Bellator Executives have a history with ESPN/ABC/Disney

There is an old adage in business that 'It's not what you know, it's who you know.'

Just look at the case of Bellator's founders and executives, Bjorn Rebney and Brad Epstein.

How did these two men create a MMA promotion from scratch and get it on ESPN or ESPN 2 in just its second season?

Well it might have nothing to do with the product but everything to do with these men's business relationships within the wider family of ABC/Disney.

According to both men's bio's at Bellator.com, they both have extensive experience within the ABC/Disney corporate family.

Bjorn Rebeny served as CEO and President Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing. Part of his accomplishments was inking a multi-year television distribution alliance with ESPN in 2000. Rebeny also has a long legal career in sports, including representing Steve Young, 'Sugar' Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya and the San Francisco 49ers.

Brad Epstein is a Hollywood producer attached to Disney Studios. Epstein spent the last six years as Senior Vice President of Production for Disney's Buena Vista Studios 'orchestrating' such movies as Ladder 49 and Invincible.

Both men clearly have a history with ESPN and its larger corporate family. How much of that contributed to the creation of Bellator is up in the air. But my conspiracy theorist intuition tells me, "there is a reason why ESPN got on board with MMA for these guys as oppose to Dana White and the UFC, and it probably has to do with control."

It is still nice to see such a major contributor to the sporting landscape elevate MMA to a more prominent position.