I think it was midway through the second round of Paulo Thiago‘s bout with Gasan Umalatov on the TUF Brazil 3 Finale undercard that I began to feel a heavy, sinking feeling in my stomach. I thought it was just fight fatigue at first, my body’s way of telling me to step away from the television and do something, anything to negate the effects caused by a (by that point) six hour binge of manure ads, Linkin Park-dubbed promos, and the occasional MMA fight.
It wasn’t until the Thiago-Umalatov decision was handed down, however, that I was able to identify the cause of my discomfort. Paulo Thiago, real-life superhero and a fighter I have unapologetically rooted for since watching him knock out Josh Koscheck in his promotional debut at UFC 95, is likely on his way out of the UFC.Old Dad best summed up my feelings about Thiago, tweeting after the decision “Is it time for me to admit that Paulo Thiago is probably never going to be as awesome as I want him to be? Maybe, yeah.”
The fact is, Thiago has consistently underwhelmed since scoring violent finishes over Koscheck and Mike Swick early in his UFC career, dropping six of his past eight fights and only scoring decision wins over IDon’t and GiveaFuck. While I won’t go as far as to call his upset wins “flukes,” it’s safe to say that Thiago has unfortunately fallen into the category of UFC fighters who were never able to exceed the hype generated by their UFC debuts. Fighters like…
MMA fans knew knew less than nothing about Houston Alexander before he was matched up with Keith Jardine at UFC 71. Sure, he looked like something out of a Scared Straight program, but at just 7-1 as a pro, he seemed well out of his league against “The Dean of Mean.” Even Jardine, fresh off the biggest win of his career over Forrest Griffin, was baffled by the matchmaking, all but dismissing Alexander in some uncharacteristic pre-fight trash-talk.
But as Raymond Atkins once wrote, “Hubris is when God screws you over for being a smartass.” And screw over Jardine he did. In less than a minute’s time, the TUF alum found himself lying face down on the canvas thanks to a barrage of uppercuts so vicious that even his mouthguard was forced to flee for its life.
I think it was midway through the second round of Paulo Thiago‘s bout with Gasan Umalatov on the TUF Brazil 3 Finale undercard that I began to feel a heavy, sinking feeling in my stomach. I thought it was just fight fatigue at first, my body’s way of telling me to step away from the television and do something, anything to negate the effects caused by a (by that point) six hour binge of manure ads, Linkin Park-dubbed promos, and the occasional MMA fight.
It wasn’t until the Thiago-Umalatov decision was handed down, however, that I was able to identify the cause of my discomfort. Paulo Thiago, real-life superhero and a fighter I have unapologetically rooted for since watching him knock out Josh Koscheck in his promotional debut at UFC 95, is likely on his way out of the UFC.Old Dad best summed up my feelings about Thiago, tweeting after the decision “Is it time for me to admit that Paulo Thiago is probably never going to be as awesome as I want him to be? Maybe, yeah.”
The fact is, Thiago has consistently underwhelmed since scoring violent finishes over Koscheck and Mike Swick early in his UFC career, dropping six of his past eight fights and only scoring decision wins over IDon’t and GiveaFuck. While I won’t go as far as to call his upset wins “flukes,” it’s safe to say that Thiago has unfortunately fallen into the category of UFC fighters who were never able to exceed the hype generated by their UFC debuts. Fighters like…
MMA fans knew knew less than nothing about Houston Alexander before he was matched up with Keith Jardine at UFC 71. Sure, he looked like something out of a Scared Straight program, but at just 7-1 as a pro, he seemed well out of his league against “The Dean of Mean.” Even Jardine, fresh off the biggest win of his career over Forrest Griffin, was baffled by the matchmaking, all but dismissing Alexander in some uncharacteristic pre-fight trash-talk.
But as Raymond Atkins once wrote, “Hubris is when God screws you over for being a smartass.” And screw over Jardine he did. In less than a minute’s time, the TUF alum found himself lying face down on the canvas thanks to a barrage of uppercuts so vicious that even his mouthguard was forced to flee for its life.
The huge upset promptly earned Alexander a front row seat on Joe Rogan’s dick (or maybe it’s the other way around, ask King Mo), as did his subsequent destruction of Alessio Sakara at UFC 75. Unfortunately for Houston, there’s this thing in MMA called a “ground game” that he never bothered to learn while flipping truck tires up hills, and his lack of grappling know-how was soundly exposed in his quick TKO loss to all around good guy Thiago Silva at UFC 78.
