There are highlight reel KOs and then there are soul-stealing, devastating, Mortal Kombat-fatality level KOs. Diego Nunes‘ victory at Superior Challenge 11 over famed Scandinavian fighter Joachim Hansen is the latter.
There are highlight reel KOs and then there are soul-stealing, devastating, Mortal Kombat-fatality level KOs. Diego Nunes‘ victory at Superior Challenge 11 over famed Scandinavian fighter Joachim Hansen is the latter.
Few knockouts deserve the “BAW GAWD, HE KILLED HIM!” more than this one. Hansen hasn’t been doing great lately. He’s 1-3 over the last four years and hasn’t beaten a significant opponent since a TKO win over Shinya Aoki in 2008. To put that into its proper historic context, the fight took place in DREAM. That’s how long it’s been since Hansen was a factor in the global top-echelon lightweight discussion. His record now stands at 23-13-1.
With the knockout, Nunes breaks a 3-fight losing streak, bringing his record to 19-6.
Bellator is back, but not necessarily in a big way. Bellator 110 saw the more marketable Rampage Jackson and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal prevail, but neither man looked stellar.
What about the rest of the card? The event started off rocky. The first two preliminary bouts ended in unsatisfying no contests—the first due to an accidental illegal knee. The second was the result of an accidental eye poke.
Of note: Daniel Weichel defeated Scott Cleve in the quarterfinal round of Bellator’s season 10 featherweight tournament. He won via submission, though the rear-naked choke was set up by a gorgeous straight right. When Cleve was on the mat, his brains were far too scrambled to adequately prevent Weichel from taking his back and working for the choke. In another prelim quarterfinal bout, Will Martinez upset the highly touted, 21-year-old prospect, Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision. Martinez was stronger and fought a smarter fight. He bullied and smothered Yamauchi, who was stymied by Martinez’s aggression.
The main card kicked off with the third featherweight tournament quarterfinal.
(Photo via Getty)
Bellator is back, but not necessarily in a big way. Bellator 110 saw the more marketable Rampage Jackson and Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal prevail, but neither man looked stellar.
What about the rest of the card? The event started off rocky. The first two preliminary bouts ended in unsatisfying no contests—the first due to an accidental illegal knee. The second was the result of an accidental eye poke.
Of note: Daniel Weichel defeated Scott Cleve in the quarterfinal round of Bellator’s season 10 featherweight tournament. He won via submission, though the rear-naked choke was set up by a gorgeous straight right. When Cleve was on the mat, his brains were far too scrambled to adequately prevent Weichel from taking his back and working for the choke. In another prelim quarterfinal bout, Will Martinez upset the highly touted, 21-year-old prospect, Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision. Martinez was stronger and fought a smarter fight. He bullied and smothered Yamauchi, who was stymied by Martinez’s aggression.
The main card kicked off with the third featherweight tournament quarterfinal. Mike Richman met Des Green. The latter fighter prevailed in a closely contested but ultimately forgettable decision win.
Up next came the fourth and final featherweight tournament quarterfinal bout. Matt Bessette faced off against UFC veteran Diego Nunes . This match was even closer than Richman-Green, and had more entertainment value to boot (head kicks galore, good exchanges, an active guard on display, etc). Bessette walked away with a split decision victory.
The co-main event of the evening featured Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in a light heavyweight tournament semifinal (yes, you read that right. It’s a semifinal; the Bellator season 10 LHW tourney only has four fights) against Mikhail Zayats. This was by far the worst fight of the night. King Mo was expected to thrash Zayats, but he did no such thing. He gassed early, and never mounted much meaningful offense. Some few-and-far-between strikes and takedown attempts earned King Mo a unanimous decision win. If he shows up like this against Rampage Jackson (yes, even de -motivated 2014 Rampage), he’ll be destroyed—especially since Jackson’s performance was superior to Mo’s.
