Tag: Bellator

Dun Dada: Fantasy-Picking Kimbo Slice’s Opponent For His Bellator Debut


(And to think, had Kimbo landed his signature headbutt to the groin that night, EliteXC might still be in operation. Photo via Divulgação.)

By CagePotato reader BJ Last

Welcome back to Sliceworld! The man who took the internet by storm in 2003, turned into a popular MMA circus act in 2007, fell from relevance in 2010, started boxing jobbers in 2012, and everyone sort of forgot about in 2014, is now signed with the second biggest MMA promotion in the world. The only question remaining now — aside from why? and also huh? — is who should be Slice’s first opponent under the Bellator banner? Scott Coker & Co. have two options, as far as I see it:

1) They can try to find Slice a “legitimate” (yes, there’s a reason for air quotes) opponent in an attempt to rebuild him as a genuinely dangerous MMA fighter.

2) They can channel their inner Japanese MMA promotion and go full freakshow.

I’ll tell you what I want (what I really, really want), or at least what I see as the most likely options for each scenario. Let’s start with the “legitimate” opponents…


(And to think, had Kimbo landed his signature headbutt to the groin that night, EliteXC might still be in operation. Photo via Divulgação.)

By CagePotato reader BJ Last

Welcome back to Sliceworld! The man who took the internet by storm in 2003, turned into a popular MMA circus act in 2007, fell from relevance in 2010, started boxing jobbers in 2012, and everyone sort of forgot about in 2014, is now signed with the second biggest MMA promotion in the world. The only question remaining now — aside from why? and also huh? — is who should be Slice’s first opponent under the Bellator banner? Scott Coker & Co. have two options, as far as I see it:

1) They can try to find Slice a “legitimate” (yes, there’s a reason for air quotes) opponent in an attempt to rebuild him as a genuinely dangerous MMA fighter.

2) They can channel their inner Japanese MMA promotion and go full freakshow.

I’ll tell you what I want (what I really, really want), or at least what I see as the most likely options for each scenario. Let’s start with the “legitimate” opponents…

Tito Ortiz – This is the most likely (and probably least interesting) option. Despite what some people think, this fight makes the most sense for Bellator and Ortiz. Bellator gets to have a main event with two name fighters, and could pack the card with other prospects in the hope that people tuning in for this fight will also watch the, you know, talented people on the card. That’s pretty much what Bellator did with their first pay-per-view, and it’ll give Tito a three-fight win streak to carry in against the winner of Liam McGeary vs. Emanuel Newton for the light-heavyweight title.

What’s that? You say Ortiz has already shut down the idea of a potential fight with Slice? Well, methinks that the man who has fought an undersized middleweight and a retired steroid abuser thus far in his Bellator run can be persuaded.

Rematch – James Thompson is currently under contract with Bellator and Seth Petruzelli has said he’d come out of retirement for a rematch. There are only 2 problems with these potential matchups. 1) No one would care who won and 2) There’s no real benefit to Bellator if either Thompson or Petruzelli pick up a win.

Ok, so they’re pretty big problems.

Someone Without a Wikipedia Page – If Bellator wants Kimbo to win so that they have enough footage to hype his next fight, they need to give him the UFC’s CM Punk treatment (or the Sokoudjou Bellator debut treatment), a.k.a an obscure/underskilled opponent. Then again, the last time a promotion had Kimbo face a part-time, semi-retired fighter, it didn’t end well for the promotion. And by not end well, I mean the semi-retired fighter KO’d Kimbo in under 20 seconds, causing the promoter to lose his shit cage-side and eventually sinking the entire promotion. If Bellator wants an opponent they can be sure Kimbo will beat, they’ll need to go the Milwaukee MMA matchmaking route.

Eric Prindle – Just because Bellator could re-use most of the greatest promo video ever.

On Page 2, we get a little more creative with our matchmaking efforts…

Tito Ortiz Brushes Off a Potential Fight With Kimbo Slice, And For Once, He’s In the Right


(Does this man strike you as someone who would trade in his dignity for a quick buck? Didn’t think so.)

