Ron Sparks (8-0) continued his rise towards relevancy with an 84-second knockout of Mark Holata. Sparks also happens to be one of those dudes with his own last name tattooed on his stomach, but we won’t hold it against him. Speaking of stoppages, Blagoi Ivanov (5-0, 1 no contest) also kept his unbeaten record, smashing Zak Jensen standing then putting him to a sleep in the second round with a guillotine choke.
Ron Sparks (8-0) continued his rise towards relevancy with an 84-second knockout of Mark Holata. Sparks also happens to be one of those dudes with his own last name tattooed on his stomach, but we won’t hold it against him. Speaking of stoppages, Blagoi Ivanov (5-0, 1 no contest) also kept his unbeaten record, smashing Zak Jensen standing then putting him to a sleep in the second round with a guillotine choke.
Things didn’t fare any better for the other TUF 10 vet on the card, Abe Wagner, who lost two out of three rounds to an increasingly beet-red Eric Prindle (8-1). And in the night’s biggest upset, Neil Grove — the runner-up in Bellator’s previous heavyweight tournament — got outworked by Mike “300″ Hayes (16-4-1) en route to a split decision loss. Complete Bellator 52 results are below…
MAIN CARD
– Mike Hayes def. Neil Grove via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29, 29-28)
– Blagoi Ivanov def. Zak Jensen via technical submission (guillotine choke), 2:35 of round 2
– Eric Prindle def. Abe Wagner via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Ron Sparks def. Mark Holata via KO, 1:24 of round 1
PRELIMINARY CARD
– Genair da Silva def. Bryan Goldsby via submission (brabo choke), 3:51 of round 1
– Josh Quayhagen def. Cosmo Alexandre via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Justin Frazier def. Liron Wilson via TKO, 1:50 of round 1
– Matt Van Buren defeated Nick Nichols via TKO, 2:29 of round 2
While Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, two of the smallest fighters in the sport, went to war in the main event of UFC on Versus 6, a number of behemoths battled it out in the opening round of a heavyweight tournament at Bellator 52. Eight heavywe…
While Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, two of the smallest fighters in the sport, went to war in the main event of UFC on Versus 6, a number of behemoths battled it out in the opening round of a heavyweight tournament at Bellator 52. Eight heavyweights stepped into the cage in hopes of taking one […]
Filed under: BellatorMike Hayes, Blagoi Ivanov, Eric Prindle and Ron Sparks advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator Fighting Championships heavyweight tournament on Saturday night with victories at Bellator 52 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Mike Hayes, Blagoi Ivanov, Eric Prindle and Ron Sparks advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator Fighting Championships heavyweight tournament on Saturday night with victories at Bellator 52 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
In the main event of the evening, Hayes won a split decision to upset Neil Grove, who advanced to the finals of last year’s Bellator heavyweight tournament. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Hayes, and one judge scored it 29-28 for Grove.
Ivanov bloodied up Zak Jensen’s face in the first round of their fight, and choked him into unconsciousness with a guillotine in the second round. Jensen had to step into the fight at the last minute because Ivanov’s original opponent, the Brazilian Thiago Santos, couldn’t get a visa to make the fight. Jensen is probably wishing he hadn’t been able to fight Ivanov either.
Prindle beat Abe Wagner by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 29-28. It was a sloppy mess of a heavyweight brawl, with both men swinging wildly early and then gassing out late. The win improves Prindle to 8-1 in his MMA career.
Sparks destroyed Mark Holata with a couple of huge left hooks that knocked him down and a couple more ground strikes to finish him off. The whole fight took just 1 minute, 24 seconds. The win improves Sparks’ MMA record to 8-0, and he’s finished seven of his opponents in the first round.
As always for Bellator, the question will be whether the heavyweight tournament can gain any traction among MMA fans, who often overlook Bellator in favor of the UFC. If there’s anyone in this tournament who can capture the attention of MMA fans, it’s the hard-hitting Sparks. If he can win this tournament and keep looking the way he looked on Saturday night, he could become the kind of fighter MMA fans make a point of seeking out.
Filed under: BellatorMike Hayes, Blagoi Ivanov, Eric Prindle and Ron Sparks advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator Fighting Championships heavyweight tournament on Saturday night with victories at Bellator 52 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Mike Hayes, Blagoi Ivanov, Eric Prindle and Ron Sparks advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator Fighting Championships heavyweight tournament on Saturday night with victories at Bellator 52 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
In the main event of the evening, Hayes won a split decision to upset Neil Grove, who advanced to the finals of last year’s Bellator heavyweight tournament. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Hayes, and one judge scored it 29-28 for Grove.
Ivanov bloodied up Zak Jensen’s face in the first round of their fight, and choked him into unconsciousness with a guillotine in the second round. Jensen had to step into the fight at the last minute because Ivanov’s original opponent, the Brazilian Thiago Santos, couldn’t get a visa to make the fight. Jensen is probably wishing he hadn’t been able to fight Ivanov either.
Prindle beat Abe Wagner by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 29-28. It was a sloppy mess of a heavyweight brawl, with both men swinging wildly early and then gassing out late. The win improves Prindle to 8-1 in his MMA career.
Sparks destroyed Mark Holata with a couple of huge left hooks that knocked him down and a couple more ground strikes to finish him off. The whole fight took just 1 minute, 24 seconds. The win improves Sparks’ MMA record to 8-0, and he’s finished seven of his opponents in the first round.
