Will Brooks: Ortiz & Bonnar’s ‘rasslin inspired antics are unprofessional
Will Brooks: “I think that just put an ugly look on the promotion. I think that really turned a lot of people off. That’s not fair to the other guys in the organization.”
Bellator MMA is not in an enviable position. The track record for promotions that went head to head with the UFC is ugly. The lucky ones like Pride, WEC, and WFA were lunch. The rest, like Affliction, ProEliteXC, and IFL ended up in the dumpster.
Bellator has to try some different things, and they are. The promotion has obviously made a decision to borrow, sometimes heavily, from the pro wrestling playbook. Pro wrestling fans, and many others, are delighted. However, many members of the hardcore fanbase are not impressed.
Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar are gearing up for their headline fight at Bellator 131 and have gone over the top with a pro wrestling inspired story line so full of faux betrayal and doublecrossing that it lacks only the Gobbledy Gooker to be be complete.
Bellator interim lightweight champion Will Brooks, who fights in the co main, is not a fan.
I think that just put an ugly look on the promotion,” said Brooks to Tristen Critchfield for Sherdog. “That approach [Bonnar] was allowed to take as far as bringing in his buddy [former UFC talent Justin McCully], doing that whole pro wrestling skit type of deal, I think that really turned a lot of people off. That’s not fair to the other guys in the organization. It’s just not professional; it’s not the way you should do things. To have that as the main event, I think a lot of fans are turned off by it.
Should Bellator try a pro wrestling angle in a Brooks fight, he won’t have it.
I would definitely veto that,” said Brooks. I’m not a pro wrestler. I’m a mixed martial artist. I did not get into this business to be a pro wrestler; I did not get into this business to be an actor. This is not acting; this is not a movie; this is not pro wrestling. This is a job. I’m a professional athlete. I put my work in the gym, and I go out there to be a talented fighter and put myself out there as an athlete — not a pro actor, not a pro wrestler. They would have a hard time talking me into doing anything in regards to that pro wrestling promotion type of deal.
Brooks will be fighting former division champion Michael Chandler for the title vacated by Eddie Alvarez. That is going to a real, good fight. Tito and Bonnar are of course also fighting. Which one are you looking forward to most UG?