NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Bjorn Rebney, the CEO of the Bellator Fighting Championships.

Their next show, Bellator 41, will be held Saturday, April 16, at the Cocopah Resort and Casino, in Somerton, Arizona, near Yuma. It will be shown live in the U.S. on MTV2.

On that card, Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren has a non-title fight against Marcos "Louro" Galvao, and Bellator bantamweight champion Zack Makovsky has a non-title fight against Chad Robichaux. There are also the two semi-final fights in their season four featherweight tournament, as Wilson Reis fights Patricio "Pitbull" Freire and Kenny Foster fights Daniel Straus.

We spoke with Bjorn Rebney by phone Wednesday evening about this card and the past, present, and future of Bellator. We discussed their tournament format, which clearly distinguishes Bellator from most mixed martial arts companies where promoters pick and choose who gets title shots and who does not. We discussed their business model, which, according to Bjorn Rebney, has gotten them to a "cash flow break-even" point in this, their third year of running shows. He explained that unlike some other companies, Bellator is not for sale, will not be in the future, and why. We also discussed many other topics including their schedule for the season four tournament finals, their deal with MTV2 and their rising TV ratings, the possibility of co-promotion with other MMA companies, when some of their newer fighters will be making their debuts, the return of women fighters, and much more.

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