IN BRIEF
Bellator boss assesses grand prix
Speaking to reporters after the first opening-round fight of a planned heavyweight grand prix, Bellator President Scott Coker touched on the need to have a couple alternates on hand as the promotion plows forward with its most ambitious undertaking yet — a singleelimination, eight-man, year-long tournament to crown a new heavyweight champ by the end of 2018. “As you know,” Coker said at the Bellator 192 postfight news conference in Inglewood, Calif., “things can happen in a tournament.” That’s especially true when the brackets are comprised mostly of past-their-prime fighters, almost half of whom are 40 or older, competing in a weight class in which fighters can be separated by as much as 60 pounds. The grand prix’s first bout Saturday saw for- mer UFC middleweight contender
Chael Sonnen defeat former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jack
son via unanimous decision in a fairly unremarkable contest. Sonnen’s victory means he’ll face the winner of an April fight between former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and former Pride FC heavyweight titleholder Fedor Eme
lianenko, which is where things could start to get interesting in this heavyweight tournament that features a lot of non-heavyweights. The next step in the tournament is another opening-round bout matching genuine heavyweights
Matt Mitrione and Roy Nelson against each other Feb. 16, with the victor facing the winner of a bout between current Bellator light heavyweight champion
Ryan Bader and former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammad La
wal in May. — Ben Fowlkes
Briefly ...
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sen and Benjamin Watson are finalists for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award. The recipient of the award that recognizes a player’s contribution in his community and to society in general will be revealed Feb. 3. ... Lara Gut won the final World Cup super-G before next month’s Olympics, signaling a return to form after knee surgery last season. It was the Swiss skier’s first victory since the downhill in Cortina, Italy, almost a year ago. Lindsey Vonn, who won Saturday’s downhill, was slowed by a strong gust of wind and finished sixth. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway got his first World Cup slalom win of the season in Kitzbuehel, Austria, ending
Marcel Hirscher’s five-race streak.