Lloyd Woodard, Rick Hawn, Brent Weedman and Thiago Michel won their quarterfinal fights and advanced in the Bellator Season 6 lightweight tournament on Friday night at Bellator 62.
Woodard beat Patricky Freire in a highly entertaining main event, surviving a hard-fought and action-packed first round and forcing Freire to tap to a kimura in the second. Freire attempted to survive until the final moment, and he appeared to have a broken arm or dislocated elbow for his trouble. It was a very impressive performance from Woodard, who improved his record to 12-1, with the only loss coming against Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler.
“One down, two to go to get my rematch,” Woodard said afterward. “Chandler, you know what’s up: I’m ready to go.”
Hawn landed a hard right hand to the ear that knocked Ricardo Tirloni down in the first round, then pounced on him and landed nine unanswered punches before the referee stepped in and stopped it. Hawn had previously had a good run in Bellator at welterweight, but at lightweight his power is going to be tough to match.
In an entertaining ground battle with a surprising ending, Weedman forced J.J. Ambrose to tap out to a Von Flue choke. Ambrose seemed caught by surprise, but Weedman said it was one of his specialties: “In my gym guys know that because I catch people with it a lot,” Weedman said.
In the first fight of the MTV2 televised card, Michel beat Rene Nazare by split decision. It was the Brazilian Michel’s first fight in the United States and an upset win.
And in a non-title fight, Rad Martinez, who became well-known when ESPN aired a feature about the way he cares for his disabled father, beat Douglas Frey by first-round TKO.