Tito Ortiz vs Rampage Jackson

Over the past few years, Bellator MMA has been stuggling to reach the top to get itself placed second only to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Bellator’s strategy was to create tournaments that paired top champions and contenders rather than having the fights put together by matchmakers.

On July 31, Bellator stepped away from its established routine and paired pro wrestlers Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson. The match up is the first battle for Bellator that will be shown on the pay-per-view format on November 2.

The announcement came as quite a surprise as fans were sure that Jackson would be matched up against the aging Roy Jones Jr.

The Jackson camp had been spouting for two weeks to reporters that the anticipated event would be against Jones. Jones was so sure that he was to be the contender, he was flown in to be cage side during the announcement of the upcoming fight.

Surprisingly, cameras cut to the entrance of the arena to show Tito Ortiz, whose performance had been slacking since 2006 when he won only one match out of nine.

Wrestling aficionados claim that Bellator’s move to pair two pro wrestlers is a bold move to try and topple the lead of the UFC.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1723394-bellator-makes-great-decision-with-rampage-jackson-vs-tito-ortiz-on-ppv

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-tito-ortiz-vs-rampage-jackson-made-bellator-171700472.html