"Not unless they drag me out of here kicking and screaming. It's real sports competition. It's football, baseball, basketball, soccer -- every sport we've watched since we were kids is competition. You start with a group and then at the end there's one. Being involved in boxing through the years, the matchmaking in boxing seemed so theatrical -- you know the outcomes of the fights before they occur. That's what I wanted to do away with. Not everybody is going to be in love with the format, nor is everybody going to be in love with the matchmaking format where you have to ask for a world title fight. Should the Giants just be bestowed the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl again? Or should they have to go through the season of 16 games? My answer is, you've got to go through it. All that matters is when that cage door shuts, do you win? I think that's the purest form of sports."

-- Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney is sticking to his tournament-style format, whether fans and/or critics alike approve of it or not. Appearing on the The MMA Hour today (March, 26, 2012), Rebney -- who is spearheading arguably the second best mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) juggernaut -- says that the format is not for everybody. The tournament style, which has proved successful for Bellator, at times may cause a large gap in between fights for the organizations champion, seeing as he has to wait for the entire tournament to be over to find out who he will face next, and when. Cole Konrad, the Bellator Heavyweight champion, has not seen action in more than seven months waiting for his next opponent, which will be Eric Prindle because of weight issues from Thiago Santos. Meanwhile, the organization's Middleweight Champion, Hector Lombard, has been on the sidelines since Nov. 19, 2011, as well as the promotion's poster boy, Eddie Alvarez. As both fighters are nearing the ends of thier contracts, will they opt to seek greener pastures with the UFC because of the extensive inactivity ? Only time will tell. In the meantime, are you in favor of the tournament-style the Rebney has implemented with Bellator? Or would you like to see the promotion's champions fighting more often?