Bellator 60 Results: As Spike TV Nears, Have We Seen the Start of a New Era?

Last night, upstart promotion Bellator Fighting Championships continued its quest for the No. 2 spot in the world of MMA promotions with the start of another new season live on MTV2.With a move to Spike TV more or less confirmed, one would think that B…

Last night, upstart promotion Bellator Fighting Championships continued its quest for the No. 2 spot in the world of MMA promotions with the start of another new season live on MTV2.

With a move to Spike TV more or less confirmed, one would think that Bellator might make the safe choice and opt into a holding pattern of “good but not great” shows until they can put all their efforts into a Spike TV mega-event. That’s not the case at all, as Bellator 60 had one of the best “Bellator moments” I’ve ever seen. Here are the full results with some early commentary.

  • Pat Curran defeats Joe Warren by KO at 1:25 of Round 3.
  • Daniel Straus defeats Jeremy Spoon by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
  • Mike Corey defeats Ronnie Mann by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
  • Marlon Sandro defeats Roberto Vargas by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:35 of Round 1.
  • Jake Nauracy defeats Cory Galloway by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:22 of Round 2.
  • Travis Wiuff defeats Anthony Gomez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
  • Sean McCorkle defeats Richard White by submission (neck crank) at 1:02 of Round 1.
  • Josh Shockley defeats Shamar Bailey by unanimous decision (scores not announced).
  • Alexandre Bezerra defeats Kenny Foster via submission (rear naked choke) 4:57 of Round 2.
  • Genair da Silva defeats Bobby Reardanz TKO (strikes) 0:51 of Round 3.

The start of Bellator 60 was an incredibly dominant performance by Marlon Sandro—unquestionably the night’s most dominant victory.

Sandro is still fighting to get out of the shadow of his KO loss to Pat Curran, and he took a big step towards getting back his aura of a monster with this victory. The way he totally dominated his opponent on the feet and then submitted him with a slick choke was nothing short of super-impressive and awesomely entertaining.

Ronnie Mann, unfortunately, continues to see his hype die in Bellator. I’m a fan of Mann and definitely a fan of the way he comes in looking to knock his opponent out, but this fight clearly demonstrated that his ground game needs serious work in one key area: getting back to his feet.

I hesitate to call this a boring fight or call Mike Corey a “Lay and Pray” wrestler. Corey was always fishing for something, Mann’s ground game was simply good enough for him to threaten with submissions and, if all else failed, get Corey back into his guard.

I’ve always believed that you deserve to get taken down if you can’t defend the takedown, so props to Mike Corey for knowing his opponent’s weaknesses and taking full advantage of them.

It’s always nice to see Daniel Straus win. He’s become one of my biggest “dark horse favorites” in Bellator. He’s incredibly humble, but he’s a diamond in the rough. He’s not just another grinding wrestler. There’s something about him that leads me to believe that one day he’ll be a Bellator champion. I’ll keep cheering for Straus and hoping that he gets his shot at Bellator gold one day.

And in the main event, Pat Curran KO’ing Joe Warren gave me the kind of raw, super-charged emotional reaction that I normally only reserve for big-time UFC main event mega-matches.

It’s simple math, actually: a fighter I really like and respect plus a fighter I really don’t like plus an amazing finish featuring the good guy beating the bad guy in highlight-reel fashion equals me jumping out of my chair shouting “YEAH!” at the top of my lungs.

All in all, Bellator continues its track of excellent shows with Bellator 60. Bellator’s been on a good roll for a good while now, and I’m seriously thinking about reversing my stance and making Bellator my official “dark horse favorite” promotion.

I’ll leave you with this: with the amount of good things happening to Bellator lately coupled with the amount of blows Strikeforce has been hit with following Zuffa purchasing them, Bellator may surpass Strikeforce as the No. 2 promotion by the end of 2012.

Even if Strikeforce makes more money, Bellator could still take the No. 2 spot (at least in my eyes), thanks to their consistently superb shows, especially since Strikeforce’s events have been very “hit and miss” since the Zuffa purchase.

 

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rampage Jackson Hints at Fighting Elsewhere, Says UFC Took Away His Love of MMA

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson isn’t looking to finish out the remainder of his UFC contract. Instead, the former UFC light heavyweight champion hopes to be released by the promotion that helped make him a household name. In a series of odd posts on his Twi…

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson isn’t looking to finish out the remainder of his UFC contract.

Instead, the former UFC light heavyweight champion hopes to be released by the promotion that helped make him a household name. In a series of odd posts on his Twitter account, Jackson blamed the UFC for taking away his love for fighting.

Well I’m hoping the @ufc just let me go so I can do my thang, they took my love of fighting after the Forest fight! #bloodtypeBpositive”

In July 2008, Rampage lost his UFC title to Griffin in a controversial unanimous decision. Many believed the bout warranted an immediate rematch, but the UFC opted to move on and have Griffin defend the title against a fresh contender.

After the fight, Rampage was involved in a hit and run incident in Newport Beach, California, which resulted in a high speed police chase. The former champion, who had fallen on tough times, was arrested on the spot and UFC President Dana White flew down in person to pay his bail.

