TNA & Bellator Conference Call Transcript Part 2
Posted by David Damage on Saturday, May 12, 2012
Under: News
Operator: We'll go now to Steven Muehlhausen with bleacherreport.com.
Steven Muehlhausen: Thank you guys for the time today, and Mo congratulations as always my friend. But you back it and getting to do what you want to do, and I'll start with you Mo.
How big of a dream was this for you? I remember talking to you in the past and you said, "I've always wanted to be in professional wrestling." Do you feel like that you're living a lifelong dream?
Muhammed Lawal: Man, you know what? I, you know, it's a dream come true man. It's like - it was a big dream and, you know, I thought I lost it when I turned my WWE contract - I turned it down.
And now it circled back around and I'm excited, you know, and I had to jump on it. I can't turn something like this down and I refuse to, and I took it and I'm happy with it. I'm excited. I can't wait.
Steven Muehlhausen: And to follow up Mo, regarding - and so what do you think of their light heavyweight division?
Muhammed Lawal: You know, hey, it's like this. They got talent there. Anybody can be beat. Christian M'Pumbu has good Jujitsu. He has good standup and he's shown he has skill. He's been around for a while.
Travis Wiuff, you know, I beat him in the past but now he's probably looking to get revenge on me, and he did beat - defeat Christian M'Pumbu and he got the Hale kid.
He's pretty talented. He defeated my friend Nik Fekete. I'm, you know, anybody can get beat so I'm going there, you know, 100% and focused and I'm going to win the tournament.
So, you know, hopefully, you know, the 205 division will end up like the 135 division, 145, 155 and even, you know, 205 with me. Hopefully I could take it to (Holgerson Webb) like, you know, Dantas and Askren and, you know, Cole Konrad and other wrestlers did, you know what I'm saying.
So I'm just, you know, I'm not worried about who's there. I'm just worried about me taking care of business.
Steven Muehlhausen: And Bjorn, you know, signing Mo today is a big signing for you guys. Does this feel now that you guys are on MMA because you always you said you wanted Mo but then the other core model and you're bringing Italian guy in outside of that model. Does this mean you're going to keep bringing in more big name guys like this or - and does this also indicate that maybe you're not going to find ((inaudible)).
Male: You know, it - we talked about it in the past. We're - you know, we're not an organization that plants a flag in the ground and defends it in kind of a Custer-like defense. You know, we don't set the bar somewhere and say we're never going to deviate from it.
So really what it comes down to is Mo was perfect for this situation and I've seen Mo fight a number of times. You know, I mean, I saw Mo's first fight against (Travis View) when he came out and (Travis) had 66 professional fights and Mo had never had a professional mixed martial arts fight and early in the first round he through a Superman punch and put (Travis) to sleep.
So it - you know, I mean, there are moments in time that you look at as a hardcore MMA fan. I mean, not a lot of people, like, pay attention or did at that point to the Japanese MMA scene, but when you see that kind of character come out with a purple robe and a crown on his head and, you know, a microphone was put in front of his face before the fight and he was asked, "What are you most nervous about," and his answer was, "I'm most nervous that the girls I'm walking out with are hot."
You think to yourself, this is a character. This is a guy who you can do crazy things with and it could really have an impact on a promotion. And we just - we've got the synergies to make it work. So, I mean, that's - you know, that is the focal point and the impact that it has on the signing of other fighters that are big names will be based on that same kind of analysis.
It'll be based on this team that I'm blessed to have with me based on (sitting out) with (Kevin Kay) and our partners at Spike and where there might be a fit sitting down with Dixie and saying, "Does this make sense?" And of all the situations that could've made sense, this was the one that just jumped off the page.
So whether it's just Bellator or some kind of integration like this, we'll just look at it on a one-off basis and sometimes we'll make these jumps and sometimes we won't.
Male: And (as far as you wanting) Mo and, you know, Mo, you fought as heavyweight before and will there be any consideration to put you at heavyweight since, you know, there are (significant) heavyweights in there?
King Mo: Well, you know, really I have no weight class. I'm a money weight. So wherever the money's at, that's where I'm fighting at. So if they want to (find) me a heavyweight, hey, anyway ((inaudible)) can make weight at is the weight ((inaudible)) fight at. So, you know, Bellator is interested in putting me in the heavyweight tournament, I'll jump in and fight those big guys, too, and knock them out. I'm about knockouts.
Male: And for Dixie and ((inaudible)), you said you wanted to get him in there starting in the summer. Is there more a better timeline for the ((inaudible)) can anticipate when we can see Mo coming into that?
Dixie Carter: Well, I think the first thing we have to do is get him completely healthy. That's just the biggest priority for all of us. Once we know, you know, when that will be, we'll begin his training and bringing him, you know, to the show and letting him get to meet everybody and stat down that path. But I think we've got to make sure that he's 100% healthy and ready to go before we get started.
Male: Well, when do you think - final question for Mo. Mo, when do you think you will be ready to get ((inaudible))?
King Mo: I'll find out after my rehab therapy. You know, if I could tell you a certain date then I would but I'll talk to my rehab therapist and he'll tell me when I can go and that's when I'll go.
Dixie Carter: But we're thinking you might start training this summer.
King Mo: Yes, yes, this summer, yes, yes.
Male: Congratulations Mo. It's good to see you live your dream, brother, and ((inaudible)) and congratulations.
Male: Thank you.
Dixie Carter: Thank you so much.
Operator: We'll go next to Mike Chiappetta with Mmafighting.com.
Mike Chiappetta: Hi guys. I was hoping everyone could sort of address this from their perspective. Obviously in a deal like this, it seems like there're a lot of moving parts involved. And I'm wondering, you know, who first initiated this deal, what was the timeframe when it all went down and how did it all sort of come together?
(Deelan): Hey Mike, It's (Deelan). You know, it really - it was a matter of Dixie and I having had a series of conversations with Kevin over literally over a year of bouncing the concept and the idea around. But for concern for the credibility of what we do as a brand at Bellator and how it needed to work, again, we needed to find a very, very special fit. We needed to find somebody who completely fit within this realm and then obviously, you know, we tracked - if you're a fan of MMA, you track King Mo, you've seen what he's done, you've seen who he's beaten and how, you know, how he's performed.
