult situation to navigate because Bellator likely has a lot of money tied up in the 22-year-old, but rolling him out there against established names seems to be a recipe for disaster. Pulling him back and putting him in there with fighters with comparable levels of experience would likely lead to backlash as well, which basically means the company is in a no-win position and it really comes down to Pico and his team.

The Whittier, Calif. native believes he can be a world champion and the raw materials and work ethic are there, but he lacks reps in the cage and his Fight IQ is limited at the moment, which happens when you’ve had seven fights and the only time you have seen the second round was Friday night at MSG. The team at Jackson-Wink can and will certainly help him, but the biggest thing Pico needs at the moment is to get in there and simply gain experience and that means facing off with tough, middle-class competitors and logging time inside the cage.

Borics and Henry Corrales, who knocked Pico stiff in January, are elite talents and the kind of guys Pico has no business fighting at this point in his career. The next two years should be spent amassing five or six fights against durable veterans, who will force Pico to grow in order to avoid getting beaten.

It feels too soon to write off a 22-year-old with an abundance of potential. That being said, Pico has to start showing appreciable improvements and a better understanding of how to put everything together inside the cage or else he’s at risk of washing out before his career ever really gets going.

Fight of the Weekend: Rory MacDonald vs. Neiman Gracie at Bellator 222

Prior to the fifth round, this fight felt destined to be one of those contests that looks like a one-sided affair on paper, but was actually much closer and then Gracie dominated the final frame, making the scores a little more representative of what actually transpired in the cage.

This was a great fight because it showed that MacDonald can still be effective and dangerous even though he’s no longer the single-minded terminator he was in his younger days. While the ferociousness that punctuated some of his early efforts is gone, it has been replaced by skill, technique and precision and he was able to use those things to out-work Gracie and stay one step ahead long enough to earn the decision win.

 

 

Friday’s main event also showed that the 30-year-old Gracie has the potential to be one of the top welterweights in the world, if he’s not there already. MacDonald is not an easy guy to contend with, even in his current incarnation, and Gracie stayed right there with him, threatening with submissions at different points and exhibiting the kind of skills that should keep him in the mix in Bellator’s welterweight ranks for the next several years.

It also set the table for the finals of the Welterweight Grand Prix, making the rematch between MacDonald and Douglas Lima official for later this year. That bout immediately becomes one of the most intriguing matchups on the 2019 calendar because their first fight was a close, entertaining, competitive affair and Lima has looked phenomenal since. He’s the type of fighter who will force the defending champion to be at his absolute best in order to retain his title and the outcome will have a serious impact on the legacies of both men.

Submission of the Weekend: Patrick Mix vs. Ricky Bandejas at Bellator 222

“Patchy” didn’t waste any time with this one, rushing across the cage to close the distance before climbing onto Bandejas’ back and working to lace up the choke.

While the New Jersey native defended admirably to start, it felt like a matter of time before the undefeated promotional newcomer would win the hand-fighting battle and finish the choke and that’s precisely what happened, as Mix slapped away Bandejas’ hands, fishing his arm under the chin and squeezed out a tap after the two fell backwards to the canvas.

 

 

This was a tremendous debut from the Western New York native who trains at Jackson-Wink MMA — an effort that underscores that he should have been called up to the big leagues sooner and is someone to keep an eye on going forward.

Still unbeaten in his MMA career, Mix hasn’t received the hype or attention of some of Bellator’s more high profile additions, but he’s clearly one of the top upstarts on the roster and should get every opportunity to work his way into contention over the next two or three fights, provided they don’t turn around and book him against a surging contender like they did to Bandejas following his win over James Gallagher.

Knockout of the Weekend: Juan Archuleta vs. Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 222

“Y’all wanna see a dead body?”

That’s the first thing that went through my head watching Archuleta land a beautiful counter right on Dantas in the closing seconds of the second round of their fight on Friday night. As soon as it connected, there was no question the fight was over and there was a new Knockout of the Year contender in the conversation; that’s how brutal this finish was.

If you ever watch a fight and wonder why one or both men are cautious to engage, flip back to the replay of this finish and you’ll understand why because Dantas would have been fine to stay outside and let the round end, but instead, he pressed forward, trying to land something of his own after getting clipped a couple times and Archuleta blistered him.

“The Spaniard” deserves props for walking this one off and referee Blake Grice gets a shout out for being in position and reacting instantaneously to ensure Dantas didn’t take any more damage. He was out as soon as the punch landed and the fact that he didn’t immediately snap back to consciousness when he crashed to the floor tells you how clean and precise the shot was that he took.

This was another massive effort for Archuleta and the kind of highlight reel finish that should establish him as a must-see contender for Bellator.

Prospect to Watch after this Weekend: Dillon Danis

While there is no denying he is obnoxious, over-confident and the kind of guy a lot of people are waiting to see get humbled inside the cage, right now, Danis is also one heck of a prospect.

The 25-year-old jiu jitsu ace made easy work of Max Humphrey on Friday, playing with his food for a long stretch in the opening round before finally shifting his focus to securing a submission and getting the tap.

As annoying as he can be posing with two belts and wearing leopard-print trucks, Danis has shown that he has serious upside inside the cage and if he continues to improve his hands, there is a very real possibility that he develops into a contender in the next couple years.

Now, all of that can change with one appearance against a proven name or even someone with more experience and acumen than Humphrey or Kyle Walker, whom he beat by toe hold in his debut, but the opportunity is there for Danis to be the Bizarro World version of Demian Maia.

Expect a lot of people to be calling out Danis over the next several months and Bellator to do its best to protect its investment.

E. Spencer Kyte