Bellator 88 Results & Videos: Shlemenko Knocks Out Falcao to Win Middleweight Title, Mike Richman Scores Another Head-Kick KO

(The Shlemenko vs. Falcao stoppage)

Last night’s Bellator middleweight title fight between ever-twirling Russian Alexander Shlemenko and hard-sluggin’ Brazilian Maiquel Falcao didn’t disappoint. After an evenly-pitched first round that featured both men making statements with their striking — and Falcao mixing in a couple takedowns — Shlemenko focused his attacks on the body in round 2, hurting Falcao with a liver punch then dropping him with a short right hand. Shlemenko fired down a few more body shots from above before KO’ing Falcao with a precision head-shot. Shlemenko earns the vacant middleweight title in impressive fashion, and will now take a break until the Season 8 middleweight tournament produces his first challenger.

Also on the Bellator 88 card, the featherweight tournament quarterfinals were highlighted by returning contender Mike Richman, who scored his third knockout under the Bellator banner with a head-kick-and-punches stoppage of Mitch Jackson — pretty much the same thing he did to Jeremy Spoon last October, only this time with Dan Miragliotta doing his lovable late-stoppage thing. You can watch the Richman/Jackson KO after the jump, along with five more stoppages from the event. Full results are below.

Main Card
– Alexander Shlemenko def. Maiquel Falcao via KO, 2:18 of round 2
– Marlon Sandro def. Akop Stepanyan via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27) – Stepanyan was docked a point in round 2 for fence-grabbing
– Mike Richman def. Mitch Jackson via TKO (head-kick and punches), 4:57 of round 1
– Alexandre Bezerra def. Genair Da Silva via submission (armbar), 1:40 of round 1

Preliminary Card
– Frodo Khasbulaev def. Fabricio Guerreiro via submission (arm triangle), 1:15 of round 2
– George Hickman def. Stephen Upchurch via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:19 of round 1
– Clay Harvison def. Ururahy Rodrigues via KO, 3:34 of round 3
– Ronnie Rogers def. Shane Crenshaw via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
– Joe Elmore def. Jerrid Burke via KO, 4:11 of round 2


(The Shlemenko vs. Falcao stoppage)

Last night’s Bellator middleweight title fight between ever-twirling Russian Alexander Shlemenko and hard-sluggin’ Brazilian Maiquel Falcao didn’t disappoint. After an evenly-pitched first round that featured both men making statements with their striking — and Falcao mixing in a couple takedowns — Shlemenko focused his attacks on the body in round 2, hurting Falcao with a liver punch then dropping him with a short right hand. Shlemenko fired down a few more body shots from above before KO’ing Falcao with a precision head-shot. Shlemenko earns the vacant middleweight title in impressive fashion, and will now take a break until the Season 8 middleweight tournament produces his first challenger.

Also on the Bellator 88 card, the featherweight tournament quarterfinals were highlighted by returning contender Mike Richman, who scored his third knockout under the Bellator banner with a head-kick-and-punches stoppage of Mitch Jackson — pretty much the same thing he did to Jeremy Spoon last October, only this time with Dan Miragliotta doing his lovable late-stoppage thing. You can watch the Richman/Jackson KO after the jump, along with five more stoppages from the event. Full results are below.

Main Card
– Alexander Shlemenko def. Maiquel Falcao via KO, 2:18 of round 2
– Marlon Sandro def. Akop Stepanyan via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27) – Stepanyan was docked a point in round 2 for fence-grabbing
– Mike Richman def. Mitch Jackson via TKO (head-kick and punches), 4:57 of round 1
– Alexandre Bezerra def. Genair Da Silva via submission (armbar), 1:40 of round 1

Preliminary Card
– Frodo Khasbulaev def. Fabricio Guerreiro via submission (arm triangle), 1:15 of round 2
– George Hickman def. Stephen Upchurch via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:19 of round 1
– Clay Harvison def. Ururahy Rodrigues via KO, 3:34 of round 3
– Ronnie Rogers def. Shane Crenshaw via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
– Joe Elmore def. Jerrid Burke via KO, 4:11 of round 2


(Mike Richman vs. Mitch Jackson)


(Alexandre Bezerra vs. Genair Da Silva)


(Frodo Khasbulaev vs. Fabricio Guerreiro)


(George Hickman vs. Stephen Upchurch)


(Clay Harvison vs. Ururahy Rodrigues)


(Joe Elmore vs. Jerrid Burke)

Heads-Up: Alexander Shlemenko and Maiquel Falcao Scrap for Bellator’s Vacant Middleweight Title Tonight


(Pretending to talk on the phone when your opponent is waiting for the face-off: Gangster. Photo via @BellatorMMA)

Bellator 88 goes down tonight at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia, headlined by Alexander Shlemenko and Maiquel Falcao meeting for the promotion’s vacant middleweight title. This is a big freaking deal, relatively speaking. Here’s why you should care, and perhaps even tune in to the Spike broadcast at 10 p.m. / 9 p.m. CT.

