The Bellator group’s first PPV is just 14 days away, on May 17th from Mississippi released it’s full lineup last week, and the big addition is a Lightheavyweight bout between Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko and former UFC Champion Tito Ortiz. For Shlemenko, it is a move up in weight class, and he will be outsized by the bigger, taller Ortiz. Bellator may call it a ‘superfight’ of sorts, and we can count on Ortiz to come out at his snarling, smack talking best, but it is a befuddling matchup.
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The company contracted Ortiz to face of against Quinton Jackson on their first ever PPV, but Ortiz’ neck injury forced him out of the fight and the PPV was subsequently cancelled. He is already a hugely damaged product and his failure to fight in their first attempt was a debacle for the company. They apparently are willing to risk the standing of their Middleweight Champion in Shlemenko to try to get one last drop of PPV sweat out of Ortiz’ name.
Shlemenko is a great fighter and he has been a bludgeoning striker with Bellator. The hype around Bellator and their shows is that Shlemenko is the next ‘Fedor Emelianenko’, a dominant Russian fighter who cannot be beaten.
It is anyone’s guess where the line will come in, but it will likely favor Shlemenko. Shlemenko has the firepower to take Ortiz out with strikes, and if it stays standing, could win a decision on points or by KO over Ortiz. Shlemenko has proven hard to take down, but Ortiz could be as much as 30 lbs bigger than him come fight time, and if he fights a smart fight and comes in looking for the takedown and control, he could be a threat to the smaller Shlemenko.
Fedor had a ground game based in Sombo, and it was quite effective. That is still an open question with Shlemenko, who no one has really been able to ground for long enough. We know he has a bludgeoning striking game, but does Shlemenko have the chops on the ground? we may find out this fight, though what it will do to Bellator’s plans if Ortiz wins is anyone’s guess.