As always for Bellator, the question will be whether the heavyweight tournament can gain any traction among MMA fans, who often overlook Bellator in favor of the UFC. If there’s anyone in this tournament who can capture the attention of MMA fans, it’s the hard-hitting Sparks. If he can win this tournament and keep looking the way he looked on Saturday night, he could become the kind of fighter MMA fans make a point of seeking out.
(Ron Sparks: All about the peace and love. / Photo via TheFightNerd.)
Bellator 52 goes down tomorrow night at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the quarterfinals of the promotion’s second heavyweight tournament. We’ll be honest — the eight-man bracket isn’t exactly overflowing with star-power, and watching 265-pounders slug it out is always a mixed bag. But if Cruz vs. Johnson isn’t enough to satisfy your hunger for combat this weekend, you might as well DVR the MTV2 broadcast. (Do it right now, before you forget.) Here’s how the HW quarters shake out:
Neil Grove vs. Mike Hayes Blagoi Ivanov vs. Zak Jensen Eric Prindle vs. Abe Wagner Mark Holata vs. Ron Sparks
Now, some fun facts:
– Blagoi Ivanov is that dude who outpointed Fedor Emelianenko in combat sambo in 2008, back when beating Fedor at anything seemed like a very big deal. He’s now 4-0 with 1 no-contest in his MMA career, and won his Bellator debut in March by TKO’ing William Penn in one round.
(Ron Sparks: All about the peace and love. / Photo via TheFightNerd.)
Bellator 52 goes down tomorrow night at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the quarterfinals of the promotion’s second heavyweight tournament. We’ll be honest — the eight-man bracket isn’t exactly overflowing with star-power, and watching 265-pounders slug it out is always a mixed bag. But if Cruz vs. Johnson isn’t enough to satisfy your hunger for combat this weekend, you might as well DVR the MTV2 broadcast. (Do it right now, before you forget.) Here’s how the HW quarters shake out:
Neil Grove vs. Mike Hayes Blagoi Ivanov vs. Zak Jensen Eric Prindle vs. Abe Wagner Mark Holata vs. Ron Sparks
Now, some fun facts:
– Blagoi Ivanov is that dude who outpointed Fedor Emelianenko in combat sambo in 2008, back when beating Fedor at anything seemed like a very big deal. He’s now 4-0 with 1 no-contest in his MMA career, and won his Bellator debut in March by TKO’ing William Penn in one round.
– Ivanov was originally supposed to face Brazilian prospect Thiago “Big Monster” Santos, but Santos has just been scratched from the event due to visa issues. Stepping in for Santos will be Zak Jensen, who was originally slated for the prelims against Josh Burns. You may remember Jensen as the TUF 10 whipping boy who was named in a wrongful death lawsuit after a botched bodyguarding assignment. In 17 professional fights, Jensen has only been out of the first round once.
– Speaking of TUF 10 vets, Abe Wagner will be making his Bellator debut in tomorrow night’s tournament. Since his stint on the reality show, Wagner has gone 3-2, with losses to Travis Browne and Aaron Rosa, and a somewhat notable victory over Tim Sylvia. His last victory was in July over Justin Grizzard, the palooka that McCorkle is fighting next.
– I’m assuming you know who Neil Grove is, right? “Goliath” made it to the finals of Bellator’s first heavyweight tournament, but fell victim to a Cole Konrad keylock. He rebounded with a TKO win over Zak Jensen in July, and now he’s ready to do it all over again.
– Ron Sparks is best known for almost fighting Bobby Lashley and being ducked by Ray Mercer. He’s 7-0, with six wins by first round stoppage, and 2-0 under the Bellator banner with victories over Gregory Maynard and Vince Lucero. Sparks will be fighting Mark Holata tomorrow night
Filed under: BellatorAlexis Vila earned by far the biggest victory of his mixed martial arts career when he knocked out Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren in the first round of the promotion’s bantamweight tournament. For Vila, it was an achiev…
Alexis Vila earned by far the biggest victory of his mixed martial arts career when he knocked out Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren in the first round of the promotion’s bantamweight tournament. For Vila, it was an achievement that had special meaning because of everything he’s been through on his way to making his mark in MMA, at the age of 40.
Vila was a bronze medalist in wrestling at the 1996 Olympics, when he represented his native Cuba. A year later he defected to the United States and began exploring the possibility of becoming a professional fighter — but that process was nearly derailed when he was sent to prison for three years after what he says was an accident, but the authorities labeled a terrorist act.
In an appearance on The MMA Hour, Vila described how his prison experience motivated him to make something of himself in MMA.
“I was in prison for three years,” Vila said. “It’s no good. I’m a little guy so people who don’t know me try things all the time. So I fought a lot. They didn’t believe that I could fight. I said when I get out and I fight I’m going to be the champ.”
In 2004 Vila crashed his SUV into a crowded terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. No one was hurt, and Vila has always maintained that it was simply an accident. But authorities initially believed Vila had committed a terrorist act, and charged Vila with committing airport violence, a felony that could have put him in prison for 20 years. He eventually pleaded guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Even before that incident, Vila had been through a lot. He still struggles with his decision to leave his family and his country behind in 1997.
“My dad is really sick over there but there’s nothing I can do. I can only send money, not visit,” Vila said. “I tell my mom, I send money so you guys can have a better life.”
If Vila wins his next two fights and is crowned the Bellator tournament champion, he’ll have a lot more money to send back home. After all he’s been through, that’s what motivates Vila.
Alexis Vila earned by far the biggest victory of his mixed martial arts career when he knocked out