Jackson fought Christian M’Pumbu in the main event. The fight was awful until Jackson capitalized on M’Pumbu slipping, earning a TKO with ground and pound. How bad was the fight though? Both men literally put their hands down and started shrugging at each other in the first 30 seconds, perplexed at the other’s inactivity. This glorified dance routine continued until the end of the fight (save for one impressive flurry by Jackson).
If the fight was bad, the post-fight hysterics were worse. First, Jackson stood over M’pumbu’s listless body and started shouting at him. After that bit of theater, Jackson interrupted his own post-fight interview to start screaming at King Mo when he was brought into the cage. It got ugly, a bunch of pudgy production guys had to separate the two. It wasn’t quite Strikeforce: Nashville bad but it was close.
Rampage Jackson def. Christian M’Pumbu via KO, 4:34 of round 1
Muhammad Lawal def. Mikhail Zayats via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Matt Bessette def. Diego Nunes via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Desmond Green def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Will Martinez def. Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Daniel Weichel def. Scott Cleve via submission (rear naked choke), 3:46 of round 1
Saul Almeida def. Andrew Fisher via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Egidijus Valavicius def. Atanas Djambazov via KO, 0:48 of round 1
Ryan Quinn de. Andrew Calandrelli via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Manny Lara vs. Josh Diekman, No Contest, 0:18 of round 1
Marvin Maldonado vs. Rico DiSciullo, No Contest, 1:53 of round 1
I have a feeling that most of you degenerate gamblers are going to take this weekend off. And hey, that’s a very logical decision. The TUF: China Finale is packed to the brim with squash matches and unknown prospects, and if you’re the type of person who doesn’t normally watch Bellator or Titan FC, it would be an incredibly stupid risk to throw money down on fighters you barely recognize.
Which is exactly what makes a “Gambling Addiction Enabler” for this weekend’s fights so appropriate. With the UFC hosting an obscure Fight Pass card — and Bellator and Titan FC featuring guys you’ve heard of but aren’t necessarily invested in — only the most hardcore MMA fans and the most hopeless gambling addicts are going to be risking their money on this weekend’s fights. If you fall into either category, we’d be letting you down if we decided not to share our rock-solid (*tries to stop laughing*) gambling advice with you.
It’s hard to disagree with the odds here. Kim has not only faced tougher competition, but he also has the advantage of fighting on his home continent; not exactly a frivolous observation, as Kim himself would be quick to point out. A straight bet on Kim won’t yield an impressive return, but it does make for a low-risk parlay addition.
I have a feeling that most of you degenerate gamblers are going to take this weekend off. And hey, that’s a very logical decision. The TUF: China Finale is packed to the brim with squash matches and unknown prospects, and if you’re the type of person who doesn’t normally watch Bellator or Titan FC, it would be an incredibly stupid risk to throw money down on fighters you barely recognize.
Which is exactly what makes a “Gambling Addiction Enabler” for this weekend’s fights so appropriate. With the UFC hosting an obscure Fight Pass card — and Bellator and Titan FC featuring guys you’ve heard of but aren’t necessarily invested in — only the most hardcore MMA fans and the most hopeless gambling addicts are going to be risking their money on this weekend’s fights. If you fall into either category, we’d be letting you down if we decided not to share our rock-solid (*tries to stop laughing*) gambling advice with you.
It’s hard to disagree with the odds here. Kim has not only faced tougher competition, but he also has the advantage of fighting on his home continent; not exactly a frivolous observation, as Kim himself would be quick to point out. A straight bet on Kim won’t yield an impressive return, but it does make for a low-risk parlay addition.
On paper, Christian M’Pumbu is exactly the type of fighter who Rampage Jackson should have zero problems with — he’s as pure of a kickboxer as you’ll find in a major MMA promotion, who would rather stand and trade haymakers than clinch against the cage. Yet after watching Jackson’s promotional debut against Joey Beltran, Rampage at -450 is not even remotely worth the risk of an upset. Especially when you consider that Bellator is sort-of hoping for Rampage vs. King Mo in the next round of this tournament, which obviously means that at least one of them is destined to lose on Friday night. M’Pumbu at anything over +450 would be worth a $5 for shiggles, but at +360? Move along, people; this fight is in Stay the Hell Away From territory.
