Slow news day, huh?
Alright, so quick recap! Earlier Friday (Oct. 25, 2013) afternoon, news came out that Tito Ortiz was forced out of his main event bout with Quinton Jackson at Bellator 106 because of a neck injury. The card was the promotion's pay-per-view (PPV) debut scheduled for Nov. 2 at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White was all smiles at the news.
Bellator was able to react quickly and held a conference call for mixed martial arts (MMA) media to speak with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney about the injury. Rebney confirmed Ortiz had fractured his neck in training and that the card would be airing on Spike TV for free, with Michael Chandler putting his lightweight title on the line against Eddie Alvarez.
There isn't a specific moment when the call goes off the rails, it just kinda happened right from the word go. Rebney tries to make the most of the situation by talking about how it's great to have the card on free TV, but with the promotion planning to move into the PPV market, it just didn't sound sincere.
Bellator 106 happens Nov. 2, on Spike TV. It is arguably the promotion's best card ever.
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