The whistling of Conor McGregor‘s hypetrain heading into UFC 178 made it easy to forget about Bellator 126. However, as always, CagePotato has you covered with a Bellator recap post.
Here’s a rundown of the fight card, with GIFs courtesy @ZProphet_MMA.
In the opener, Mike Richman knocked Ed West OUT COLD. Richman had control of the stand-up throughout the fight. He masterfully cut off the cage, forcing West to literally run from him at points. Late in the first round, West couldn’t run anymore. Richman landed a massive two-punch combo while West was against the cage that sucked the life out of him. See the GIF after the jump.
The whistling of Conor McGregor‘s hypetrain heading into UFC 178 made it easy to forget about Bellator 126. However, as always, CagePotato has you covered with a Bellator recap post.
In the opener, Mike Richman knocked Ed West OUT COLD. Richman had control of the stand-up throughout the fight. He masterfully cut off the cage, forcing West to literally run from him at points. Late in the first round, West couldn’t run anymore. Richman landed a massive two-punch combo while West was against the cage that sucked the life out of him.
Then came wrestling standout Bubba Jenkins against Thiago Meller. The fight was all Jenkins, who lived up to his grinder reputation and smothered Meller for the full 15 minutes of the fight. But it wasn’t just “lay and pray.” Jenkins punished Meller throughout the fight, making his face look like hamburger meat. Meller, to his credit, almost caught a guillotine a couple times. The Z-man (that’s what we’re calling him now) didn’t post any GIFs of this fight.
In the co-main event famed Polish prospect Marcin Held met Bellator mainstay Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in the next fight. Held put on an incredible performance. Save for a couple minutes in the first round, Held controlled the entire fight. Held’s wrestling always seemed to be deficient in his last few fights, but his improvements in that area were apparent as he took down Freire repeatedly. Once the fight went to the ground, Held maintained dominant positions and controlled the scrambles. He even opened up a nice cut underneath Freire’s eye. He won a unanimous decision win. Check out the GIF of an insane takedown he landed in the first round:
The main event was a title bout between middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko and challenger Brandon Halsey. It was the least competitive bout of the night. Halsey dragged Shlemenko to the mat, took his back, and choked him out in under a minute. If MMA were Mortal Kombat, this would be a “Flawless Victory.”
Here are the complete results of the card:
Main Card
Brandon Halsey def. Alexander Shlemenko via submission (rear naked choke), Round 1, 0:35.
Marcin Held def. Patricky Freire via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26).
Bubba Jenkins def. Thiago Meller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Mike Richman def. Ed West via KO (punches), Round 1, 2:44.
Preliminary Card
LaRue Burley def. Raymond Pina via submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 0:22.
Clifford Starks def. Jacob Ortiz via technical submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 0:52.
Nick Rossborough def. Ryan Martinez via TKO (injury), Round 1, 5:00.
Joe Taimanglo def. Michael Parker via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
Dan Charles def. Stuart Austin via knockout (punches), Round 3, 0:18.
Derek Campos def. Estevan Payan via knockout (punch), Round 1, 0:31.
Brandon Girtz def. Benny Madrid via TKO (punches), Round 1, 0:57.
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.
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. NickGonzalez 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
Before I even begin to analyze this card, let’s get a few things out of the way: No, there were not as many decisions on this card as last week’s smothering performances; the main event ended by submission. No, the card overall was not comparable to a ProElite event, although there was a light sparring session thrown in with the fights that we could have done without. Simply put, the main card of Bellator 65 brought a lot of decisions, but was overall an entertaining event.
The evening kicked off with the opening bouts of the season six bantamweight tournament. The first bout saw Marcos Galvao outwork Ed West on his way to a unanimous decision victory. West attempted to keep Galvao outside with kicks throughout the fight, but Galvao was able to consistently take West down and avoid submission attempts. When the fight would find its way back to the feet, Marcos Galvao threw flying knees and hard rights to win over the judges, 30-27 on all scorecards.