I’m surprised that Shawn Jordan isn’t a bigger favorite. Jordan has the better record, the more impressive resume, and better wrestling; he should have zero problems with Matt Mitrione. Honestly, the only advantage that I’m giving to Mitrione is that his body isn’t covered in blatant scratch worthy of a spot on our ugliest tattoos in MMA list. Seriously, person who drew Jordan’s chest/shoulder piece, what the hell?
TUF: China Finale: Hatsu Hioki (-400) vs. Ivan Menjivar (+280) Bellator 110: Mike Richman (-250) vs. Des Green (+190) Bellator 110: Will Martinez (+280) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (-370)
Titan FC 27: Bryan Goldsby (+240) vs. Kevin Croom (-300)
And now we’re entering the squash match portion of the upcoming bouts. Don’t be fooled by Hatsu Hioki’s three-fight losing streak — he has looked unstoppable on Asian soil. Add on that this fight is a must-win for him, and there’s no way that his hand isn’t getting raised on Friday. Over in Bellator, Mike Richman should prove too experienced and well-rounded for Team Bombsquad product Des Green. Goiti Yamauchi is a twenty-one year old grappling ace with thirteen of his sixteen career victories coming via submission — eleven of which coming in the first round — fighting an 8-2 curtain-jerker. The prop that this fight will last less than 1.5 rounds is definitely worth exploring here. Meanwhile, in Titan FC, Kevin “The Hard-Hitting Hillbilly” [Author Note: Not sure if nickname is awesome or terrible] Croom is not only also a fantastic grappler, but he also benefits from fighting a 17-15 journeyman with seven career submission losses. Easy call.
Both Phan and Lee are coming off of losses, but Phan is favored here because he’s an Asian (sort-of) fighting in Asia, I guess. Except, you know, Phan grew up in California, so there is no “fighting on his home continent” advantage here, and Lee has proven that he can win in Asia at this level with his victory over Kid Yamamoto at UFC 144. At +145, a straight bet won’t provide a ton of bang for your buck, but Lee makes for a relatively low risk parlay addition.
“Hey, I’ve actually heard of this guy, so he will win” isn’t exactly a smart betting strategy. This is especially true with Mikhail Zayats; he has won eight of his last ten fights — including a first-round TKO over Babalu — and those two losses come to Emanuel Newton and Vinny Magalhaes. Bessette’s resume is slightly less impressive, but he’s an attractive pick simply due to how inconsistent Diego Nunes has looked recently. Nunes has lost three of his last four fights, and is coming off of a quick, nasty knockout loss to Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 99. Bessette isn’t worth a spot in your parlay, but a straight bet on him is far from the worst way you could spend $5 this weekend.
Stay the Hell Away From
Titan FC 27: Matt Riddle (-180) vs. Michael Kuiper (+150)
Remember our “Who Is the Biggest Waste of Potential in MMA History” roundtable? You can pretty much copy and paste what ReX13 wrote about BJ Penn here for my analysis of this fight. On paper, yes, this is Riddle’s fight to lose. But after a year that has consisted of retirement, unretirement, pulling out of fights, and getting fired from Bellator for Riddle, betting on “Deep Waters” this Friday is just as risky as betting on a post-Sonnen Paulo Filho: He may fight like the elite fighter he is, or he may put in the bare minimum effort needed to collect his paycheck, or he may decide to pull out of the fight at the last minute because, you know, whatever. The bottom line here is that this fight is a crap shoot, and neither fighter offers an attractive enough return on your investment to justify the risk. Just say no.
Suggested Stakes for a $50 Wager
The Ultra-Conservative Approach:
$25 on Kim+Hioki+Ricci parlay (returns $20.44) $20 on Richman+Yamauchi parlay (returns $15.57) $5 on Shawn Jordan (returns $3.70)
In the likely event that all three bets pay off, you’ll earn a total of $39.71 for your efforts.
