Tag: Alexander Volkov

Bellator 111 Results: Dantas Submits Leone With Incredible Choke, Johnson, Mo, Volkov, and Ivanov All Advance


(Note: The heavyweights are never photographed below the shoulders.)

Bellator 111 being able to build off Bellator 110‘s momentum was questionable. After all, three fourths of 111’s main card was comprised of heavyweights with questionable cardiovascular conditioning. What could’ve turned into a disaster instead turned into a decent night of fights (though some were not so decent), with the Bellator bantamweight title up for grabs between champion Eduardo Dantas and challenger Anthony Leone.

On the prelims: Up-and-comers Brent Primus and Abdul Razak both looked impressive. We will watch their next fights with interest. However, we can’t say that we’ll do the same for Eric Prindle, a mainstay in Bellator’s heavyweight division. In his loss to Javy Alaya, he displayed a ground game so awful it made James Toney look like Marcelo Garcia.

Also of note on the prelims: The first heavyweight tournament quarterfinal took place. Blagoi Ivanov bested Rich Hale in a tepid decision with not a whole lot of action.


(Note: The heavyweights are never photographed below the shoulders.)

Bellator 111 being able to build off Bellator 110‘s momentum was questionable. After all, three fourths of 111′s main card was comprised of heavyweights with questionable cardiovascular conditioning. What could’ve turned into a disaster instead turned into a decent night of fights (though some were not so decent), with the Bellator bantamweight title up for grabs between champion Eduardo Dantas and challenger Anthony Leone.

On the prelims: Up-and-comers Brent Primus and Abdul Razak both looked impressive. We will watch their next fights with interest. However, we can’t say that we’ll do the same for Eric Prindle, a mainstay in Bellator’s heavyweight division. In his loss to Javy Alaya, he displayed a ground game so awful it made James Toney look like Marcelo Garcia.

Also of note on the prelims: The first heavyweight tournament quarterfinal took place. Blagoi Ivanov bested Rich Hale in a tepid decision with not a whole lot of action.

In the first fight on the televised portion of the card, former Bellator heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov defeated Mark Holata via TKO. The Russian started off shaky, getting rocked early on in the first round. After some time in the clinch, Volkov managed to floor Holata with a knee and then followed up with brutal ground and pound. It was all over in 81 seconds.

In the next match, kickboxers Peter Graham and Mighty Mo squared off. The first round of this fight wasn’t terrible, but the second and third round were less than spectacular. Mighty Mo and Graham displayed some Eric Prindle-level grappling in those rounds. Mo finally put Graham out of his misery with a half-assed head and arm choke late midway through the third. If you DVR’d the fights, watch this one on fast forward.

The night’s co-main event pitted UFC and Strikeforce vet Lavar Johnson against Ryan Martinez. Martinez wrestled Johnson to the mat early on, making the UFC vet’s chances look grim. Johnson managed to return to his feet. A few of the wildest exchanges we’ve ever seen ensued (like both guys were missing by miles but still swinging anyway). Johnson managed to connect before Martinez, and it was over before the the first round ended.

So the next round of the Bellator heavyweight tournament will look like this:

Mighty Mo vs. Alexander Volkov.

Lavar Johnson vs. Blagoi Ivanov.

Now, onto the main event. Eduardo Dantas pulled off the slickest rear naked choke off all time against Anthony Leone, submitting him in the second round. Our words don’t do the martial artistry justice. You’ll just have to check out the GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA). Trust us, it’s worth it. Dantas’ submission is immediately a candidate for submission of the year (so far). Fortunately, there were no staged scuffles afterwards.

