The pair of UFC hall-of-famers will square off on Saturday night, away from the UFC.
Most sets of MMA eyes will be set directly on the meeting of Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt as they battle it out to be named the UFC interim heavyweight champion but, for those who like a little more quirk to their sport, Bellator 131 is the place to be.
The concluding event of the eleventh season of Bellator will go head to head with UFC 180 on Saturday and Tito Ortiz v Stephan Bonnar is its feature bout.
And for some reason, it’s become a tad unmissable.
If both Ortiz (17-11-1) and Bonnar (15-8) were still contracted to the UFC then a fight between the over-the-hill light heavyweights would be something of a non-event, likely preceding the main event on a UFC Fight Night, if that.
But, for some reason, the fight is a little unmissable.
I think that this must come down to successful promotion on behalf of both fighters. Ortiz and Bonnar have attempted to sell this like they’re expecting a call from Vince McMahon. Between the needless unmasking of “that guy who’s unveiling was supposed to stun us into buying into the fight but who’s near-anonymity has just baffled us,” and the overly personal trash talk between the pair, the whole clash has an air of “some weird s**t is going to go down.”
And I for one will be watching. With the feint hope that Shawn Michaels will be announced late-on as special guest referee.
