Tag: Bellator 67

Bellator 67 Recap: Gono Retires, Baker Upsets Saunders

To put it mildly, I’ve been skeptical about Bellator’s non-title fights in the past. They’ve all been total squash fights, and light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu actually managed to lose his against Travis Wiuff back at Bellator 55. Last night didn’t exactly make me a believer in non-title fights, but I won’t act like I wasn’t impressed with lightweight champion Michael Chandler after his performance against Akihiro Gono.

Chandler followed up his brilliant fourth round rear-naked choke over Eddie Alvarez back at Bellator 58 with a quick TKO over Akihiro Gono. After catching Gono early with a straight right, Chandler pounced on a stunned Gono and rained down punches until he earned the stoppage. Michael Chandler improves to 10-0 overall, with six fights ending in the first round.

At the post-fight press conference, Akihiro Gono announced his retirement from MMA. Gono has lost three fights in a row, and his record now stands at 32-18-7. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision over Diego Gonzalez at Sengoku 12 in March 2010. While it’s never easy to watch an icon of the sport retire, it’s even harder to watch him continue to lose. Thanks for the memories, Magic Man.

To put it mildly, I’ve been skeptical about Bellator’s non-title fights in the past. They’ve all been total squash fights, and light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu actually managed to lose his against Travis Wiuff back at Bellator 55. Last night didn’t exactly make me a believer in non-title fights, but I won’t act like I wasn’t impressed with lightweight champion Michael Chandler after his performance against Akihiro Gono.

Chandler followed up his brilliant fourth round rear-naked choke over Eddie Alvarez back at Bellator 58 with a quick TKO over Akihiro Gono. After catching Gono early with a straight right, Chandler pounced on a stunned Gono and rained down punches until he earned the stoppage. Michael Chandler improves to 10-0 overall, with six fights ending in the first round.

At the post-fight press conference, Akihiro Gono announced his retirement from MMA. Gono has lost three fights in a row, and his record now stands at 32-18-7. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision over Diego Gonzalez at Sengoku 12 in March 2010. While it’s never easy to watch an icon of the sport retire, it’s even harder to watch him continue to lose. Thanks for the memories, Magic Man.


All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

In Welterweight Tournament action, Bryan Baker survived an early salvo from UFC veteran Ben Saunders to pick up a unanimous decision victory. Saunders appeared to have Baker in trouble early, attempting numerous submissions, including a flying triangle and a triangle transitioned into an armbar that appeared to have Baker locked up. However, Baker defended the submission attempts from Saunders well, and found success with his takedowns throughout the rest of the fight.

Surprisingly, not only did Baker earn numerous takedowns throughout the fight, but he also got the better of many of the standup exchanges as well. Saunders managed to find success in the clinch, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to earn the victory. Baker improves to 18-3 overall, and will meet the winner of Karl Amoussou vs. David Rickels in order to determine who gets the next shot at Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren.

Also of note, the Ontario, Canada crowd was treated to a victory from Canadian fan-favorite Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford. Ford earned a second round TKO over the always game Luis Santos. After getting rocked early, Ford crumbled Santos with a brutal knee to the body and kept punching until he earned the stoppage. Ford improves to 18-4, with only one victory coming by way of decision.

And oh yeah, a heavyweight bout between Damian Grabowski and Dave Huckaba happened. Grabowski won by unanimous decision. Trust me, that’s all you need to know.

Full Results:

Main Card:

Michael Chandler def. Akihiro Gono via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:56
Bryan Baker def. Ben Saunders via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Ford def. Luis “Sapo” Santos via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:24
Damian Grabowski def. Dave Huckaba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card:

Will Romero def. Matt Veal via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:25
David “Bo” Harris def. Nick Kirk via (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cosmo Alexander def. Lorawnt-T Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nordine Taleb def. Matt MacGrath via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:30
Dom O’Grady def. Nathan Gunn via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:51

Chandler vs. Gono Main Event Set for Bellator 67 May 4 at Casino Rama in Ontario


(Conveniently, Bellator failed to mention whether or not this is a title fight.)

Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that a main event match-up between Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler and PRIDE and UFC vet Akihiro Gono will close out its planned Bellator 67  card  May 4  at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario Canada.

A crafty veteran, Gono (32-17-7) should provide a challenge for the undefeated newly crowned 155-pound BFC champ.