The Live Dangerously Approach:
$20 on Richman+Yamauchi+Jordan parlay (returns $41.91) $20 on Kim+Zayats parlay (returns $53.29) $5 on Matt Bessette (returns $14.25) $5 on Croom+Lee parlay (returns $11.33)
I once read that the biggest mistake that novice gamblers make is betting not to lose; whether that’s a quote from a book about Nick the Greek or something I read off of the bathroom wall at a gas station casino is irrelevant. With a little luck, this parlay returns $120.78.
The “Whatever, It’s Mardi Gras #YOLO” Approach:
$25 on Hathaway+Bessette+Gurgel (returns $2,169.50) $20 on Lee+Zayats (returns $119.65) $5 on Matt Riddle (returns $2.78)
Semi-Related: It’s common for gambling addicts to find the rush of losing and trying to win back their losses more addictive than actually winning. I figured that was an appropriate disclaimer to use before casually pointing out that this strategy will return $2,291.93. Have a nice day.
(If you think Bellator’s main carders are old, you obviously haven’t checked out their prelims in a while…)
After months of rolling our eyes while trying to make sense of Bellator’s new “sign pretty much anyone the UFC cuts and pray that it boosts our ratings” business model, the ratings for Bellator 99 – the promotion’s first show as The MMA Senior Circuit – are finally in.
Now, how you chose to interpret these numbers depends entirely on who you feel like being cynical towards this afternoon.
(If you think Bellator’s main carders are old, you obviously haven’t checked out their prelims in a while…)
After months of rolling our eyes while trying to make sense of Bellator’s new “sign pretty much anyone the UFC cuts and pray that it boosts our ratings” business model, the ratings for Bellator 99 – the promotion’s first show as The MMA Senior Circuit – are finally in.
Now, how you chose to interpret these numbers depends entirely on who you feel like being cynical towards this afternoon.
– On one hand, you can view the ratings boost as a sign that UFC veterans like Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander – despite being well past their sell-by dates – can still draw in the casual MMA fans, simply because they’re guys that the casual fans have actually heard of. You can’t have two nobodies headline an event and then act surprised when the casual fans don’t tune in – even if said nobodies are two of the best non-Zuffa middleweights on the planet. Perhaps the same way that signing David Beckham caused casual sports fans to take Major League Soccer seriously, the UFC castoffs will get causal MMA fans to consider Bellator a worthy alternative to the UFC. Make that we as human beings value namerecognition more than talent and potential whatever you will.
– On the other hand, if you only feel like being cynical towards Bellator instead of humanity in general, you can point out that Bellator 99 didn’t have nearly as much competition as Bellator 98 did. Bellator 98 had to compete against NCAA Football and NASCAR (don’t laugh, it’s true) for the casual sports fans’ attention. With that in mind, can we really pin Bellator’s improved ratings on Diego “I once lost to KenFlo you remember that right?” Nunes?
It’ll be interesting to track how guys like Cheick Kongo, John Alessio and Paul Sass move the needle for Bellator, but until then, what do you think affected Bellator’s ratings more?
It would be a shame if we only remembered last night’s Bellator 99 as the first night of the promotion’s transformation into The UFC Senior Circuit, but honestly, there wasn’t much to write about on the main card of last night’s fights. So let’s start off on a positive note and talk about the main event.
In the main event of the evening, Bellator’s homegrown prospect Patricio Pitbull (Patricio Freire if you want to get technical) make very short work of Diego Nunes. The usually aggressive Pitbull was cautious during the bout, opting to wait for Nunes to lunge at him. The inevitable happened just over seventy seconds into their fight, and Pitbull made “The Gun” pay dearly for doing so. Pitbull not only improves to 19-2 in his professional MMA career, but now he also holds a victory over a guy that the casual MMA fan may have actually heard of – something that leads me to believe that Bellator’s “Sign Ex-UFC Fighters Who Won’t Challenge for the Title” business model may not be as foolish as most of us are making it out to be.
