UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren: Why is Bellator MMA still around?

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
co-founder Campbell McLaren got back
into the mixed martial arts (MMA)
business a few years ago with his new
baby, Combate Americas, a fight
promotion focusing on Latino fighters.
Still in its infancy, the promotion has
enjoyed some success over the last
four years, striking a deal with NBC
Universo and staging a reality TV
show. Nevertheless, Campbell recently
revealed he and several investors tried
to buy UFC for $2.8 billion, but
ultimately fell short to WME-IMG, who
coughed up $4 billion to seal the deal.
With no UFC to spearhead, Campbell
will continue to focus on Combate
Americas, as he feels his promotion is
bringing something to the table others
can't. Specifically, Bellator MMA, who
McLaren says offers no substantial
different point of view than what UFC
does.
As he tried to clear up on The MMA
Hour, there really is no reason for
Bellator to stick around if they aren't
going to bring anything new to the
fight game.
"You don't have to work very
hard not to beat up on Bellator. I
have to work at it. But why is
there a Bellator? For what
purpose? Look, there's some good
athletes over there. I was a big
Eddie Alvarez fan and I was a
Kimbo fan. But why is there a
Bellator? There is no substantial
different point of view in what
Bellator does than what the UFC
does. Scott's brought in some...
Scott, well let's call it like it is, he
is using my guys in Bellator. He's
using Shamrock, Gracie, Tito; the
biggest guys in Bellator are guys
that I started with 20 years ago."
Campbell went on to suggest that
Combate Americas is a style of
fighting, just like UFC is, insisting that
fighters on his roster are more prone
to get finished via strikes because they
prefer to let the bouts play out on the
feet, and he has numbers to prove his
promotion offers more knockouts.
And that's because he's focusing on
the Latino market, one that has ex-
boxers turning to MMA. Meanwhile,
UFC found grapplers that learned
striking. As for Bellator, well, whatever
UFC does they do, according to
Campbell.
And if you think McLaren and Co. are
limiting themselves with the talent
they can acquire by focusing on just
the Latin market, he has 65 million
reasons to prove you wrong, as that's
how many Hispanics he says are
currently living in the United States.
Plus he can go to Mexico and the
Caribbean to get more talent.
At the end of the day, Campbell says
he's looking at developing the young
talent instead of trying to squeeze
whatever is left out of the older
veterans like Bellator is.