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Bellator 204 on Friday was, to some spiriting degree, a breath of fresh air from the promotion. In a larger context, as entertaining and purposeful as it was, the card was a reminder of the difficulties facing virtually all major MMA promotions in this sport’s current climate and particularly Bellator MMA itself.
Bellator 204, which went down in Sioux Falls, South Dakota -- not exactly a prime locale for big-ticket MMA -- was divergent from the sort of card construction and matchmaking that has been part and parcel of Bellator President Scott Coker and senior booker Rich Chou’s oeuvre for nearly a decade.