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.
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 MaiquelFalcao 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?
Cheick Kongo failed to capture Vitaly Minakov’s Bellator heavyweight title at Bellator 115. The main event was, essentially, the only noteworthy fight on the card. It didn’t start out this way though. A welterweight tournament semfinal was supposed to take place as well, but Andrey Koreshkovsuccumbed to the flu. His fight against Sam Oropeza will be rescheduled.
A middleweight tournament semifinal bout was canceled as well. Jeremy Kimball couldn’t make weight against Dan Cramer. Not surprisingly, Bellator wasn’t able to salvage the card on such short notice. What we got was a patchwork card filled with one-off “feature fights” that meant nothing. In case you’re still interested, we’ve recapped it for you:
Cheick Kongo failed to capture Vitaly Minakov’s Bellator heavyweight title at Bellator 115. The main event was, essentially, the only noteworthy fight on the card. It didn’t start out this way though. A welterweight tournament semfinal was supposed to take place as well, but Andrey Koreshkovsuccumbed to the flu. His fight against Sam Oropeza will be rescheduled.
A middleweight tournament semifinal bout was canceled as well. Jeremy Kimball couldn’t make weight against Dan Cramer. Not surprisingly, Bellator wasn’t able to salvage the card on such short notice. What we got was a patchwork card filled with one-off “feature fights” that meant nothing. In case you’re still interested, we’ve recapped it for you:
First off, this is a catchweight bout as Johnny Cisneros missed middleweight by quite a bit (he weighed in at 193.5 pounds).
The two clinched to start off the fight. Parlo managed to land a double leg but Cisneros sprung to his feet almost as soon as he hit the ground. The two remained clinched. Parlo started to land some nice uppercuts. Cisneros separated and landed a nice uppercut of his own. Parlo clinched, then landed a stiff hook. After 30 seconds of inactivity, the two started exchanging wildly, with several punches snapping Parlo’s head back. There was another pause to the action. Parlo landed an elbow to Cisneros’ head and then took him down. Cisneros got back up, and another insane slugfest ensued. We’re talking just throwing with their eyes closed. In the chaos, Parlo hit another takedown. They were on the ground longer this time, with Parlo chilling in Cisneros’ guard. The latter fighter rose to his feet, and the same pattern of clinch-separate-wild exchange-takedown-get up-clinch-etc. played out until the first round ended.
The second round played out almost exactly like the first, except both fighters were tired now. There was more clinching and eventually Cisneros lacked the energy to return to his feet. Parlo mounted him halfway through the round, though he couldn’t do much with the position. He smothered Cisneros and landed ineffective punches for the remainder of the round.
Parlo’s dominance on the ground continued in the third frame. A wild, overly-aggressive series of punches from Cisneros opened the door for a Parlo takedown. Parlos was content to control things from half guard and mount until the fight ended. Parlo was awarded with a unanimous decision victory.
Kelly Anundson vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Anundson got floored with a leg kick to start things off, but then he landed a clean overhand right. He shots a double leg. Oezdemir sprawled and got pushed all the way back to the cage. Anundson grabbed a body lock and scored a takedown. After some scrambling, the two wound up clinched against the cage again. Oezdemir got up, and then Anundson took him down again, this time slamming him. This was the story of the first round: Anundson landing lots of takedowns and sticking to Oezdemir like animal abuse allegations stick to Michael Vick.
The second round looked like the first, only slower and lazier. I could go into detail but really there’s not much to tell. Anundson controlled Oezdemir until he took his back and sunk in a rear naked choke turned neck crank, bringing this one to an end.
On a side not, Oezdemir wins CagePotato’s official “Most Annoying Surname to Spell Award.”
