Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez produce the greatest fights together.
Their first fight at Bellator 58 is widely considered one of the greatest bouts in MMA history, and the rematch at Bellator 106 Saturday evening all but surpassed this previ…
Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez produce the greatest fights together.
Their first fight at Bellator 58 is widely considered one of the greatest bouts in MMA history, and the rematch at Bellator 106 Saturday evening all but surpassed this previous standard of excellence.
In addition to piles of back-and-forth, frenetic action, Chandler vs. Alvarez II featured something the first bout lacked: a controversial finish.
While each fighter nearly ended the fight on separate occasions via rear-naked choke, neither could secure the submission, and judges were forced to make a tough call after five rounds of violent perfection.
The decision was split.
…And it went to Alvarez.
We have a new Bellator lightweight champion, ladies and gentlemen.
Watching the fight live, I’m not 100 percent sure that Alvarez deserved the nod, but I am sure that we all witnessed another fantastic fight which represented all that is incredible about the sport of MMA.
Chandler and Alvarez are far ahead of the rest of Bellator‘s 155-pound division, and they appear headed for a trilogy after this close rematch, which is the ideal result for the promotion and its fans.
This reminds me of the rivalry between UFC heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, except it is much more evenly matched and competitive.
While Alvarez is the new champion, there is no doubt that Chandler is an immediate threat to his reign. I’m not sure we can say that about any other fighter on Bellator‘s roster, so it is fitting that they settle the score in a future rubber match.
If their first two fights provide any indication, that is a beautiful, beautiful fact for MMA fans across the globe.
Can we go ahead and kick off Rounds 11 to 15 now, please?
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal might want to give Emanuel Newton that crown he so proudly sports.
It’ll match nicely with the shiny gold belt Newton will wear out of the arena.
The heavy underdog Newton proved that his first tangle with th…
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal might want to give Emanuel Newton that crown he so proudly sports.
It’ll match nicely with the shiny gold belt Newton will wear out of the arena.
The heavy underdog Newton proved that his first tangle with the “King” inside the Bellator cage was no fluke, as he toppled the charismatic Lawal once again at Bellator 106, this time via unanimous decision.
After an opening round that saw Lawal work his wrestling game with great success, Newton caught his foe with a left head kick in Round 2, and the course of the fight was permanently altered.
From there on, King Mo repeatedly failed on his takedown attempts, and he appeared a step behind Newton on the feet.
Utilizing a variety of spinning attacks, Newton kept King Mo at bay and racked up the points on the judges’ cards.
For some inexplicable reason, King Mo continued to fight with his hands down, and that game plan doomed him in this bout. Unable to finish his takedown attempts, King Mo’s dome became easy target practice for Newton, and the fight’s finish was written by Round 3.
At this point, it is clear that King Mo is just not a premier talent in the sport of MMA. His wrestling is phenomenal on paper, but it does not translate perfectly to the cage, and, as exhibited in this fight with Newton, it is easily shut down by a prepared opponent.
On top of that, his striking has not evolved much from his days as a Strikeforce champion despite plenty of talk about his dedication to his boxing. Add in his pathetic cardio, and it becomes obvious that King Mo’s career has peaked unless he makes a drastic change to his training regimen.
This win is huge for Newton’s career, but, as I just mentioned, King Mo was hardly perfect throughout the bout. While Newton took the decision, there is still plenty to work on when he gets home and begins preparation for his title unification bout against AttilaVegh.
Newton looked slow and sloppy, and his cardio, like King Mo’s, was shot by the end of Round 2. He threw a variety of spinning attacks throughout the fight, but none were even remotely close to landing. Against Vegh, he will need to be sharper and quicker if he wishes to retain his title.
Still, Newton absolutely deserves immense praise for his second win over Lawal. Nearly everybody wrote him off after his shocking upset in their first bout, and he again proved them wrong by outclassing Mo for five rounds.
Well done, Mr. Newton. Enjoy that new piece of hardware.