He's one of those wrestlers that comes out and while he has the world class wrestling skills, he doesn't rely on them. He relies on his takedowns to set up his punches and he's got some crazy power in both hands. So that was really the evolution and then, obviously when he parted ways with his former organization, you know, we're not in the business of talking to anybody when they are in contract with another organization.
But when he parted ways with his prior group, that's when we all came together and said, "Hey, this could conceptually be that guy. This could be the guy who could actually fill that spot and could do a great job doing both." So that's kind of when it all started in earnest in terms of talking about him as a potential fit.
Dixie Carter: Yes, you called me and I was back stage filming TV and, you know, we bantered around a lot of names but when you said King Mo, I knew right there that's the one we needed to get.
Male: Yes.
Mike Chiappetta: And, Kevin, how did you sort of work into it? I guess you have to kind of bring them together? It sounds like they were already kind of on the same page but what about - where does your role fit into this?
Kevin Sullivan: Yes, I mean, look, I've always encouraged them to talk and, you know, and to bat ideas back and forth and, you know, it started as, like you know, let's get some Bellator fighters down to, you know, TNA so that they could impact and they could help promote Bellator.
And let's, you know, let's go back and forth between the two brands in terms of promotion and let's look at people together that could work for us. So, you know, when King Mo's name came up, there was just no question. You know, I knew that he was a huge professional wrestling fan so that, you know, that made a big difference because, you know, obviously you want somebody who really cares and really wants to be a part of that organization, not just throw somebody in there.
So knowing that Mo was, you know, a huge professional wrestling fan and then finding out later that, like you know, he idolized Sting and Hogan and, you know, had followed professional wrestling, like, not just recently but throughout his whole life, you know, it just made so much sense.
And then, you know, add onto that, like, one of the greatest mixed martial art fighters in the business and he has just a tremendous charm, charisma and personality, so you know, when Dixie and Bjorn brought it to me, I was, like, "Yes, go for it. Let's do it. Let's figure this out. Let's everybody get on the phone, get out there, do whatever we have to do and, you know, and make a deal with Mo and get him to both organizations."
Mike Chiappetta: Is this deal - essentially is it, you know, signed with Viacom or is it - do you have, like, two separate deals - one with Bellator, one with TNA? How does that work?
Dixie Carter: It's a separate deal with Bellator and TNA, two separate deals.
Mike Chiappetta: Okay. And, Mo you know, obviously we've talked a little about your knee on this call and the fact that you're still going through physical therapy. Can you kindly give us an update right now on what exactly the health of your knee is?
King Mo: Well, the tubes are out, you know, because the infection's gone. I'm walking around and I'm doing rehab. You know, before I couldn't even do rehab because the infection was still around. So I'm moving forward and I'm getting healthy.
Mike Chiappetta: And if you were to say, you know, with a certain percentage of normal health, what would you say?
King Mo: I'm not sure until I start testing it more because I know strength-wise, you know, it feels good but it can always be stronger. But I'll test it more and I'm going to be doing that with my rehab therapist.
Mike Chiappetta: Okay. And obviously you've been a wrestling fan for a long time, what's kind of your favorite memory growing up, something that you think back to that kind of makes you smile when you think about now the fact that you're going to be going into ((inaudible)) as well?
King Mo: All right, you know, I hope I don't offend people, but I remember, you know, I was a big Sting fan and he was facing Rick Flare and the Crash, the champion. And it was on TV and the night before, I was praying, you know - I really didn't pray but I decided to pray to God and I was, like, "Please, God, if you love me, please let Sting win this match."
And so I was watching the match and the match ended up, you know, being like a time limit brawl so I was pretty crushed, you know, because Sting didn't win the belt. And that's - and I still think about that because I was praying, you know, for my boy, you know, Sting to win and it didn't come true so I still think about that a lot.
Mike Chaippetta: All right, cool. Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate it. Good luck to you.
Dixie Carter: Thank you so much.
Male: Thank you.
Operator: We'll go to Matt Bishop with The Detroit News.
Matt Bishop: Hey, first off, question for Bjorn. Bjorn, there were a lot of moving parts, you know, a lot of different people working on this deal. Were you surprised you were able to get this done in, you know, pretty much six weeks after Mo was released from Strikeforce?
Bjorn Rebney: No, I wasn't but it just - that's become commonplace in the relationship that we, as a company, have with Spike and with Viacom. We're really part of that family and one of the cool things about being here underneath this umbrella is that that whole family kind of works in unison. And it's not a matter of calling somebody and looking for three days to get an appointment to set up to talk to somebody.
Kevin and I talk every single day and we're texting each other back and forth and we're sending each other photos of this or that or ideas and clips and, you know, both Impact and Bellator being part of that same family, there was an ease to getting this done that having worked in this business for 25 years, I've never seen.
Dixie Carter: We talk about as often too.
Bjorn Rebney: Yes, I mean, there's a continuity in terms of the people that are existing underneath this umbrella and specifically under these two kind of preeminent sports franchises at Spike, but it wasn't nearly as tough as you would think. It was literally like working with family and/or friends to try to get something done that you all recognize could be very powerful and very explosive if you could get it done right, and literally just jumping on conference calls.
We're all in different places. We're all bouncing all over the country and the world but it was much more - it was much simpler than you would think given the size of Viacom and the size of Spike and Bellator and Impact to get this thing completed. It took a series of phone calls to put the wheels in motion and then it all just started to roll.
Dixie Carter: And it was fun.
Bjorn Rebney: Yes.
Dixie Carter: The whole process has been fun.
Kevin Sullivan: I think, you know, the question really wasn't, like, how long is it going to take? The question was how do we get this done right now? And I think the three of us asked the three of us that same question. Like, "Dixie, what do you have to do to make your part happen? Bjorn, what do you have to do to make your part happen, Kevin, what do you have to do to make your part happen?" And, you know, we were all on the same page and it was important and when it's important, it gets done fast.
