Bellator makes debut at MSG
Chael Sonnen took out one MMA legend, called out another, then unloaded his misery about fighting at Madison Square Garden.
“I hate New York,” he bellowed in the cage.
Sonnen won on the scorecards, if not the adulation from MSG fight fans, and took a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva in a much-delayed grudge match in a light heavyweight bout Saturday night.
It was a dreadful night for Silva and fellow MMA great Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator’s MSG debut. Matt Mitrione knocked out Emelianenko in just 74 seconds in a heavyweight bout.
But the result didn’t stop Sonnen from challenging Emelianenko to another bout somewhere down the line. Bellator must love the gimmick of putting a pair of 40-somethings in the main event of a future card.
“I respect Fedor and I think he and I’s paths are going to cross sooner rather than later,” Sonnen said.
Emelianenko, following his first fight in the U.S. since 2011, said he would not retire.
Sonnen and Silva had feuded – and even brawled in street clothes during a taping of an MMA reality show – for years and had an anticipated bout for a UFC pay-per-view scrapped in 2014. Sonnen (29-15-1) pressured Silva and stayed on top of the MMA great for most of the three rounds. Sonnen, who can self-promote with his mouth as well as anyone in the game, was dropped once but never in any serious trouble.
Silva, also 40, made his name fighting for Pride in Japan, and made his Bellator debut following a nearly four-year layoff. Sonnen was choked out by Tito Ortiz in his Bellator debut in January. Ortiz was on hand at the Garden and egged on fans who cursed him out during the main event.
Mitrione (12-5) and Emelianenko both connected on right hands and hit the canvas for a double knockdown in the co-main event. But Mitrione, who briefly played in the NFL, pounced and smashed Emelianenko (36-5) with uppercuts to finish off the Russian great.
“He’s not arguably the great heavyweight of all time, he is the greatest heavyweight of all time,” Mitrione said.
Bellator, the No. 2 MMA promotion in the United States, made its MSG debut seven months after UFC christened the arena in the MMA genre with a record US$17.7 million gate.