As for the other opening bout of the bantamweight tournament- it happened. That’s about all there is to say about Luis Nogueira vs. Alexis Vila. In a fight that saw very little action, Nogueira managed to avoid Vila’s wild strikes throughout the first round and take Vila’s back. And that’s about it; neither fighter landed anything of significance for the rest of the bout, although Vila was more active than Nogueira for the rest of the fight. Controversial decision? If there was more action, maybe. But since Vila’s offensive output was equally non-existent, it’s hard to say that either fighter deserved a victory.
Before I even begin to analyze this card, let’s get a few things out of the way: No, there were not as many decisions on this card as last week’s smothering performances; the main event ended by submission. No, the card overall was not comparable to a ProElite event, although there was a light sparring session thrown in with the fights that we could have done without. Simply put, the main card of Bellator 65 brought a lot of decisions, but was overall an entertaining event.
The evening kicked off with the opening bouts of the season six bantamweight tournament. The first bout saw Marcos Galvao outwork Ed West on his way to a unanimous decision victory. West attempted to keep Galvao outside with kicks throughout the fight, but Galvao was able to consistently take West down and avoid submission attempts. When the fight would find its way back to the feet, Marcos Galvao threw flying knees and hard rights to win over the judges, 30-27 on all scorecards.
As for the other opening bout of the bantamweight tournament- it happened. That’s about all there is to say about Luis Nogueira vs. Alexis Vila. In a fight that saw very little action, Nogueira managed to avoid Vila’s wild strikes throughout the first round and take Vila’s back. And that’s about it; neither fighter landed anything of significance for the rest of the bout, although Vila was more active than Nogueira for the rest of the fight. Controversial decision? If there was more action, maybe. But since Vila’s offensive output was equally non-existent, it’s hard to say that either fighter deserved a victory.
In the featherweight tournament semifinals, Daniel Straus picked up a unanimous decision over Mike Corey, despite having Corey in danger early and often throughout the fight. Mike Corey fought zombie-style against Straus, walking through Straus’ offense in an attempt to bring the fight to the ground. Straus was clearly tired and frustrated by the end of the fight, spitting out his mouthpiece in an effort to buy time.
This isn’t to say that Straus didn’t impress; as hard as Corey worked for the takedown, he was only successful with one takedown attempt. Straus improves to 5-1 in Bellator and 19-4 overall with the victory.
In the evening’s main event, Eduardo Dantas proved his legitimacy in the bantamweight division with a dominant victory over bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky. Makovsky found early success with his takedowns, yet was unable to do much of anything in Dantas’ guard. Meanwhile, Dantas had Makovsky looking timid on his feet, catching the champion with hard kicks throughout the opening frame.
Dantas continued to press the action in the second round, capitalizing on a Makovsky takedown with a reversal and eventually mounting the champion. Once Dantas earned full mount, the fight was all but over. Dantas set up an arm-triangle choke that put Makovsky to sleep, winning the bantamweight title. Dantas improves to 14-2 overall, including a 4-0 run in Bellator.
One final note: Lyman Good has qualified for next season’s welterweight tournament. Rather than attempt to describe his fight, let’s just show you the video. It won’t take long.
Full Results:
Main Card
Eduardo Dantas def. Zach Makovsky via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:26
Daniel Straus def. Mike Corey via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) featherweight-tournament semifinal
Luis Nogueira def. Alexis Vila via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – bantamweight-tournament opening round
Marcos Galvao def. Ed West via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight-tournament opening round
Preliminary Card
Duane Bastress def. Plinio Cruz via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:52
Will Martinez def. Terrell Hobbs via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:13
Scott Heckman def. Lester Caslow via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:40 Kris McCray def. Ailton Barbosa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lyman Good def. LeVon Maynard via KO (punch) – Round 1, 0:13 – welterweight-tournament qualifier
E.J. Brooks def. Mikhail Malyutin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Vila vs. Galvao, part one. Part two is after the jump. All videos in this post via YouTube.com/BFCLUB
Last night’s Bellator 55 in Yuma, Arizona, didn’t have the quick finishes of last week’s card, but still left fans in attendance with some interesting, if not controversial, fights. In case you couldn’t tell by the headline, the bantamweight tournament semifinals gave us Eduardo Dantas vs. Alexis Vila as the bantamweight tournament finale. Yet both fights seemed to involve controversial decisions made by the judges.
