Tag: Bellator

Bellator 117 Results: Lima Batters Hawn’s Leg to Become Bellator Welterweight Champion

Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion at Bellator 117, and also determined who’d fight in the finals of the season 10 lightweight tournament. In case you missed the fisticuffs, here’s our recap:

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos

This lightweight tournament semifinal started with some feeling out. A flying knee from Pitbull missed its mark, as did a spinning back kick from Campos. Midway through the round, Pitbull landed a sick hook to the liver followed up by a hook to the head–easily the best combo of the round at that point. Shortly after this, a brawl ensued against the cage. Campos landed some jabs, Freire landed a knee and a right hand. They reset, but then Campos pressured Freire again, landing quite a few shots. Campos’ success continued until the end of the first round; he started to get the better of every exchange while Pitbull looked slow and uninterested.

Campos’ luck ran out in the second round. Pitbull tagged him with a nasty right hand that floored him. Campos managed to rise to his feet only to be floored yet again. Pitbull mounted him and finished him with ground and pound when Campos rolled over onto his stomach and covered up. What a comeback.

Freire will be fighting the winner of Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson in the lightweight tournament finals.

Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion at Bellator 117, and also determined who’d fight in the finals of the season 10 lightweight tournament. In case you missed the fisticuffs, here’s our recap:

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos

This lightweight tournament semifinal started with some feeling out. A flying knee from Pitbull missed its mark, as did a spinning back kick from Campos. Midway through the round, Pitbull landed a sick hook to the liver followed up by a hook to the head–easily the best combo of the round at that point. Shortly after this, a brawl ensued against the cage. Campos landed some jabs, Freire landed a knee and a right hand. They reset, but then Campos pressured Freire again, landing quite a few shots. Campos’ success continued until the end of the first round; he started to get the better of every exchange while Pitbull looked slow and uninterested.

Campos’ luck ran out in the second round. Pitbull tagged him with a nasty right hand that floored him. Campos managed to rise to his feet only to be floored yet again. Pitbull mounted him and finished him with ground and pound when Campos rolled over onto his stomach and covered up. What a comeback.

Freire will be fighting the winner of Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson in the lightweight tournament finals.

Karl Amoussou vs. David Gomez

This was a non-tournament match with no implications–a “feature fight” as Bellator called it on their website. Most of the first round was simply a feeling out process. Gomez landed a right hand that stumbled Amoussou, and Amoussou landed a couple of knees, an uppercut, and some leg kicks. But Gomez’s cross was really the only meaningful strike in the round. Then there was some clinching, and the round ended.

Amoussou took control in the second round, throwing Gomez as soon as it started. Amoussou sat up in Gomez’s guard and dropped for a heel hook. The bold move failed, and Gomez escaped to his feet. An out of breath Amoussou pressed Gomez up against the cage. Gomez separated and landed a huge right hand. Amoussou managed to walk through it though. Some really, really sloppy brawling ensued (I mean Bellator heavyweight level) that neither guy really got the better of. Both fighters wound up clinched again. They separated with about a minute left in the second round.

To start off the third round, Amoussou clinched and went for a trip, which he missed. Gomez landed a few fast but weak uppercuts and hooks. Amoussou looked exhausted by this point; his hands hovered around his waist. Nevertheless, he still managed to intermittently keep Gomez stymied against the fence. The third round was a predictable pattern of clinch-separate-messy striking-clinch and so on until the end of the fight. Karl Amoussou was awarded with a decision win. If you are going to watch a DVR recording of the event, skip this fight.

Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson

Held dragged Anderson to the mat early and with little difficulty. He passed into side control but then Anderson managed to regain half guard. This didn’t matter though, since Held dropped down for a leg. The two played footsies for a few minutes. Anderson avoided Held’s onslaught and wound up on top in side control, landing short elbows and punches. Anderson attempted to stand up but Held snared his leg. He used the leg lock to sweep Anderson; he sat up in Anderson’s guard. Held attempted yet another leg lock with about 20 seconds to go but it came up short.