Complete results:

Main Card

Eduardo Dantas def. Anthony Leone via submission (rear naked choke), 2:04 of round 2
Lavar Johnson def. Ryan Martinez via TKO (punches), 4:22 of round 1
Mighty Mo def. Peter Graham via submission (head and arm choke), 2:31 of round 3
Alexander Volkov def. Mark Holata (punches), 1:21 of round 1

Preliminary Card

Blagoi Ivanov def. Rich Hale via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cortez Coleman def. Daniel Miller via verbal submission (strikes), 4:49 of round 2
Javy Ayala def. Eric Prindle via TKO (doctor stoppage), 2:05 of round 3
Abdul Razak def. Matt Jones via TKO (punches), 1:23 of round 1
Brent Primus def. Chris Jones via TKO (punches), 1:45 of round 1
Chris Gutierrez def. Justin McNally via TKO (strikes), 2:50 of round 1

Bellator 108 Recap: Rampage Finishes Beltran at the Bell, Minakov Becomes Bellator Heavyweight Champ


(Rampage intimidates Beltran while Bjorn Rebney continues to do his best Dana White impression. / Image via Sherdog)

Bellator 108 had the potential to be a disaster for the perennial runner-up promotion, but it wasn’t. All of the main card fights were exciting, first-round finishes. And, most importantly, the right guy won the main event.

Here’s the event recap, from bottom to top:

On the prelims, Bellator’s 6’6″ English light heavyweight prospect Liam McGeary advanced to 6-0. He’s raw but, from what we’ve seen so far, also quite talented and diverse. If he were in the UFC, there’d be dozens of “Is Liam McGeary the man to beat Jones in 2014?” articles written by now.

UFC and strikeforce veteran Nah-Shon Burrell won a forgettable unanimous decision against a guy named Jesus Martinez who also had a Jesus tattoo. Awesome.

Two other UFC vets were featured on the prelims: Tom DeBlass and Jason Lambert. The fight between them was short. DeBlass scored a walk-off KO with a devastating hook early in the first round.

The main card started with the featherweight tournament final between Bellator mainstray Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Justin Wilcox. Pitbull finished Wilcox in the first round in largely uncompetitive fight. Every one of Freire’s frequently-landed punches seemed to rock Wilcox, who eventually succumbed to the Brazilian’s flurries. This was the second time Freire has won the Bellator featherweight tournament.

Read on to learn about the specifics of Rampage’s victory as well as of the Bellator heavyweight title fight.


(Rampage intimidates Beltran while Bjorn Rebney continues to do his best Dana White impression. / Image via Sherdog)

Bellator 108 had the potential to be a disaster for the perennial runner-up promotion, but it wasn’t. All of the main card fights were exciting, first-round finishes. And, most importantly, the right guy won the main event.

Here’s the event recap, from bottom to top:

On the prelims, Bellator’s 6’6″ English light heavyweight prospect Liam McGeary advanced to 6-0. He’s raw but, from what we’ve seen so far, also quite talented and diverse. If he were in the UFC, there’d be dozens of “Is Liam McGeary the man to beat Jones in 2014?” articles written by now.

UFC and strikeforce veteran Nah-Shon Burrell won a forgettable unanimous decision against a guy named Jesus Martinez who also had a Jesus tattoo. Awesome.

Two other UFC vets were featured on the prelims: Tom DeBlass and Jason Lambert. The fight between them was short. DeBlass scored a walk-off KO with a devastating hook early in the first round.

The main card started with the featherweight tournament final between Bellator mainstray Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Justin Wilcox. Pitbull finished Wilcox in the first round in a largely uncompetitive fight. Every one of Freire’s frequently-landed punches seemed to rock Wilcox, who eventually succumbed to the Brazilian’s flurries. This was the second time Freire has won the Bellator featherweight tournament.

Then the card moved onto Marcos Galvao vs. Tom McKenna. Galvao, a BJJ ace, smothered McKenna, cut him open, and finished him via TKO near the end of the first round. Thought it seemed like a piss-break match (it was the least-significant fight of the night yet it was sandwiched between two important fights rather than at the beginning of the card), it was an enjoyable fight to watch.

