Daniel Straus hasn’t had an easy road back to active mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Straus, who is the reigning Bellator featherweight champion, hasn’t fought since Nov. 2015. He will meet Patricio Freire for the fourth time on April 21 in the main event of Bellator 178. Straus’ last bout was a unanimous decision win […]
Daniel Straus hasn’t had an easy road back to active mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Straus, who is the reigning Bellator featherweight champion, hasn’t fought since Nov. 2015. He will meet Patricio Freire for the fourth time on April 21 in the main event of Bellator 178. Straus’ last bout was a unanimous decision win […]
Forget a trilogy, Daniel Straus and Patricio Freire are doing battle for a fourth time. During a press conference, Bellator announced a fourth bout between featherweight champion Straus and “Pitbull.” The title match-up will headline Bellator 178 on April 21 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Straus last competed back in Nov. 2015. […]
Forget a trilogy, Daniel Straus and Patricio Freire are doing battle for a fourth time. During a press conference, Bellator announced a fourth bout between featherweight champion Straus and “Pitbull.” The title match-up will headline Bellator 178 on April 21 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Straus last competed back in Nov. 2015. […]
While it’s going to take a ton of time and effort, there are some signs that Bellator MMA can even the playing field with the UFC in the sport of MMA. With signings such as Chael Sonnen, Ralek Gracie, Phil Davis and Rory MacDonald over the past 18-months, Bellator are growing in stature. Many don’t see
While it’s going to take a ton of time and effort, there are some signs that Bellator MMA can even the playing field with the UFC in the sport of MMA.
With signings such as Chael Sonnen, Ralek Gracie, Phil Davis and Rory MacDonald over the past 18-months, Bellator are growing in stature.
Many don’t see a way for the UFC to drop off the #1 promotion spot, especially with the recent $4 billion purchase, but nothing lasts forever. And with fighters speaking out against the world’s biggest MMA promotion left and right, now is the time for Bellator to truly make a move.
Here are five reasons they just may be able to surpass the UFC one day:
5. Viacom’s financial & media power:
As mentioned, the UFC was recently sold for $4.2 billion. It may come as a surprise to some, but Bellator’s owners, Viacom, have a massive finance advantage over the UFC’s new owners, WME/IMG.
Viacom’s profit alone in 2013 was close to $2.5 billion, yes, profit. Bellator has the financial backing that no other MMA company in history has had to go against the UFC. There has been rumors of a Viacom/CBS merger, which could see Bellator’s exposure increase even more with more TV networks and media outlets available to them.
With the right backing from it’s owners, Bellator has the financial and media power to dwarf the UFC. If the mentioned merger happened, we could see shows on Showtime, the former Strikeforce broadcaster.
Bellator came back into our lives in a big way last night, as Bellator 132: “Freire vs. Straus 2” took place at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula, Calif. Scott Coker‘s new beloved baby gave us some pretty wild and disgusted finishes from top-to-bottom, proving the second-best MMA promotion in the world is must-see TV every time.
Not one fight went to a decision on the prelims, and the finishes were downright disgusting. Please don’t watch them with your family, hovered around the tube with Michelina’s for everyone (all Vines/Gifs courtesy of ZombieProphet, after the jump.)
(Photo via Bellator.com)
Bellator came back into our lives in a big way last night, as Bellator 132: “Freire vs. Straus 2″ took place at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula, Calif. Scott Coker‘s new beloved baby gave us some pretty wild and disgusted finishes from top-to-bottom, proving the second-best MMA promotion in the world is must-see TV every time.
Not one fight went to a decision on the prelims, and the finishes were downright disgusting. Please don’t watch them with your family, hovered around the tube with Michelina’s for everyone (all Vines/Gifs courtesy of ZombieProphet).