Matt Bishop: Now, Dixie, obviously this is a very unique situation for your company. Has TNA already been hard at work coming up with ideas for how to use Mo?
Dixie Carter: You know, I've actually kept him a secret to almost everybody there so the answer is within the organization, no, but from Mo and I talking, you know, we've come up with quite a few ideas and he - I mean, somebody - we asked him about his (finishing move), I mean, the guy's already named his finishing move. He's got these (contests).
I mean, he's really, you know, he's a student of our sport and, you know, I think he's going to make the transition very, very quickly. I know that there is, you know, back at our headquarters and with our wrestlers who live in different countries and all over the United States, there's a lot of excited people today.
And I'm confident our fans will be too, especially when they see him come out, from the very first time he steps out on that stage, he's going to own it and it's - they're going to feel that charisma hit them like a big right-hand punch as soon as he walks out.
Matt Bishop: And lastly, for Kevin, we've established that Mo has two separate deals - one with Bellator, one with TNA, is - did Spike kick in any money to get this deal done?
Kevin Sullivan: Well, Spike funds most of this, I mean, is the answer. I mean, if you're asking did we kick in additional money it's, like, look, fund both these organizations and so we prove to be...
(Crosstalk)
Kevin Sullivan: I guess you could say that. You know, we proved it and look, I've said this before, our job of this fight is to market it. Our job is to build it and it's not to make fights or tell ((inaudible)) we should do what and when. We don't do that. What we do is market and I think we're really good at it and when you look at the opportunity that ((inaudible)) to be marketed because he's a marketing machine, right, you know, we're going to have a lot of fun doing this and we are going to make him big and we're going to put - and make him big in both organizations and that's where we'll - that's actually where we'll spend the next money which is like marketing King Mo in both these organizations.
Matt Bishop: Thanks everyone.
Male: Thanks Matt.
Dixie Carter: Thanks.
Operator: We'll go next to Fred Richani with the Sports Courier.
Fred Richani: Okay, this question is for Mo. I was just wondering, without giving anything away, is there anybody in particular in TNA that you would love to work with down the road?
King Mo: The nature boy, Rick Flair. You know, I love Rick Flair. Man, he has style, swag, everything. When I was young, he used to talk about Space Mountain and I never knew what it was until I got older, you know what I'm saying? So - but I like Rick Flair, I like Sting. I like them all.
Dixie Carter: Kurt Angle, that's...
King Mo: Yes, Kurt Angle too. Yes, Kurt Angle, he's going to be get beat down. I'm playing. But I'm just happy to just be there and just work with everybody, you know. Yes, I mean, I'm at a loss for words. I just can't stop smiling when I think about it.
Dixie Carter: Yes, wish this were a video conference where you guys could see this.
Fred Richani: Yes and another question for Mo. A lot of MMA fighters ((inaudible)) little intimated to go with the pro wrestling and the (anime) route, you know, ((inaudible)) for doing it years back. How does your experience in Japan fighting first thing go to where pro wrestling and MMA are so intertwined, kind of helped you make this decision and go to this new career (avenue)?
King Mo: Well, I always wanted to be a pro wrestler to start off with anyway. And I like fighting so I figured that, you know, when I'm done fighting - because I had the opportunity to take - to do pro wrestling but I turned it down to pursue fighting.
And now I figured, hey, after I'm done fighting, I'm going to try to pursue pro wrestling. Well, now I don't have to deal with all that. It's a package deal so I've got the best of both worlds and I'm glad I took this. Man, I'm just - I'm happy to be here, you know, so I don't know man.
Fred Richani: And there any health concerns. Obviously they touched on spreading yourself too thing but obviously your heart's in the right place and mentally you're ready for this but pro wrestling is certainly a tough business as is MMA. What adjustments do you feel like you're going to have to make in order to get acquainted to your new career move?
King Mo: Just focusing on more recovery, do more ice baths and stuff just like (my wrestling) in college. In college we wrestled every week and every weekend - and I know it's a lot different but I'm going to focus more on recovery and do more ice baths, probably get more massages and stuff like that and find a way to stay fresh because it's going to be hard but I'm going to try my best to make it easy.
Fred Richani: and as far as the tournament format, as you once said on this conference call, you were all for going to the tournament but there're a lot of guys, a lot of veterans, that have said that they're not really a fan of it. What's your response to them considering you're (for it), you know, you've been through a lot of injuries and everything and you've overcome it and you're willing to go through the tournament in order win that $100,000 and get that gold.
King Mo: Well, there's the thing - there're two things. I like to fight, I like to stay busy. And, you know, that's the true way to figure out who gets the title shot. And then the other way, you know, the second thing is, you know, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to have this fight one time and I look good and then say that forget everybody else. King Mo gets a title shot?
You know, that's not - that's entertainment. It's not a true sport. MMA - everybody wants to talk about MMA being a sport, but the way some people do it in other organizations it's more like entertainment. The best way to figure out how deserves the title shot is to have a tournament.
And I think that's - I'm willing to prove that I deserve a title shot by winning the tournament. So I figure this is the best way to do it.
Fred Richani: Great. Well, thanks so much and best of luck.
Operator: We'll go next to Peter Lampasona with Thefightnerd.com.
Peter Lampasona: Hello. Two questions for Bjorn, two ways of sort of looking at the same thing. First off, you mentioned to me before how you keep to the tournament format because you like how it represents the purity in matchmaking. At the same time, when you have an athlete like Mo who would also be involved in professional wrestling, do you ever get worried that there might be some snickers amongst the fans, some association that this may be a work?
Bjorn Rebney: No, I don't think so Peter. I mean, you and I have talked about it in the past. I've got way too much faith in the MMA fan base. You know, I've been living around them and sitting drinking cheap beer and eating pizza with them since I saw (Hoise Gracy) fighting in (Agee).