The drama wouldn’t end there. A year after losing the UFC title, Rampage butted heads with White over his decision to star as B.A. Baracus in the Hollywood remake of “The A Team” movie. White’s objection was that the movie put a highly anticipated bout between Rashad Evans and Rampage in jeopardy.

In other words, it was business as usual for the UFC President.

As for Rampage, he stated in a blog on his official website that he was done competing in the UFC and fighting in general.

“The UFC has done a lot for me but I think I have done more for them. They had me coach TUF season 7 and fight Forrest and the fight was very controversial & normally when a fight is that close & controversial there is normally an instant replay. I can name a couple of instances. Then this movie role came about that I have been trying to get for over a year & as soon as I found out I was close to getting it, I called Dana right away & asked to push the Memphis fight back just a month or so. I told him what this movie role meant to me. My dad & I are still very big fans of the show & I am basically doing this for the childhood memories I had spending time in front of the tv with my dad. Dana went on the internet & mocked me because of that”

In the end, White was able to talk Rampage off the ledge, and the former Pride star continued his MMA career.

Now, it seems like the promotion is back to square one with Rampage, who lost a surprising unanimous decision to Ryan Bader two weeks ago at UFC 144.

Things are a little different this time around. Rampage isn’t only threatening to leave the UFC, but in a tweet response to a fan, he didn’t rule out the possibility of fighting in another promotion.

@skanksideup y u care that its the ufc? I can fight better fights n a diff show!”

Goodnight 2 my real fans,I got mad love 4 ya,the rest of yall r sheep!! n u don’t matter 2 me anyhow, cause u gonna buy my fights anyway Fact”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Ultimate Fighter 15: Memorable Moments from Episode 1

Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter kicked off last night with 32 fighters looking to impress potential coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. After years of producing a stale product to fans, the first season of the show on FX promised to bring a numbe…

Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter kicked off last night with 32 fighters looking to impress potential coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.

After years of producing a stale product to fans, the first season of the show on FX promised to bring a number of changes to freshen the show up.

The UFC succeeded in creating a lot of interest with some new changes in this upcoming season by making the season live instead of taped, and it continued with some good items from past shows like performance-based bonuses.

The new season started off on a good note as the first episode pulled fans in for a wild ride through Season 15.

Begin Slideshow

The Ultimate Fighter Live: A Closer Look at the Cast of 16

Last night was history for The Ultimate Fighter, as the show went live for the first time in its 15-year history.Another new part of the preliminary fights that Dana White revealed was the fact that the fighters would only get a single five-minute roun…

Last night was history for The Ultimate Fighter, as the show went live for the first time in its 15-year history.

Another new part of the preliminary fights that Dana White revealed was the fact that the fighters would only get a single five-minute round to win the fight. Of the 16 fights put on, there were eight finishes and eight decisions.

Let’s take a closer look at the final cast of 16.

Begin Slideshow

Power Ranking the Top 8 Fighters Who Came from Oklahoma State

Recently, I released an article detailing the long list of MMA fighters who attended Arizona State University—the school many consider the best collegiate talent farm for future UFC talent.However, a strong argument could be made that Oklahoma St…

Recently, I released an article detailing the long list of MMA fighters who attended Arizona State University—the school many consider the best collegiate talent farm for future UFC talent.

However, a strong argument could be made that Oklahoma State University, home of the most dominant wrestling program in NCAA history, has produced an even more impressive stable of MMA fighters.

Oklahoma State has produced a UFC champion, Strikeforce champion, two early-UFC tournament champions and is the alma mater of several elite fighters competing in the sport today.

Whether Oklahoma State has produced a more successful stable of MMA fighters than Arizona State or not, the school is one of the best at pouring out future MMA stars.

Let’s take a look at the top eight MMA fighters who attended Oklahoma State. 

Begin Slideshow

Bellator 60: Bellator Edits Pat Curran’s Vicious Knockout of Joe Warren

Pat Curran definitively dethroned now former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren at Bellator 60 Friday night, winning in devastating knockout fashion. So devastating, in fact, that Bellator decided to edit the footage. Courtesy of the …

Pat Curran definitively dethroned now former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren at Bellator 60 Friday night, winning in devastating knockout fashion. 

So devastating, in fact, that Bellator decided to edit the footage. Courtesy of the fine folks over at MMA Mania, here is what an unedited version of the finishing sequence looked like.  

After one glance at the unedited footage, it goes without saying that the bout’s referee, Jeff Malott, is under a lot of heat right now for letting the fight continue as long as it did.

Warren took a barrage of clean knees and punches against the cage, but Malott refused to cease the action until the Greco-Roman wrestler was out cold after a series of nasty uppercuts from Curran.

This bout marked Warren’s second knockout loss in a row, lasting just 64 seconds with bantamweight Alexis Villa in September before getting his clock cleaned. 

Fans and analysts alike are wondering if the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” will ever step foot back in the cage, given his aspirations to wrestle in the 2012 Olympics. 

Meanwhile, Curran is a perfect 4-0 since dropping to 145 pounds, making a legitimate case to be considered a top-10 featherweight fighter in the world. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com