Preliminary Card
Everett Cummings got the better of Jason Glaza in the lone heavyweight bout of the night, scoring a technical submission win via rear naked choke:
Dustin Jacoby will probably need to fine tune his grappling game before entering the Bellator cage again, since the Glory fighter fell victim to a rear-naked choke, courtesy of UFC alumni John Salter:
Chris Herrera nearly murdered Luc Bondole with an early knockout of the year candidate, thanks to the latter walking into the fiesty middleweight’s brutal combo:
Also winning by knockout, Steve Kozola torched Jonathan Rivera with some brutal shots in the second round to win their lightweight contest:
And finally, in one of the more grotesque images you’re going to see this weekend, Albert Morales scored a rear-naked choke over Fabian Gonzalez, and the victim was forced to tap while wearing the crimson mask and blood gushed out of his face:
Main Card
In the main event, Patricio Freire retained his featherweight title in a rematch against Daniel Straus, defending it for the first time since besting Pat Curran at Bellator 123. It was a pretty odd fight, with a handful of nut shots, an eyepoke, and some wild occurences, but “Pitbull” was able to keep the gold with a fourth-round rear naked choke …
…but that came with a price.
Oh, and here’s a bad low blow, followed by some ground and pound.
In his second Bellator stint, former WSOF featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan made this MMA stuff look easy, choking out Bubba Jenkins with a guillotine and secured a title shot in his next bout. Herb Dean’s officiating was pretty alarming, to say the least.
Also on the main card, Virgil Zwicker defeated Houston Alexander, and Fernando Gonzalez beat Marius Zaromskis, yet we’d much rather show you a Kimbo Slice hype promo.
Bellator 132 quick results:
Main Card
Patricio Freire def. Daniel Straus via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:49 of R4
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bubba Jenkins via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 1:49 of R1
Virgil Zwicker def. Houston Alexander via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Fernando Gonzalez def. Marius Zaromskis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Everett Cummings def. Jason Glaza via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:55 of R2
John Salter def. Dustin Jacoby via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:33 of R2
Steve Kozola def. Jonathan Rivera via knockout (punches) at 1:25 of R2
Derek Anderson def. Danny Navarro via TKO (punches) at 3:51 of R3
Albert Morales def. Fabian Gonzalez via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:12 of R2
Chris Herrera def. Luc Bondole via knockout (punches) at 3:21 of R2
Bellator 127 was arguably the weakest card on paper of the season so far. Still, it had some decent fights on it and some good action. For a free fight card, it was certainly worth the watch.
Of note on the prelims, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated an overmatched jobber in Malik Merad. Here’s a GIF of the finish (this GIF and others in the post via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
Bellator 127 was arguably the weakest card on paper of the season so far. Still, it had some decent fights on it and some good action. For a free fight card, it was certainly worth the watch.
Of note on the prelims, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated an overmatched jobber in Malik Merad. Here’s a GIF of the finish (this GIF and others in the post via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
In the main card opener, Christian M’Pumbu faced Kendall Grove. This was M’Pumbu’s first fight at middleweight and it went poorly. The first round was five minutes of wall-and-stall for the most part. In the second, Grove managed to get M’Pumbu’s back during a quick scramble and sunk in a rear naked choke.
The next match featured Rafael Silva against Rob Emerson. Silva laid and prayed his way to a decision win. There was nothing notable or impressive about this fight save for Emerson’s uncanny resemblance to Doug Marshall.
Karo Parisyan met Fernando Gonzalez in the co-main event. This fight wasn’t competitive. Gonzalez hurt a sluggish Parisyan early with a hook and then landed some brutal follow-up ground and pound over the course of the next minute to put Parisyan away.
Then came the main event. Justin Wilcox fought Daniel Straus. This one didn’t last long. Straus clipped Wilcox early with a left hand, face-planting him. After a few more punches, the fight was called.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Daniel Straus def. Justin Wilcox via KO (punches), round 1, 0:50.
Fernando Gonzalez def. Karo Parisyan via TKO (punches), round 1, 1:43.
Rafael Silva def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Kendall Grove def. Christian M’Pumbu via submission (rear naked choke), round 2, 4:14.
Preliminary Card
Ray Sloan def. Nick Moghaddam via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Saad Awad def. Sergio Rios via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x 2)
Thierry Sokoudjou def. Malik Merad via TKO, round 2, 4:04.