Currently riding a nine-fight win streak, Shlemenko is 7-1 under the Bellator banner, winning the Season 2 and Season 5 middleweight tournaments. Though he lost his first title challenge in a 2010 decision against Hector Lombard, Shlemenko at least holds the distinction of being the only guy who Lombard wasn’t able to KTFO during his Bellator run. (We’d call that a “half-win.”) Shlemenko’s Season 5 tournament sweep in 2011 should have secured him a rematch with Lombard, but the Cuban slugger buggered off to the UFC, vacating his title.

Enter “Big Rig.” After an odd one-and-done career in the UFC, Maiquel Falcao eventually landed in Bellator, where he scored three consecutive unanimous decision victories last year to win the Season 6 Middleweight Tournament. And so, Bellator’s last two middleweight tournament winners will now face each other. So will Falcao’s power triumph over Shlemenko’s fancy spinnin’-shit? Check out some relevant videos after the jump and let us know what you think…


(Pretending to talk on the phone when your opponent is waiting for the face-off: Gangster. Photo via @BellatorMMA)

Bellator 88 goes down tonight at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia, headlined by Alexander Shlemenko and Maiquel Falcao meeting for the promotion’s vacant middleweight title. This is a big freaking deal, relatively speaking. Here’s why you should care, and perhaps even tune in to the Spike broadcast at 10 p.m. / 9 p.m. CT.

Currently riding a nine-fight win streak, Shlemenko is 7-1 under the Bellator banner, winning the Season 2 and Season 5 middleweight tournaments. Though he lost his first title challenge in a 2010 decision against Hector Lombard, Shlemenko at least holds the distinction of being the only guy who Lombard wasn’t able to KTFO during his Bellator run. (We’d call that a “half-win.”) Shlemenko’s Season 5 tournament sweep in 2011 should have secured him a rematch with Lombard, but the Cuban slugger buggered off to the UFC, vacating his title.

Enter “Big Rig.” After an odd one-and-done career in the UFC, Maiquel Falcao eventually landed in Bellator, where he scored three consecutive unanimous decision victories last year to win the Season 6 Middleweight Tournament. And so, Bellator’s last two middleweight tournament winners will now face each other. So will Falcao’s power triumph over Shlemenko’s fancy spinnin’-shit? Check out some relevant videos after the jump and let us know what you think…


(Shlemenko vs. Bryan Baker, 6/24/10)


(Shlemenko vs. Zelg Galesic, 9/17/11)


(Shlemenko vs. Brian Rogers, 10/15/11)


(Shlemenko vs. Ikuhisa Minowa, 4/7/12)


(Falcao vs. Julio Cesar Bilik, 7/9/11)


(Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy, 3/16/12)


(Falcao vs. Andreas Spang, 5/18/12)

Bellator 87 Results & Fight Videos: Caveman and Tiger Roll to Lightweight Semis

(Knockout of the Night: Saad Awad’s surgical strike on Guillaum DeLorenzi)

Bellator held their Season 8 lightweight tournament quarterfinals last night at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, featuring a wild-and-wooly three-rounder between David “Caveman” Rickels and Lloyd Woodard, and a dominant promotional debut by hot 155-pound prospect Will Brooks. Our own Jason Moles was in attendance, and will be bringing us an interview with Bjorn Rebney later today. In the meantime, here are the videos of all six stoppages on the Bellator 87 card (courtesy of Troll Smasher), with complete results at the end of this post. Enjoy.