A Bellator heavyweight title fight was the night’s co-main event, which is telling. A has-been former UFC champ facing a never-was UFC reject took top billing over a match for a “world” title. Champion Alexander Volkov met fellow Russian Vitaly Minakov. The fight started with brief fireworks, then went into a lull after which Minakov floored Volkov and finished the champ with strikes. It was all over in a round.

Rampage Jackson fought late-replacement Joey Beltran in the main event. Despite being a little doughy (the fight was at a catchweight of 210 rather than 205), Jackson didn’t look as bad as the MMA world thought he would. He was a little quicker than in his previous outings, threw a few kicks, and landed some great knees. There were bouts of stalling and clinching for the latter half of the first round, but Rampage eventually landed a flurry that floored Beltran, prompting a stoppage right as the bell rang. One of the night’s highlights came after the fight, during Rampage’s post-fight promo. He was trying to take the mic from Jimmy Smith, who refused to acquiesce all the while you could hear someone screaming “DON’T LET HIM TAKE IT,” at the top of their lungs. It was about as awkward as that time Dana White reprimanded Colton Smith for ignoring the Harley-Davidson rep when he won a motorcycle.

Overall? Not bad. The fights were optimized for the casual fans (quick TKO finishes) and, for the first time in a while, something went right for Bellator: Rampage won his fight in convincing fashion. And the card he was on, one that was likely to draw more eyes than others, was entertaining. The fights might actually want to make people watch another Bellator show in the future.

But the biggest issue after Bellator 108 is what they’ll will do with Rampage now. He’s likely to high-profile for a tournament, yet they’ll compromise their integrity (like that matters) if they gift Rampage a title shot. Bellator’s future will be interesting, to say the least.

Complete results:

Main Card:

Quinton Jackson def. Joey Beltran via TKO (punches), 4:59 of Round 1
Vitaly Minakov def. Alexander Volkov via TKO (punches), 2:57 of Round 1
Marcos Galvao def. Tom McKenna via TKO (punches), 4:29 of Round 1
Patricio Freire def. Justin Wilcox via TKO (punches), 2:23 of Round 1

Preliminary Card:

Sam Oropeza def. Chip Moraza-Pollard via TKO (punches), 0:37 of Round 1
Tom DeBlass def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch), 1:45 of Round 1
Nah-Shon Burrell def. Jesus Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Morrison def. Kenny Foster via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 30-26)
Liam McGeary def. Nahim Wali via submission (armbar), 1:31 of Round 1
Will Martinez def. Kevin Rodday via submission (rear naked choke), 3:50 of Round 1
Dan Matala def. Ryan Cafaro via TKO (strikes), 3:52 of Round 2
Rob Sullivan def. Sergio da Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Bellator Was Just Kidding About Giving Rampage vs. Beltran Top Billing Over Shlemenko vs. Marshall


(Two unrelated Bellator stories on the same day? Tell us how you feel, Mugatu.)

When Quinton Jackson vs. Joey Beltran was announced as the main event of Bellator 108 (November 15th, Atlantic City), we couldn’t help but roll our eyes. Not only does Jackson/Beltran have the potential to be a sloppy, gassy brawl, it’s kind of a slap in the face to Alexander Shlemenko and Doug “The Rhino” Marshall, who were scheduled to face off in a middleweight title fight that same night. Keep in mind, Shlemenko is one of the most exciting and successful competitors in Bellator’s history, and Marshall has “Comeback MMA Fighter of 2013” locked up if he manages to win this one — and yet they’ll be playing second fiddle to a couple of one-dimensional UFC refugees? Doesn’t seem fair to us.

Luckily, Bellator seems to have heard these complaints, because they just did a little flip-flopping with their event schedule. As confirmed by the promotion today, Shlemenko vs. Marshall will be pushed back one week so it can headline Bellator 109 (November 22nd; Bethlehem, PA), while the heavyweight title fight between Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Minakov has now been moved up from the main event of Bellator 109 to the co-main event of Bellator 108.