And I know who they are and I don't think that there will be - I think that, you know, the spectacular fans on MMA and Spike for many years are more than able to be able to differentiate and to be able to understand that one is one and the other is the other and that there's going to be one guy named King Mo bouncing from one to the other but it doesn't mean that they've become intermingled as Kevin was saying and it means that they've become promoted and they become marketed.
They've got the amazing power of Spike Network behind them, but you can do two different things. I mean, you know, look, when Bo Jackson played baseball, he never tackled anybody. And nobody called that out as an oddity or something unusual. Nobody ever said, "You know, why aren't you tackling anyone," because they're two different arenas.
And that's what you're going to see with Mo. He's going to be participating in elite world class level in two different arenas. I don't think it - you know, I've got a lot of trust in our fan base. I've got a lot of trust in MMA fans because I've been one of them for a long time and I think they'll be completely comfortable with it.
Peter Lampasona: Okay, and the other question, sort of looking at the positive side of this, one big issue with the tournament format has been sort of keeping the momentum behind athletes who have just, you know, they've put on a good showing, they're in the news, they're in the media and then it's hard to get them right back out there with the whole tournament format, at least after the tournament's over and someone wins the title.
Is cross promotion like this? You mentioned that also doing pro wrestling might not be for everyone but this kind of venue of getting your fighters to do something else that's in the limelight. Do you think that would be a good way to sort of keep the momentum going, keep them in the spotlight after something amazing happens?
Kevin Sullivan: Well, Peter, it's sure one of them but as you saw in terms of kind of how Spike built out the mixed martial arts space, one of the things that made guys like you and I watch Spike Network was that you could tune in and you could watch live fights, you could watch a great reality series, you could watch best of greatest moment stories behind the fighters on a consistent basis.
So as we make that transition to Spike in the next six months, what you're going to see is you're going to see a (Bertran Van Moser) produced reality show. And you're going to see great live events on a consistent basis. And you're going to see a ton of shoulder programming.
And then in addition to that, in this Mo centric piece of momentum, you're going to see Mo transitioning between Impact and Bellator on the same Spike network. So I think you combine all of those pieces and you put that puzzle together and it paints a great picture because we've got an awful lot working toward the development of this brand, the development of the impact brand and also the development of fighters like Mo, like our 55 pound champ, Michael Chandler, like (Eduardo Dontis), like (Pat Curren) and like (Ben Aston) and like many others that, as we transition to Spike, you're going to see a ton of programming building these guys out as the superstars that they should be recognized as.
Peter Lampasona: Okay, and just one last question before I go - your answer reminded me of that - can we look forward to more Mo based puns as the season goes on?
Kevin: Well, you started it with Mo-mentum, Peter.
Peter Lampasona: All right, thank you very much and congratulations Mo.
Operator: And we'll go next to Eddie Goldman with No Holds Barred.
Eddie Goldman: Thank you very much. Hello everybody. Hey Mo. First question is for you. As you know, about a century ago, Catch as Catch Can Wrestling later laid the basis for both modern pro wrestling and also American folk style wrestling and later had a greater influence on mixed martial arts. Now that you're going to be doing some serious training in pro wrestling, do you think you may be able to learn some of the catch moves and possibly learn something that you can incorporate into your MMA game?
King Mo: Well, that's the plan. I really want to do something, you know, that's the way I wanted to try to do anyway. You know, but we'll see what happens. I'm going to try to learn as much as I can and aim moves that can cross that - that I can bring over from pro wrestling to MMA. I'm going to try to do them especially at least a knock out or a submission. I'm going to do it.
Eddie Goldman: Well, I know you know how to do the knockouts and I know you trained in boxing and you've been a student of boxing as well, but you mentioned Jujitsu, but in terms of the catch submissions and that whole attitude, have you done much training in that or would you want to increase your training in that both in TNA and in Bellator?
King Mo: Well, you know, I'm looking to increase my knowledge in catch wrestling. And I'm going to work it. I'm going to holler at (Barnett) after he's done fighting (Daniel) because (Dan)'s my boy.
But after that fight, I'm going to reach out to (Barnett) pick his brain here and there and watch them, do whatever it takes to become a better all around fighter and wrestler. So, yes, I'm open to that and I will do it.
Eddie Goldman: All right, I don't know contractually could you compete in any of these catch tournaments that are going on which really you're - are amateur tournaments at this point. Can you do that or you've just got to stick with TNA and Bellator?
King Mo: Well, it's like this, I'm not sure if I would because I'm not trying to get injured when I really get paid to do pro wrestling and MMA. You know, and I think it would be a bad move, you know.
Eddie Goldman: Okay, and a question also for Bjorn. I know you're thinking of your vacation in a few years and here's something that might delay it or ruin it. Do you have plans to do more international work with Bellator outside of North America particularly with the developing Asian anime organizations? Obviously, you know, Mo and ((inaudible)) and is pretty well known in Asia at this point. Any plans to do something with them?
Bjorn Rebney: Yes, absolutely. I mean, look, one of the magical things we've got going here is that Impact's got great reach internationally in terms of their content and their shows. Bellator has got some spectacular reach internationally right now. You know, our events down in Brazil have been doing - have been averaging just under 3 million viewers per show.
We just did a new pan regional deal with Celestial Tiger in Asia which is averaging huge numbers per show. So the saturation that we're seeing overseas, and you know it better than anybody in terms of the history of wrestling, one of the reasons that wrestling has had such success overseas internationally is because they set the framework vis a vis doing television.
We're enjoying great television success overseas in a lot of territories right now and ultimately that'll set the table and already is setting the table for some international events.
You know, it could be in Asia. Mo has had great success in Asia. Mo has looked like a million dollars over there and could ultimately find ourselves in South America, Europe and some other territories where we're hitting some great numbers and (Pre Mel), our international distribution partner has just been knocking the ball out of the park for us. So yes, that table is being set right now and we can see ourselves doing some international events in the next year to 18 months and Mo would surely be a great person to have in them because he's going to have these two epic platforms, vis a vis, Impact and Bellator and Spike to set the table for him.
Eddie Goldman: All right, thank you. Congrats to everybody and I hope all this works out.
Male: Thanks Eddie.
