Rebney: The cold hard reality is Zyats is probably the dark horse in the whole tournament
MMA Fight Radio Interview with Bjorn Rebney Bellator MMA CEO/President
Rebney (Pictured center above photo) takes an optimistic look at Bellator MMA for 2014
The following includes Bjorn Rebney’s answers to questions asked to him during his interview with MMA Fight Radio:
“The next thing we have got lined up is the premier of season 10 you know we had a really long break between the end of 9 and 10 because we have got the Olympic Games going on. We didn’t want to go head to head with the Olympic Games which I think was a good programming decision. But we are kicking off on Feb 28. We are less than a month out and on that premier show Rampage faces M’Pumba in a format; Light Heavyweight Tournament. King Mo is fighting Mikhail Zayats in that same format; Light Heavyweight Tournament we have got the kick off of our Featherweight Tournament with just some rock stars. Probably the deepest division we have got in the whole company. It is going to be an amazing show. Tickets are on sale at Mohegan and they are going hand over fist so it is an exciting show for us. Great way to kick off big names; Rampage is back. He is healed; camp is going great, so just a really exciting kick off coming up.”
Mikhail Zayats
“The cold hard reality is Zyats is probably the dark horse in the whole tournament. He is a monster. If you have seen him over the last year on Spike he can fight at a very, very high level. He is a beast on the ground. His takedowns for a Russian fighter, for a European fighter, are surprisingly good. His stand up is very effective; you saw that in the knockout of ‘Babel’ of the premier episode on Spike last January. He has got all the tools. Mo has got a very tough fight on his hands. And, I know he is taking it wickedly seriously. He is our former champion. He has got an incredible record. He has got good power in both hands. Technically his striking is amazing and it should make for a wickedly exciting fight with Rampage. So you just don’t know; there is no way to sculpt this stuff out. It’s just, you just wait, and you see and whoever wins; wins.”
“Newton is a great example of what a guy can do with an opportunity with our company. Because really, the destiny gets taken out of our hands. We do not have guys sitting in shiny suits, sitting behind a desk, holding guys back and deciding who fights who, for what and when. Newton came to this company and he asked for a shot. He wanted a shot; got it, and he has just grabbed that shot by the throat. You know he has beaten Mo; you forget about some of the guys he has beaten. He has beaten Mo twice. He has beaten Zyats once and Zyats is an absolute beast. I mean he is a complete monster at 205. He has beaten some very high quality, high level guys at 205. And it is just based on his training and his motivation and his skill set. He is a very, very talented fighter. He has got a real awkward striking style, he comes at you from all kinds of different angels, but he couples that with really solid wrestling. And when you have got a guy who can wrestle at that level who has got really good Juits, and who has got striking that can come at you from all kinds of weird angels, that is a guy who is going to be dangerous for anybody and he is fighting for a world title. You know he won the interim belt against Mo and he is fighting for a world title coming up against Attila Vegh and that should be a great fight as well. Vegh is finally getting back in the cage. He is completely injury free. He has been having a great camp, so that is another world title fight that will be live and free on Spike which should be amazing.”
“I would like to think that we gave him the platform; but all the effort and all the blood sweat and tears came from Joe himself. Joe will be the first one to tell you, Joe Riggs can be and has been in the past Joe Riggs’s worst enemy. But when he is focused and when he is on and when he is, dare I say ‘clean’ and when he has got everything focused, in the right place and is thinking about family and about training, he is a monster at 170 pounds. And that is who we have got right now. We have got a guy who is on weight. He hasn’t ballooned up. He is wickedly focused. He is only paying attention to achieving the goal of winning this tournament and trying to get a shot at our world title. He is a very dangerous fighter when he has got everything working in the right direction and he is a very beatable fighter when he doesn’t. But you know that is not much different from any of the other folks that you might hang out with, it just so happens Joe fights at a world class level inside of a cage. So when he has got his stuff going on he is incredibly dangerous and a good dude and it will be exciting to see if he can hold this all together. How far can he go in this really dangerous field we have got coming up in the 70 tournament we have got going on and kicks off this season.”
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