In fact, I’d be willing to write an Unsupportable Opinion piece based around that last sentence…if it weren’t for the gigantic waste of time that was the clash between Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander. Believe it or not, the fight between the forty-something ex-UFC gatekeepers was worse than you were expecting it to be. Probably not “Worst Fight of the Year” at this year’s Potato Awards bad, but it’ll certainly be included in the discussion. View at your own risk after the jump.
(Patricio Pitbull Vs. Diego Nunes.)
It would be a shame if we only remembered last night’s Bellator 99 as the first night of the promotion’s transformation into The UFC Senior Circuit, but honestly, there wasn’t much to write about on the main card of last night’s fights. So let’s start off on a positive note and talk about the main event.
In the main event of the evening, Bellator’s homegrown prospect Patricio Pitbull (Patricio Freire if you want to get technical) make very short work of Diego Nunes. The usually aggressive Pitbull was cautious during the bout, opting to wait for Nunes to lunge at him. The inevitable happened just over seventy seconds into their fight, and Pitbull made “The Gun” pay dearly for doing so. Pitbull not only improves to 19-2 in his professional MMA career, but now he also holds a victory over a guy that the casual MMA fan may have actually heard of – something that leads me to believe that Bellator’s “Sign Ex-UFC Fighters Who Won’t Challenge for the Title” business model may not be as foolish as most of us are making it out to be.
In fact, I’d be willing to write an Unsupportable Opinion piece based around that last sentence…if it weren’t for the gigantic waste of time that was the clash between Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander. Believe it or not, the fight between the forty-something ex-UFC gatekeepers was worse than you were expecting it to be. Probably not “Worst Fight of the Year” at this year’s Potato Awards bad, but it’ll certainly be included in the discussion. View at your own risk after the jump.
Also of note, Blagoy Ivanov returned to action on the preliminary card last night. Ivanov, who was the victim of an assault that nearly killed him last February, only needed seventy-seven seconds to choke out Manny Lara during their bout. Ivanov had the potential to make an impact on Bellator’s heavyweight division, and judging by his performance last night, hasn’t lost a step despite spending so much time away from the sport.
Full Results
Main Card
Patricio Freire def. Diego Nunes via KO (punches), 1.19 of Round One
Fabricio Guerreiro def. Des Green via unanimous decision
Vladimir Matyushenko def. Houston Alexander via unanimous decision
Justin Wilcox def. Akop Stepanyan via submission (rear-naked choke), 2.20 of Round Two
Joe Taimanglo def. Andrew Fisher via unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
Virgil Zwicker def. Nick Moghaddam via TKO (punches)
Blagoi Ivanov def. Manny Lara via submission (guillotine), 1:17 of Round One
Goiti Yamauchi def. Musa Toliver via submission (rear-naked choke), 1.01 of Round One
Gavin Sterritt def. Andy Murad via split decision
Hector Ramirez def. Savo Kosic via unanimous decision
During the summer, Bellator signed a number of new fighters that will make their promotional debuts during season nine, and we wanted to highlight a few of these hungry young prospects that fans should keep an eye on starting with tonight’s event in Temecula, California.
So, without further ado, here are nine Bellator prospects to watch out for during this coming season of fights.
The first fighter to keep an eye on this season is veteran John Alessio, who has been fighting professionally since 1998. After making his name as a top prospect fighting for SuperBrawl in Hawaii, the UFC fed Alessio to the sharks when, at just 20 years of age, he fought Pat Miletich for the UFC welterweight title. And while Alessio would get tapped out in just 1:43 and leave the UFC immediately afterwards, he returned in 2006 and fought both Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves, losing to both and losing his spot on the roster again. Never perturbed, Alessio then carved out a solid run in the WEC, MFC, Dream, and a few other promotions to get yet another crack in the Octagon in 2012, but after losing to Mark Bocek and Shane Roller — becoming the only fighter in UFC history to go 0-5 — he was cut for good. Bellator then picked him up and he’s been installed as a participant in the season nine lightweight tournament. Winning it, he says, is his destiny.