Male: Okay, everybody, I believe that's the last question. Thank you all for joining us. Again, hit me up if you'
Steven Muehlhausen: Thank you guys for the time today, and Mo congratulations as always my friend. But you back it and getting to do what you want to do, and I'll start with you Mo.
How big of a dream was this for you? I remember talking to you in the past and you said, "I've always wanted to be in professional wrestling." Do you feel like that you're living a lifelong dream?
Muhammed Lawal: Man, you know what? I, you know, it's a dream come true man. It's like - it was a big dream and, you know, I thought I lost it when I turned my WWE contract - I turned it down.
And now it circled back around and I'm excited, you know, and I had to jump on it. I can't turn something like this down and I refuse to, and I took it and I'm happy with it. I'm excited. I can't wait.
Steven Muehlhausen: And to follow up Mo, regarding - and so what do you think of their light heavyweight division?
Muhammed Lawal: You know, hey, it's like this. They got talent there. Anybody can be beat. Christian M'Pumbu has good Jujitsu. He has good standup and he's shown he has skill. He's been around for a while.
Travis Wiuff, you know, I beat him in the past but now he's probably looking to get revenge on me, and he did beat - defeat Christian M'Pumbu and he got the Hale kid.
He's pretty talented. He defeated my friend Nik Fekete. I'm, you know, anybody can get beat so I'm going there, you know, 100% and focused and I'm going to win the tournament.
So, you know, hopefully, you know, the 205 division will end up like the 135 division, 145, 155 and even, you know, 205 with me. Hopefully I could take it to (Holgerson Webb) like, you know, Dantas and Askren and, you know, Cole Konrad and other wrestlers did, you know what I'm saying.
So I'm just, you know, I'm not worried about who's there. I'm just worried about me taking care of business.
Steven Muehlhausen: And Bjorn, you know, signing Mo today is a big signing for you guys. Does this feel now that you guys are on MMA because you always you said you wanted Mo but then the other core model and you're bringing Italian guy in outside of that model. Does this mean you're going to keep bringing in more big name guys like this or - and does this also indicate that maybe you're not going to find ((inaudible)).
Male: You know, it - we talked about it in the past. We're - you know, we're not an organization that plants a flag in the ground and defends it in kind of a Custer-like defense. You know, we don't set the bar somewhere and say we're never going to deviate from it.
So really what it comes down to is Mo was perfect for this situation and I've seen Mo fight a number of times. You know, I mean, I saw Mo's first fight against (Travis View) when he came out and (Travis) had 66 professional fights and Mo had never had a professional mixed martial arts fight and early in the first round he through a Superman punch and put (Travis) to sleep.
So it - you know, I mean, there are moments in time that you look at as a hardcore MMA fan. I mean, not a lot of people, like, pay attention or did at that point to the Japanese MMA scene, but when you see that kind of character come out with a purple robe and a crown on his head and, you know, a microphone was put in front of his face before the fight and he was asked, "What are you most nervous about," and his answer was, "I'm most nervous that the girls I'm walking out with are hot."
You think to yourself, this is a character. This is a guy who you can do crazy things with and it could really have an impact on a promotion. And we just - we've got the synergies to make it work. So, I mean, that's - you know, that is the focal point and the impact that it has on the signing of other fighters that are big names will be based on that same kind of analysis.
It'll be based on this team that I'm blessed to have with me based on (sitting out) with (Kevin Kay) and our partners at Spike and where there might be a fit sitting down with Dixie and saying, "Does this make sense?" And of all the situations that could've made sense, this was the one that just jumped off the page.
So whether it's just Bellator or some kind of integration like this, we'll just look at it on a one-off basis and sometimes we'll make these jumps and sometimes we won't.
Male: And (as far as you wanting) Mo and, you know, Mo, you fought as heavyweight before and will there be any consideration to put you at heavyweight since, you know, there are (significant) heavyweights in there?
King Mo: Well, you know, really I have no weight class. I'm a money weight. So wherever the money's at, that's where I'm fighting at. So if they want to (find) me a heavyweight, hey, anyway ((inaudible)) can make weight at is the weight ((inaudible)) fight at. So, you know, Bellator is interested in putting me in the heavyweight tournament, I'll jump in and fight those big guys, too, and knock them out. I'm about knockouts.
Male: And for Dixie and ((inaudible)), you said you wanted to get him in there starting in the summer. Is there more a better timeline for the ((inaudible)) can anticipate when we can see Mo coming into that?
Dixie Carter: Well, I think the first thing we have to do is get him completely healthy. That's just the biggest priority for all of us. Once we know, you know, when that will be, we'll begin his training and bringing him, you know, to the show and letting him get to meet everybody and stat down that path. But I think we've got to make sure that he's 100% healthy and ready to go before we get started.
Male: Well, when do you think - final question for Mo. Mo, when do you think you will be ready to get ((inaudible))?
King Mo: I'll find out after my rehab therapy. You know, if I could tell you a certain date then I would but I'll talk to my rehab therapist and he'll tell me when I can go and that's when I'll go.
Dixie Carter: But we're thinking you might start training this summer.
King Mo: Yes, yes, this summer, yes, yes.
Male: Congratulations Mo. It's good to see you live your dream, brother, and ((inaudible)) and congratulations.
Male: Thank you.
Dixie Carter: Thank you so much.
Operator: We'll go next to Mike Chiappetta with Mmafighting.com.
Mike Chiappetta: Hi guys. I was hoping everyone could sort of address this from their perspective. Obviously in a deal like this, it seems like there're a lot of moving parts involved. And I'm wondering, you know, who first initiated this deal, what was the timeframe when it all went down and how did it all sort of come together?
(Deelan): Hey Mike, It's (Deelan). You know, it really - it was a matter of Dixie and I having had a series of conversations with Kevin over literally over a year of bouncing the concept and the idea around. But for concern for the credibility of what we do as a brand at Bellator and how it needed to work, again, we needed to find a very, very special fit. We needed to find somebody who completely fit within this realm and then obviously, you know, we tracked - if you're a fan of MMA, you track King Mo, you've seen what he's done, you've seen who he's beaten and how, you know, how he's performed.