Herman Terrado vs. Justin Baesman
Terrado threw a right hand and then clinched. The two grappled against the cage. They traded short knees and elbows that didn’t amount to much. Terrado went for a big knee with lots of windup but fell on his ass instead. He jumped up and threw a huge flurry of punches, as if to help was away the shame of slipping. The two clinched again. A guillotine attempt by Baesman went nowhere. Terrado took Baesman down after a lengthy bout of stalling. He advanced to mount, and then Baesman turned to his back. After a failed rear naked choke attempt, Terrado turned back to mount, and then gave up his back a second time. Terrado slipped off Baesman’s back as the round ended.
The second round was uneventful until about halfway through. At that point, Baesman took Terrado to the mat after peppering him. Terrado was clearly exhausted and not capable of defending himself. Baesman landed a series of thunderous elbows. Too many, in fact. The fight really should’ve been stopped, but it continued into the third round, which featured numerous messy grappling exchanges and a plucky armbar escape by Baesman (or embarrassing armbar failure by Terrado, depending on your perspective). In the end, the judges declared it a draw.
The heavyweight title fight started with two karmic nut shots. Minakov landed both a kick and a knee to Kongo’s package. After the second offense, referee Herb Dean deducted a point. The most significant happening was late in the first round. Kongo landed two stiff jabs. Minakov countered with a straight right that floored Kongo. Minakov tried to capitalize by going for a leg lock and failed. Nevertheless, he managed to get on top of Kongo, and finish the round in Kongo’s half guard, reigning punches down on him.
Kongo dragged Minakov to the canvas at the start of the second round. He was unable to do anything with it though. Minakov rose to his feet after about thirty seconds. Minakov pushed Kongo against the fence and landed a clean kene to the gut. Kongo tried to claim it was a nut shot but Herb Dean had none of it, thankfully. Minakov landed a straight right. The Russian was clearly the aggressor, backing Kongo up throughout most of the round. He nailed Kongo with another right which wobbled him. But on the way in, Kongo landed a huge counter left. This didn’t phase Minakov though, who immediately threw Kongo down and quickly took his back. After a few punches, he slipped off and the round ended.
A visibly gassed Minakov managed to trip Kongo at the start of round three. The next two and a half minutes were lay and pray. Minakov eventually stood up, but Kongo stayed grounded to avoid knees to the head. In a reversal of fate, Kongo managed to take Minakov down on a lazy, lazy double leg. Kongo couldn’t take advantage of the takedown. He shot for another double leg, and after a sprawl that seemed like it lasted forever, Minakov pulled off an amazing reversal and wound up on top in north south. He switched to side control but by then the round was nearly over. He did land some pretty hard shots to the body, though.
Exhausted, Minakov was unable to stop Kongo’s takedown in the beginning of round 4. He summoned the energy to stand up, only to wind up on the canvas again after another takedown. Minakov was too tired to do anything except for complain about Kongo grabbing his shorts. Herb Dean warned him like 1,000 times but never deducted a point. After prolonged inactivity, Dean stood them up. Minakov successfully landed an inside trip as the round finished (or Kongo toppled over; I couldn’t tell).
Round 5 was literally five minutes of Minakov on top of Kongo in mount and half guard. Sometimes he threw punches. Sometimes he didn’t.
After the 25 minutes were over, the judges deemed Vitaly Minakov the winner.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Vitaly Minakov def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)
Herman Terrado drew Justain Baesman (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Kelly Anundson def. Volkan Oezdemir via submission (neck crank), 3:19 of round 2
Mikkel Parlo def. Johnny Cisneros via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Rick Reeves def. James Terry via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Freddie Aquitania def. Josh Appelt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sinjen Smith def. Jason Powell via submission (arm bar), 1:52 of round 1
Benito Lopez def. Oscar Ramirez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
It’s Friday night, and that means Bellator! This was the promotion’s 114th outing, and it was a feisty one. It featured the semifinals of the season 10 featherweight tournament and one semifinal bout of the middleweight tournament. The Bellator middleweight title was also up for grabs.
The event opened with UFC vet Kendall Grove taking on Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper. This was a middleweight tournament semifinal bout, the only one of the night.