By CP Reader Marcos Rego

With plenty of dark clouds hanging overhead this week, I thought it would be best to bring some cheer to the wonderful boys and girls of CP in the only way I know how: A series of jokes about Tito Ortiz disguised as an article. (Think of me as that uncle who gave you your first beer at age 15…but less creepy and allowed to go near public schools).

Repressed childhood memories aside, did you hear?! Tito Ortiz thinks fighting Kimbo Slice makes about as much sense as putting Fritos on a pizza. And for once, he’s right!


(Does this man strike you as someone who would trade in his dignity for a quick buck? Didn’t think so.)

By CP Reader Marcos Rego

With plenty of dark clouds hanging overhead this week, I thought it would be best to bring some cheer to the wonderful boys and girls of CP in the only way I know how: A series of jokes about Tito Ortiz disguised as an article. (Think of me as that uncle who gave you your first beer at age 15…but less creepy and allowed to go near public schools).

Repressed childhood memories aside, did you hear?! Tito Ortiz thinks fighting Kimbo Slice makes about as much sense as putting Fritos on a pizza. And for once, he’s right!

You may remember Kimbo Slice from his infamous Internet days — no, not his street fights, I’m talking about the Internet you’re more familiar with. And you may remember Fritos on a pizza from the people who are absolutely insane. You may as well put shards of glass on my sandwich while you’re at it, you assholes!

Anyways, with Kimbo recently/inexplicably being signed by Bellator last week, hundreds of thousands of tens of dozens of fans have been calling for a fight between Slice and Bellator’s *other* biggest star, “The Huntington Beach People’s Champ.” During an interview with AG Fight (via MMAFighting), however, Tito put the kibosh on a potential fight with Slice, stating “I’m a world champion. Fighting someone like Kimbo is a step down. I don’t wanna fight a street fighter.”

Yes, Tito Ortiz just said that he would rather not jeopardize his credibility to fight someone. As in the same Tito Ortiz who fought Stephen Bonnar in what I wish was the oh, so distant past. (I don’t even have the stomach to get into that horse and jackass show). As in the same Tito Ortiz who dated, married, and put babies in this chick.

I know what you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal, Marcos?” Well, as my girlfriend likes to instruct me after foreplay: This is the part where I take something small and insignificant and try to make something happen inside you.

As of late, the MMA industry has been going through a bit of an identity crisis. It’s at a crossroads, really. Down one road we see a sport that’s legitimized itself with disciplined, harden morals and standards. A sport that earns more than an “Oh, you’re into that UFC stuff?” A sport where its fighters and fans are valued as much as the money it brings in.

Down the other road we see a sport that has bastardized itself into a live-action circus that has what resembles fighting and where entertainment and viewership is achieved with clowns and the occasional this guy.

Sure, Tito Ortiz may be completely bullshitting when he says he plans on taking the rest of his four fights under the Bellator banner seriously. Although he did an extraordinary amount to pioneer our fine sport, God knows he’s no one to champion and martyr himself for its future. Kimbo is going to eventually fight someone anyways — I hear that Seth Petruzelli may be coming out…of retirement — despite it being 2015, which in itself eliminates the possibility that a freak show fight won’t happen.

As long as big time promotions like Bellator and the UFC want to raise awareness the cheap, lazy, easy way, these kinds of fights, and these kinds of “fighters” like Kimbo are going to keep popping up. But every time a Tito Ortiz says no to a Kimbo Slice, it’s a tiny victory for all of us who want this sport to be taken seriously.

It’s a small victory, yes, but still a victory. And how fitting that it comes from the same man who once gave us this pre-fight press conference. My sincerest thanks, you big, broken headed hero.

Bellator MMA: 10 Ways Coker Can Take the Promotion to the Major Leagues

When news came of the lawsuit against the UFC, Scott Coker took exception with the idea that Bellator MMA was being considered as a minor league organization.
Coker addressed the issue with MMAfighting.com’s Marc Raimondi), saying: &ldqu…

When news came of the lawsuit against the UFC, Scott Coker took exception with the idea that Bellator MMA was being considered as a minor league organization.

