In late August, Bellator made a big deal about the return of its women's champion, Zoila Gurgel.
Turns out it may not be that big of a deal after all. That's because "The Warrior Princess" has been relegated to the un-televised portion of the Bellator 78 fight card, which goes down this Friday night (Oct. 26, 2012) from Wright State's Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.
And that makes former Strikeforce Women's champion Miesha Tate mad:
"I cannot believe [Bellator] would allow [its] champion to be placed on the UN televised undercard in her hometown. A champion is a champion regardless if she is fighting up a weight, u use her image to promote the posters & then put her on the undercard?! Blows my mind. This is the 2nd time too you have done this I tell you what I would rather never fight MMA again then fight for u under @BellatorMMA banner.... The amount of disrespect you have given @ZoilaGurgel is disgusting."
For those out of the loop, Zoila hasn't fought since March 5, 2011. I think she tore her ACL a while back?
If she's a champ she should be on the televised portion of the card. Total disrespect to Zoila. <img alt="Phone Post" border="0" src="/images/phone/droid.png" style="vertical-align:middle;" /></blockquote>
You're absolutely correct. Please note that I never stated that she shouldn't. I was just letting everyone know the last time she fought for Bellator.
Considering that she beat the WMMA equivalent of Fedor (Mega Megu!) to get to the finals for that tournament, you'd think that Bjorn & Co. would hype Zoila up a bunch more.
She is right but anyone who followed this story knows why.
She has talked shit about the org, the whole them not helping her pay for her surgery or something, said outed them, they said they would, they never did.
She was on the mma hour talking shit about the org so this is them saying fuck you.
They dont have that div anymore, no plans on another 115 tournament, the div and the belt mean nothing to Bjorn/Bellator.
Chris27 - She is right but anyone who followed this story knows why.
She has talked shit about the org, the whole them not helping her pay for her surgery or something, said outed them, they said they would, they never did.
She was on the mma hour talking shit about the org so this is them saying fuck you.
They dont have that div anymore, no plans on another 115 tournament, the div and the belt mean nothing to Bjorn/Bellator.
I believe this is the main reason why Bellator is doing this.
She should re think he comment ... After zuffa folds strikeforce, bfc might be the only option for the women in North America
First of all if SF folds female 135 div ends up in the UFC because Dana aint letting Ronda go.
Second have you ever heard of Invicta?
Doesnt seem like Bellator is very interested in female mma. Now if SF folded and they let Ronda/Tate/Cyborg go they would jump on that because Ronda is a star but those girls would be in the UFC.
Right now their champ is on the undercard with no tournament planned and the last I heard 125 was what they were thinking but with Invicta signing alot of females I dont know if Bellator can even put on a tournament anyone would care about.
WOuldnt be shocked to see her released from Bellator at some point and fighting in Invicta.
<blockquote>Chris27 - She is right but anyone who followed this story knows why.<br /><br />She has talked shit about the org, the whole them not helping her pay for her surgery or something, said outed them, they said they would, they never did.<br /><br />She was on the mma hour talking shit about the org so this is them saying fuck you.<br /><br />They dont have that div anymore, no plans on another 115 tournament, the div and the belt mean nothing to Bjorn/Bellator. <br /><br /></blockquote><br />Yep. She's had a bad relationship with Bellator from the start and she certainly doesn't make them eager to promote her.<br /><br />I'm a big supporter of WMMA and equality, but I think her attitude with Bellator from the start is part of the problem. She needs to realize WMMA isn't as important to companies like Bellator/Zuffa unless you're a Rousey or Carano. Unless we wake up one day and she's getting movie offers, pulling in 500k ratings....she should learn to not bite the hand that feeds her. <br /><br />Have they given her a raw deal? Yes, but she isn't so innocent either. I know I wouldn't want to promote someone that rarely says anything good about my company, that fights in a division that isn't a ratings draw or priority.