(Alexander Sarnavskiy’s rear-naked choke of Thiago Michel)


(Knockout of the Night: Saad Awad’s surgical strike on Guillaum DeLorenzi)

Bellator held their Season 8 lightweight tournament quarterfinals last night at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, featuring a wild-and-wooly three-rounder between David “Caveman” Rickels and Lloyd Woodard, and a dominant promotional debut by hot 155-pound prospect Will Brooks. Our own Jason Moles was in attendance, and will be bringing us an interview with Bjorn Rebney later today. In the meantime, here are the videos of all six stoppages on the Bellator 87 card (courtesy of Troll Smasher), with complete results at the end of this post. Enjoy.


(Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy’s rear-naked choke of Thiago Michel)


(Michigan’s own Jason Fischer finishes Sevak Magakian by RNC)


(Sam Quito taps Ben Lagman with a kneebar)


(Karl Etherington gets Jason Fish to verbally tap from strikes)


(Amir Killah sinks the first rear-naked choke of the night against John Schulz)

Main Card/Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals
– David Rickels def. Lloyd Woodard via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Will Brooks def. Ricardo Tirloni via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Saad Awad def. Guillaume DeLorenzi via TKO, 0:31 of round 1
– Alexander Sarnavskiy def. Thiago Michel via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:43 of round 2

Preliminary Card
– Jason Fischer def. Sevak Magakian via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:37 of round 1
– Sam Quito def. Ben Lagman via submission (kneebar), 3:54 of round 2
– J.P. Reese def. David Shepherd via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Karl Etherington def. Jason Fish via verbal submission (strikes), 3:45 of round 1
– John Schulz def. Amir Killah via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:34 of round 1
– Tony Zelinski def. Nick Kirk via split-decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)


(David Rickels gif props: ZombieProphet/BloodyElbow)

Bellator 52 Video Highlights: Ron Sparks Crushes Mark Holata, Neil Grove Bumped Out of Tourney

(Props: BellatorMMA)

For those of you who had better things to do on Saturday, Bellator put together this helpful video recap of their Season Five heavyweight tournament quarterfinals. And for a card full of relatively obscure big-men, the show wasn’t half bad.

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.


(Props: BellatorMMA)

For those of you who had better things to do on Saturday, Bellator put together this helpful video recap of their Season Five heavyweight tournament quarterfinals. And for a card full of relatively obscure big-men, the show wasn’t half bad.

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

Bellator 45 Video: Christian M’Pumbu Smashes Richard Hale, Becomes New Light-Heavyweight Champion

(Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

The last event of Bellator’s fourth season went down last night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the finals of the light-heavyweight and featherweight tournaments. Christian M’Pumbu earned his way to the LHW finals by knocking out Chris Davis and Tim Carpenter, and it was business as usual against co-finalist Richard Hale. M’Pumbu dropped Hale once in the first round, but was unable to finish him with a D’arce choke. The Congolese-French standout didn’t make the same mistake twice; after scoring another knockdown in the third, M’Pumbu threw down leather until the ref was forced to stop the fight, picking up a $100,000 check and the title of Bellator’s first-ever light-heavyweight champion.

In the featherweight final, Patricio Freire edged out Daniel Straus to a unanimous decision, earning a rematch with champion Joe Warren, who he lost a split decision to last June. Full Bellator 45 results are after the jump…


(Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

The last event of Bellator’s fourth season went down last night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the finals of the light-heavyweight and featherweight tournaments. Christian M’Pumbu earned his way to the LHW finals by knocking out Chris Davis and Tim Carpenter, and it was business as usual against co-finalist Richard Hale. M’Pumbu dropped Hale once in the first round, but was unable to finish him with a D’arce choke. The Congolese-French standout didn’t make the same mistake twice; after scoring another knockdown in the third, M’Pumbu threw down leather until the ref was forced to stop the fight, picking up a $100,000 check and the title of Bellator’s first-ever light-heavyweight champion.

In the featherweight final, Patricio Freire edged out Daniel Straus to a unanimous decision, earning a rematch with champion Joe Warren, who he lost a split decision to last June. Full Bellator 45 results are after the jump…

MAIN CARD RESULTS
– Christian M’Pumbu def. Richard Hale via TKO, 4:17 of round 3
– Patricio Freire def. Daniel Straus via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Sam Alvey def. Karl Amoussou via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
– Shawn Jordan def. John Hill via TKO, 1:56 of round 1
– Luis “Sapo” Santos def. Nicolae Cury via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Tim Ruberg def. Mike Fleniken via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Rene Nazare def. Kelvin Hackney via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:46 of round 1
– Joseph Abercrombie def. Ben Parpart via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:11 of round 1

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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