Early in the first round, Cooper landed a stiff leg kick that floored Grove. Cooper pounced on him, but Grove reversed his fortunes. He took Cooper’s back and maintained the position for the rest of the round. He was unable to secure a rear naked choke despite several attempts. Towards the end of the round he resorted to ground and pound. As he poured more on, Cooper wilted and turtled, but he was saved by the bell.
The second round was much closer. Both fighters managed to pepper each other. Grove worked his jab, and Cooper’s money combination was a left uppercut followed by a straight right. It was this same combo that sent Grove crashing to the mat late in the second frame. Some vicious follow-up ground and pound from Cooper starched Grove and Big John McCarthy stepped in, perhaps a little too late.
It’s Friday night, and that means Bellator! This was the promotion’s 114th outing, and it was a feisty one. It featured the semifinals of the season 10 featherweight tournament and one semifinal bout of the middleweight tournament. The Bellator middleweight title was also up for grabs.
The event opened with UFC vet Kendall Grove taking on Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper. This was a middleweight tournament semifinal bout, the only one of the night.
Early in the first round, Cooper landed a stiff leg kick that floored Grove. Cooper pounced on him, but Grove reversed his fortunes. He took Cooper’s back and maintained the position for the rest of the round. He was unable to secure a rear naked choke despite several attempts. Towards the end of the round he resorted to ground and pound. As he poured more on, Cooper wilted and turtled, but he was saved by the bell.
The second round was much closer. Both fighters managed to pepper each other. Grove worked his jab, and Cooper’s money combination was a left uppercut followed by a straight right. It was this same combo that sent Grove crashing to the mat late in the second frame. Some vicious follow-up ground and pound from Cooper starched Grove and Big John McCarthy stepped in, perhaps a little too late.
The next match was the first featherweight tournament semifinal. Des Green faced Will Martinez. After a minute or two of feeling out, Martinez landed a tremendous right hand that wobbled Green. Green managed to maintain his composure though, shooting for a double leg, driving Martinez completely across the cage and taking him down. Martinez stood back up shortly after hitting the mat. Some sloppy striking exchanges ensued, with both fighters missing big. Martinez hit Green with a wicked body kick, then clinched and started dirty boxing. He maintained dominance over the striking for the rest of the first round, scoring with right hands at will—that is until he was taken down with about a minute to go in the round. Green hit a couple of great right hands from inside Martinez’s guard, and Martinez landed a nice upkick. The rounded ended with a bit of blood coming from Martinez’s mouth.
Green started the second round aggressive. Martinez made him pay with a left hand that wobbled him. Nevertheless, Green pushed through it and clinched with Martinez, taking his back while standing and tenderizing Martinez’s thighs with knees. After about a minute or two of this, Green slammed Martinez with a stunning suplex. Repetition was the story for the rest of the round. Green sat in Martinez’s guard. Martinez went for a submission, and Green avoided it.
The third round began with Martinez rushing forwards, throwing three jabs and slipping. After that, Martinez intentionally parked himself against the fence. It appeared as though Martinez was attempting to bait Green. It worked, but not as Martinez intended. Green came in and nailed him with a right hand. Martinez recovered quickly. Very late in the round, Martinez rocked Green with a left hook, but it was too little, too late. Green ended the fight with a takedown, practically guaranteeing the round and the fight. The judges agreed with this assessment; Green won a unanimous decision victory.
The co-main event, and last featherweight tournament semifinal, pitted Daniel Weichel against Matt Bessette. Things started off poorly for Bessette. Weichel floored him with a straight right counter to a leg kick. Weichel followed it up with some ground and pound; Bessette’s rubber guard was ineffective. The first round stalled out at that point. Weichel didn’t pass into half guard until there was a minute left in the first round. Bessette managed to escape with about 30 seconds left, but received a stiff knee to the face for his efforts.