In the main event of the evening, WEC veteran Marcos Galvao took on Alexis Vila, who you may remember as the guy that practically zombified Joe Warren in the bantamweight quarterfinals. In an extremely fast paced fight, Galvao seemed to land more strikes, and as the fight went on, stuff Vila’s takedown attempts. However, the strikes that Vila landed seemed much harder. The judges gave the fight to Alexis Vila, which warranted boos from those in attendance. Watch the fight and judge for yourself whether or not the boos were justifiable.
Vila vs. Galvao, part one. Part two is after the jump. All videos in this post via YouTube.com/BFCLUB
Last night’s Bellator 55 in Yuma, Arizona, didn’t have the quick finishes of last week’s card, but still left fans in attendance with some interesting, if not controversial, fights. In case you couldn’t tell by the headline, the bantamweight tournament semifinals gave us Eduardo Dantas vs. Alexis Vila as the bantamweight tournament finale. Yet both fights seemed to involve controversial decisions made by the judges.
In the main event of the evening, WEC veteran Marcos Galvao took on Alexis Vila, who you may remember as the guy that practically zombified Joe Warren in the bantamweight quarterfinals. In an extremely fast paced fight, Galvao seemed to land more strikes, and as the fight went on, stuff Vila’s takedown attempts. However, the strikes that Vila landed seemed much harder. The judges gave the fight to Alexis Vila, which warranted boos from those in attendance. Watch the fight and judge for yourself whether or not the boos were justifiable.
Vila vs. Galvao, part two.
Likewise, Eduardo Dundas stayed very active, pushing the pace for the entire fight during his bout with season three bantamweight tournament finalist Ed West. Dundas ended up getting the decision, but one judge saw the fight for West. We have yet to confirm whether or not that judge confused West with Dundas. And yes, we have videos below so you can judge for yourself.
Also of note, Bellator Light-heavyweight Champion Christian M’Pumbu was involved in a non-title fight with YAMMA Pit Fighting champion Travis Wiuff. M’Pumbu, who doesn’t cut weight for his fights, spent the first two rounds on his back, being overpowered by the much larger Wiuff. While M’Pumbu managed to almost finish Wiuff in the third round, it wasn’t enough, as Wiuff defeated M’Pumbu. While Travis Wiuff doesn’t get the title for his efforts, it’s safe to say the man has earned a spot in next season’s light-heavyweight tournament. This marks the first non-title superfight in Bellator where the champion has lost to the challenger. Also, lightweight prospect RicardoTirloni earned the main card’s only finish by quickly choking out Steve Gable. Tirloni improves to 14-1 with the victory.
MAIN CARD (MTV2):
Alexis Vila def. Marcos Galvao by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Eduardo Dantas def. Ed West by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Travis Wiuff def. Christian M’Pumbu by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Ricardo Tirloni def. Steve Gable by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 2 (3:54)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com):
Richard Hale def. Carlos Flores by knockout (punch) Rd 1 (:18)
Kobe Ortiz def. Edgar Garcia by knockout (punch) Rd 1 (4:06)
Erin Beach def. Roscoe Jackson by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1 (3:52)
Jade Porter def. Nick Piedmont by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Steve Steinbeiss def. Dano Moore by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1 (4:52)
Above is the decidedly high-def looking promo for Bellator’s fifth season, kicking off on September 10th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I mention the spiffyness of the visuals because one of the few complaints that I’ve ever leveled at BFC is the standard definition broadcasting. When the trailer was released a few weeks ago, I honestly thought it was just a little accidental irony.
Nope. A couple of days ago, it was announced that Bellator season five tournaments will be broadcast in HD baby! Now go dig out your cable programming guide and try to determine if you have EPIX. I’ve never heard of it, but apparently it’s an actual channel somewhere, so I’m going to call DISH Network and start offering them money until they can confirm that I’ll see Bellator in 1080p.
