Tag: Bellator

Bellator Featherweight Daniel Straus Arrested in Florida on Numerous Charges

Bellator featherweight title contender Daniel Straus is currently in lock-up after being arrested on several charges overnight in Broward County, Fla. According to an arrest report from the Broward County Sheriff’s department, Straus (real name Daniel …

Bellator featherweight title contender Daniel Straus is currently in lock-up after being arrested on several charges overnight in Broward County, Fla.

According to an arrest report from the Broward County Sheriff’s department, Straus (real name Daniel Mason-Straus) was arrested in conjunction with four separate charges on March 1 and is currently being held awaiting $2,200 bail.

The arrest took place by Fort Lauderdale police, and he’s currently being held in North Broward County, Fla.

Straus‘s arrest charges include driving with a suspended license, possession of cannabis over 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia or use and possession of MDMA (ecstasy).

The four charges combined come with a total of a $2,200 bail or bond amount. The highest charges on his count are for possession of cannabis and possession of MDMA, which both come with a $1,000 bail amount set.

Straus was recently forced out of his scheduled Bellator featherweight title fight against champion Pat Curran because of a broken hand suffered in training. Straus is an Ohio native but routinely spends much of his training camp in Florida working with American Top Team.

When he was forced out of his fight against Curran, Straus was replaced by recent featherweight tournament winner Shahbulat Shamhalaev, who now fights for the championship in early April at Bellator 95.

In his fight career, Straus had been on a roll ever since losing to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in 2011. Straus won five fights in a row to not only win the Bellator featherweight tournament but also picked up a victory over former UFC featherweight Alvin Robinson, while at the time awaiting his shot at the 145 pound belt.

While none of Straus‘s charges come with serious jail time attached to them, the arrest is obviously not good, especially just days after he was forced out of his scheduled bout for Bellator.

As of noon ET, Straus remained in custody in Broward County lock-up.

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

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How High Can New Bellator Champ Attila Vegh Climb?

Attila Vegh is Bellator’s official light heavyweight champion today after handily out-hustling Christian M’Pumbu for five rounds last night in the main event of Bellator 91. Vegh used aggression and a varied offense to grind M’Pumbu down fo…

Attila Vegh is Bellator’s official light heavyweight champion today after handily out-hustling Christian M’Pumbu for five rounds last night in the main event of Bellator 91.

Vegh used aggression and a varied offense to grind M’Pumbu down for 25 minutes.

It was an impressive win for the Slovakia-born light heavyweight, who moves his Bellator record to 5-0. Vegh now boasts 29 total professional victories against only four defeats and a pair of draws.

Having already secured victories against the likes of M’Pumbu, Travis Wiuff, Emanuel Newton and Zelg Galesic, Vegh has made a statement: tough competition doesn’t intimidate him.

His next challenger likely comes in the form of the current tournament victor. Mikhail Zayats and Emanuel Newton have punched their tickets to the tourney final and will meet sometime in the weeks to come. Both men propose different weapons and strengths. Both are very experienced.

Newton has already battled Vegh. The two met at Bellator 72, where Vegh eked out a razor-thin split decision win. Despite having failed to earn a W in that fight, the experience alone should prove a confidence booster for “The Hardcore Kid.”

He knows exactly what to expect of the current champion. He’s taken him to the brink and (in the eyes of some) arguably deserved the nod in doing so.

Zayats isn’t quite as explosive as Newton, but he’s crafty. He knows how to win, where to win and when to be there to capitalize on the opening. That’s instinctual, you don’t just learn that, you’re born with it, you develop and master it.

Zayats can dethrone Vegh with strikes, and he can use some underrated submission skills to end the fight. He’s got options. The question is, does he have the physical fortitude to stand up to the heavy hands of Vegh?

Some of the proposed questions will be answered in the months to come. But plenty of questions still hang in the balance.

What if Vegh manages to beat the season 8 light heavyweight tournament winner? Who gets thrown to the lion?