Coker addressed the issue with MMAfighting.com’s Marc Raimondi), saying: “Do I think Bellator is a minor league? The answer is no.”

As a relatively new figure in the promotion, it is not surprising that Coker would come to the defense of his employer; he managed to keep Strikeforce going in the MMA scene for many years before the UFC finally bought it out.

“I would say four years ago, people would say that about Strikeforce. They’d say ‘Oh, UFC has the best fighters, the best champs.’ That can be debated.”

Then, Coker spoke of the future as proof positive that big things are to come Bellator’s way.

“Labeling a league based on the past can be misleading because the fighters that are here today fighting for us are going to be the next Luke Rockholds, the next Daniel Cormiers. They are going to be the next stars of MMA.”

It’s an optimistic point of view, to be sure. Coker has the acumen to grow Bellator into something much bigger, and he has made some big strides already in abandoning the tournament-based format for big cards with bigger names.

Sadly, those names are either seriously faded or being plucked from his roster by the UFC.

Right now, Bellator has three big names: Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar and Kimbo Slice. The fact that Slice is even being considered as a major player in the Bellator scheme of things is telling.

Thus far, the kinds of fighters that a man like Coker could build an organization around have already been pulled from his stable or abandoned the promotion, through no real fault of his own.

Hector Lombard, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Ben Askren and Eddie Alvarez used to claim Bellator home, but no longer. None of this is Coker’s fault; he’s essentially been given a fixer-upper project that just happens to have a television deal and major backing.

And, of course, he has some very good fighters who are toiling in relative obscurity because hardly any of the MMA fanbase knows them.

So, how can he go about pulling his new promotion up by the bootstraps?

Well, going after fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Slice is not the answer. Neither is signing professional wrestling notables. That makes Bellator look like it doesn’t have any original ideas of its own.

If it is going to succeed at all, it needs to come to grips that it is in direct competition with the UFC; Bellator can no longer subsist from the scraps that fall off the Zuffa table. If it didn’t know that before, seeing the UFC lure away Jackson and yank Cro-Cop out from under its nose should be proof enough.

Zuffa is not about the business of abandoning resources that might feed the enemy. The UFC didn’t need either fighter; it reached out and took them because it would damage Bellator as a rival.

If Bellator ever wants to be taken seriously as a legitimate alternative to the UFC, for both fans and fighters, it has to start making serious moves, with full conviction.

So how can Bellator remake itself as a force in the sport?

Here are 10 basic ways it can get the job done.

Begin Slideshow

Report: Mirko Cro Cop Scooped Up by UFC After Nearly Joining Bellator

According to a report by BloodyElbow.com’s John Joe O’Regan, legendary heavyweight striker Mirko Cro Cop is poised to return to western MMA with the UFC. The news was then confirmed by UFC President Dana White by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. The announcement comes days after Bellator President Scott Coker discussed the promotion’s interest in signing the still-popular […]

According to a report by BloodyElbow.com’s John Joe O’Regan, legendary heavyweight striker Mirko Cro Cop is poised to return to western MMA with the UFC. The news was then confirmed by UFC President Dana White by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. The announcement comes days after Bellator President Scott Coker discussed the promotion’s interest in signing the still-popular […]

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Bellator 132 Results and GIFs: “Pitbull” Submits Straus, Karakhanyan Impresses & Brutal Finishes on the Prelims


(Photo via Bellator.com)

Bellator came back into our lives in a big way last night, as Bellator 132: “Freire vs. Straus 2” took place at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula, Calif. Scott Coker‘s new beloved baby gave us some pretty wild and disgusted finishes from top-to-bottom, proving the second-best MMA promotion in the world is must-see TV every time.

Not one fight went to a decision on the prelims, and the finishes were downright disgusting. Please don’t watch them with your family, hovered around the tube with Michelina’s for everyone (all Vines/Gifs courtesy of ZombieProphet, after the jump.)


(Photo via Bellator.com)

Bellator came back into our lives in a big way last night, as Bellator 132: “Freire vs. Straus 2″ took place at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula, Calif. Scott Coker‘s new beloved baby gave us some pretty wild and disgusted finishes from top-to-bottom, proving the second-best MMA promotion in the world is must-see TV every time.