In other words, Rampage vs. Beltran will still be main-eventing over a title fight, but now it’s a title fight between two Russian dudes who you probably don’t care about. Plus, Rampage will likely be pulling out of his fight with an injury next week anyway. So good work, Bellator, you guys are on a roll lately. The full fight lineups for Bellator 108 and 109 are after the jump…


(Two unrelated Bellator stories on the same day? Tell us how you feel, Mugatu.)

When Quinton Jackson vs. Joey Beltran was announced as the main event of Bellator 108 (November 15th, Atlantic City), we couldn’t help but roll our eyes. Not only does Jackson/Beltran have the potential to be a sloppy, gassy brawl, it’s kind of a slap in the face to Alexander Shlemenko and Doug “The Rhino” Marshall, who were scheduled to face off in a middleweight title fight that same night. Keep in mind, Shlemenko is one of the most exciting and successful competitors in Bellator’s history, and Marshall has “Comeback MMA Fighter of 2013″ locked up if he manages to win this one — and yet they’ll be playing second fiddle to a couple of one-dimensional UFC refugees? Doesn’t seem fair to us.

Luckily, Bellator seems to have heard these complaints, because they just did a little flip-flopping with their event schedule. As confirmed by the promotion today, Shlemenko vs. Marshall will be pushed back one week so it can headline Bellator 109 (November 22nd; Bethlehem, PA), while the heavyweight title fight between Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Minakov has now been moved up from the main event of Bellator 109 to the co-main event of Bellator 108.

In other words, Rampage vs. Beltran will still be main-eventing over a title fight, but now it’s a title fight between two Russian dudes who you probably don’t care about. Plus, Rampage will likely be pulling out of his fight with an injury next week anyway. So good work, Bellator, you guys are on a roll lately. The full fight lineups for Bellator 108 and 109 are after the jump…

Bellator 108
November 15th, 2103
Revel; Atlantic City, NJ 

Spike TV Main Card
Catchweight Feature Fight (210 lbs.): Rampage Jackson (32-11) vs. Joey Beltran (14-9)
Heavyweight Title Fight: Alexander Volkov (19-3) vs. Vitaly Minakov (12-0)
Featherweight Tournament Finals: Justin Wilcox (13-5) vs. Patricio Pitbull (21-7-1)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Marcos Galvao (14-6-1) vs. Tom McKenna (7-3)

Spike.com Preliminary Fights
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Sergio da Silva (1-4) vs. Rob Sullivan (2-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Ryan Cafaro (0-0) vs. Dan Matala (0-0)
Catchweight Feature Fight (180 lbs.): Nah’Shon Burrell (9-3) vs. Jesus Martinez (8-4)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Najim Wali (3-2) vs. Liam McGeary (6-0)\
Catchweight Feature Fight (150 lbs.): Anthony Morrison (17-10) vs. Kenny Foster (10-7)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Kevin Roddy (13-14-1) vs. Will Martinez (6-2-1)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Jason Lambert (26-12) vs. Tom DeBlass (8-2)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Chip Moraza-Pollard (7-4) vs. Sam Oropeza (8-2)

Bellator 109
November 22nd, 2013
Sands Casino Resort; Bethlehem, PA

Spike TV Main Card
Middleweight Title Fight: Alexander Shlemenko (48-7) vs. Doug Marshall (18-6)
Lightweight Tournament Finals: Will Brooks (12-1) vs. Tiger Sarnavskiy (25-1)
Welterweight Tournament Finals: Rick Hawn (17-2) vs. Ron Keslar (11-3)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Matt Riddle (7-3) vs. Nathan Coy (13-4)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Terry Etim (15-5) vs. Patrick Cenbole (9-2-1)

Spike.com Preliminary Fights
Featherweight Feature Fight: Lester Caslow (10-8) vs. Jay Haas (11-12)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Brent Primus (3-0) vs. Brett Glass (2-0)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Terrell Hobbs (9-5) vs. Bubba Jenkins (4-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Saul Almeida (13-4) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (15-1)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Keith Bell (5-2-1) vs. Blagoi Ivanov (8-0)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Andrew Osborne (7-7) vs. Michael Page (5-0)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Ahsan Abdullah (5-3) vs. Mike Bannon (4-1)

Bellator 84 Recap: Volkov Is New Heavyweight Champion, Lightweight Tournament Postponed

This season, Bellator’s heavyweight tournament ended in the same place where it began – The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana – but with far less fireworks than anticipated.