He's one of those wrestlers that comes out and while he has the world class wrestling skills, he doesn't rely on them. He relies on his takedowns to set up his punches and he's got some crazy power in both hands. So that was really the evolution and then, obviously when he parted ways with his former organization, you know, we're not in the business of talking to anybody when they are in contract with another organization.
But when he parted ways with his prior group, that's when we all came together and said, "Hey, this could conceptually be that guy. This could be the guy who could actually fill that spot and could do a great job doing both." So that's kind of when it all started in earnest in terms of talking about him as a potential fit.
Dixie Carter: Yes, you called me and I was back stage filming TV and, you know, we bantered around a lot of names but when you said King Mo, I knew right there that's the one we needed to get.
Male: Yes.
Mike Chiappetta: And, Kevin, how did you sort of work into it? I guess you have to kind of bring them together? It sounds like they were already kind of on the same page but what about - where does your role fit into this?
Kevin Sullivan: Yes, I mean, look, I've always encouraged them to talk and, you know, and to bat ideas back and forth and, you know, it started as, like you know, let's get some Bellator fighters down to, you know, TNA so that they could impact and they could help promote Bellator.
And let's, you know, let's go back and forth between the two brands in terms of promotion and let's look at people together that could work for us. So, you know, when King Mo's name came up, there was just no question. You know, I knew that he was a huge professional wrestling fan so that, you know, that made a big difference because, you know, obviously you want somebody who really cares and really wants to be a part of that organization, not just throw somebody in there.
So knowing that Mo was, you know, a huge professional wrestling fan and then finding out later that, like you know, he idolized Sting and Hogan and, you know, had followed professional wrestling, like, not just recently but throughout his whole life, you know, it just made so much sense.
And then, you know, add onto that, like, one of the greatest mixed martial art fighters in the business and he has just a tremendous charm, charisma and personality, so you know, when Dixie and Bjorn brought it to me, I was, like, "Yes, go for it. Let's do it. Let's figure this out. Let's everybody get on the phone, get out there, do whatever we have to do and, you know, and make a deal with Mo and get him to both organizations."
Mike Chiappetta: Is this deal - essentially is it, you know, signed with Viacom or is it - do you have, like, two separate deals - one with Bellator, one with TNA? How does that work?
Dixie Carter: It's a separate deal with Bellator and TNA, two separate deals.
Mike Chiappetta: Okay. And, Mo you know, obviously we've talked a little about your knee on this call and the fact that you're still going through physical therapy. Can you kindly give us an update right now on what exactly the health of your knee is?
King Mo: Well, the tubes are out, you know, because the infection's gone. I'm walking around and I'm doing rehab. You know, before I couldn't even do rehab because the infection was still around. So I'm moving forward and I'm getting healthy.
Mike Chiappetta: And if you were to say, you know, with a certain percentage of normal health, what would you say?
King Mo: I'm not sure until I start testing it more because I know strength-wise, you know, it feels good but it can always be stronger. But I'll test it more and I'm going to be doing that with my rehab therapist.
Mike Chiappetta: Okay. And obviously you've been a wrestling fan for a long time, what's kind of your favorite memory growing up, something that you think back to that kind of makes you smile when you think about now the fact that you're going to be going into ((inaudible)) as well?
King Mo: All right, you know, I hope I don't offend people, but I remember, you know, I was a big Sting fan and he was facing Rick Flare and the Crash, the champion. And it was on TV and the night before, I was praying, you know - I really didn't pray but I decided to pray to God and I was, like, "Please, God, if you love me, please let Sting win this match."
And so I was watching the match and the match ended up, you know, being like a time limit brawl so I was pretty crushed, you know, because Sting didn't win the belt. And that's - and I still think about that because I was praying, you know, for my boy, you know, Sting to win and it didn't come true so I still think about that a lot.
Mike Chaippetta: All right, cool. Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate it. Good luck to you.
Dixie Carter: Thank you so much.
Male: Thank you.
Operator: We'll go to Matt Bishop with The Detroit News.
Matt Bishop: Hey, first off, question for Bjorn. Bjorn, there were a lot of moving parts, you know, a lot of different people working on this deal. Were you surprised you were able to get this done in, you know, pretty much six weeks after Mo was released from Strikeforce?
Bjorn Rebney: No, I wasn't but it just - that's become commonplace in the relationship that we, as a company, have with Spike and with Viacom. We're really part of that family and one of the cool things about being here underneath this umbrella is that that whole family kind of works in unison. And it's not a matter of calling somebody and looking for three days to get an appointment to set up to talk to somebody.
Kevin and I talk every single day and we're texting each other back and forth and we're sending each other photos of this or that or ideas and clips and, you know, both Impact and Bellator being part of that same family, there was an ease to getting this done that having worked in this business for 25 years, I've never seen.
Dixie Carter: We talk about as often too.
Bjorn Rebney: Yes, I mean, there's a continuity in terms of the people that are existing underneath this umbrella and specifically under these two kind of preeminent sports franchises at Spike, but it wasn't nearly as tough as you would think. It was literally like working with family and/or friends to try to get something done that you all recognize could be very powerful and very explosive if you could get it done right, and literally just jumping on conference calls.
We're all in different places. We're all bouncing all over the country and the world but it was much more - it was much simpler than you would think given the size of Viacom and the size of Spike and Bellator and Impact to get this thing completed. It took a series of phone calls to put the wheels in motion and then it all just started to roll.
Dixie Carter: And it was fun.
Bjorn Rebney: Yes.
Dixie Carter: The whole process has been fun.
Kevin Sullivan: I think, you know, the question really wasn't, like, how long is it going to take? The question was how do we get this done right now? And I think the three of us asked the three of us that same question. Like, "Dixie, what do you have to do to make your part happen? Bjorn, what do you have to do to make your part happen, Kevin, what do you have to do to make your part happen?" And, you know, we were all on the same page and it was important and when it's important, it gets done fast.