Held nailed Anderson with a stiff left hand that dropped him. He got a little wild after that and got tagged with a right hand. Anderson hit a nice body kick. Anderson started to find his range with the jab. Held, on the other hand, resorted to butt-scotting since he had zero takedowns. Held successfully pulled guard and moments later locked up a triangle and secured the tap.

Marcin Held will meet Patricky Freire in the Bellator season 10 lightweight finals.

Douglas Lima vs. Rick Hawn

Both fighters started tentative. Lima plodded forwards as Hawn shuffled around the edges of the cage. Lima landed a leg kick, Hawn countered with a right hand. Hawn half-assed a shot and ate a left hand. Lima continuously stalked Hawn, and eventually landed a MASSIVE leg kick that sent Hawn to the mat instantly. Hawn got back up and threw a 1-2 that Lima blocked. Lima hit another leg kick that crumpled Hawn. He turtled up as Lima landed loads of elbows and punches. Lima backed off as the round ended. Hawn was certainly in trouble.

Lima threw a leg kick to start round 2, but Hawn checked it as well as a follow-up leg kick. The third one, however, connected and floored Hawn, who was slow to get up. Hawn was sent to the canvas yet again with a leg kick. A TKO via leg kicks was imminent at this point. Hawn got knocked down from a leg kick again. The fight started to resemble a lion playing with its food. Another leg kick found its mark but Hawn somehow remained standing. Lima went high with a kick but Hawn saw it coming. Lima landed a millionth leg kick and Hawn fell yet again. Hawn’s corner got up on the apron and called for an end to the fight, and the referee obliged. This was the right call (see all the leg kicks for yourself–GIFs courtesy of Zombie Prophet). Douglas Lima is now the new Bellator welterweight champ!

Here are the card’s complete results (we’ll update the Houston Alexander and Ryan Jensen fights when the results are available):

Main Card

Douglas Lima def. Rick Hawn via TKO (corner stoppage) 3:19 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Derek Anderson via submission (triangle), 3:07 of round 2
Karl Amoussou def. David Gomez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Patricky Freire def. Derek Campos via TKO (punches), 0:52 of round 2

Preliminary Card

Martin Brown def. Jared Downing via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Larue Burley def. Cliff Wright Jr. via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
Joe Vedepo def. Ben Crowder via TKO (leg injury), 0:48 of round 1
Anthony Smith def. Victor Moreno via submission (triangle choke) via 0:59 of round 2
Julio Cesar Neves def. Josh Arocho via TKO (elbows), 2:37 of round 2
Jordan Parsons def. Tim Bazer via KO (punches), 0:04 of round 2

Unaired
Ryan Jensen vs. Mark Stoddard
Matt Uhde vs. Houston Alexander

Bellator 117: Results and Recaps from Rick Hawn vs. Douglas Lima

Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion Friday night as Douglas Lima absolutely annihilated Rick Hawn.
While Hawn is one of Bellator’s winningest fighters, owning a 10-2 record entering the night, he has found most of his success as a lightweight….

Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion Friday night as Douglas Lima absolutely annihilated Rick Hawn.

While Hawn is one of Bellator‘s winningest fighters, owning a 10-2 record entering the night, he has found most of his success as a lightweight. He has looked seriously undersized against true welterweights, and the difference in raw power between Hawn and Lima was apparent from the get-go. 

Lima chopped down Hawn with brutal leg kicks again and again. By the second round, Lima was putting Hawn on the canvas at will. Eventually, the ref asked Hawn‘s corner if they wanted to throw in the towel, and they quickly conceded defeat.

After the horrible display at RFA last week where a fighter was tossed back into the fight after passing out between rounds (read Matt Roth’s full breakdown here), this was a refreshing display of intelligence by a corner in MMA.

Lima is now on a downright scary five-fight winning streak with all those wins coming by knockout or TKO. It is worth noting, however, that Lima’s last loss came in lopsided fashion to Ben Askren, who took a unanimous 50-45 decision in 2012.

In addition to crowning a new welterweight champion, Bellator 117 also saw the season 10 lightweight tournament final bout set.

Longtime Bellator veteran Patricky Freire scored a crushing knockout victory over Derek Campos with a hard jab to the chin as Campos stepped in. While the American would survive the initial onslaught, a right hand behind the ear floored him a second time. From there, Freire pounced into mount position and rained punches down to seal the deal.