If you’re not excited about the upcoming season, watch that video again. You may not realize it, but that’s Bruce Lee talking about being like water. It’s some deep philosophical type shit, and it’s pretty much him guaranteeing that he’s going to join a tournament and wreck shop. Seeing the founder of Jeet Kun Do step away from his acting career and FINALLY step into the cage is going to be sick, and I’m looking forward to putting an end to all that speculation about how good he’d be.
(For an actual preview of two of the four planned tournaments this season, come on in past the jump.)
Above is the decidedly high-def looking promo for Bellator’s fifth season, kicking off on September 10th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I mention the spiffyness of the visuals because one of the few complaints that I’ve ever leveled at BFC is the standard definition broadcasting. When the trailer was released a few weeks ago, I honestly thought it was just a little accidental irony.
Nope. A couple of days ago, it was announced that Bellator season five tournaments will be broadcast in HD baby! Now go dig out your cable programming guide and try to determine if you have EPIX. I’ve never heard of it, but apparently it’s an actual channel somewhere, so I’m going to call DISH Network and start offering them money until they can confirm that I’ll see Bellator in 1080p.
If you’re not excited about the upcoming season, watch that video again. You may not realize it, but that’s Bruce Lee talking about being like water. It’s some deep philosophical type shit, and it’s pretty much him guaranteeing that he’s going to join a tournament and wreck shop. Seeing the founder of Jeet Kun Do step away from his acting career and FINALLY step into the cage is going to be sick, and I’m looking forward to putting an end to all that speculation about how good he’d be.
(For an actual preview of two of the four planned tournaments this season, come on in past the jump.)
Bantamweight
The 135 pound tournament is packed full of storylines and rivalries. Current featherweight champ Joe Warren is joining the field in an attempt to earn Bellator gold in two weight classes. Here’s the thing about Joe Warren: before Chael Sonnen, there was Joe Warren: he doesn’t lack confidence and he’s not afraid to tell you what’s on his mind. The self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” missed the 2008 Olympics due to smoking a little reefer, where he would have represented the US at 60kg in wrestling. (Just my opinion, but if you can smoke grass and stay on weight , you deserve a medal at something. Damn IOC always trying to bring a man down. )
His opponent will be the Cuban Olympic wrestler Alexis Vila, who won a bronze medal in at the 1996 Games at 48kg. You may remember Vila from his appearance in the Genghis Con web documentary Miami Hustle, in which he was angry a lot and hit people really hard. If anyone wants to bet me that Vila does not beat the absolute piss out Warren in the first round, I will laugh and take your money.
Chase Beebe, who fought Warren in his first pro MMA fight and lost (Beebe was 12-3 at the time), joins the tournament looking for redemption. To get it, Beebe will have to get through Marcos Galvao, who gave Warren all he could handle at Bellator 41 (and lost a controversial split decision). Still with me?
Eduardo Dantas out of Brazilian powerhouse Nova Uniao signed on with Bellator, and will face perennial contender Wilson Reis for his North American debut. Dantas won the Shooto South American title, but failed to win the world title in a bout with Masakatsu Ueda in 2009.
Ed West made it to the finals in season three before losing to current champ Zach Makovsky, and he draws Team Renovacao product Luis Alberto Nogueira in the quarterfinals. Nogueira has a loss on his record to Dantas, and if the two meet, expect Bellator to fill you in on Luta Livre vs BJJ.
Welterweights will kick off the fifth season, with the quarterfinals in the 170 pound tournament taking up the card at Bellator 49 on the 10th. Welterweight has always been a deep division for Bellator, and new free agents add some spice to the brackets.
MFC’s former welterweight champ Douglas Lima enters the quarterfinals against Steve Carl, who lost to Dan Hornbuckle in the season two tournament, then rebounded with win over Tyler Stinson via CTFO.
Hornbuckle, meanwhile, will run into a welterweight almost as tall as he is — Luis “Sapo” Santos, a Brazilian wrecking machine that’s every bit as well-rounded as Hornbuckle. Check your DVR twice, because you are not going to want to miss this fight.
