Bellator and kickboxing promotion Glory will team up to offer a light heavyweight title defense for champion Liam McGeary as he faces veteran Tito Ortiz. Company president Scott Coker announced the fight just after the company’s much-hyped Bellator 138 event on Friday night, which saw Kimbo Slice make quick work of Ken Shamrock.
The company also announced a one-day, four-man tournament at light heavyweight featuring former champion Emanuel Newton, along with “King” Mo Lawal, Linton Vassell and discarded UFC contender Phil Davis.
McGeary won the title from Emanuel Newton in February of this year with a strong, five-round unanimous decision to bring his record to a perfect 10-0. Ortiz has notched two wins in a row under the Bellator promotion, defeating title-holder Alexander Shlemenko and rival Stephen Bonnar.
McGeary is being given a good chance here to add Ortiz’s name to his resume, and McGeary at light heavyweight is big and physical matchup for Ortiz. Bellator, through bad matchmaking, put Ortiz in against their middleweight champion Shlemenko last year in the hopes of giving Shlemenko’s resume a boost. But Ortiz destroyed him, sending the hard hitting Russian’s career into a huge downward spiral instead of having the elevating effects the company desired. Hopefully McGeary is more prepared to make the most of the opportunity.
The four-man tournament that will potentially see the winner fight twice in one night is a return to an old MMA gimmick that does help build stars. A tournament win is a tournament win, and the victor of this tourney will likely be elevated to a title shot against the winner of the Ortiz versus McGeary main event.
Newton is the former champion who dropped the belt to McGeary, but he had been a hard working champion who had made two successful title defenses since winning the belt against Attila Vegh in March of last year. On paper, Newton likely deserved a rematch for his belt, however the organization decided to go with the 40-year-old Ortiz in the title fight hoping his name recognition is still meaningful.
