5 Lessons Learned From Bellator 124

5. The Bellator Light Heavyweight Division Is A Mess

What was Joey Beltran doing in the cage against Emanuel Newton Friday night? How on earth did a fighter who was 1-1 in the promotion, and 2-5-1 in his last eight, earn a title shot? We sort of answered that question already. He's a name, and a name that would look decent on Newton's record as Bellator tries to build him up. Coker has had some success at that before: he built up Luke Rockhold the same way. The problem is, Beltran gave Newton a harder time than he should of. Which devalued Newton some - although a spectacular finish saved it. We'll get to that shortly. For now, consider this: there are four names in Bellator more marketable than Newton at light heavyweight, but none are lined up for a title shot right now. 1) Rampage Jackson - who won't fight Newton because they share a coach. What Rampage does next is anyone's guess. 2) King Mo - he's already fought Newton twice, and lost both times. He won't see a shot again until the belt changes hands, unless Bellator gets really desperate. 3) Tito Ortiz - he beat a middleweight who went up in weight to fight him in his Bellator debut, but that middleweight was Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko. Which gave Tito some momentum. However, Bellator has opted to book him into a pro wrestling style manufactured grudge match with new signing Stephan Bonnar. 4) Stephan Bonnar - see Tito Ortiz. That is... well that's a mess. You could give Ortiz a title shot if he gets past Bonnar. You could give Bonnar one if he gets past Ortiz. However, the division then becomes the retirement league. Even at the end of his run, Rampage probably beats all of these guys (he has already beat Mo), but he won't fight for the belt. Who will? We'll look at that next.