On the other side of the bracket, fellow mainstay Marcin Held scored an impressive submission win over Derek Anderson. Held is known for his sneaky leglocks, and he pounced on them early and often. While Anderson survived the first round, the second saw Held score a takedown from a 15-foot-long shot and then lock up a sexy triangle choke to get the tap.

Both Freire and Held debuted with Bellator in 2011 and have come up short in tournament finals before. Freire made it to the season four lightweight tournament finals, but he lost to eventual-champion Michael Chandler. Held, meanwhile, worked his way to the season seven lightweight tournament finals but would drop a decision to Dave Jansen (who has been waiting for his title shot for more than a year now). 

They will face off later this year. However, given the fact that the lightweight belt is currently tangled up in the Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler rubber match, and Jansen is looking to get his shot in after that, it could be a very long time before they actually get their shot at gold.

Full results are as follows:

 

Main Card

  • Douglas Lima def. Rick Hawn via TKO (Round 2, 3:19) 
  • Patricky Freire def. Derek Campos via TKO (Round 2, 0:52)
  • Marcin Held def. Derek Anderson via submission (triangle choke) (Round 2, 3:09)
  • Karl Amoussou def. David Gomez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

 

Preliminary Card

  • Martin Brown def. Jared Downing via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • LaRue Burley def. Cliff Wright Jr. via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-28)
  • Joe Vedepo def. Ben Crowder via verbal submission (injury) (Round 1, 0:48)
  • Anthony Smith def. Victor Moreno via submission (triangle choke) (Round 2, 0:59)
  • Julio Cesar Neves def. Josh Arocho via TKO (Round 2, 2:37)
  • Jordan Parsons def. Tim Bazer via KO (Round 2, 0:04)

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Bellator 116 Results: Ivanov Submits Johnson, Volkov Scores KO of the Year Candidate [GIF]

There were no title fights at Bellator 116, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth watching. The heavyweight tournament semifinals took place on the card, as well as a single welterweight tournament semifinal.

How was it? Read the recap and find out!

Alexander Volkov vs. Mighty Mo

Mighty Mo shot for a single leg right out of the gate. Mo couldn’t get Volkov down, but managed to keep him pressed against the cage for the first half of the round. Volkov landed a knee to the body in the clinch, which caused Mo to back off. Then, Volkov hit a tremendous round kick to Mo’s face and knocked him out cold. He hit Mo so hard that the shockwaves made Mo’s belly fat jiggle. Easily one of the best head kick knockouts of the year so far, if not ever. Holy crap. Here’s a GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA)

Volkov, Bellator’s former heavyweight champ, will now be going to the season 10 tournament finals.

Read on to see a GIF of the most amazing, pro-wrestling inspired guillotine choke escape we’ve ever seen.

There were no title fights at Bellator 116, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth watching. The heavyweight tournament semifinals took place on the card, as well as a single welterweight tournament semifinal.

How was it? Read the recap and find out!

Alexander Volkov vs. Mighty Mo

Mighty Mo shot for a single leg right out of the gate. Mo couldn’t get Volkov down, but managed to keep him pressed against the cage for the first half of the round. Volkov landed a knee to the body in the clinch, which caused Mo to back off. Then, Volkov hit a tremendous round kick to Mo’s face and knocked him out cold. He hit Mo so hard that the shockwaves made Mo’s belly fat jiggle. Easily one of the best head kick knockouts of the year so far, if not ever. Holy crap. Here’s a GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA)

Volkov, Bellator’s former heavyweight champ, will now be going to the season 10 tournament finals.

Nathan Coy vs. Adam McDonough

Coy controlled almost the entire first round via lay and pray. Eventually, McDonough managed to escape Coy’s clutches. With about a minute left, he managed to hurt Coy with an uppercut–badly. Coy was faceplanted on the mat and taking loads of punches, but the ref let it go on. Coy managed to recover and take McDonough down again by the round’s end.

The second round didn’t last long. Perhaps Coy wasn’t so composed after all. McDonough landed a hook that sent Coy to the floor. After that one punch, the fight was stopped.

