Bellator 134 Might Be the Best Fight Card in February

The UFC and Bellator are duking it out in February with five total events, but Bellator looks to be the more interesting promotion with the best fight cards this month.

There was a time when we would go months without MMA. Now here we are, inundated with mediocre and thin cards. That doesn't make them fun, but the stacked cards of yesteryear are long gone.

We have three UFC events and two Bellator events in the shortest month of the year, and you have to wonder which fight night is the one you should enjoy in this busy month.

As reported by MMA Fighting's Dave Meltzer, Scott Coker has vowed to change the watered-down cards of Bellator's last year with Bjorn Rebney in 2015, and it looks like he's staying true to his word. Bellator 134 genuinely looks to be the best main card in this busy month of February, and I'm going to tell you why.

Bellator 133 is two fights deep with Alexander Shlemenko vs. Melvin Manhoef accompanied by Pat Curran vs. Daniel Weichel on Friday, February 13. Then we have Ben Henderson stepping in on short notice against Brandon Thatch in one of the weakest UFC cards these eyes have ever seen.

Keep in mind that the lack of star power doesn't mean lack of enjoyment. I'm talking face value here—people who bring eyeballs to the broadcast, not the spectacle that we all know and love as fighting that will bring eyeballs.

Then, on February 22, we have the Fight Night 61 headlined by Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Frank Mir.

This has some interesting bouts such as Edson Barboza vs. Michael Johnson and Rustam Khabilov vs. Adriano Martins, but unless you're a diehard MMA fan, nothing here is turning heads.

It'll still be fun to have playing in the background while you play a rousing game of Settlers of Catan, I'm sure. Johnson vs. Barboza will help shape the middle of the lightweight top 10, but there's little else of consequence here.

We have Bellator 134 on February 27. The penultimate major fight card of the month and one that is chock full of interesting fights that remind us why our sensibilities gravitated toward the cage in the first place. A hardcore fan may watch Thatch vs. Ben Henderson, but Coker and Co. is going for everyone. Speaking with MMAjunkie, he said he wants his fans back.

The main event is a light heavyweight title fight between Emanuel Newton and Liam McGeary, one of two title fights this month (the other being Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano). It's not the most thrilling main event, as Newton has been known to hardcore dance away from fights at times, but it has importance to it.

Newton has been disrespected as a champion for as long as he's been one by his fellow fighters, and his seven-fight win streak is on the line. I'll watch. This is more important than Bendo vs. Thatch, right? Right.

But the rest of the main card is where the light of Scott Coker and matchmaker Rich Chou shines.

Paul Daley, the man with sticks of dynamite for hands fights Andre Santos, a Brazilian journeyman who will likely be looking up at the lights of the arena within 15 minutes of the first bell ringing.

Complementing this fight is Rameau Sokoudjou vs. Linton Vassell. A UFC Fight Night level battle. Filler, but filler with purpose. Vassell has 12 finishes in his 14 wins, and Sokoudjou is a guy at 16-12 who either finishes, or gets finished. He has one sub and 10 knockouts to his name, while being subbed or knocked out 10 times.

But wait, there's more. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal is visiting his old moneyweight territory as he and ex-UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo fight because this type of matchmaking is fun. Kongo is 4-1 in his Bellator run with three finishes, while King Mo has had a strange stretch of fights going 6-3 with five finishes. He believes he won two of those losses on his record.

King Mo told FightHype.com's Percy Crawford that he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and he revealed to reporters that he felt he took three rounds against the champ, Emanuel Newton.

While they seemed hesitant in their later fights, Mo and Cheick have been finishing fights brutally in Bellator, and there's a good chance this fight may end with someone unconscious.

If Diaz/Silva proved anything, it's that people like to see fighters move around weight classes. It's fun, and these are two names that will look to be knocking each other out.

To round out the main card, we have English ninja Michael Page fighting undefeated Bellator newcomer Curtis Millender. If you don't know about Michael Page, please click on the video link below so you can see an action hero inside of a fighting cage.

The guy is amazing, and as a show opener, it's brilliant. I can't wait to see what Page does next.

The only card that comes even close to combating Bellator 134 in February is UFC 184 featuring Ronda Rousey defending her belt against who could be her toughest opponent yet in a ring-rusted Cat Zingano.

The only other fight of major consequence on that card is the co-main of Raquel Pennington versus undefeated MMA newcomer and boxing demigod Holly Holm.

So let's give props where props are due. Bellator is coming out of the gates as strong as anyone in 2015, and they're stealing a busy February of MMA right from under the UFC.