This past week, we were besieged by rumors of a potential Donald Cerrone versus Eddie Alvarez match-up in the works for UFC 178 in September. The mechanism to make the apparently inter-promotional match do-able was a buyout of Alvarez’ Bellator services by the UFC. Regardless of whether the mega-media companies behind both groups allow that to happen, it makes for great speculation. Who else on the Bellator roster would upgrade the UFC roster if they were to go into full plunder mode?
BUY:
Joe Warren would look great in the UFC. Though the titleholder at Bantamweight in Bellator is Eduardo Dantas, it is Warren who has the best chance at making an impact in the UFC’s bantamweight division. He is a better wrestler than anyone in the weight class, and he brings heart and guts to the way he fights that come natural.
The Russian connection: Alexander Shlemenko, Andrey Koreshkov, Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Minakov are all either title holders or number one contenders in Bellator in their respective weight classes, especailly in the cases of Volkov and Minakov, who go into and add to a Heavyweight division in need of new blood.
Aside from Alvarez, both Will Brooks and Michael Chandler would add quality and depth to one of the UFC’s most crowded weight classes. Chandler versus Benson Henderson and Will Brooks versus Jorge Masvidal are two spectacular potential matches that come to mind.
DENY:
UFC re-treads. Quinton Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Cheikh Kongo. For a long time, Bellator’s former exec Bjorn Rebney took to signing people who had left the UFC under pressure. The UFC will want nothing to do with these fighters, and their future is up in the air now under Scott Coker’s Bellator. You can add ‘King’ Mo Lawal to this list as well, though he was cut by the UFC before ever entering the octagon.
Pat Curran, Douglas Lima, Rick Hawn, Brett Rogers and Emanuel Newton. All are good, solid fighters but they are mid level talent in the weight classes they would slide into for the UFC. They are not going to suddenly turn into a new level of fighter, as all are veterans who have fought a great deal. They could wind up on the UFC roster, but if they are paid according to their roster spots in Bellator, then they may be overpaid and not worth the investment.
