Booked another big interview

Im in the process of booking an interview with Bellator President Bjorn Rebney. If anyone has any questions they would like me to ask him then please post them here.

I'd like to know why he has no interest in signing Fitch. Maybe you can poke a little more information out of him.

Ask him if he thinks Bellator can continue putting out shows every week, and how successful he feels they have been.

Also, ask him when they are coming to Minnesota

Can it be, rabi talking to both big bosses in one month??

when will his first PPV event be?
would he ever consider expanding his tournament format from 8 to 16?
what exactly is Randy Couture's role with the organization?

All going well, I should be interviewing Bjorn on Monday

Awesome Job Ray!

I'm curious if he's interested in deepening his British Roster now that the UFC has dropped Sass and Etim and in particular Mills - Mills/Saunders, Mills/Lima, Mills/Zamromskis 4 all sounds awesome to me.

Any plans to have an event come to the UK?

Might need rewording but I would love to hear an answer:
I know it's expensive to get an event out here in the UK but have you thought of trying to find a way to put the show available for the UK fans to watch? Like online or on TV?
Right now I have to use a I.P address hacker (so It looks like I'm from the US) on Bellator.com to watch the prelims as it's only for North America (1-3am) then watch the main card (3-5am) on SPIKE on some dodgy illegal website.
I would happily pay 15 dollars or so to watch the entire event but I feel forced into piracy, what would you recommend? Do you have an opinion on piracy if the fan can't watch it? And would rather stay uptill 5am instead of downloading it illegally?

Congrat's again though Ray, that's an awesome interview!

This interview is happening tomorrow, is there anything else you would like me to ask him.

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Posted by Rabi

This interview is happening tomorrow, is there anything else you would like me to ask him.

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Where he was Bjorn?

No, but ask him if it makes him happy to tie up fighters like Eddie Alvarez's career when he's in his prime so that he can't fight, robbing fans of multiple good fights and if Eddie is just the beginning of fighters Bellator will do this to.

Unless, of course, you ever want a second interview.... then I'd skip those...

Congrats on the interview though bud!

The interview is in 3 and half hours, this is what Im going with:

Bjorn Rebney

1. What made you want to start an MMA promotion?
2. How hard was it find financial backing to get the project started?
3. (If it was difficult) were you ever discouraged, how close were you to giving up?
4. This year you moved Bellator over to Spike TV:
A) How did that move come about
B) What effect has that had on the Bellator brand and its fighters
5. Do you see Bellator eventually moving to PPV
6. (if yes) any time scales for that?

Pressing Issues:

1. You made a statement that you did not want to sign Jon Fitch, could you explain why you didnt sign one of the top WW's in the world?
2. Alot of people would like to have seen Askren v Fitch, does that fight not interest you?
A) was there any of the fighters recently cut from the UFC you would like to see in the Bellator cage
3. Do you feel you can continue to put shows on as frequent as you do (in most cases weekly)
4. The tournament have been a massive success:
A) Do you worry about the repetitiveness of the tournaments for eg Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima meeting again.
B) Have you ever considered expanding the tournaments from 8 to 16?
5. There has been alot made about UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and his role with Bellator, can you confirm exactly what his role is.
6. Any news on another WMMA's tournament
7. Any more news on the Eddie Alvarez situation
8. Any more news on the Paul Daley situation
9. Any more news on War Machine's injuries and when we should see him in the Bellator Cage

And finally:

MMA is booming in the UK, we have seen a few UK fighters in Bellator, are w likely to see any more in the near future.

Comment

Would love to see Bellator on TV in the UK as well.

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Posted by Rabi

The interview is in 3 and half hours, this is what Im going with:

Bjorn Rebney

1. What made you want to start an MMA promotion?
2. How hard was it find financial backing to get the project started?
3. (If it was difficult) were you ever discouraged, how close were you to giving up?
4. This year you moved Bellator over to Spike TV:
A) How did that move come about
B) What effect has that had on the Bellator brand and its fighters
5. Do you see Bellator eventually moving to PPV
6. (if yes) any time scales for that?

Pressing Issues:

1. You made a statement that you did not want to sign Jon Fitch, could you explain why you didnt sign one of the top WW's in the world?
2. Alot of people would like to have seen Askren v Fitch, does that fight not interest you?
A) was there any of the fighters recently cut from the UFC you would like to see in the Bellator cage
3. Do you feel you can continue to put shows on as frequent as you do (in most cases weekly)
4. The tournament have been a massive success:
A) Do you worry about the repetitiveness of the tournaments for eg Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima meeting again.
B) Have you ever considered expanding the tournaments from 8 to 16?
5. There has been alot made about UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and his role with Bellator, can you confirm exactly what his role is.
6. Any news on another WMMA's tournament
7. Any more news on the Eddie Alvarez situation
8. Any more news on the Paul Daley situation
9. Any more news on War Machine's injuries and when we should see him in the Bellator Cage

And finally:

MMA is booming in the UK, we have seen a few UK fighters in Bellator, are w likely to see any more in the near future.

Comment

Would love to see Bellator on TV in the UK as well.

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Sounds great - Press him good and proper on the UK thing and maybe ask about if not UK TV, UK internet access, we can't even watch anything legally over here.

Ask him if his parents know he's gay