With Bellator fixture Richard Hale facing off against Alexander Volkov, a twenty-four year old Russian prospect who used to train with Fedor Emelianenko, fans anticipated a wild brawl would ensue for the heavyweight championship Cole Konrad vacated through his retirement. Hale would bring the fight to Volkov early, dropping the Russian with a right hook in the first round. However, that hook would end up being the only significant strike that Hale would land for the rest of the fight.

For the rest of the bout, the 6’7” Volkov was content to jab his way to a unanimous decision victory. It certainly wasn’t pretty, as the boos from those in attendance demonstrated, but it was enough for Volkov to take home $100,000 and the promotion’s heavyweight championship.

This season, Bellator’s heavyweight tournament ended in the same place where it began – The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana – but with far less fireworks than anticipated.

With Bellator fixture Richard Hale facing off against Alexander Volkov, a twenty-four year old Russian prospect who used to train with Fedor Emelianenko, fans anticipated a wild brawl would ensue for the heavyweight championship Cole Konrad vacated through his retirement. Hale would bring the fight to Volkov early, dropping the Russian with a right hook in the first round. However, that hook would end up being the only significant strike that Hale would land for the rest of the fight.

For the rest of the bout, the 6’7” Volkov was content to jab his way to a unanimous decision victory. It certainly wasn’t pretty, as the boos from those in attendance demonstrated, but it was enough for Volkov to take home $100,000 and the promotion’s heavyweight championship.

Elsewhere on the card:

– We already explained why that the Season 7 featherweight tournament final between Rad Martinez and Shahbulat Shamhalaev will happen sometime in Season 8, but now the lightweight tournament final will also happen next season. The tournament final was supposed to feature twenty year old Marcin Held battling against Dave Jansen. However, in Indiana an athlete has to be at least twenty-one years old to fight in a casino, so the fight was scrapped at the last minute. I hate to be Captain Hindsight here, but shouldn’t the local commission have noticed Held was only twenty before allowing him to weigh in on Thursday? And shouldn’t Bellator have noticed this law a long time ago?

– Middleweight protege of Joaquin Hansen Daniel Vizcaya wrestled his way to a split-decision over Norwegian Jack Hermansson. Hermansson completely took over the fight in the third round, but it was too little too late, as he was unable to put away Vizcaya.

– Felice Herrig wanted to put on a good show for Bellator, and delivered with a unanimous decision over late replacement Patricia Vidonic. Herrig was in complete control over Vidonic, demonstrating that she’s ready for the poster-girl position Bellator seemingly wants her to fill. It’ll be interesting to see who Bellator finds for her to fight next.

– Remember Joe Vedepo? The party animal who has the distinction (I guess?) of being the only 0-2 fighter in UFC history to lose both of his fights within the first two minutes? Yeah, he followed up a win at Bellator 80 by getting knocked out by Louis Taylor in the first round of last night’s fight. But he lasted 4:12, so there’s always that.

Full Results:

Main Card:

Alexander Volkov def. Richard Hale by Unanimous Decision
Daniel Vizcaya def. Jack Hermansson by Split Decision
Felice Herrig def. Patricia Vidonic by Unanimous Decision
Louis Taylor def. Joe Vedepo by KO (Punch), 4:12, Round One

Preliminary Card:

Christian Uflacker def. Cliff Wright by Technical Decision, 2:26, Round Three
Jerald Williams def. Joey Diehl by Unanimous Decision
Anthony Gomez def. Anton Talamantes by Submission (Rear Naked Choke), 3:30, Round One
Robert White def. Kenny Booker by Unanimous Decision

Once Again, A Bellator Event Has Shined a Light on the Incompetency of MMA Refereeing

(A full replay of Quieroz vs. Volkov. For those of you who don’t have time for the whole thing, the relevant bits are after the jump.)