Ben Saunders draws Chris Cisneros, a 13-3 Hawaiian fighter who stepped in for the recently injured Rick Hawn, and Kentucky fighter-philosopher Brent Weedman battles the Cleveland Assassin Chris Lozano. Weedman went 5-0 in Bellator until he met Jay Hieron in the semifinals a few months ago, and he’s totally worth following on Twitter. Lozano has earned all eight of his wins via stoppage, with just one loss — a decision to former Bellator champ Lyman Good.
Apparently not satisfied with one title, Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren is also setting his sights on the bantamweight belt, as well.
Bellator announced Tuesday its pairings for its Season 5 eight-man bantamweight tournament, which will be…
Apparently not satisfied with one title, Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren is also setting his sights on the bantamweight belt, as well.
Bellator announced Tuesday its pairings for its Season 5 eight-man bantamweight tournament, which will begin in September. Right smack in the middle will be Warren, who will drop down a class to go after a second title. And joining him in dropping down from 145 pounds to 135 will be the man he beat to win the featherweight belt, Joe Soto.
The tournament will open on Sept. 24 with all four quarterfinal fights. That event is likely to be Bellator 51; no venue has yet been announced. Bellator’s fifth season will open on Sept. 10 with Bellator 49, and events will again be broadcast on MTV2. Bellator’s current bantamweight champion, Zach Makovsky, will defend his title against the tournament winner, likely in the spring of 2012.
“To say our Season 5 bantamweight tournament is stacked is a gross understatement,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a release from the promotion. “Warren-Vila is going to be absolutely explosive for as long as it lasts, and the inclusion of Dantas, Nogueira, Chase, Soto, Ed and Luis makes every single fight in this tournament a pick’em adventure.”
Warren (7-1, 5-0 Bellator) is scheduled to face Patricio Freire next month to defend his featherweight title. The NCAA Division I All-American wrestler also won two state wrestling titles in high school. Warren’s MMA debut was an upset of Beebe in the Dream featherweight grand prix in 2009. Vila (9-0), who trains at American Top Team, won a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics. He will be the oldest competitor in the field at 40. Only one of his nine wins has gone the distance – Vila owns six knockout wins and a pair of submissions.
Soto (9-1, 4-1 Bellator) in September suffered his first career loss, a second-round TKO to Warren, dropping his featherweight title. Soto has been with Bellator since its first event in April 2009 and won the promotion’s first 145-pound title with a submission of Yahir Reyes. He is scheduled to next fight Eddie Yagin at a Tachi Palace Fights event in August. Dantas (10-2) is a product of the Brazliian jiu-jitsu team at Nova Uniao. His Bellator debut also will be his debut in the United States.
Beebe (18-7, 1-0 Bellator) started his MMA career 12-1. His WEC debut was a unanimous decision win over Eddie Wineland to win the bantamweight title in March 2007. He defended it once against Rani Yahya before losing it to Miguel Torres in February 2008. That started a stretch of five straight losses, his loss to Warren at Dream 7. But since 2010, Beebe has gone 6-1, including a win in his Bellator debut in May. He is scheduled to face Ralph Acosta for the World Fighting Championship’s bantamweight title next month in England. Galvao (9-4-1, 0-1 Bellator) is a WEC vet whose last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Warren at Bellator 41 in April. In December, he won Ring of Combat’s featherweight title. He, like, Dantas, is a Nova Uniao Brazilian jiu-jitsu product.
West (16-5, 2-1 Bellator) will be looking to get back to the finals after reaching the championship bout of Bellator’s Season 3 135-pound tourney, which he lost to Makovsky by unanimous decision. The Tucson, Ariz.-based West, who trains frequently with UFC fighter George Roop, is 8-1 over the last four years, including five submission victories. Nogueira (11-1, 1-0 Bellator) has won seven straight, including his Bellator debut against Jerod Spoon in April. His only career loss came against Dantas at a Shooto Brazil event in 2008.
Apparently not satisfied with one title, 