There’s no doubt the promotion had hoped to continue building Muhammed Lawal as an outspoken and always-dangerous superstar.

Newton threw a monkey wrench right at those plans at Bellator 90 when he left Lawal a half-conscious, crumpled up mess on the canvas after a perfectly placed spinning back-fist stiffened the former Strikeforce champion in the first round.

Renato “Babalu” Sobral currently competes for Bellator, but he too is coming off a first-round stoppage defeat administered by Mikhail Zayats.

Having already beaten a handful of the promotion’s best light heavyweights, Vegh has few options as light heavyweight champion.

If he blasts his way through his next challenger, he’ll already sit in a shaky seat with little in the way of clearly-defined challengers waiting in the wings.

It may be time for Bjorn Rebney to do a little extra talent scouting.

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Bellator 91 Results: Vegh Cruises Past M’Pumbu, Awad and Rickels Advance to LW Finals, Holly Holm Scores TKO in Bellator Debut

(Bellator 91 video highlights via Bellator.com)

Given that his last fight resulted in a loss to Travis Wiuff, Christian M’Pumbu was something of a paper-champion coming into his first official Bellator title defense against Attila Vegh. By the end of the match, M’Pumbu wasn’t a champion at all.

The two light-heavyweights met in the main event of last night’s Bellator 91 event at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with the Slovak challenger out-hustling his French-Congolese opponent over five rounds. Vegh directed the pace, landed harder punches — leading to a knockdown in round 1 — and slashed open M’Pumbu’s head with some elbows from the top in round 3.

Though the championship rounds didn’t offer much in terms of excitement, momentum was already in the favor of Vegh, who cruised to a unanimous decision victory. Vegh becomes Bellator’s new light-heavyweight champion, and will make his first title defense against…well, not King Mo, that’s for sure.

Bellator 91’s main card also featured the semi-finals of its Season 8 lightweight tournament. Leading off the Spike broadcast was a rematch between David Rickels and Jason Fischer, who had previously met in a non-tournament bout at Bellator 82; Fischer had come in as a short-notice injury replacement for Alexander Sarnavskiy. Though the final result was the same as their last meeting — Rickels by unanimous decision — the Caveman’s performance was even more dominant this time, as he outclassed Fischer with his striking and submission attempts.

Rickels’s win books him a ticket to the Season 8 lightweight finals against Saad Awad, who steamrolled Will Brooks in just 43 seconds on the other side of the lightweight bracket last night. Awad previously KO’d Guillaume DeLorenzi in 31 seconds during the lightweight quarterfinals at Bellator 87. Fun fact (or scary fact, if you’re David Rickels): Awad’s current six-fight win streak includes four knockouts in under a minute.


(Bellator 91 video highlights via Bellator.com)

Given that his last fight resulted in a loss to Travis Wiuff, Christian M’Pumbu was something of a paper-champion coming into his first official Bellator title defense against Attila Vegh. By the end of the match, M’Pumbu wasn’t a champion at all.

The two light-heavyweights met in the main event of last night’s Bellator 91 event at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with the Slovak challenger out-hustling his French-Congolese opponent over five rounds. Vegh directed the pace, landed harder punches — leading to a knockdown in round 1 — and slashed open M’Pumbu’s head with some elbows from the top in round 3.

Though the championship rounds didn’t offer much in terms of excitement, momentum was already in the favor of Vegh, who cruised to a unanimous decision victory. Vegh becomes Bellator’s new light-heavyweight champion, and will make his first title defense against…well, not King Mo, that’s for sure.

Bellator 91′s main card also featured the semi-finals of its Season 8 lightweight tournament. Leading off the Spike broadcast was a rematch between David Rickels and Jason Fischer, who had previously met in a non-tournament bout at Bellator 82; Fischer had come in as a short-notice injury replacement for Alexander Sarnavskiy. Though the final result was the same as their last meeting — Rickels by unanimous decision — the Caveman’s performance was even more dominant this time, as he outclassed Fischer with his striking and submission attempts.

