Tag: Breaking News

The final match on the televised portion of Bellator 43 was the welterweight tournament final match-up between Rick Hawn (11-0) of Dracut, MA and Jay Hieron (21-4) of Las Vegas, NV.

Not only does the winner of this match get a $100,000 pay day, but they will also get a shot at Ben Askren for the Bellator welterweight title.

After a 14 month layoff, Hieron was looking to win his third fight in two months.

Hawn, the US Olympian, was looking to keep his perfect professional record in tact.

The first round started with both fighters landing some very good strikes. Hieron was able to move, slip Hawn’s punches, and land counter punches with relative ease.

Midway through the first round, it appeared Hieron had found his groove, as he began to pick apart Hawn. This continued until the bell rang to end the round.

Round two began right where round one left off. While Hawn was landing a higher percentage of his strikes than he did in the first round, it was Hieron who was landing the cleaner, harder punches.

At the midway point of the round, Hawn landed a punch that appeared to drop Hieron. It was unclear if it was the punch or if Hieron slipped. but after landing that punch, Hawn’s confidence went noticeably up and he began to charge forward more and punch with bad intentions.

The last minute of the round saw both fighters throwing bombs at each other, before Hieron got a very brief takedown as the round came to a close.

As round three began, Hawn looked to be the the more energized of the two fighters. While Hieron was throwing his unorthodox strikes, it was Hawn that was landing the better punches.

Hawn continued to push forward, landing his jab and right hand, while Hieron would hand a strike here and there. This trend continued for the duration of the final round.

Official result—Jay Hieron def Rick Hawn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Hieron will move on to fight Ben Askren at a date to be announced and moves his record 22-4. Rick Hawn drops to 11-1.

Bryan Baker successful in second comeback fight; earns second round TKO victory.

The third match of the evening put Bellator season two middleweight tournament finalist Bryan Baker (14-2) of West Covina, CA against the UFC veteran Joe Riggs (34-12) of Phoenix, AZ.

Baker is a very inspirational figure in the sport of MMA. He was diagnosed with leukemia last year, yet he continued to fight on. After going through chemo therapy, Baker made a successful return to the cage, earning a victory over Jeremy Horn.

Now, Baker’s leukemia is in full remission, and he is back to 100 percent.

After a touch of gloves, Baker and Riggs began the felling out process. Both fighters showed respect for the others striking prowess as not much happened for the first two minutes, until Baker landed an accidental low blow on Riggs. 

As the round went on, the crowd became restless because of the lack of action. Around three and a half minutes in to the first round, Baker landed a flying knee, which up until that point of the fight was the most significant strike of the round.

After throwing a high kick was was barely blocked by Riggs, Baker began to open up more with his strikes. As the round came to an end, Baker went for a flying knee, and Riggs landed a counter right that stunned Baker as the bell rang to end the round.

The second round started off just as slowly as the first. For the first minute, both fighters just circled each other, much to the dismay of the crowd. Riggs finally opened up and landed a pair of body punches.

Baker finally pressed the action and ate a pair of right hooks for his efforts. Baker threw another flying knee that missed, but then secured the clinch and landed some big knees to Riggs’ midsection.

After an unsuccessful takedown attempt, Baker started to get tagged more and more by Riggs’s counters. That was until Baker landed a flush left hook to Riggs’ jaw that put him down and out.

Baker could have landed more punches before the referee finally stepped in to stop the fight, but Baker decided against it as he realized Riggs was done. 

Official result—Bryan Baker def Joe Riggs via TKO at 3:53 of round three.

During the post fight interview, Baker proposed to his girlfriend in the cage. Thankfully, she said yes.

Baker improves his record to 15-2, and Riggs falls to 34-15.

Chase Bebbe wins qualifier match; earns spot in Bellator’s season five bantamweight tournament.

The second bout of the MTV2 televised portion of the event pitted Jose Vega (9-4) of Knob Noster, MO against Chase Bebbe (17-7) of Chicago, IL.

In Bellator’s season three bantamweight tournament, Vega made his way to the semi-finals before being defeated by Ed West.

Chase Bebbe, the former WEC bantamweight champion, was looking to make an impressive debut in Bellator.

The winner of this match would punch their ticket to Bellator’s season five bantamweight tournament.

The round started off with the fighters exchanging in center cage. Vega landed some heavy kicks to Bebbe’s lead leg, and Bebbe landed some nice punches.

Vega was able to defend against two guillotine choke attempts by Bebbe before they once again started to trade punches. Bebbe showed that he was the more technical striker before taking Vega to the ground.

Vega was able to get the fight back to the standing position after a brief ground struggle. Once again, Bebbe went for another guillotine choke. This time, he jumped guard and forced Vega to tap.

Official Result—Chase Bebbe defeats Jose Vega at 4:06 of round one via submission (guillotine choke).

Chase Bebbe improves to 18-7 and earns a spot in Bellator’s season five bantamweight tournament. Jose Vega drops to 9-5.