At Bellator 170 Saturday night, two UFC legends will square off in the main event, something the Viacom-backed promotion no doubt hopes will draw eyeballs to a strong undercard.

You’d be forgiven if you felt a little deja vu in the Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen headliner, and that has nothing to do with the fact that the two met in their amateur wrestling days. In pairing two vets of the sport — who are, admittedly, a little long in the tooth — off against each other, Bellator is walking a well-worn path. Kimbo vs. Shamrock, Shamrock vs. Gracie, even Ortiz vs. Bonnar; dusting off legendary names past their expiry date has been a staple under Scott Coker. For a while, in fact, it felt like Bellator would be either the freakshow league or the retirement circuit.

However, circumstance and deft management have resulted in a promising year unfolding before the promotion.

For starters, the main event Saturday, featuring Ortiz in a retirement bout against Sonnen, feels like a more legitimate contest than either of Shamrock’s two Bellator bouts. Not to mention the tragedy that was Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000. Whatever your thoughts on Ortiz at this point in his career, he’s 2-1 in his last three. That lone loss came in a title fight against the formidable Liam McGeary, one of Bellator’s strong homegrown talents.

Sonnen, meanwhile, has been out of the game and tarnished his brand by failing a drug test for everything imaginable back at UFC 175. Yet Sonnen, unlike most cheats, owned his behavior and remains one of the best promoters in the business. He has done an admirable job selling the fight Saturday in at The Forum, which will almost certainly result in strong ratings.

Yet where Bellator was, a year or two ago, relying on aged UFC vets to shine a spotlight on a couple of legit talents, Bellator in 2017 suddenly feels like actual competition to the UFC, despite the latter’s deeper roster.

The Bellator 170 card alone speaks to that. Former UFC heavyweight Jack May makes his Bellator debut. Kevin Casey, another UFC vet, appears as well. Hisaki Kato takes on the undefeated Ralek Gracie. Former WSOF champ Georgi Karakhanyan looks to continue his rebuilding phase. Chinzo Machida, 39 years young, is on the card as well, and looking to build on a three-fight win streak.

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It’s a rag-tag bunch, to be sure, but a lot more cohesive than the Bellator of yesteryear. Should Ortiz stick to retirement (and he most likely will), and should the promotion lose Rampage Jackson after his next fight (another likelihood), there’s still a strong positive vibe surrounding the promotion.

Phil Davis, a man severely underutilized by the UFC promotional machine, is now Bellator’s light heavyweight champion. Ahead of him are lucrative rematches with King Mo and Liam McGeary, potentially. Rory MacDonald, still one of the best welterweights in the world, signed on and boosts a division that has been in turmoil since Ben Askren was unceremoniously driven out by former Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney.

At heavyweight, Bellator finally seems to have all its ducks in a row, and should manage to crown a champ in the weight class this year after stripping the AWOL Vitaly Minakov of the title last Spring.

Oh, and there’s the little matter of having signed The Last Emperor, Fedor Emelianenko, who will face Matt Mitrione in February.

Paul Daley (who also appears at Bellator 170), Josh Thompson, Benson Henderson — Bellator has done a lot to solidify its ranks, which means it has legit competition for genuine homegrown stars like Michael Chandler and Michael Page.

Helped by plenty of exposure on Spike TV, Bellator has a chance to really build on that this year. With the UFC’s new owners, WME-IMG, potentially trimming the number of UFC events, the talent pool could open up a little.

Bellator 170 marks the first card of the new feel Bellator. Not a new look, really, but a promotion that feels like it could do great things in 2017. Which would be great for a sport that has been “the UFC and then everyone else” for too many years now.