Bellator beat UFC to the Hawaiian punch

Esther Lin, MMA FightingOn Jan. 26, the UFC and Bellator were supposed to go head-to-head with shows in the Los Angeles area. It would have been the first time the promotions erected their cages so close together on the same night since September 2014, when Bellator rented a room at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and the UFC put on a Fight Night just 10 miles down the road at Foxwoods in Mashantucket. That was the night that Stephan Bonnar and Tito Ortiz had their awkward confrontation and Bonnar — somewhat against convention — introduced a gimp to the situation, a soft-spoken heavyweight by the name of Justin McCully.

In my opinion, Bellator won that head-to-head battle. And it won this…