Losses to James Irvin, Eric Schafer, and Kimbo Slice would follow before Alexander was let go for good from the UFC in 2010. The mythos surrounding him debunked, Alexander has gone 7-5 1 NC since, picking up wins over Thierry Sokoudjou and his dirty-talking son (unsanctioned) while eating tough KO losses to Steve Bosse and Gilbert Yvel. After signing with Bellator last year, Alexander was immediately bested by Vladimir Matyushenko in a snoozer before picking up a doctor stoppage TKO over some guy named Matt Uhde. Yay for happy endings!
On the next page, a high-flying WEC vet and an all but forgotten Croatian…
Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion at Bellator 117, and also determined who’d fight in the finals of the season 10 lightweight tournament. In case you missed the fisticuffs, here’s our recap:
This lightweight tournament semifinal started with some feeling out. A flying knee from Pitbull missed its mark, as did a spinning back kick from Campos. Midway through the round, Pitbull landed a sick hook to the liver followed up by a hook to the head–easily the best combo of the round at that point. Shortly after this, a brawl ensued against the cage. Campos landed some jabs, Freire landed a knee and a right hand. They reset, but then Campos pressured Freire again, landing quite a few shots. Campos’ success continued until the end of the first round; he started to get the better of every exchange while Pitbull looked slow and uninterested.
Campos’ luck ran out in the second round. Pitbull tagged him with a nasty right hand that floored him. Campos managed to rise to his feet only to be floored yet again. Pitbull mounted him and finished him with ground and pound when Campos rolled over onto his stomach and covered up. What a comeback.
Freire will be fighting the winner of Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson in the lightweight tournament finals.
Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion at Bellator 117, and also determined who’d fight in the finals of the season 10 lightweight tournament. In case you missed the fisticuffs, here’s our recap:
This lightweight tournament semifinal started with some feeling out. A flying knee from Pitbull missed its mark, as did a spinning back kick from Campos. Midway through the round, Pitbull landed a sick hook to the liver followed up by a hook to the head–easily the best combo of the round at that point. Shortly after this, a brawl ensued against the cage. Campos landed some jabs, Freire landed a knee and a right hand. They reset, but then Campos pressured Freire again, landing quite a few shots. Campos’ success continued until the end of the first round; he started to get the better of every exchange while Pitbull looked slow and uninterested.
Campos’ luck ran out in the second round. Pitbull tagged him with a nasty right hand that floored him. Campos managed to rise to his feet only to be floored yet again. Pitbull mounted him and finished him with ground and pound when Campos rolled over onto his stomach and covered up. What a comeback.
Freire will be fighting the winner of Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson in the lightweight tournament finals.
This was a non-tournament match with no implications–a “feature fight” as Bellator called it on their website. Most of the first round was simply a feeling out process. Gomez landed a right hand that stumbled Amoussou, and Amoussou landed a couple of knees, an uppercut, and some leg kicks. But Gomez’s cross was really the only meaningful strike in the round. Then there was some clinching, and the round ended.
Amoussou took control in the second round, throwing Gomez as soon as it started. Amoussou sat up in Gomez’s guard and dropped for a heel hook. The bold move failed, and Gomez escaped to his feet. An out of breath Amoussou pressed Gomez up against the cage. Gomez separated and landed a huge right hand. Amoussou managed to walk through it though. Some really, really sloppy brawling ensued (I mean Bellator heavyweight level) that neither guy really got the better of. Both fighters wound up clinched again. They separated with about a minute left in the second round.
To start off the third round, Amoussou clinched and went for a trip, which he missed. Gomez landed a few fast but weak uppercuts and hooks. Amoussou looked exhausted by this point; his hands hovered around his waist. Nevertheless, he still managed to intermittently keep Gomez stymied against the fence. The third round was a predictable pattern of clinch-separate-messy striking-clinch and so on until the end of the fight. Karl Amoussou was awarded with a decision win. If you are going to watch a DVR recording of the event, skip this fight.
