Bellator announces championship-rematch clause with move to Spike TV

I guess you can call it the EA rule.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/31789/bellator-announces-championship-rematch-clause-with-move-to-spike-tv.mma
While fighters will continue to control their destiny in the Bellator cage, chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney has given himself some wiggle room.

The fight executive today announced a new championship-rematch clause that will go into effect with the organization's upcoming move to Spike TV.

When "called for," Rebney will have the option to book title-fight rematches.

Rebney said he listed to feedback and made the change.

"When a fighter's earned a shot at the world title by winning The Toughest Tournament in Sports and competes in a title fight that knocks fans like us back in our seats (win or lose) delivering an incredible fight, when a rematch is called for, we will deliver it." he wrote on bellator.com. "Championship fights give us some of the greatest moments in MMA. And, rematches of incredible championship fights will give fans like us more of those electrifying moments while staying true to the world’s best fighters having had to earn their way to those title shots."

Currently, the only way to claim a title shot is by winning one of the organization's eight-man, season-long tournaments. That assures a would-be contender can't talk his way into a title shot, and he or she must win three tournaments fights to get a shot at the belt. It's one way Bellator distinguishes itself from other organizations, where a fighter's marketability is just as likely to determine his title worthiness as his resume is.

But in recent years, we've seen some of the downsides of Bellator's plan. Former lightweight champion Eddie Alavarez currently is fielding offers from other promotions, partially because he didn't get an immediate rematch with now-champ Michael Chandler, who won their November 2011 "Fight of the Year" title fight.

Additionally, Jay Hieron opted not to re-sign with the organization (and later inked a UFC deal) after he won a tournament but dropped a close split decision to welterweight champ Ben Askren in October 2011.

Both rematches would have done big business for Bellator, but with the organization's rigid requirements for title fights, neither would have been guaranteed or timely since both Alavarez and Hieron would have needed to win another tournament. It's not clear if Rebney's new clause could help convince Alvarez to stay with the promotion.

"Our focus is to constantly improve our televised and live events for you each and every week," Rebney stated. "A large part of making things better is listening to the people who make this all possible and adapting what we do to give you the very best we can. We're committed to doing this as we move to our new home on Spike and the next step in our evolution."

Bellator moves from MTV2 to the bigger Spike TV in January. The organization is expected to garner bigger TV ratings, and some of its top talent has been on the shelf and awaiting the Spike TV debut.

Better than pointless matchups like Chandler and Gono taking place

They need to implement a Bellator Supreme Court that delivers a ruling, complete with reasonings, as to whether a rematch is warranted.

i think Bellator should just make the tournaments a way to get a title shot, make your name, make some extra money..but not the only way. Especially past tourny winners.

It's unrealistic to expect good fighters to keep entering the tournament and if they don't...they are virtually of no use to Bellator and Bellator is of no use to them..like the Jay Hieron situation. The Bellator tourny is really attractive for prospects. A veteran might play along once but they eventually want to settle into a 3-4 fight a year schedule and more pay. That's not really an option in Bellator unless you're a champion. Although their model dictates that most fighters can't leave them unscathed(without a loss) which might help them keep guys they want, Bellator's model seems like it will always be the champions and a revolving door of new guys trying to make a name for themselves.

as for the new clause. It would not have made a difference if it was implemented a year ago because Eddie still had less than a year on his deal. Maybe an immediate rematch would have got him to sign an extension..but without one, he would not have got the rematch especially since Hector was halfway out the door at that time as a champion.

Putting fighters in the tourney like Alvarez would be stupid. He'd beat everyone else in it and the champ would waste his time fighting a lower fighter in the mean time.