Matt Bishop: Now, Dixie, obviously this is a very unique situation for your company. Has TNA already been hard at work coming up with ideas for how to use Mo?
Dixie Carter: You know, I've actually kept him a secret to almost everybody there so the answer is within the organization, no, but from Mo and I talking, you know, we've come up with quite a few ideas and he - I mean, somebody - we asked him about his (finishing move), I mean, the guy's already named his finishing move. He's got these (contests).
I mean, he's really, you know, he's a student of our sport and, you know, I think he's going to make the transition very, very quickly. I know that there is, you know, back at our headquarters and with our wrestlers who live in different countries and all over the United States, there's a lot of excited people today.
And I'm confident our fans will be too, especially when they see him come out, from the very first time he steps out on that stage, he's going to own it and it's - they're going to feel that charisma hit them like a big right-hand punch as soon as he walks out.
Matt Bishop: And lastly, for Kevin, we've established that Mo has two separate deals - one with Bellator, one with TNA, is - did Spike kick in any money to get this deal done?
Kevin Sullivan: Well, Spike funds most of this, I mean, is the answer. I mean, if you're asking did we kick in additional money it's, like, look, fund both these organizations and so we prove to be...
(Crosstalk)
Kevin Sullivan: I guess you could say that. You know, we proved it and look, I've said this before, our job of this fight is to market it. Our job is to build it and it's not to make fights or tell ((inaudible)) we should do what and when. We don't do that. What we do is market and I think we're really good at it and when you look at the opportunity that ((inaudible)) to be marketed because he's a marketing machine, right, you know, we're going to have a lot of fun doing this and we are going to make him big and we're going to put - and make him big in both organizations and that's where we'll - that's actually where we'll spend the next money which is like marketing King Mo in both these organizations.
Matt Bishop: Thanks everyone.
Male: Thanks Matt.
Dixie Carter: Thanks.
Operator: We'll go next to Fred Richani with the Sports Courier.
Fred Richani: Okay, this question is for Mo. I was just wondering, without giving anything away, is there anybody in particular in TNA that you would love to work with down the road?
King Mo: The nature boy, Rick Flair. You know, I love Rick Flair. Man, he has style, swag, everything. When I was young, he used to talk about Space Mountain and I never knew what it was until I got older, you know what I'm saying? So - but I like Rick Flair, I like Sting. I like them all.
Dixie Carter: Kurt Angle, that's...
King Mo: Yes, Kurt Angle too. Yes, Kurt Angle, he's going to be get beat down. I'm playing. But I'm just happy to just be there and just work with everybody, you know. Yes, I mean, I'm at a loss for words. I just can't stop smiling when I think about it.
Dixie Carter: Yes, wish this were a video conference where you guys could see this.
Fred Richani: Yes and another question for Mo. A lot of MMA fighters ((inaudible)) little intimated to go with the pro wrestling and the (anime) route, you know, ((inaudible)) for doing it years back. How does your experience in Japan fighting first thing go to where pro wrestling and MMA are so intertwined, kind of helped you make this decision and go to this new career (avenue)?
King Mo: Well, I always wanted to be a pro wrestler to start off with anyway. And I like fighting so I figured that, you know, when I'm done fighting - because I had the opportunity to take - to do pro wrestling but I turned it down to pursue fighting.
And now I figured, hey, after I'm done fighting, I'm going to try to pursue pro wrestling. Well, now I don't have to deal with all that. It's a package deal so I've got the best of both worlds and I'm glad I took this. Man, I'm just - I'm happy to be here, you know, so I don't know man.
Fred Richani: And there any health concerns. Obviously they touched on spreading yourself too thing but obviously your heart's in the right place and mentally you're ready for this but pro wrestling is certainly a tough business as is MMA. What adjustments do you feel like you're going to have to make in order to get acquainted to your new career move?
King Mo: Just focusing on more recovery, do more ice baths and stuff just like (my wrestling) in college. In college we wrestled every week and every weekend - and I know it's a lot different but I'm going to focus more on recovery and do more ice baths, probably get more massages and stuff like that and find a way to stay fresh because it's going to be hard but I'm going to try my best to make it easy.
Fred Richani: and as far as the tournament format, as you once said on this conference call, you were all for going to the tournament but there're a lot of guys, a lot of veterans, that have said that they're not really a fan of it. What's your response to them considering you're (for it), you know, you've been through a lot of injuries and everything and you've overcome it and you're willing to go through the tournament in order win that $100,000 and get that gold.
King Mo: Well, there's the thing - there're two things. I like to fight, I like to stay busy. And, you know, that's the true way to figure out who gets the title shot. And then the other way, you know, the second thing is, you know, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to have this fight one time and I look good and then say that forget everybody else. King Mo gets a title shot?
You know, that's not - that's entertainment. It's not a true sport. MMA - everybody wants to talk about MMA being a sport, but the way some people do it in other organizations it's more like entertainment. The best way to figure out how deserves the title shot is to have a tournament.
And I think that's - I'm willing to prove that I deserve a title shot by winning the tournament. So I figure this is the best way to do it.
Fred Richani: Great. Well, thanks so much and best of luck.
Operator: We'll go next to Peter Lampasona with Thefightnerd.com.
Peter Lampasona: Hello. Two questions for Bjorn, two ways of sort of looking at the same thing. First off, you mentioned to me before how you keep to the tournament format because you like how it represents the purity in matchmaking. At the same time, when you have an athlete like Mo who would also be involved in professional wrestling, do you ever get worried that there might be some snickers amongst the fans, some association that this may be a work?
Bjorn Rebney: No, I don't think so Peter. I mean, you and I have talked about it in the past. I've got way too much faith in the MMA fan base. You know, I've been living around them and sitting drinking cheap beer and eating pizza with them since I saw (Hoise Gracy) fighting in (Agee).
And I know who they are and I don't think that there will be - I think that, you know, the spectacular fans on MMA and Spike for many years are more than able to be able to differentiate and to be able to understand that one is one and the other is the other and that there's going to be one guy named King Mo bouncing from one to the other but it doesn't mean that they've become intermingled as Kevin was saying and it means that they've become promoted and they become marketed.
