Here's Five Trades I'd Like To See In Mixed Martial Arts If The Floodgates Open Up
After yesterday’s monumental news that the UFC and ONE Championship have seemingly agreed to terms on mixed martial arts’ first major trade, swapping fighters Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (UFC) and Ben “Funky” Askren (ONE), I immediately started racking my brain for other possible fantasy-booking trades the sport could offer us. I couldn’t get enough. For hours I tried to think of the best trades, benefitting both sides, even thought about how a gym-based team system could be implemented into MMA so fighters could be traded gym-to-gym! Imagine how crazy it’d be to get alerts like this one?!
It’d be so awesome! One minute we get a rumor that two teammates got a little too physical during a sparring session and then all of a sudden hours later one of them’s outta the gym? Head coaches picking sides, trading fighters, and rivalries growing from them (ala the TJ Dillashaw/Cody Garbrandt feud) would be so much fun to watch and keep up with. So I decided to come up with five trades we could start with between promotions because I haven’t quite figured out the gym/team thing yet. I was gonna call them the “TOP Five” I’d like to see, but that seems unfair. I don’t know what the actual top five I’d like to see happen are because I’m not smart enough to come up with five good ones. So here are the five I came up with…
UFC: Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz [TRADE] Bellator: Michael Venom Page
So expanding on this tweet, I’m making it both Diaz brothers for Michael Venom Page, who in my opinion is the best full-package fighter on Bellator’s roster. He’s an electric fighter, personality, social media presence, brand ambassador, he’s got it all. Even motherfuckin’ Star Lord posting about him…
Obviously, it’s gonna take a lot for Bellator to give him up, so why wouldn’t the UFC offer BOTH Diaz bros – who they already don’t get along with in the slightest. It seems to me that Dana White would rather fire Nick and Nate than do anything with ‘em, so get rid of them here and get someone AWESOME in return.
Bellator: Michael Chandler [TRADE] UFC: Robbie Lawler
Michael Chandler is another phenomenal mixed martial artist that’s never stepped foot in the UFC (he is the winningest fighter in Bellator history, however), so there’s always been so many questions surrounding his career and how he’d fare against their level of competition. After a brief free agency period earlier this year, the veteran re-signed with Bellator, but in this trade, I’m sending him off to the UFC’s Lightweight Division and bringing former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler to Bellator, and let’s be honest – I’m doing this for one reason and one reason only.
Rory MacDonald vs Robbie Lawler III.
UFC: Stipe Miocic (and possibly Jeremy Stephens, Michael Chiesa) [TRADE] Bellator: Aaron Pico
Stipe’s super frustrated with the way the UFC has handled him for a very long time now. He feels he’s been disrespected by the higher-ups, more specifically Dana White, for years. Bellator’s Heavyweight Division is currently what I’d probably consider the most entertaining in all of the sport, so throw an absolute fucking savage in there with the rest of ‘em, and get mixed martial arts’ greatest prospect back in return. I will say, with this one, the UFC may owe Bellator more than just Stipe, because Pico’s ya know…mixed martial arts’ greatest prospect. I don’t know how we’re treating prospects in trades, though. I could see someone like Jeremy Stephens, or Michael Chiesa, being on the Stipe side, I suppose, since they’re both more proven than Pico and definitely names casual MMA fans have seen at one point or another. I dunno. This one is shaky.
Rough N Rowdy: The Milkman [TRADE] Bellator: “Big Country” Roy Nelson
Oh you didn’t think the greatest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, Rough N Rowdy, were just gonna sit back and watch trades happen, did you? Nuh uh. We’re gettin’ in on this shit. Bellator gets the best mix of athletic looking dude and funny personality we’ve got in The Milkman (as long as he’s not fighting in Kentucky, where he is currently suspended), and we get their most Rough N Rowdy looking dude in return. We’d build the whole god damn brand around Big Country and just have him knock out tomato cans in the main events of every show. It would be glorious.
UFC: Jon Jones [TRADE] Bellator: Dillon Danis
Now I know this one seems ridiculous, trading the GOAT for a fighter that comes along with so many unknowns, but hear me out.
I think despite everything, the social media antics, the people that call him a “disgrace” to the sport…I think Jon Jones is a very good fighter. I think if he ever gets on the straight and narrow, he could honestly be the face of Bellator. And in return for that, they’ll need to give up the current face of Bellator, Dillon Danis, to the UFC. DRASTIC, and shocking, I know. Trust me, I know. But who knows.