Adam McDonough will be meeting the winner of Andrey Koreshkov vs. Sam Oropeza (which will take place later in the season) in the welterweight tournament finals.

Joey Beltran vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

After an eternity, Matyushenko vs. Beltran started (seriously it felt like an hour of shitty commercials). The first round lacked action. Both men snapped jabs. Both reached with looping hooks and, for the most part, missed by miles. Eventually (and thankfully), the feeling out process sorted itself out, and the fighters engaged with a little more zest. Neither landed anything significant, but it was more fun to watch. The rest of the first round played out like this. Each guy threw big punches but didn’t land too many.

Matyushenko hit Beltran with a stiff jab and an uppercut to start the round. The two started to get more aggressive in round two. There was close to zero technique, but at least it wasn’t a staring contest. Matyushenko backed up Beltran with a flurry and landed a few punches. Beltran countered with his own. Eventually, they started just swinging at random. They might as well have had their eyes closed, to be honest. Matyushenko shot for a takedown from 30 light years away and Beltran stuffed it with zero effort. Beltran and Matyushenko both started breathing heavy as the round ended, making their punches super-labored and slow. The fight got less fun to watch as the seconds passed.

Round 3 was much of the same, but Beltran decided to work the body instead of constantly throwing at (and missing) Matyushenko’s head. Matyushenko shot in, but Beltran reversed him. In the scramble, Beltran wound up on top in side control. He transitioned to north-south and sunk in a north-south choke, earning the submission win. Vladimir Matyushenko’s last fight ends in defeat. And Beltran will meet Alexander Volkov in the heavyweight tournament finals.

Lavar Johnson vs. Blagoi Ivanov

Ivanov attempted to rush Johnson and ate an uppercut. Still, he managed to successfully clinch Johnson and keep him against the cage. It didn’t take long for him to hit a single leg and drag Johnson to the floor. Ivanov dropped for a leg lock but botched it. He wound up with Johnson on top of him, hitting him. However, Johnson’s lack of grappling enabled Ivanov to rise to his feet without harm, and then even put Johnson in a guillotine. To escape, Johnson body slammed Ivanov in what was the most awesome guillotine escape I’ve ever seen (it was the closest thing to a pro wrestling body slam you’ll see in MMA–here’s the GIF, again via Zombie Prophet). But Ivanov’s superior grappling skills allowed him to turn the tide. He got back to his feet after the slam, clinched Johnson, and landed a judo throw. A few moments later, he submitted Johnson with an effortless keylock.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card

Blagoi Ivanov def. Lavar Johnson via Submission (keylock), 4:08 of round 1
Joey Beltran def. Vladimir Matyushenko via Submission (north-south choke), 3:06 of round 3
Adam Mcdonough def. Nathan Coy via KO (punches), 0:30 of round 2
Alexander Volkov def. Mighty Mo via KO (head kick), 2:44 of round 1

Preliminary Card

Brandon Halsey def. Joe Pacheco via Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Karo Parisyan def. Ron Keslar via KO (punches), 4:05 of round 2
Rob Emerson def. Joe Taimanglo via Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ricky Rainey def. Andy Murad via TKO (head kick and punches), 1:11 of round 1
Phelipe Lins def. Travis Clark via Submission (rear naked choke), 0:40 of round 1
Rodney Wallace def. Carlos Eduardo via Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Not Aired
Featherweight Brandon Bender vs. Mario Navarro
Middleweight Dave Vitkay vs. Keith Berry

Bellator 116: Results and Recap from Lavar Johnson vs. Blagoi Ivanov

While Bellator 115 was completely free of any tournament fights, Bellator 116 was chock-full of them.
In the main event Friday from Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., formidable Sambo practitioner Blagoi Ivanov (who beat Fedor Emeli…

While Bellator 115 was completely free of any tournament fights, Bellator 116 was chock-full of them.

In the main event Friday from Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., formidable Sambo practitioner Blagoi Ivanov (who beat Fedor Emelianenko this one time…get ready to see that highlight a lot) beat the hard-hitting UFC veteran Lavar Johnson in every area of the cage.