Weichel started round 2 by literally shoving Bessette to the canvas. He let Bessette return to his feet. The two exchanged knees. There were some more missed or otherwise meaningless strikes. Bessette was the more active fighter, which might’ve won him the round on the scorecards, though the same claim could be made for a takedown Weichel scored late in the round (but Bessette rose to his feet immediately afterwards).
Bessette tried to continue turning the pace up in the third frame but Weichel stymied him with a takedown. He spent much of the round in Bessette’s guard, easily shrugging off submission attempts and stalling until the end of the fight. Not surprisingly, the judges awarded Weichel with a unanimous decision win. He’ll be meeting Des Green in the finals.
The night’s main event featured a middleweight title fight between champion Alexander Shlemenko and challenger Brennan Ward. Ward frustrated Shlemenko early on, hitting the champ with a good uppercut as well as a stiff knee. He also managed to evade and block much of Shlemenko’s offense..that was until he ate a few punches and a knee. Shlemenko blocked a Ward takedown but wound up pressed against the fence. A low blow from Ward put a stop to the action for a minute. After the fight resumed, Ward took Shlemenko’s back. A neck crank failed to end the fight. A rare stand-up from the back occurred (we still don’t know what Big John was thinking) and the two started wildly exchanging. Shlemenko wobbled Ward with a hook, but he still had enough composure to drag the Russian to the mat and take his back a second time. He couldn’t sink in a choke before the round ended.
The two exchanged hooks to start the next round. Shlemenko hit a trio of knees to Ward’s body and missed an outside trip. He followed that up with a nasty round kick to the body. Ward tried to take Shlemenko down off a kick, but wound up in an extremely tight guillotine, so tight that Ward tapped before Shlemenko even dropped to guard. A good showing from Ward, though. He gave Shlemenko a tougher fight in the first round than most expected.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brennan Ward via submission (guillotine), 1:22 of round 2
Daniel Weichel def. Matt Bessette via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Desmond Green def. Will Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Brett Cooper def. Kendall Grove via KO (punches), 3:33 of round 2
Preliminary Card
Justin Wilcox def. Jason Fischer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bubba Jenkins def. Sean Powers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Linton Vassell def. Trevor Carlson via submission (rear naked choke), 1:54 of round 2
Gavin Sterritt def. Mike Estus via submission (guillotine choke), 3:29 of round 1
Joe Rodriguez def. Eric Wahlin via submission (arm triangle), 2:06 of round 2
Alexander Shlemenko won his 50th pro MMA bout Friday night with a sudden second-round submission defeat of Brennan Ward to retain his Bellator middleweight title.
A hotly contested first round saw the two men exchange several powerful strikes. Ward lan…
Alexander Shlemenko won his 50th pro MMA bout Friday night with a sudden second-round submission defeat of Brennan Ward to retain his Bellator middleweight title.
A hotly contested first round saw the two men exchange several powerful strikes. Ward landed a couple of takedowns and even tried a few submissions of his own, though he relied more on brute force than technique in their application. Still, it is possible the hyperaggressive Ward took the first round on points in the eyes of some judges and observers.
Early in the second, Ward momentarily left his neck vulnerable, and the veteran Shlemenko capitalized with a lightning-fast guillotine choke. Ward tapped out in a matter of seconds, and the bout was over.
Shlemenko advanced to 50-7 as a pro; Ward drops to 9-2.
Though the main event was a good one, the highlight of the main card may have been Brett Cooper’s stirring victory over Kendall Grove.
In one of the season’s middleweight tournament semifinal matches, the ultra-rangy Grove put Cooper in hot water with a first-round grappling clinic. It nearly saw him submit Cooper several times before finishing with ground-and-pound that might have brought down the curtain if the bell had sounded a few seconds later.
In the second stanza, Cooper placed a right hook perfectly on Grove’s jawline. The UFC veteran fell to the canvas, and Cooper swarmed. Referee John McCarthy gave Grove every opportunity to gather himself, but Grove couldn’t do so and eventually lost consciousness to seal the comeback win for Cooper.