They've got the amazing power of Spike Network behind them, but you can do two different things. I mean, you know, look, when Bo Jackson played baseball, he never tackled anybody. And nobody called that out as an oddity or something unusual. Nobody ever said, "You know, why aren't you tackling anyone," because they're two different arenas.
And that's what you're going to see with Mo. He's going to be participating in elite world class level in two different arenas. I don't think it - you know, I've got a lot of trust in our fan base. I've got a lot of trust in MMA fans because I've been one of them for a long time and I think they'll be completely comfortable with it.
Peter Lampasona: Okay, and the other question, sort of looking at the positive side of this, one big issue with the tournament format has been sort of keeping the momentum behind athletes who have just, you know, they've put on a good showing, they're in the news, they're in the media and then it's hard to get them right back out there with the whole tournament format, at least after the tournament's over and someone wins the title.
Is cross promotion like this? You mentioned that also doing pro wrestling might not be for everyone but this kind of venue of getting your fighters to do something else that's in the limelight. Do you think that would be a good way to sort of keep the momentum going, keep them in the spotlight after something amazing happens?
Kevin Sullivan: Well, Peter, it's sure one of them but as you saw in terms of kind of how Spike built out the mixed martial arts space, one of the things that made guys like you and I watch Spike Network was that you could tune in and you could watch live fights, you could watch a great reality series, you could watch best of greatest moment stories behind the fighters on a consistent basis.
So as we make that transition to Spike in the next six months, what you're going to see is you're going to see a (Bertran Van Moser) produced reality show. And you're going to see great live events on a consistent basis. And you're going to see a ton of shoulder programming.
And then in addition to that, in this Mo centric piece of momentum, you're going to see Mo transitioning between Impact and Bellator on the same Spike network. So I think you combine all of those pieces and you put that puzzle together and it paints a great picture because we've got an awful lot working toward the development of this brand, the development of the impact brand and also the development of fighters like Mo, like our 55 pound champ, Michael Chandler, like (Eduardo Dontis), like (Pat Curren) and like (Ben Aston) and like many others that, as we transition to Spike, you're going to see a ton of programming building these guys out as the superstars that they should be recognized as.
Peter Lampasona: Okay, and just one last question before I go - your answer reminded me of that - can we look forward to more Mo based puns as the season goes on?
Kevin: Well, you started it with Mo-mentum, Peter.
Peter Lampasona: All right, thank you very much and congratulations Mo.
Operator: And we'll go next to Eddie Goldman with No Holds Barred.
Eddie Goldman: Thank you very much. Hello everybody. Hey Mo. First question is for you. As you know, about a century ago, Catch as Catch Can Wrestling later laid the basis for both modern pro wrestling and also American folk style wrestling and later had a greater influence on mixed martial arts. Now that you're going to be doing some serious training in pro wrestling, do you think you may be able to learn some of the catch moves and possibly learn something that you can incorporate into your MMA game?
King Mo: Well, that's the plan. I really want to do something, you know, that's the way I wanted to try to do anyway. You know, but we'll see what happens. I'm going to try to learn as much as I can and aim moves that can cross that - that I can bring over from pro wrestling to MMA. I'm going to try to do them especially at least a knock out or a submission. I'm going to do it.
Eddie Goldman: Well, I know you know how to do the knockouts and I know you trained in boxing and you've been a student of boxing as well, but you mentioned Jujitsu, but in terms of the catch submissions and that whole attitude, have you done much training in that or would you want to increase your training in that both in TNA and in Bellator?
King Mo: Well, you know, I'm looking to increase my knowledge in catch wrestling. And I'm going to work it. I'm going to holler at (Barnett) after he's done fighting (Daniel) because (Dan)'s my boy.
But after that fight, I'm going to reach out to (Barnett) pick his brain here and there and watch them, do whatever it takes to become a better all around fighter and wrestler. So, yes, I'm open to that and I will do it.
Eddie Goldman: All right, I don't know contractually could you compete in any of these catch tournaments that are going on which really you're - are amateur tournaments at this point. Can you do that or you've just got to stick with TNA and Bellator?
King Mo: Well, it's like this, I'm not sure if I would because I'm not trying to get injured when I really get paid to do pro wrestling and MMA. You know, and I think it would be a bad move, you know.
Eddie Goldman: Okay, and a question also for Bjorn. I know you're thinking of your vacation in a few years and here's something that might delay it or ruin it. Do you have plans to do more international work with Bellator outside of North America particularly with the developing Asian anime organizations? Obviously, you know, Mo and ((inaudible)) and is pretty well known in Asia at this point. Any plans to do something with them?
Bjorn Rebney: Yes, absolutely. I mean, look, one of the magical things we've got going here is that Impact's got great reach internationally in terms of their content and their shows. Bellator has got some spectacular reach internationally right now. You know, our events down in Brazil have been doing - have been averaging just under 3 million viewers per show.
We just did a new pan regional deal with Celestial Tiger in Asia which is averaging huge numbers per show. So the saturation that we're seeing overseas, and you know it better than anybody in terms of the history of wrestling, one of the reasons that wrestling has had such success overseas internationally is because they set the framework vis a vis doing television.
We're enjoying great television success overseas in a lot of territories right now and ultimately that'll set the table and already is setting the table for some international events.
You know, it could be in Asia. Mo has had great success in Asia. Mo has looked like a million dollars over there and could ultimately find ourselves in South America, Europe and some other territories where we're hitting some great numbers and (Pre Mel), our international distribution partner has just been knocking the ball out of the park for us. So yes, that table is being set right now and we can see ourselves doing some international events in the next year to 18 months and Mo would surely be a great person to have in them because he's going to have these two epic platforms, vis a vis, Impact and Bellator and Spike to set the table for him.
Eddie Goldman: All right, thank you. Congrats to everybody and I hope all this works out.
Male: Thanks Eddie.
Male: Okay, everybody, I believe that's the last question. Thank you all for joining us. Again, hit me up if you'
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