Daniel Straus swiped Pat Curran’s featherweight title at Bellator 106 Saturday evening.
Utilizing a calculated, wrestle-heavy game plan, Straus overwhelmed the champion for the fight’s duration and took home a clear-cut unanimous decision victory…
Daniel Straus swiped Pat Curran’s featherweight title at Bellator 106 Saturday evening.
Utilizing a calculated, wrestle-heavy game plan, Straus overwhelmed the champion for the fight’s duration and took home a clear-cut unanimous decision victory.
Curran, who strolled into the fight on an impressive six-fight winning streak, failed to open up and put together combinations, and he was forced to fight from the defensive for the majority of the fight’s 25 minutes.
This fight was, for the most part, a disappointment.
Curran is known as one of the division’s most explosive and creative strikers, but he simply could not get going in this one.
Credit Straus.
The game plan employed by Straus was absolutely perfect, and despite eating a vicious illegal knee (credit: GIF overlord Zombie Prophet), the Ohioan stuck to his team’s strategy and executed takedown after takedown against the overmatched champ.
Curran did enjoy brief periods of offensive success, but he never hurt Straus (aside from the illegal knee), and he could never sustain his attack for more than a few seconds.
The champ appeared more tentative than usual on his feet, and he never seemed to sense that he was behind on the scorecards. This was Curran’s downfall, as he never flipped the switch and aggressively pursued Straus.
For Straus, this worked perfectly, as he was free to set up his takedowns and execute.
Still, Curran is an elite fighter, and he is certainly one of Bellator‘s top featherweights, so a trilogy between these two is imminent. Unless “Paddy Mike” can can the leaks in his takedown defense, however, I think Straus‘ reign continues well into the promotion’s future.
For now, Straus has earned his title as Bellator‘s top 145-pounder and snatched Curran’s strap with authority.
What was supposed to be Bellator’s first PPV event is now “just” its biggest card ever, airing free on Spike TV and headlined by a rematch of one of MMA‘s greatest lightweight bouts, ever. Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez fight each other once again for the lightweight title. Past that, two more belts are on […]
What was supposed to be Bellator’s first PPV event is now “just” its biggest card ever, airing free on Spike TV and headlined by a rematch of one of MMA‘s greatest lightweight bouts, ever. Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez fight each other once again for the lightweight title. Past that, two more belts are on […]
Injury prone and over the hill, Bellator’s new signing Tito Ortiz nevertheless expects full recovery from his latest training setback, promising to return to the gym in six weeks.
That won’t be soon enough to save the promotion’s firs…
Injury prone and over the hill, Bellator’s new signing Tito Ortiz nevertheless expects full recovery from his latest training setback, promising to return to the gym in six weeks.
That won’t be soon enough to save the promotion’s first pay-per-view event, originally scheduled for this Saturday, which would have seen Ortiz face off against fellow UFC veteran Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the pair’s first outing for Bellator.
Instead, Bellator 106 is now a free-to-watch event, airing on Spike TV and headlined by a lightweight clash between champion Michael Chandler and challenger Eddie Alvarez.
Ppl I will have 100% recovery & will be back n the gym in 6 weeks.I’m a fighter & I love competition. I was doing great n training but accident do happen. Just time to reshuffle the deck & deal another hand.
Ortiz joined the UFC in 1997 and eventually announced his retirement in 2012 after posting a 1-6 record in his last seven fights. The 38-year-old was snapped up by rival promotion Bellator this year.
Together with Rampage, his fellow UFC exile, Ortiz was gearing up to launch Bellator’s first PPV event until a recurring neck injury forced him off the card.
It was a similar neck injury that forced him to withdraw from a rematch against Chuck Liddell in 2010, and many would question the wisdom in having the veteran front another major MMA event.
Rampage, meanwhile, has signed on to face another ex-UFC fighter in Joey Beltran at Bellator 108, due to go down on Nov. 15.
It’s unclear at this stage whether Ortiz will return to face Rampage after all.