Keith Berry def. Joe Pacheco via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ricky Rainey def. Johnny Cisneros via KO, first round, 3:18.
Justin Baesman def. Johnny Mercurio via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Injury considerably dimmed Bellator 112’s star power, with War Machine and Joe Riggs withdrawing from the season 10 welterweight tournament due to injury (as well as Mark Scanlon but he’s not as high profile). We received unheralded fighters Nathan Coy, Cristiano Souza, and Paul Bradley.
Still, the card’s main event featured a featherweight title rematch between champion Daniel Straus and challenger Pat Curran, making it worth the investment of time.
But was the rest of the card worthwhile? Read our main card recap and decide for yourself.
Injury considerably dimmed Bellator 112′s star power, with War Machine and Joe Riggs withdrawing from the season 10 welterweight tournament due to injury (as well as Mark Scanlon but he’s not as high profile). We received unheralded fighters Nathan Coy, Cristiano Souza, and Paul Bradley.
Still, the card’s main event featured a featherweight title rematch between champion Daniel Straus and challenger Pat Curran, making it worth the investment of time.
But was the rest of the card worthwhile? Read our main card recap and decide for yourself.
Jesse Juarez vs. Adam McDonough
In the first round, McDonough landed a stiff knee to Juarez’s head after a brief feeling out period. Juarez, however, had presence of mind enough to take McDonough down off the knee strike. After a few minutes, Juarez advanced to mount and nearly secured an arm triangle choke. McDonough defended. The two fighters briefly rose to their feet. McDonough reversed a Juarez takedown and mounted him before transitioning to the back. The round ended with McDonough attempting to lock in a rear naked choke.
The pace was slower in the second round. McDonough again reversed a Juarez takedown and wound up on top, this time in side control. Juarez eventually escaped, and both men resorted to flashy but ineffective striking exchanges. The round ended with McDonough in a sprawl, defending a tepid takedown attempt from a tired Juarez.
The third round was much closer. McDonough landed a takedown early and controlled Juarez on the mat for the first half of the round. Juarez managed to change things though, rising to his feet and then landing two of his own takedowns, after which he nearly took McDonough’s back. He then opted for a guillotine choke, which failed.
Adam McDonough got the nod from the judges in a unanimous decision. He’ll be fighting Nathan Coy (who defeated Paul Bradley in the Bellator 112 prelims) in the next round of the welterweight tournament.
The winner will fight Nathan Coy in the next round of the welterweight tournament semifinals.
Cristiano Souza vs. Sam Oropeza
The fight ended in the first round with KO. Souza botched a lateral drop, bringing Oropeza down on top of him. However, the Brazilian managed to stay calm and rise to his feet…only to be sent to the canvas moments later by a devastating right hook from Oropeza.
He landed a body kick at the start of the fight that floored Burrell. The referee waved it off after a handful of follow-up punches. It was over in under a minute. He’ll be meeting Sam Oropeza in the semifinals.
Daniel Straus (c) vs. Pat Curran
Incredible fight with an incredible finish. After four and a half rounds of back and forth striking exchanges and scrambles on the mat, Pat Curran sunk in a rear naked choke with only seconds remaining in the fight to become the Bellator featherweight champion once again. If you DVR’d the event, you owe it to yourself to watch this fight.
Complete results:
Main Card
Adam McDonough def. Jesse Juarez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sam Oropeza def. Cristiano Souza via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:07
Andrey Koreshkov def. Nah-Shon Burrell via TKO (knee, punches) – Round 1, 0:41
Pat Curran def. Daniel Straus via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 5, 4:46
Preliminary Card
Daniel James def. Erick Correa via submission (strikes) – Round 2, 4:30
Anthony Gomez def. Jason Guida via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Derek Loffer def. Bobby Reradanz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Darrion Caldwell def. Lance Surma via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:50
Belal Muhammad def. A.J. Matthews via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Nathan Coy def. Paul Bradley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