“I’m just excited to get back into the cage,” Chandler said of the planned bout. “I fought four times in 2011 and I’m ready to get back to work. Gono has beaten some of the best fighters in the sport and this should be a good test for me.”


(Conveniently, Bellator failed to mention whether or not this is a title fight.)

Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that a main event match-up between Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler and PRIDE and UFC vet Akihiro Gono will close out its planned Bellator 67  card  May 4  at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario Canada.

A crafty veteran, Gono (32-17-7) should provide a challenge for the undefeated newly crowned 155-pound BFC champ.

“I’m just excited to get back into the cage,” Chandler said of the planned bout. “I fought four times in 2011 and I’m ready to get back to work. Gono has beaten some of the best fighters in the sport and this should be a good test for me.”

While Gono, 37,  holds the edge in experience, 25-year-old Chandler has an advantage in youth and well-roundedness. An All American wrestler who has worked tirelessly with former Xtreme Couture boxing coach Gil Martinez to improve his striking, Chandler also possesses a fierce submission game. Although one could argue that Gono, who is 4-6 in his last ten and 0-2 in his past two fights, is a step down in competition for the 9-0 Missouri fighter who defeated Eddie Alvarez and Patricky “Pitbull” Feire in his last two outings, it should still be an entertaining fight.

As we previously reported, the card will also feature a middleweight tilt between Cory MacDonald and Brendan Seguin, and a welterweight scrap between Ryan Ford and Luis Santos.

The event will be broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. ET on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. Doors open at 6 p.m. EST, with the first fight scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The preliminary card, featuring the area’s top local talent will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Cory MacDonald vs. Brendan Seguin, Ryan Ford vs. Luis Santos Added to May 4 Bellator 67 Card in Ontario

A middleweight bout between Canadian standout Cory MacDonald (12-2) and well-travelled veteran Brendan Seguin (23-17-1) and a welterweight scrap between former TFC champion Ryan Ford (17-4) and WEC veteran Luis Santos (50-7-1) have been added to Bellator’s May 4 Bellator 67 card, set for Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. CagePotato.com learned of the MacDonald-Seguin pairing and confirmed the rumored Ford-Santos bout today from sources close to both bouts.

A middleweight bout between Canadian standout Cory MacDonald (12-2) and well-travelled veteran Brendan Seguin (23-17-1) and a welterweight scrap between former TFC champion Ryan Ford (17-4) and WEC veteran Luis Santos (50-7-1) have been added to Bellator’s May 4 Bellator 67 card, set for Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. CagePotato.com learned of the MacDonald-Seguin pairing and confirmed the rumored Ford-Santos bout today from sources close to both bouts.

MacDonald has been relatively inactive the past two years, having only fought (and won) twice, but sources say the reason for his lack of action was a shortage of opponents willing to face him in Canada. The Kingston, Ontario native, who holds a win over UFC vet Edwin Dewees and seemed en route to a win over fellow Canuck Jonathan Goulet until a freak injury forced his corner to throw in the towel after the first round, will log time training for the bout at Tristar in Montreal. He decided to move to middleweight in the hopes of attracting more opposition and he’ll get a formidable opponent in Seguin who has fought a lion’s share of the sport’s toughest fighters.

“The Caucasian Devastation” holds wins over UFC vets Jake Ellenberger, Kyacey Uscola, Rob Kimmons and Goulet. During his 12-year career he also fought Denis Kang, Joe Doerksen, Dean Lister, Joey Villasenor and Martin Kampmann. Seguin hasn’t lost since dropping a decision to Forrest Petz in 2009.

Ford will finally make his Bellator debut on the card after legal and contract issues with his former manager, Mark Pavelich who owns the Maximum Fighting Championship put him at odds with the Chicago-based promotion after the Canadian promoter sent BFC a cease and desist letter claiming that “The Real Deal” was still an MFC fighter. It seems that both sides have settled their differences and are moving forward.

Arguably the biggest win of Ford’s career came against Karo Parisyan last May. Since then he has gone 2-1, including a surprise loss to David Hulett for the Aggression MMA welterweight strap in September.

Santos has the edge in experience over “The Real Deal” in the experience department, however, with 36 more fights. The husband of fellow fighter Carina Damm, “Sapo” won a hard-fought decision over Dan Hornbuckle in the opening round of Bellator’s season 5 tournament, only to be submitted via highlight-reel keylock by Ben Saunders in the second round.

No other bouts have been announced for the card.