Although it’s a given that fight promotions have no control over which referees are assigned to their events/fights — because if they did, Dana White would have permanently relegated Steve Mazaggati to the UFC’s super secret “AIDS-ridden Lion Fights” division — it has become apparent that Bellator is clearly getting the shit end of the stick when it comes to acquiring a decent referee. Just a couple weeks ago at Bellator 78, referee Jerry Poe allowed Andrey Koreshkov to savage Maruis Zaromskis’ unconscious body so badly that it would have been considered necrophilia in some states. And just two events later at Bellator 80, referee James Warring displayed a similar, albeit less dangerous, incompetency during the Vinicius Queiroz/Alexander Volkov fight.

Our friends over at Fightlinker were able to find a compilation of Warring’s missteps during the fight, which we’ve placed below, and my God do they redefine the phrase “interesting interpretation of the rules.” Amidst a barrage of ridiuclously quick stand-ups, Warring appeared as if he were making up rules out of thin air, warning Queiroz that he could not “lead with the forehead” while he was on the ground, nor could he strike the top or the “Mohawk area” of his opponent’s head. While the first rule is an outright fabrication, the criteria for the “Mohawk area” head strikes can be found in the unified rules of MMA. That being said, Warring’s belief that a Mohawk typically starts in the middle of one’s forehead highlights the growing problems in MMA refereeing when it comes to interpreting the rules.

After the jump: The aforementioned lowlight reel of Warring’s Bellator 80 performance set to an oddly poignant soundtrack and the official complaint from Quieroz’s camp.


(A full replay of Quieroz vs. Volkov. For those of you who don’t have time for the whole thing, the relevant bits are after the jump.)

Although it’s a given that fight promotions have no control over which referees are assigned to their events/fights — because if they did, Dana White would have permanently relegated Steve Mazaggati to the UFC’s super secret “AIDS-ridden Lion Fights” division — it has become apparent that Bellator is clearly getting the shit end of the stick when it comes to acquiring a decent referee. Just a couple weeks ago at Bellator 78, referee Jerry Poe allowed Andrey Koreshkov to savage Maruis Zaromskis’ unconscious body so badly that it would have been considered necrophilia in some states. And just two events later at Bellator 80, referee James Warring displayed a similar, albeit less dangerous, incompetency during the Vinicius Queiroz/Alexander Volkov fight.

Our friends over at Fightlinker were able to find a compilation of Warring’s missteps during the fight, which we’ve placed below, and my God do they redefine the phrase “interesting interpretation of the rules.” Amidst a barrage of ridiuclously quick stand-ups, Warring appeared as if he were making up rules out of thin air, warning Queiroz that he could not “lead with the forehead” while he was on the ground, nor could he strike the top or the “Mohawk area” of his opponent’s head. While the first rule is an outright fabrication, the criteria for the “Mohawk area” head strikes can be found in the unified rules of MMA. That being said, Warring’s belief that a Mohawk typically starts in the middle of one’s forehead highlights the growing problems in MMA refereeing when it comes to interpreting the rules.

The final standup: When you see it, you’ll shit bricks.

Following the loss, Queiroz’s manager, Josef Borges, filed a complaint with the Florida State Boxing Commission. Opposing Views has the scoop:

“[Referee James] Warring could have contributed to [and] altered the result of the fight after he ordered the fighters to rise up with only 15 seconds [on the ground] … in a moment that was favorable for Vincius,” wrote Borges.

Borges has stated that he wouldn’t attempt to overturn the result, but hopes that the referee will go back and reread the rulebook.