Rickels’s win books him a ticket to the Season 8 lightweight finals against Saad Awad, who steamrolled Will Brooks in just 43 seconds on the other side of the lightweight bracket last night. Awad previously KO’d Guillaume DeLorenzi in 31 seconds during the lightweight quarterfinals at Bellator 87. Fun fact (or scary fact, if you’re David Rickels): Awad’s current six-fight win streak includes four knockouts in under a minute.

While the main card was marked by decisions, all seven fights on the prelims ended in stoppages. Notably, bantamweight Ed West put on a striking clinic against Josh Montoya, which included a failed Showtime Kick (see gif below via ZombieProphet/BloodyElbow), and a very sneaky front-leg head-kick knockout that was followed by at least three punches before Montoya’s body completed its descent to the mat. West celebrated his win by nearly killing George Roop.

Also, former female boxing star Holly Holm made her Bellator debut on last night’s prelims, and increased her MMA record to 3-0, with all wins by KO/TKO. Holm faced bantamweight rookie Katie Merrill and blitzed her with strikes, focusing her nastiest shots to the body. It looked like the fight was close to finished in round one when Holm landed a pair of kicks to Merrill’s midsection that doubled her over, but Merrill survived to round 2, where Holm gave her more of the same. Holm secured her victory by dropping Merrill with a body-hook followed by a left hand, then finishing the fight with strikes from the top. And just like that, Holm is Bellator’s next best hope for a home-grown female star.

Full results from Bellator 91 are below…

MAIN CARD
– Attila Vegh def. Christian M’Pumbu via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 50-45)
– Saad Awad def. Will Brooks via KO, 0:43 of round 1
– David Rickels def. Jason Fischer via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)

PRELIMINARY CARD
– Holly Holm def. Katie Merrill via TKO, 3:02 of round 2
– Blas Avena def. Lenny Lovato Jr. via TKO, 1:41 of round 1
– Andres Quintana def. Russell Wilson via TKO, 0:32 of round 3
– Ed West def. Josh Montoya via KO, 2:51 of round 2
– Adrian Cruz def. Nick Gonzalez via submission (scarf hold armlock), 3:00 of round 2
– Josh Appelt def. Josh Lanier via TKO, 0:16 of round 2
– Brennan Ward def. Yair Moguel via submission (rear-naked choke), 0:57 of round 1

Bellator 91 Results: The Real Winners and Losers on Spike TV

Bellator continued its first season on Spike TV in New Mexico with the semifinals of the lightweight tournament and a title fight between champion Christian M’Pumbu and Attila Vegh. On the undercard was local boxing sensation Holly Holm, giving a littl…

Bellator continued its first season on Spike TV in New Mexico with the semifinals of the lightweight tournament and a title fight between champion Christian M’Pumbu and Attila Vegh. On the undercard was local boxing sensation Holly Holm, giving a little juice to the normally anonymous Spike.com portion of the card.

It was an exciting night of fights—until the main event. M’Pumbu and Vegh put on one of the worst fights of the year. Technically, Vegh was the winner. But, in truth, no one could possibly feel like a winner after that bout. Certainly not anyone in the audience.

That’s the beauty of MMA. A man can win a fight on paper but lose in the eyes of the crowd with a tepid performance. Likewise, the loser of a close and exciting fight can gain stature and make his name in the broader MMA community.

So, who were the real winners and losers at Bellator 91? Click on to find out.

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With Daniel Straus Injured, Shahbulat Shamhalaev Fast-Tracked to Shot at Pat Curran in April

(Full fight video of Shamhalaev’s tournament-winning performance against Rad Martinez at Bellator 90, courtesy of Wax6ynat Wamxanaeb-P3A MaptnHe3 Fuck You.) 

Another day, another injury.

