Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald were at the press conference last week where Bellator announced their partnership with DAZN at Viacom headquarters. The streaming service looks to solve the tape delay issue and will feature seven fights exclusive to the streaming service with Mousasi vs. MacDonald being the first event for fans around the world to watch the event live anywhere. Streaming live sports through certain apps has become more prevalent for those willing to pay but for those that don’t they miss out and in turn fighters miss out on exposure.
During “The MMA Hour” Luke Thomas asked the current Bellator middleweight champion if that was an issue for him and Mousasi let him know he is well aware of how folks view sports is changing and he is happy to be part of an event that is helping Bellator move in that direction.
“No one is really watching TV anymore,” said Mousasi. He added that fans seem to be gravitating towards digital content and Bellator is just keeping up with what is happening in the way fans consume sports. “It’s going more digital and Bellator is going in that direction.”
The DAZN deal seems to bring comparison to UFC’s Fight Pass service where fans can stream certain events exclusively on the app along with other sports. DAZN includes Matchroom boxing events when they are not airing Bellator’s events so the similarity does hold some water in that sense. However, when a UFC fighter fights on the Fight Pass prelims or exclusive fights through the service it comes with a bit of a stigma. To that, Mousasi says he does not care.
“I get paid anyway. At the end of the day, if I keep winning my fights, my contract will go up. If it is on pay-per-view or it’s on Netflix, it’s the same.” -Gegard Mousasi
He does care a little though because he does want Bellator to grow and the fight with he and MacDonald is certainly one hardcore fight fans would put some effort into watching with the extra option out there.
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