“I would like you to register my protest and I hope that Mr. James Warring will update [his] knowledge of the rules of MMA,” wrote Borges. ”MMA means also fighting on the ground. Getting a takedown and dominating the ground also adds points to the fight.”

Now, we’re not going to say that Queiroz would have won the fight had he not been the victim of some egregious standups, but just skip ahead to the 3:18 mark of the video and tell us that the cards were not at the least stacked against him. Quieroz secures a takedown with roughly 1:05 left in the round and is almost immediately stood up with 50 seconds remaining in said round. That, my friends, is some grade A bullshit. While Bellator commentators Jimmy Smith and Sean Wheelock were quick to call out Warring for his injustices, can you imagine what would’ve happened if Joe Rogan had been cageside? Warring would’ve probably left the arena in tears and looking for his favorite blankey.

The only question that remains is: Will Warring attempt to blame his poor performance on that same dastardly sauna that somehow filled Queiroz’s body with Stanozolol at UFC 120?

–J. Jones

In Case You Missed It – Warren, Volkov & Martinez Win at Bellator 80

There’s a reason that two bantamweights with two-fight losing streaks headlined Bellator 80 – one of them is Joe Warren. Though the thirty six year old headed into Friday’s fight against Owen Evinger having lost his last two by brutal KO, his outspoken personality and world class wrestling pedigree still bring a certain degree of cache with him every time he fights.

There was a great degree of excitement over the former wrestling world champion’s decision to get into MMA nearly four years ago. When he beat two former MMA world champs in his first two fights Warren showed that the hype was warranted.

Observers had to wonder how much longer the aging fighter would be able to compete safely in MMA at a high level, however, when he was hurt badly in 2011 by Alexis Villa and then again last March by Pat Curran. On Friday night Warren won a unanimous decision over Evinger on the strength of his ground and pound attack.

Though his win over Evinger, who now has lost three in a row, doesn’t prove that Warren is once more ready for title fights, at least he didn’t take undue damage to his brain again this time out. He may have bought himself more time in MMA.

There’s a reason that two bantamweights with two-fight losing streaks headlined Bellator 80 – one of them is Joe Warren. Though the thirty six year old headed into Friday’s fight against Owen Evinger having lost his last two by brutal KO, his outspoken personality and world class wrestling pedigree still bring a certain degree of cache with him every time he fights.

There was a great degree of excitement over the former wrestling world champion’s decision to get into MMA nearly four years ago. When he beat two former MMA world champs in his first two fights Warren showed that the hype was warranted.

Observers had to wonder how much longer the aging fighter would be able to compete safely in MMA at a high level, however, when he was hurt badly in 2011 by Alexis Villa and then again last March by Pat Curran. On Friday night Warren won a unanimous decision over Evinger on the strength of his ground and pound attack.

Though his win over Evinger, who now has lost three in a row, doesn’t prove that Warren is once more ready for title fights, at least he didn’t take undue damage to his brain again this time out. He may have bought himself more time in MMA.

Sharp Striking & a Quick Standup

Alexander Volkov earned legions of decent-minded fans when he beat the crap out of Brett Rogers a few weeks ago with his diverse stand up striking attack. In his heavyweight tournament semi-final bout against Brazilian Vinicius Queiroz the Russian used his powerful striking once again, with an assist from the referee in the second round, to get the win.

Queiroz won the first round by dragging Volkov to the mat and controlling him there. In the second round the Brazilian began eating solid shots from Volkov but was able to once more take the young Russian down. Once the referee stood the men up quickly, however, Volkov capitalized by finishing Queiroz off with hard rights against the fence.

Featherweight semi-final

Rad Martinez advanced to the finals of this season’s featherweight tournament with a unanimous decision over Wagnney Fabiano. Fabiano fought hard until the final bell but Martinez was just a bit sharper over three rounds, mostly on the feet, and earned the win.

Fabiano has now lost two out of his last three contests while Martinez extends his win-streak to five. For the complete quick results from Bellator 80, check out MMAFighting.

– Elias Cepeda