During the summer, Bellator signed a number of new fighters that will make their promotional debuts during season nine, and we wanted to highlight a few of these hungry young prospects that fans should keep an eye on starting with tonight’s event in Temecula, California.
So, without further ado, here are nine Bellator prospects to watch out for during this coming season of fights.
The first fighter to keep an eye on this season is veteran John Alessio, who has been fighting professionally since 1998. After making his name as a top prospect fighting for SuperBrawl in Hawaii, the UFC fed Alessio to the sharks when, at just 20 years of age, he fought Pat Miletich for the UFC welterweight title. And while Alessio would get tapped out in just 1:43 and leave the UFC immediately afterwards, he returned in 2006 and fought both Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves, losing to both and losing his spot on the roster again. Never perturbed, Alessio then carved out a solid run in the WEC, MFC, Dream, and a few other promotions to get yet another crack in the Octagon in 2012, but after losing to Mark Bocek and Shane Roller — becoming the only fighter in UFC history to go 0-5 — he was cut for good. Bellator then picked him up and he’s been installed as a participant in the season nine lightweight tournament. Winning it, he says, is his destiny.
Another UFC veteran to look out for this season is Paul Sass, the British submission wizard who was picked up by Bellator after two-straight losses in the Octagon, although his 3-2 overall UFC record wasn’t too bad. Sass, in my opinion, was cut far too early by the UFC as he was one of the best submission guys in the entire 155-pound division and seemed to be coming along a bit with his striking. Although Bellator’s lightweight division is very good, I do believe that Sass had it rougher in the UFC’s 155-pound shark tank and so I expect him to pick up some nice undercard wins in Bellator and then maybe get a shot in a future lightweight tournament.
Vladimir Matyushenko, who at 42 years and eight months old is almost the oldest fighter on the Bellator roster, was cut by the UFC earlier this year after a 4-3 second run in the Octagon that culminated with back-to-back stoppage losses to Ryan Bader and Alexander Gustafsson. Not too long after, Bellator reached out to the former IFL light-heavyweight champion and he signed a deal with the promotion. According to Matyushenko, he still has something left in the tank and wants to prove it to both himself and to the fans in the circled Bellator cage tonight at Bellator 99. The Janitor will be making his promotional debut against Houston Alexander, with the winner of the fight getting an immediate shot against Keith Jardine (just kidding about the Jardine part).
As stated above, Alexander recently signed with Bellator after two-straight wins on the regional circuit and the 41-year-old will take on Matyushenko in a battle of two hard hitters who have been knocked out a combined nine times. Something tells me that one of these two men is going to wake up to a doctor’s flashlight – or maybe even both will, for the rare double KO – and, in a fight between two fighters with a combined age of 83, it wouldn’t be surprising if this match marks the end of one or both of these fighters’ careers. Or, maybe they’ll just keep dragging along. Isn’t 40 supposed to be the new 25?
I had no idea until I was looking through the official Bellator roster (forgive me, I don’t do it often) that they recently signed Mighty Mo, who is currently on an eight-fight losing streak in kickboxing, turns 43 next month, and is most fondly remembered in MMA for getting kicked in the groin by Josh Barnett and then getting to return the favor after the fight back in DREAM. Mo, who is just 3-2 in mixed martial arts competition, hasn’t fought in MMA in over three years, and I’m puzzled why Bellator signed him. I guess they were impressed by his knockout of Ruben “Warpath” Villareal back at Dynamite!!! USA in 2007 – his last win in MMA – and think he has the power to cause problems in the Bellator heavyweight division. Truth be told, he can still probably compete with guys like Ron Sparks and Rich Hale, and he could definitely be involved in some sloppy, groin-shot-filled Bellator heavyweight bouts in the near future.
On the next page:A legit featherweight contender, and some big names you love to hate.
