The crowd is turning on Cole Konrad.
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To break this stalemate, Lloret—a Spanish fighter who specializes in submission, or forcing opponents to quit—needs to gain distance between his chest and Konrad’s, so that he can grab a stray limb and torque it. This can’t be done. Konrad is too big (he has an advantage of about 30 pounds), too broad (Lloret has problems just wrapping his arms across his back), and too technically sound. The outcome is foreordained: a three-round unanimous decision. As Konrad is announced the winner, running his career record to 5-0, the crowd actually boos, a throaty jeer that carries through the old hall like waves lapping at a shore.
Bellator, which operates out of offices on Wells Street, is one of the larger mixed-martial-arts promotions in the United States, and could best be described as a minor league. Its top fighters are either learning their trade on their way up to Ultimate Fighting Championship or veterans hoping to return there. The fights are broadcast live on Fox Sports Net, and highlights are shown late at night on NBC and Telemundo. They are often spectacular.
The big scheme to broaden the promotion’s appeal involves marketing it as a place where fighters can control their own destinies by winning tournaments, which carry a prize of $100,000 and a title shot. Rebney spends a lot of time railing against the dominant booking model in MMA, in which even title fights can be made merely because they’re marketable. (For example, Konrad’s training partner, UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, earned his title shot after three professional fights, one of which he lost.)
Carter, to the delight of the crowd, spends most of the bout attempting such improbable moves as the spinning back fist, with which he once knocked out the famed Matt Serra, and a pro-wrestling-style suplex. But he’s got nothing. After the fight he collapses on the mat, and it takes eight men ten minutes with ice and an oxygen mask just to get him to where he can sit on his stool. By now the crowd is gone, and neither Bellator officials nor the press seem especially interested in the scene in the cage.