Great battle between @BrettCoopermma & @kendallgrovemma; Kendall took the 1st and Brett the 2nd. Great Work Brett! Great performance.
Also on the main card, four featherweights competed in two tournament semifinal bouts. Desmond Green took a slow-paced—but convincing—decision over Will Martinez, and Daniel Weichel defeated Matt Bessette, also by decision. Green will face Weichel on May 2 for the tournament title and the right to face featherweight champ Pat Curran.
Full Card Results
Main Card
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brennan Ward by submission (guillotine choke), 1:22, Round 2
Daniel Weichel def. Matt Bessette by unanimous decision
Desmond Green def. Will Martinez by unanimous decision
Brett Cooper def. Kendall Grove by KO, 3:33, Round 2
Preliminary Card
Justin Wilcox def. Jason Fisher by unanimous decision
Bubba Jenkins def. Sean Powers by unanimous decision
Alexander Shlemenko won his 50th pro MMA bout Friday night with a sudden second-round submission defeat of Brennan Ward to retain his Bellator middleweight title.
A hotly contested first round saw the two men exchange several powerful strikes. Ward lan…
Alexander Shlemenko won his 50th pro MMA bout Friday night with a sudden second-round submission defeat of Brennan Ward to retain his Bellator middleweight title.
A hotly contested first round saw the two men exchange several powerful strikes. Ward landed a couple of takedowns and even tried a few submissions of his own, though he relied more on brute force than technique in their application. Still, it is possible the hyperaggressive Ward took the first round on points in the eyes of some judges and observers.
Early in the second, Ward momentarily left his neck vulnerable, and the veteran Shlemenko capitalized with a lightning-fast guillotine choke. Ward tapped in to the hold in a matter of seconds, and the bout was over.
Shlemenko advanced to 50-7 as a pro; Ward drops to 9-2.
Though the main event was a good one, the highlight of the main card may have been Brett Cooper’s stirring victory over Kendall Grove.
In one of the season’s middleweight tournament semifinal matches, the ultra-rangy Grove put Cooper in hot water with a first-round grappling clinic. It nearly saw him submit Cooper several times before finishing with ground-and-pound that might have brought down the curtain if the bell had sounded a few seconds later.
In the second stanza, Cooper placed a right hook perfectly on Grove’s jawline. The UFC veteran fell to the canvas, and Cooper swarmed. Referee John McCarthy gave Grove every opportunity to gather himself, but Grove couldn’t do so and eventually lost consciousness to seal the comeback win for Cooper.
Great battle between @BrettCoopermma & @kendallgrovemma; Kendall took the 1st and Brett the 2nd. Great Work Brett! Great performance.
Also on the main card, four featherweights competed in two tournament semifinal bouts. Desmond Green took a slow-paced—but convincing—decision over Will Martinez, and Daniel Weichel defeated Matt Bessette, also by decision. Green will face Weichel on May 2 for the tournament title and the right to face featherweight champ Pat Curran.
Full Card Results
Main Card
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brennan Ward by submission (guillotine choke), 1:22, Round 2
Daniel Weichel def. Matt Bessette by unanimous decision
Desmond Green def. Will Martinez by unanimous decision
Brett Cooper def. Kendall Grove by KO, 3:33, Round 2
Preliminary Card
Justin Wilcox def. Jason Fisher by unanimous decision
Bubba Jenkins def. Sean Powers by unanimous decision
Even for older fans of the sport who had been following when the UFC was owned by SEG and only available on VHS, the idea that Tito Ortiz was going to go on an epic losing skid seemed highly improbable. He started the sport young, fighting for free at UFC 13, and to be honest […]
Even for older fans of the sport who had been following when the UFC was owned by SEG and only available on VHS, the idea that Tito Ortiz was going to go on an epic losing skid seemed highly improbable. He started the sport young, fighting for free at UFC 13, and to be honest […]