After Tito Ortiz’s notoriously cantankerous neck reduced its pay-per-view plans to chicken scat last week, Bellator MMA was forced to take a page out of the Brock Lesnar handbook on crisis management.
In the end, I bet even the big fella himself …
After Tito Ortiz’s notoriously cantankerous neck reduced its pay-per-view plans to chicken scat last week, Bellator MMA was forced to take a page out of the Brock Lesnar handbook on crisis management.
In the end, I bet even the big fella himself would be impressed by the fight company’s ability to make chicken salad.
While the exact timeline of Ortiz’s injury is still a bit murky, Bellator responded in unexpectedly resolute fashion—doing the only thing it could do, really. It cancelled the former UFC champion’s planned bout against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and shifted the remaining fight card to SpikeTV, where it will air for free on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.
A perfect solution? Not exactly, but now that we’ve had a week to squint at it, to cross our arms and pace back and forth in front of it like a bunch of introductory art students encountering Jackson Pollock for the first time, the bulk of the MMA world has reluctantly given the decision a curt nod of approval.
OK, we all seemed to say, that’ll work.
Given that Bellator 106 was on the verge of dying the slow, painful death of the unwatched on PPV, the fight promotion may actually have pulled off a modest coup here. Far more people will tune in to watch the show on Spike than would have shelled out to order the pay-to-play version.
As a free event, it’s a shoe-in to garner the largest audience in Bellator’s history, and with the specter of Ortiz vs. Jackson out of the way, the company has the opportunity to finally put the focus on its real stars—guys like Michael Chandler, Eddie Alvarez, Pat Curran and Muhammed Lawal.
The initial advertising strategy for this card did nothing to establish Bellator’s best fighters as interesting PPV draws. Instead, it heaped attention on two guys with a combined age of 73 and a combined record of 5-11 since 2008. Now, Bjorn Rebney and Co. have been awarded a rare do-over in an industry where smaller promotions seldom get a second chance to make a good impression.
Bellator suddenly has the opportunity to put on a stacked event in front of a record crowd, and it has the chance to showcase the attractions it should have put front and center from the beginning. Frankly, that seems like a better outcome than this show could have hoped for (or, for that matter, than it deserved).
If Bellator manages to hook a few new fans this weekend, it could bring some much-needed momentum to an organization that has recently been battered on the fields of public opinion.
2013 was supposed to be a breakout campaign for Bellator.
With its broadcast deal on Spike finally fully operational and Viacom watching its back, this was meant to be the year when America’s second largest MMA purveyor would leave the rest of the B-list in the dust. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way, as any marginal gains it made through its new TV platform were overshadowed by a series of bizarre PR gaffes and questionable free-agent signings.
Rather than being the year when Bellator found its stride, 2013 may be remembered as the year Bellator told Alvarez it would see him in court, shrugged impotently at War Machine’s rape jokes and went back on its edict not to become a safe harbor for UFC washouts.
Ortiz vs. Jackson was the cherry on top of all that weirdness.
Seemingly nobody wanted to see the fight, and the fact that Bellator tried to promote it by having Ortiz hit Jackson in the head with a ball-peen hammer on a professional wrestling show turned it into one of the more cringe-worthy undertakings in recent memory.
Crossing over into the scripted word of Impact Wrestling—where one night Jackson appeared wearing a camouflage dinner jacket, while Ortiz sported a sleeveless “Wrestling is Real” T-shirt—was a major turnoff for a lot of MMA people. It blurred lines we didn’t want to see blurred, and their appearances managed to make both guys (already damaged goods) look stilted and awkward, even when all they had to do was just stand there.
In short, it did nothing but stoke the general fear that the most important single event in Bellator’s life was about to be DOA.
Now all that has changed, and the company has managed to spin the Ortiz injury news into exactly the kind of last-minute publicity blast it badly needed.
That fight you weren’t interested in? It’s off.
That thing Bellator wanted you to pay for? It’s free now.
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