https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX0vpp42pWE Weight Class: Middleweight Despite coming off a loss to UFC legend Tito Ortiz, Alexander Shlemenko is the reigning, undisputed Bellator middleweight champion, as the Ortiz fight, something of a freakshow, was contested at light heavyweight. The Tito fight is something that requires discussion. Shlemenko was the favourite going into it (even the betting odds in Vegas had it going his way), but he was giving up a ton of weight - he's a small middleweight, Tito is a large light heavyweight. Shlemenko supposedly asked for the fight, wanting to face a name on the first Bellator PPV card, but take that with a grain of salt. In fact, you can look at it one of two ways, and both might be accurate: Bellator lined up a much smaller opponent for Ortiz, who hadn't won in years, while giving Shlemenko the biggest named opponent they possibly could, albeit at a higher weight class. Had Shlemenko won, he would have had a big name on his record, and in a higher weight class no less. How much does the Ortiz loss really hurt Shlemenko's value? Not that much. Ortiz looked massive next to him in the cage. Really, the Russian, who is 50-8 in his career, had no business being in there, but Bellator needed a spectacle, and they got it. That it was at the expense of their champion makes me question their long-term goal, but little else. Bellator has always painted itself as being the promotion where title shots are earned in the cage, rather than handed out based on popularity, but this wasn't about a title shot, so maybe we can forgive them just this once. Shlemenko, meanwhile, could still be a tough out in the UFC. He holds wins over Maiquel Falcao, Anthony Ruiz, Brett Cooper (twice), Doug Marshall, and Brennan Ward. His only loss in the past few years other than Ortiz was to Hector Lombard, who the UFC would go on to sign away from Bellator, and is now a contender in their welterweight division. Speaking of, did I mention that Shlemenko was a small middleweight? Should he make the cut down, and hold on to his punching power, he could be a force at 170lbs.
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.