Not one fight went to a decision on the prelims, and the finishes were downright disgusting. Please don’t watch them with your family, hovered around the tube with Michelina’s for everyone (all Vines/Gifs courtesy of ZombieProphet).

Preliminary Card

Everett Cummings got the better of Jason Glaza in the lone heavyweight bout of the night, scoring a technical submission win via rear naked choke:

Dustin Jacoby will probably need to fine tune his grappling game before entering the Bellator cage again, since the Glory fighter fell victim to a rear-naked choke, courtesy of UFC alumni John Salter:

Chris Herrera nearly murdered Luc Bondole with an early knockout of the year candidate, thanks to the latter walking into the fiesty middleweight’s brutal combo:

Also winning by knockout, Steve Kozola torched Jonathan Rivera with some brutal shots in the second round to win their lightweight contest:

And finally, in one of the more grotesque images you’re going to see this weekend, Albert Morales scored a rear-naked choke over Fabian Gonzalez, and the victim was forced to tap while wearing the crimson mask and blood gushed out of his face:

 

Main Card

In the main event, Patricio Freire retained his featherweight title in a rematch against Daniel Straus, defending it for the first time since besting Pat Curran at Bellator 123. It was a pretty odd fight, with a handful of nut shots, an eyepoke, and some wild occurences, but “Pitbull” was able to keep the gold with a fourth-round rear naked choke …

…but that came with a price.

Oh, and here’s a bad low blow, followed by some ground and pound.

In his second Bellator stint, former WSOF featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan made this MMA stuff look easy, choking out Bubba Jenkins with a guillotine and secured a title shot in his next bout. Herb Dean’s officiating was pretty alarming, to say the least.

Also on the main card, Virgil Zwicker defeated Houston Alexander, and Fernando Gonzalez beat Marius Zaromskis, yet we’d much rather show you a Kimbo Slice hype promo.

Bellator 132 quick results:

Main Card

Patricio Freire def. Daniel Straus via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:49 of R4
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bubba Jenkins via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 1:49 of R1
Virgil Zwicker def. Houston Alexander via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Fernando Gonzalez def. Marius Zaromskis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Everett Cummings def. Jason Glaza via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:55 of R2
John Salter def. Dustin Jacoby via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:33 of R2
Steve Kozola def. Jonathan Rivera via knockout (punches) at 1:25 of R2
Derek Anderson def. Danny Navarro via TKO (punches) at 3:51 of R3
Albert Morales def. Fabian Gonzalez via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:12 of R2
Chris Herrera def. Luc Bondole via knockout (punches) at 3:21 of R2

–Alex G.

Bellator 132 Results: Winners, Scorecards from Pitbull vs. Straus Fight Card

In a thrilling, foul-filled bout, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire pulled out a submission victory in the waning seconds of the fourth round against Daniel Straus on Friday night.
Straus was out-striking the champion through t…

In a thrilling, foul-filled bout, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire pulled out a submission victory in the waning seconds of the fourth round against Daniel Straus on Friday night.

Straus was out-striking the champion through the entire fight and had knocked Freire down with a hard right hand earlier in the fourth round. A shot to the cup from Freire seemed to break Straus’ rhythm.

The challenger took an extended break and tried to get referee John McCarthy to take a point. It didn’t happen.

Shortly after the fight resumed, Straus was taken down and submitted by the desperate champion via a rear-naked choke.

It was a popular maneuver on Friday night.

Straus’ hands weren’t clean in the way of fouls. He had a point deducted in the second for a low blow, and he also poked Freire in the eye on two occasions. 

Even though the action wasn’t exactly clean, the fight was everything a main event should be. Welterweight champion Douglas Lima loved the bout and offered encouragement to the hard-luck loser:

Freire seemed to expect Straus to use his wrestling to gain an advantage as he had in their first meeting four years ago. Straus dropped that bout via unanimous decision, and thus he chose a different strategy. Until he was choked out, it was working. Using his length, speed and ability to change levels, Straus was well on his way to dethroning Pitbull.

