Bellator 214 and UFC 233 were set to run opposite of each other on January 26, but then the UFC would announce that their event has been postponed.
Scott Coker, who is the Bellator MMA President, says that the UFC ran out of bullets when it comes to big name stars to run opposite of Bellator 214.
“Absolutely (it’s excited to be unopposed),” Coker told MMA Junkie. “Everybody has a business to run. They have a business to run; we have a business to run. We’ve been going on that date for the last three years or however long, so everybody knows we’re going to go on that date. It didn’t work out for them because, to me, it’s a roster issue. Who is going to fight? And if you’re going to bring someone to fight against the Fedor-Bader card, and ours is free on Paramount and on DAZN, and you’re going to run on pay-per-view, then you better have your A-game. I think they just ran out of bullets.”
UFC 233 was originally going to be headlined by a flyweight title bout between Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw, but that bout was shifted to the main event of UFC Fight Night Brooklyn.
Coker knows that when it comes to running opposite of the UFC, all Coker needs to do is focus on Bellator MMA.
“This is not the first time,” Coker said. “This is like the second, maybe even the third time this happened on that weekend. It is what it is. For the most part I feel like we’ve just got to focus on our business and keep running, but we have a great card on that day.”
Bellator 214 takes place on Saturday, January 26 from The Forum in Inglewood, California with Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on the Paramount Network.