At last week’s Bellator 90 event, stone-faced Russian “Assassin” (is there any other kind?) Shabulat Shamhalaev wrapped up the promotion’s 7th season featherweight tournament with a vicious knockout over fellow finalist Rad Martinez. In doing so, Shamhalaev earned a future shot at the winner of the Pat Curran/Daniel Straus featherweight title fight scheduled for April 4th. Fortunately for Shamhalaev (and unfortunately for Straus), a broken hand has forced the season six tournament winner out of the fight and has in turn opened the door for the Russian, who will now face Curran a bit earlier than expected. Bjorn Rebney broke the news via his Twitter account:


(Full fight video of Shamhalaev’s tournament-winning performance against Rad Martinez at Bellator 90, courtesy of Wax6ynat Wamxanaeb-P3A MaptnHe3 Fuck You.) 

Another day, another injury.

At last week’s Bellator 90 event, stone-faced Russian “Assassin” (is there any other kind?) Shabulat Shamhalaev wrapped up the promotion’s 7th season featherweight tournament with a vicious knockout over fellow finalist Rad Martinez. In doing so, Shamhalaev earned a future shot at the winner of the Pat Curran/Daniel Straus featherweight title fight scheduled for April 4th. Fortunately for Shamhalaev (and unfortunately for Straus), a broken hand has forced the season six tournament winner out of the fight and has in turn opened the door for the Russian, who will now face Curran a bit earlier than expected. Bjorn Rebney broke the news via his Twitter account:

As Bjorn noted, the opponent switcheroo arguably makes for a more interesting matchup for both Curran and the fans. Shamhalaev exploded onto the mainstream scene with a pair of uber-violent first round TKO’s in his first two stateside appearances at Bellator 76 and 79. The fact that he appeared to come out no worse for the wear in his destruction of Martinez makes for the perfect matchmaking opportunity. After capturing the featherweight title with an unnecessarily brutal beatdown of Joe Warren last March, Curran most recently outpointed the highly-touted Patricio Freire at Bellator 85 in January.

So Potato Nation, will the Bellator featherweight title, like the middleweight strap before it, fall into the icy hands of the Russians come April 4th?

–J. Jones

Pat Curran Now Faces Shahbulat Shamhalaev for Featherweight Title at Bellator 95

It didn’t take long for Bellator officials to find a replacement for injured Daniel Straus, and the good news is that the promotion’s featherweight division will keep rolling with a new title fight. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced on Wednesday that…

It didn’t take long for Bellator officials to find a replacement for injured Daniel Straus, and the good news is that the promotion’s featherweight division will keep rolling with a new title fight.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced on Wednesday that season 7 tournament winner Shahbulat Shamhalaev will now face featherweight champion Pat Curran on April 4 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Shamhalaev steps in and accepts the fight with Curran just a week after defeating Rad Martinez in the finals of last season’s Bellator featherweight tournament.

Shamhalaev was already next in line to face Curran following his scheduled bout with Daniel Straus, but the Ohio based fighter broke his hand in training, pushing back his shot. Now, the Russian knockout artist will take his place.

Holding a 12-1-1 record overall, Shamhalaev has been extremely impressive since joining the Bellator roster in October of last year as part of their featherweight division.

He blasted through all of his three opponents in the tournament, winning by knockout or TKO in victories over Cody Bollinger, Mike Richman and finally Rad Martinez in the finals.

Now the Russian will have a chance to take out Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran in a highly anticipated bout in Atlantic City on April 4. Curran most recently competed in January, when he defeated Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in his first title defense since winning the belt from former champion Joe Warren in 2012.

The featherweight title fight will lead Bellator 95, which also features one of the top ranked women’s fighters in the world Jessica Eye taking on Munah Holland. The undercard also showcases several familiar names, including former UFC fighter Tom DeBlass, who returns to action months after announcing his retirement from the sport.

Curran vs. Shamhalaev will serve as the main event and featured bout headlining the show that airs on Spike TV on Thursday night, April 4 kicking off at 10pm ET/PT.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com