4 Main Card Predictions For Bellator 129

News outside the cage is overshadowing the action inside it this week.

The big news leading into Bellator 129 has very little to do with the action inside the Bellator cage: Bellator MMA has signed UFC Hall of Famer and their inaugural champion Royce Gracie. The news actually broke in the build-up to Bellator 128, but with a title fight headlining that card (won by Joe Warren, now the promotion's first full-fledged two weight class champ), there was still a lot to talk about. Bellator 129, however, has largely been overshadowed by continued talk of the signing of Gracie, one of the biggest names in MMA history - though well past the point of actual combat. Instead, Gracie will serve as a "Promotional Brand Ambassador" - meaning he'll show up at events and no doubt help lure fighters to the promotion. It's a Chuck Liddell type of job, something that the UFC probably should have given him - but may have passed on because the Gracie family can frankly be a bit nuts at times. Brother Rorion Gracie was one of the founders of the UFC, well before Dana White and co. had any idea of what mixed martial arts was, and he hand-picked Royce to appear in the first event, UFC 1 - where Royce was crowned champion, choking out Ken Shamrock in the process. He now marks the fourth UFC Hall of Famer to jump ship to Bellator, following in the footsteps of Randy Couture (also retired from the cage), Tito Ortiz, and Stephan Bonnar (the latter two will face each other in November). How will Royce impact things? Will he take part in Bellator 129, or any card later in the year, in some capacity (clearly he won't be fighting, but an on-camera role might be found for him, or even just a brief interview segment)? As for the card, the biggest factor for Bellator 129 is an injury to English heavyweight James Thompson, who was forced to withdraw from his bout with Houston Alexander. Alexander was going up in weight, but will now remain at light heavyweight against replacement Virgil Zwicker. With all that said lets get to the action: here are four main card predictions for Bellator 129!
 
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Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.