Tag: Bellator 22

Bellator XXII: Tappin’ Out Is For B!tches

(The Jose Vega vs. Jarrod Card knockout. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)
By DL “Low Blow” Richardson
Bellator XXII returned to the Kansas City Power and Light District last night, in the penultimate show of the second season. The wel…

(The Jose Vega vs. Jarrod Card knockout. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

By DL “Low Blow” Richardson

Bellator XXII returned to the Kansas City Power and Light District last night, in the penultimate show of the second season. The welterweight tournament finals were the main event, but “Boring” “Funky” Ben Askren was part of that matchup, so those nice folks at Bellator tried to put on a good ol’ fashioned, bread and circuses, action packed kind of card. Most of the fighters had an invite to one of next season’s tournaments — conditional upon their performance in KC, MO. What we got was one KTFO, one technical submission, one tap to strikes like a pussy, and…wait, wait, wait, let me start from the beginning. After the jump, allow me to thrill you with my account of the action. And maybe apologize for my can’t miss predictions…

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Lisa Ward Chokes Out Stephanie Frausto

Filed under: Bellator, ResultsAnother strong contender in the upcoming Bellator Fighting Championships 115-pound women’s tournament announced herself Thursday night in Kansas City, as Lisa Ward put on a dominant display of Brazilian jiu jitsu in chokin…

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Another strong contender in the upcoming Bellator Fighting Championships 115-pound women’s tournament announced herself Thursday night in Kansas City, as Lisa Ward put on a dominant display of Brazilian jiu jitsu in choking out Stephanie Frausto in the first round at Bellator 22.

Ward secured a beautiful double-leg takedown to get Frausto on the canvas, then passed her guard, took her back and sunk in the rear-naked choke. Frausto wouldn’t tap out, so Ward choked her until she passed out and the referee stopped the fight two minutes, one second into the first round.

Most people consider Japan’s Megumi Fujii to be not just the favorite in the Bellator tournament but also one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world. Ward lost to Fujii two years ago and said after choking out Frausto that she’s looking forward to getting another chance at Fujii.

Reminder: Bellator 22 Goes Down Tonight in Kansas City

(Cartoonishly large chin or dreamcatcher tattoo — WHO YA GOT?)
That strange mini-event at the Nokia Theatre was just the beginning of this wild week of MMA. Set your DVRs, folks, because Bellator returns to the Kansas City Power & Ligh…

Ben Askren Dan Hornbuckle Bellator
(Cartoonishly large chin or dreamcatcher tattoo — WHO YA GOT?)

That strange mini-event at the Nokia Theatre was just the beginning of this wild week of MMA. Set your DVRs, folks, because Bellator returns to the Kansas City Power & Light District tonight for the finals of their season 2 welterweight tournament (FOX Sports Net, 8 p.m. CST). Fighting for a shot at 170-pound champ Lyman Good are Dan Hornbuckle — who scored first-round submissions over Tyler Stinson and Steve Carl to reach the finals — and Ben Askren, who had to defeat Ryan Thomas twice due to a bizarre series of events. Elsewhere on the card…

– Stephanie Frausto (2-1), the sister of Strikeforce vet Zoila Frausto, makes her Bellator debut against Lisa Ward (12-5) in a 115-pound clash. Frausto has only been fighting professionally since January. Video of her pro debut (against a girl who kind of looks like Nate Diaz) is after the jump.

– Cole Konrad (3-0), the Brock Lesnar training partner who impressed nobody with his physique and cardio at Bellator 17, returns against John Orr (5-4). For some reason, Konrad is as high as a -1500 favorite against Orr. Do the oddsmakers know something we don’t? If you check out some of Orr’s fights, you’ll see that he’s definitely raw, but not completely inept.

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Heads-Up: Bellator Finals Kick Off Tomorrow With Imada vs. Curran; Megumi Fujii Also Debuts

(Props: Bellator.com)
After eight shows and a whole lot of colorful prose from ReX13, Bellator’s second season is entering its climactic Finals stage tomorrow night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Headlinin…

(Props: Bellator.com)

After eight shows and a whole lot of colorful prose from ReX13, Bellator’s second season is entering its climactic Finals stage tomorrow night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Headlining Bellator 21 will be the lightweight final between grappling ace Toby Imada — who submitted James Krause and Carey Vanier (both via second-round armbar) to get to the end of the bracket — and Pat Curran, who earned his spot in the finals by knocking out Mike Ricci and scoring an upset decision over Roger Huerta. The winner of the fight will face Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez later this year.

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