Bellator debuted ads during the Bellator 79 telecast for a web series to be broadcast on Spike.com, featuring a behind-the-scenes four of the promotion’s top welterweights. In a move that marks a new level of fan interaction for Bellator, viewers will be able to vote for two of the fighters to fight when Bellator makes its debut on Spike TV in January. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney expanded on the announcement during the post-fight press conference:
Doug Lima, Ben Saunders, Paul Daley and Jon Koppenhaver aka War Machine will be four fighters on a Spike series featured on Spike.com, it will be a web series and ultimately fans are going to be able to pick who fights who on the very first show on the Spike network in January as we premiere on Spike in the States. Next Thursday, the 8th is when it kicks off. Our Spike partners have done some amazing work on that and you can see behind-the-scenes [footage].
It’s not just going to be the guys training. You’re going to be able to see where they are, who they are and what’s going on.
While the idea for enhanced fan participation and giving the “armchair matchmakers” a chance to actually choose the athletes who they want to see fight is a novel one, as MMASucka’s Shawn Smith pointed out there has been criticism of the portrayal of Koppenhaver’s prison stint as a selling point. But Rebney insists that’s only part of the story they are telling.
The series that is going to happen on the web is going to be a look behind the scenes. The Saunders’ story is all about being at ATT, and the love of his dog and his family relationship, and how is trying to come back and be a success. Lima’s story is different. Daley’s is done in the UK. And Jon’s story is a bit in prison, so that’s subsequently part of the story. It’s like you are 24/7 behind the scenes.
This is really a behind the scenes [web series] and you will get a thirty minute piece on Jon to deal with his time in prison, some of it will deal with where he is now, where he is training, what he is doing, what he’s eating and what he is doing to stay out of trouble. Obviously Lima’s story, as well as Saunders and Daley, it will be a different tact. But I hope people didn’t interpret it to be an ad for ‘come watch Jon in jail’. It is just part of his story and a very compelling story as well.
The series promises to be in the mold of HBO’s acclaimed “24/7” and UFC’s “Primetime” programs. The addition of the fan interaction component adds a new wrinkle to the proceedings, and could be a glimpse of future interactive offerings from Bellator.
______________________________________________________________________________
Follow @carlinbardsley on Twitter and keep up with the latest news by following @MMASucka on Twitter and on Facebook
