Since switching to the “Thursday Night Fights” format, Bellator has been consistently cranking out high quality fight cards that often compensate for their lack of name value with exciting finishes and entertaining brawls to boot. Then again, with all of their biggest starts consistently underperforming, Bellator’s cards often live and die by the performances of their lesser known fighters. Tonight’s Bellator 93 card is no different, featuring a slew of relative unknowns and up-and-comers that are all but guaranteed to deliver in terms of entertainment. Here’s why you should be watching when they do…
1. Michael. F’in. Page.
Despite his short time in the sport, Michael “Venom” Page might just be the most hyped fighter currently outside of the UFC. At just 3-0, the British phenom has already drawn comparisons to Jimi Manuwa and even Anderson Silva for his flashy yet devastating style of striking. Just check out the above video of Page clowning Ben Dishman in his professional debut (fight starts at the 3 minute mark) and tell us that the sky isn’t the limit for this kid. On the heels of a doctor stoppage TKO victory at Super Fight League 7, Page will be taking on relative unknown Ryan Sanders, who has dropped three of his past four fights. Yeah, this is not going to end well for him. But it probably will for fans of horrifying knockouts.
2. Marcin. F’in. Held.
Despite suffering a setback in his Bellator debut (via submission to lightweight champ Michael Chandler), Marcin Held has quickly established himself as one of the promotion’s fastest rising lightweights. In the past two years, Held has racked up five straight victories including a submission via toe hold over UFC vet Rich Clementi at Bellator 81 (video above). The win propelled him into the tournament finals, where he will take on Dave Jansen — who also riding a five fight win streak — for the right to a much wanted rematch with Chandler.
3. Barnburner Alert: Waachiim Spiritwolf vs. Marcus Davis
Aside from possessing the greatest tattoo in MMA history, Waachim Spiritwolf — like his father Nightwolf before him — is never afraid to shy away from a good old fashioned slugfest. Sure, he’s dropped his last four fights and six of his last seven overall, but the dude always brings it, which is all that really matters anymore, right? Anyway, he’ll have no trouble convincing UFC veteran Marcus Davis to throw strategy to the wayside for the sake of entertainment, as it’s been something that Davis has been doing nearly his entire MMA career. Would a win for either man have a resounding impact on the MMA landscape? Hell no, but sometimes, we like to set things like “technical abilities” and “status” aside and just watch two old dudes throw down until one of them falls over. This fight all but guarantees that.
4. Travis Weeufff: The Ultimate Can Crusher
I’d like to start by immediately apologizing for misleading you with that subtitle. Travis Fulton is the *ultimate* ultimate can crusher, but Travis View (somehow spelled Wiuff but pronounced as such) comes in a damn close second. In fact, Wiuff is so good at crushing cans that he occasionally takes out a Bellator champion in a non-title bout. And tonight, Wiuff will be taking on 8-2 Ryan Martinez, who to his credit has yet to achieve true “can” status. That being said, Wiuff is going to crush him, and I mean crush him, all the same. At 68-16, Wiuff’s experience will simply be too much for Martinez, and the fight will likely end in similar fashion to Wiuff’s Bellator 71 destruction of Chris Davis. Again, it probably wont be the most technical affair, but it’s a free night of fights that is guaranteed to end with at least one person’s skull being caved in, so what the hell are you complaining about?