A tactical error on the ground cost him a win in what was otherwise a great performance. It’ll take a while before the sting of this loss goes away.

Check out the results of every fight on the card.

Here’s a closer look at the prelims and other main card bouts.

 

Prelims

Herrera Vanquishes Bondole

Luc Bondole came out guns blazing, but at the end of the day, he didn’t have the heaviest artillery. He ran into a hard right hand from Herrera that turned the lights out. Check out the finish in this tweet from ZombieProphet:

 

Nasty and Graphic Submission by Albert Morales over Fabian Gonzalez

If you ever want to know what it looks like for one guy to beat another guy up, and then choke him out. You can click the link here (NSFW) to see the very graphic from ZombieProphet.

Gonzalez had a nasty gash open up over his nose even before Morales made him say: “uncle” via rear-naked choke.

 

Derek Anderson Keeps the Finishes Going

If someone wanted to show an intrigued MMA fans an undercard to get them interested in the sport, the first three bouts from Friday’s card might be a good trio of scraps.

It took nearly three rounds, but ultimately Derek Anderson used a nasty combination to stop Danny Navarro.

 

John Salter Scores a Less Graphic RNC Submission

OK, so the loser wasn’t bleeding profusely when he tapped out, but John Salter’s rear-naked choke scored a submission win nonetheless. Here’s a look at the finish, courtesy of ZombieProphet:

Dustin Jacoby did a good job trying to establishing a striking rhythm, but when the fight went to the mat in the second frame, Salter exerted his dominance.

 

Everett Cummings’ Comeback Win

Things didn’t start well for Everett Cummings on Friday. Jason Glaza was controlling the action throughout the first round, but he found himself in trouble once Cummings was able to take his back. 

On a night where chokes seemed to rule, Cummings got his two cents in. Cummings continued his impressive roll, per Jason Floyd of MMA Report:

 

Main Card

Fernando Gonzalez Wins Unanimous Decision over Marius Zaromskis

Gonzalez let us down. He became the first winner of the night not to score a stoppage win. I kid, but spoiled viewers may have booed Gonzalez’s winning performance.

The win over Zaromskis was a pretty dominant and one-sided display. There was no controversy as Gonzalez won all three rounds on every judges’ card. MMA Nick believes this win should set Gonzalez up for a shot at Lima:

 

Virgil Zwicker Beats Houston Alexander in Rematch

Zwicker and Alexander’s first bout ended in a controversial draw. In Friday’s rematch, both men wanted a definitive result. Alexander’s wrestling ruled the first round, but Zwicker’s striking and superior stamina wound up being the difference.

Despite his fleshy appearance, Zwicker had more in his gas tank than his muscular 42-year-old opponent.

Zwicker landed some telling hard uppercuts in the second round that put Alexander in trouble. In the third, Alexander seemed to have a slight edge in a sleepy first 4:30 of the final round.

However, in the last 30 seconds, Zwicker landed some hard shots that again put Alexander in peril. With more time, Zwicker might have scored a stoppage victory.

One judge somehow saw the fight 30-27 in Alexander’s favor. Apparently, he had blinders on in the second and third rounds. Thankfully, two of the judges saw it the right way.

 

Earth to Herb

Bubba Jenkins has some work to do on his submission defense and overall game plan. The powerful wrestler brought those skills to the cage against Georgi Karakhanyan and not much else.

Jenkins kept looking for double-leg takedowns in the first round, and Karakhanyan countered with his patented guillotine choke. Jenkins escaped the first attempt, but the second put him to sleep…literally. Per the Spike TV broadcast, the win earned Karakhanyan the next shot at Pitbull’s title.

Karakhanyan scored the technical submission as Jenkins went unconscious before referee Herb Dean noticed he was out cold. Fox Sports’ Damon Martin admired Karakhanyan’s skill, as did Bleacher Report’s Steven Rondina; however, Rondina kind of took Dean to task for his late reaction:

If it weren’t for Karakhanyan telling Dean that Jenkins was out, there’s no telling how long the hold would have been locked in. That’s scary. 

 

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.

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