Bellator’s second event of the weekend takes place Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The fight card, Bellator 216, features what might be the biggest fight in U.K. MMA history when Michael Page faces Paul Daley in a welterweight grudge match that also serves as a grand prix opening bout.
The two fighters had once been, if not friends, at least friendly. That changed in 2017 when Daley offered what he thought was an innocuous comment during a post-fight interview. His reply didn’t sit well with Page, and since that time the two have been, let’s say, on less than cordial terms.
In the co-main event, former Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov returns to the promotion after an absence of nearly five years to face the man he defeated in his most recent contest with Bellator, Cheick Kongo.
Bellator 216 takes place in Uncasville, Conn. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMAjunkie.
Here are five reasons to watch the event.
1. Let’s work this out
Daley knows precisely when the feud between him and Page kicked off. It was January 2017, and Daley had just knocked out Brennan Ward at Bellator 170. After the fight, Daley (40-16-2 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) said he was asked if he was interested in facing Page (13-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA). Daley, who was nearly 14 years into his career at that time, then compared himself to Floyd Mayweather while portraying Page, who had five years of MMA experience, as Adrien Broner. Daley told MMAjunkie he meant no disrespect by the comment, but Page took the remark to heart.
A beef was born.
The two will settle their differences in the main event of Bellator 216. And if a grudge match isn’t exciting enough, let’s not forget that the winner of this bout moves on to the semifinal round of the welterweight grand prix.
Page, who told MMAjunkie that he has been itching to fight Daley for some time added that he requested this fight for the first round of the grand prix for a specific reason.
“I wanted it, because I don’t believe he would have made it through to the final anyway,” said Page.
As for Daley, he too sees the grand prix as the right time for this matchup to take place.
“If this fight wasn’t made in the tournament, the tournament wouldn’t be half as interesting, in my opinion,” Daley said.
On paper this bout between two talented strikers promises to be one of the most exciting matchups in recent Bellator history.
2. Back in the fold, chasing gold
It’s impossible to know what Bellator’s heavyweight division would look like had Minakov stayed with the promotion. Minakov won the heavyweight crown in November 2013. He defended the title once when he bested Kongo by unanimous decision in 2014. Minakov then sauntered over to Fight Night Global where he fought three times before Bellator stripped him of his title in May 2016. Minakov continued to compete for Fight Nights Global after his release. He went 7-0 with seven finishes for the promotion between 2015 and 2017. In 2018, Minakov, who is 21-0 with 19 finishes, re-signed with Bellator. The multiple time Sambo world champion rematches Kongo at Bellator 216.
Minakov’s signing comes at an opportune time for Bellator. Interest in the heavyweight division is exceptionally high right now, thanks to the successful heavyweight grand prix that wrapped up with Ryan Bader claiming that division’s title which had remained vacant since the promotion stripped Minakov.
Minakov (21-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), who is the No. 3 ranked heavyweight according to the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, rejoining the Bellator ranks might not sit so well with Kongo (29-10-2 MMA, 11-2 BMMA). During his nearly six-year stint with Bellator Kongo has compiled a record of 11-2. He’s currently on a seven-fight winning streak. Had Minakov not signed with Bellator, Kongo might have been the first challenger for Bader’s heavyweight crown. His road to that title shot is now exponentially more difficult.
Bellator President Scott Coker made the stakes of this fight clear in the lead up to the event.
“That is a title elimination fight,” Coker told reporters, including MMAjunkie. “The winner will get a shot at Bader.”
3. Big men run it back
It’s a bit weird, but it feels like the heavyweight bout between Roy Nelson and Mirko Cro Cop, which was heavily hyped ahead of Bellator 200 where it was initially scheduled to take place, isn’t receiving nearly the push it did when it was set to headline that event. That fight fell through when Cro Cop was removed from the card just days before the event due to a knee injury.
This time, there’s been less talk from Nelson (23-16 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) about Cro Cop (37-11-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) being “back on the special supplements, better supplements than usual” or retorts from Cro Cop claiming he would “beat up your fat disrespectful ass.” Also absent this go-round are any questions about why Cro Cop is even fighting under the Bellator banner considering he ignored a two-year USADA ban and kept fighting in Japan while that suspension was in effect.
The first meeting between these two took place in the UFC in 2011 on a fight card that also included a matchup between current Bellator heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione. Nelson won that fight by knockout in the third round.
Cro Cop is riding a nine-fight winning streak heading into this bout, his first with Bellator, while Nelson lost his two most recent outings.
It might be a good thing that these two veterans aren’t headlining the event. Perhaps with less pressure, Nelson and Cro Cop can focus on delivering an entertaining scrap.
4. Silva gets tough welcome to Bellator
When Erick Silva was forced from his scheduled Bellator debut against Lorenz Larkin, his scheduled opponent did not hold back his feelings on Silva’s withdrawal.
“Erick just wanted an easier fight in Bellator,” Larkin told MMAjunkie.
If that’s true, and I’m going to inch out here on a limb and say it isn’t, Bellator didn’t exactly do Silva any favors when the promotion rebooked him. Instead of Larkin, Silva (20-9 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) faces the unbeaten Yaroslav Amosov (20-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in Uncasville.
You probably don’t recognize many, or any, of the 19 fighters Amosov defeated before meeting veteran competitor Gerald Harris at Bellator 202, but he showed out against Harris. The 25-year-old displayed no real weaknesses in his game in earning a clear unanimous decision over Harris.
After the second-round Bellator commentator Chael Sonnen said he was “blown away by the skills” Amosov displayed.
Silva was once looked at as a bright prospect in the UFC’s welterweight division, but inconsistency plagued him throughout his 15-fight career with the promotion. After a 1-4 run, the UFC cut Silva free. He won one fight with LFA in 2018 before he joined Bellator. Now, 34 years old, Silva doesn’t have much time to right the ship under the Bellator banner.
5. A high-profile debut
Bellator took some heat, fairly I might add, about its attempt to book Valerie Loureda against Anastasia Bruce, who has an amateur record of 0-12. Neither Loureda nor Bruce had fought professionally, but the attempted booking raised eyebrows because Loureda is a 4th dan taekwando black belt and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in that sport.
The promotion got things sorted out. Loureda now makes her MMA debut against Colby Fletcher, who has three pro bouts to her name. However, all three of those contests came in the first six months of 2015 and Fletcher lost two of those outings.
Bellator is obviously interested in seeing Loureda succeed. The promotion has given the women’s flyweight competitor a push that is somewhat similar to the one Aaron Pico received before his first pro bout.
As for the 20-year-old fighter, who trains with American Top Team, she has big plans.
“I feel like I’m a true martial artist, and MMA has allowed me to portray to the world the honor, discipline and tradition that comes with being a black belt, and Bellator has given me the opportunity to influence the lives of thousands of people, especially women who are looking and are struggling to pursue their passion,” Loureda told MMAjunkie. “So I’m really excited to just get in that cage, confront whoever they put in front of me, and with respect, win that challenge and continue going up and developing.
“I really want to leave my legacy on this world as being the best female martial artist who has ever stepped on this planet.”
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