Standing, he avoided Johnson’s powerful right hands and delivered solid counters. On the ground, he was able to punish a huge slam takedown by reversing positions and locking up an Americana to force the tap.

Earlier on the card, former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov wound up delivering the highlight of the night. From the early goings of his bout with kickboxing tomato can “Mighty Mo” Siliga, it was clear that the paunchy Samoan was out of his league. It also certainly doesn’t help that he wound up gassing after, literally, 90 seconds or so.

Volkov put a mercifully quick end to what could’ve been a brutally bad fight with a devastating headkick knockout. The kick was basically identical to that of UFC welterweight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. He baited backward movement with one-two punches, and then sneaked a headkick up over his shoulder, landing flush to the chin and knocking out the poor sap.

Ivanov and Volkov will face off to determine the season’s tournament winner, likely during this year’s Summer Series.

The event also featured a welterweight tournament semifinal bout between Nathan Coy and Adam McDonough. The first round saw McDonough rock Coy early and nearly gas himself out delivering punishment for what felt like minutes on end.

Coy would survive the round by pinning McDonough against the cage, but the fight wouldn’t last through the second as Coy was dropped with a solid left hook that drew an immediate stoppage. He will face off with the winner of Andrey Koreshkov and Sam Oropeza, who fight in May.

Finally, in something of a telling sign regarding how important Bellator holds its tournaments these days, the middleweight tournament’s second semifinal bout went down on the Internet-only preliminary card and saw the fast-rising Brandon Halsey take a unanimous decision from Joe Pacheco. He will face off with Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper in the finals with a shot against champion Alexander Shlemenko on the line.

The full results are as follows:

 

Main Card

  • Blagoi Ivanov def. Lavar Johnson by submission via Americana at 4:08 of Round 1
  • Adam McDonough def. Nathan Coy by KO via punch at 0:30 of Round 2 
  • Alexander Volkov def. Mighty Mo by KO via kick at 2:44 of Round 1
  • Joey Beltran def. Vladimir Matyushenko by submission via north-south choke at 3:06 of Round 3

 

Undercard

  • Brandon Halsey def. Joe Pacheco by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Ricky Rainey def. Andy Murad by TKO via punches at 1:11 of Round 1
  • Rob Emerson def. Joe Taimanglo by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Karo Parisyan def. Ron Keslar by KO via punch at 4:05 of Round 2 
  • Phelipe Lens def. Travis Clark by submission via rear-naked choke at 0:40 of Round 1
  • Rodney Wallace def. Carlos Eduardo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

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VIDEO: Alexander Shlemenko Challenges Tito Ortiz to a Fight in Two Languages, Both of Them Emotionless [UPDATED]

(Complete lack of facial expressions? Unbuttoned shirt, to expose a gold medallion with possible religious significance? I’m going to take a wild guess and say this man is from…Russia? / Props: YouTube.com/alnado)

Bellator’s “Alvarez vs. Chandler III” pay-per-view card is just over a month away, but only three fights have been officially confirmed so far. And so, reigning middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko has decided to do a little YouTube matchmaking to get a big fight on the card. Here’s what “Storm” had to say in a video statement released yesterday; I’ve done my best to transcribe it in its entirety…

“Tito Ortiz, you say you want to fight May 17th on Bellator’s PPV. I will fight you. I will beat you. Tito, I respect you but I must beat you because I am champion. I know that Tito Ortiz, different weight class. I know that Tito Ortiz, light-heavyweight. This is not problem for me. I ready. I ready fight with light-heavyweight, no problem. Bjorn, make this fight for me because I am champion. I am ze best. I will make good fight. Fight of the night.

Prietziem. Seemnostomyabelotaprauwitzwapeerupayperview. Nitumtooneerihayagustipi Tito Ortiz. Tito Ortiz teeshasivisapeernika. Yagatostitevosapeerniko. Yasneshtomostupait foljoelenvisi. Yagatoldrasisniev foljoelenvisi. Yasneshtayamagul weegretinyugu. Bjorn, ebulyetur. Esyolsdebajolstinyaboi? Maaah. Payperviewsinos stowamyaprotiv. Tito Ortiz-eh. Yabolugotov, yabagozhareseevaboi.”

