Ron Sparks (8-0) continued his rise towards relevancy with an 84-second knockout of Mark Holata. Sparks also happens to be one of those dudes with his own last name tattooed on his stomach, but we won’t hold it against him. Speaking of stoppages, Blagoi Ivanov (5-0, 1 no contest) also kept his unbeaten record, smashing Zak Jensen standing then putting him to a sleep in the second round with a guillotine choke.
Ron Sparks (8-0) continued his rise towards relevancy with an 84-second knockout of Mark Holata. Sparks also happens to be one of those dudes with his own last name tattooed on his stomach, but we won’t hold it against him. Speaking of stoppages, Blagoi Ivanov (5-0, 1 no contest) also kept his unbeaten record, smashing Zak Jensen standing then putting him to a sleep in the second round with a guillotine choke.
Things didn’t fare any better for the other TUF 10 vet on the card, Abe Wagner, who lost two out of three rounds to an increasingly beet-red Eric Prindle (8-1). And in the night’s biggest upset, Neil Grove — the runner-up in Bellator’s previous heavyweight tournament — got outworked by Mike “300″ Hayes (16-4-1) en route to a split decision loss. Complete Bellator 52 results are below…
MAIN CARD
– Mike Hayes def. Neil Grove via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29, 29-28)
– Blagoi Ivanov def. Zak Jensen via technical submission (guillotine choke), 2:35 of round 2
– Eric Prindle def. Abe Wagner via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Ron Sparks def. Mark Holata via KO, 1:24 of round 1
PRELIMINARY CARD
– Genair da Silva def. Bryan Goldsby via submission (brabo choke), 3:51 of round 1
– Josh Quayhagen def. Cosmo Alexandre via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Justin Frazier def. Liron Wilson via TKO, 1:50 of round 1
– Matt Van Buren defeated Nick Nichols via TKO, 2:29 of round 2
UFC on Versus 6: Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson weigh-in results: here. CagePotato pyschoanalyzes you based on your least favorite fighter: here. Chris Hominick talks about his upcoming bout with Chan Sung Jung and the.
UFC on Versus 6>: Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson weigh-in results: here.
CagePotato pyschoanalyzes you based on your least favorite fighter: here.
Chris Hominick talks about his upcoming bout with Chan Sung Jung and the loss of his mentor and coach, Shawn Tompkins: here.
Watch Jose Aldo cut weight in a bathtub for UFC 136: here.
(Ron Sparks: All about the peace and love. / Photo via TheFightNerd.)
Bellator 52 goes down tomorrow night at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the quarterfinals of the promotion’s second heavyweight tournament. We’ll be honest — the eight-man bracket isn’t exactly overflowing with star-power, and watching 265-pounders slug it out is always a mixed bag. But if Cruz vs. Johnson isn’t enough to satisfy your hunger for combat this weekend, you might as well DVR the MTV2 broadcast. (Do it right now, before you forget.) Here’s how the HW quarters shake out:
Neil Grove vs. Mike Hayes Blagoi Ivanov vs. Zak Jensen Eric Prindle vs. Abe Wagner Mark Holata vs. Ron Sparks
Now, some fun facts:
– Blagoi Ivanov is that dude who outpointed Fedor Emelianenko in combat sambo in 2008, back when beating Fedor at anything seemed like a very big deal. He’s now 4-0 with 1 no-contest in his MMA career, and won his Bellator debut in March by TKO’ing William Penn in one round.
(Ron Sparks: All about the peace and love. / Photo via TheFightNerd.)
Bellator 52 goes down tomorrow night at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the quarterfinals of the promotion’s second heavyweight tournament. We’ll be honest — the eight-man bracket isn’t exactly overflowing with star-power, and watching 265-pounders slug it out is always a mixed bag. But if Cruz vs. Johnson isn’t enough to satisfy your hunger for combat this weekend, you might as well DVR the MTV2 broadcast. (Do it right now, before you forget.) Here’s how the HW quarters shake out:
Neil Grove vs. Mike Hayes Blagoi Ivanov vs. Zak Jensen Eric Prindle vs. Abe Wagner Mark Holata vs. Ron Sparks
Now, some fun facts:
– Blagoi Ivanov is that dude who outpointed Fedor Emelianenko in combat sambo in 2008, back when beating Fedor at anything seemed like a very big deal. He’s now 4-0 with 1 no-contest in his MMA career, and won his Bellator debut in March by TKO’ing William Penn in one round.
– Ivanov was originally supposed to face Brazilian prospect Thiago “Big Monster” Santos, but Santos has just been scratched from the event due to visa issues. Stepping in for Santos will be Zak Jensen, who was originally slated for the prelims against Josh Burns. You may remember Jensen as the TUF 10 whipping boy who was named in a wrongful death lawsuit after a botched bodyguarding assignment. In 17 professional fights, Jensen has only been out of the first round once.
– Speaking of TUF 10 vets, Abe Wagner will be making his Bellator debut in tomorrow night’s tournament. Since his stint on the reality show, Wagner has gone 3-2, with losses to Travis Browne and Aaron Rosa, and a somewhat notable victory over Tim Sylvia. His last victory was in July over Justin Grizzard, the palooka that McCorkle is fighting next.
– I’m assuming you know who Neil Grove is, right? “Goliath” made it to the finals of Bellator’s first heavyweight tournament, but fell victim to a Cole Konrad keylock. He rebounded with a TKO win over Zak Jensen in July, and now he’s ready to do it all over again.
– Ron Sparks is best known for almost fighting Bobby Lashley and being ducked by Ray Mercer. He’s 7-0, with six wins by first round stoppage, and 2-0 under the Bellator banner with victories over Gregory Maynard and Vince Lucero. Sparks will be fighting Mark Holata tomorrow night