Ortiz has already accepted the challenge via Instragram and is already doing the kind of intense training that will lead to a back injury about three weeks from now. You heard it here first.

UPDATE: According to Sherdog, Shlemenko vs. Ortiz has been booked for the 5/17 PPV.


(Complete lack of facial expressions? Unbuttoned shirt, to expose a gold medallion with possible religious significance? I’m going to take a wild guess and say this man is from…Russia? / Props: YouTube.com/alnado)

Bellator’s “Alvarez vs. Chandler III” pay-per-view card is just over a month away, but only three fights have been officially confirmed so far. And so, reigning middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko has decided to do a little YouTube matchmaking to get a big fight on the card. Here’s what “Storm” had to say in a video statement released yesterday; I’ve done my best to transcribe it in its entirety…

“Tito Ortiz, you say you want to fight May 17th on Bellator’s PPV. I will fight you. I will beat you. Tito, I respect you but I must beat you because I am champion. I know that Tito Ortiz, different weight class. I know that Tito Ortiz, light-heavyweight. This is not problem for me. I ready. I ready fight with light-heavyweight, no problem. Bjorn, make this fight for me because I am champion. I am ze best. I will make good fight. Fight of the night.

Prietziem. Seemnostomyabelotaprauwitzwapeerupayperview. Nitumtooneerihayagustipi Tito Ortiz. Tito Ortiz teeshasivisapeernika. Yagatostitevosapeerniko. Yasneshtomostupait foljoelenvisi. Yagatoldrasisniev foljoelenvisi. Yasneshtayamagul weegretinyugu. Bjorn, ebulyetur. Esyolsdebajolstinyaboi? Maaah. Payperviewsinos stowamyaprotiv. Tito Ortiz-eh. Yabolugotov, yabagozhareseevaboi.”

Ortiz has already accepted the challenge via Instragram and is already doing the kind of intense training that will lead to a back injury about three weeks from now. You heard it here first.

UPDATE: According to Sherdog, Shlemenko vs. Ortiz has been booked for the 5/17 PPV.

Bellator Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko Challenges Tito Ortiz

Sometimes, the world of MMA just spews fun from all angles. 
This video from Alexander Shlemenko represents one of those times, friends. Revel in its glory. 
Absorb its message.
Enjoy its content, and share its perfection. 
Bellator midd…

Sometimes, the world of MMA just spews fun from all angles. 

This video from Alexander Shlemenko represents one of those times, friends. Revel in its glory. 

Absorb its message.

Enjoy its content, and share its perfection. 

Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko wants to fight Tito Ortiz in a light heavyweight, pay-per-view bout. That’s just too good to make up. 

Shlemenko‘s challenge comes just hours after Tito Ortiz tweeted the following message to his 546,000 followers: 

Ortiz was originally slated to face former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in Bellator‘s inaugural pay-per-view event, but Ortiz pulled out of that fight with a neck injury, prolonging his Bellator debut in the process. 

Now, Ortiz says he’s ready to roll, and he did not have to wait long for a challenger to emerge. 

Not even two weeks after decimating Brennan Ward to defend his Bellator middleweight strap, Shlemenko published the above video, calling out Ortiz and requesting a big-time fight against the former UFC superstar. 

With a 50-7 record, Shlemenko stands as one of MMA’s most successful fighters on paper, and he has certainly excelled inside the Bellator cage so far. 

Since his Bellator debut in April 2010 against Matt Major, Shlemenko has gone 11-1 under the banner, capturing the middleweight championship and defending it three times in the process. 

After earning the belt against Maiquel Falcao in February 2013, Shlemenko has looked nearly untouchable inside the cage. He has posted a 3-0 record, with all three victories coming in dominant fashion. 

Now, the 185-pound king apparently wants to jump up in weight to face a legend of the sport in Ortiz, and that bout would certainly plant butts in seats across the globe. 

Ortiz has responded to Shlemenko‘s bold words ” target=”_blank”>on Instagram, and it seems clear that he’s ready to make the May 17 pay-per-view showdown official.

Would you want to see Shlemenko fight Ortiz? Who do you think would win?

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