Held dragged Anderson to the mat early and with little difficulty. He passed into side control but then Anderson managed to regain half guard. This didn’t matter though, since Held dropped down for a leg. The two played footsies for a few minutes. Anderson avoided Held’s onslaught and wound up on top in side control, landing short elbows and punches. Anderson attempted to stand up but Held snared his leg. He used the leg lock to sweep Anderson; he sat up in Anderson’s guard. Held attempted yet another leg lock with about 20 seconds to go but it came up short.
Held nailed Anderson with a stiff left hand that dropped him. He got a little wild after that and got tagged with a right hand. Anderson hit a nice body kick. Anderson started to find his range with the jab. Held, on the other hand, resorted to butt-scotting since he had zero takedowns. Held successfully pulled guard and moments later locked up a triangle and secured the tap.
Marcin Held will meet Patricky Freire in the Bellator season 10 lightweight finals.
Both fighters started tentative. Lima plodded forwards as Hawn shuffled around the edges of the cage. Lima landed a leg kick, Hawn countered with a right hand. Hawn half-assed a shot and ate a left hand. Lima continuously stalked Hawn, and eventually landed a MASSIVE leg kick that sent Hawn to the mat instantly. Hawn got back up and threw a 1-2 that Lima blocked. Lima hit another leg kick that crumpled Hawn. He turtled up as Lima landed loads of elbows and punches. Lima backed off as the round ended. Hawn was certainly in trouble.
Lima threw a leg kick to start round 2, but Hawn checked it as well as a follow-up leg kick. The third one, however, connected and floored Hawn, who was slow to get up. Hawn was sent to the canvas yet again with a leg kick. A TKO via leg kicks was imminent at this point. Hawn got knocked down from a leg kick again. The fight started to resemble a lion playing with its food. Another leg kick found its mark but Hawn somehow remained standing. Lima went high with a kick but Hawn saw it coming. Lima landed a millionth leg kick and Hawn fell yet again. Hawn’s corner got up on the apron and called for an end to the fight, and the referee obliged. This was the right call (see all the leg kicks for yourself–GIFs courtesy of Zombie Prophet). Douglas Lima is now the new Bellator welterweight champ!
Here are the card’s complete results (we’ll update the Houston Alexander and Ryan Jensen fights when the results are available):
Main Card
Douglas Lima def. Rick Hawn via TKO (corner stoppage) 3:19 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Derek Anderson via submission (triangle), 3:07 of round 2
Karl Amoussou def. David Gomez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Patricky Freire def. Derek Campos via TKO (punches), 0:52 of round 2
Preliminary Card
Martin Brown def. Jared Downing via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Larue Burley def. Cliff Wright Jr. via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
Joe Vedepo def. Ben Crowder via TKO (leg injury), 0:48 of round 1
Anthony Smith def. Victor Moreno via submission (triangle choke) via 0:59 of round 2
Julio Cesar Neves def. Josh Arocho via TKO (elbows), 2:37 of round 2
Jordan Parsons def. Tim Bazer via KO (punches), 0:04 of round 2
Unaired
Ryan Jensen vs. Mark Stoddard
Matt Uhde vs. Houston Alexander
Bosse, who was scheduled to face Ryan Jimmo at the TUF Nations Finale on April 16th until a shoulder injury forced him off the card, cited a recent rash of injuries as the reason for his decision:
“My body is talking to me,” Bosse told Canadian publication La Presse. “It’s time that I make the right decision.”
The former hockey enforcer, who has allegedly partaken in over 200 hockey fights, will retire with a record of 10-1 and wins over UFC veterans Wes Sims, Marvin Eastman, and Houston Alexander (the last of which came via hellacious standing elbow KO, in case you weren’t aware). Additionally, word has it that Bosse holds the distinct honor of being the only hockey player who ever took off his skate and tried to stab someone with it.
Bosse, who was scheduled to face Ryan Jimmo at the TUF Nations Finale on April 16th until a shoulder injury forced him off the card, cited a recent rash of injuries as the reason for his decision:
“My body is talking to me,” Bosse told Canadian publication La Presse. “It’s time that I make the right decision.”
The former hockey enforcer, who has allegedly partaken in over 200 hockey fights, will retire with a record of 10-1 and wins over UFC veterans Wes Sims, Marvin Eastman, and Houston Alexander (the last of which came via hellacious standing elbow KO, in case you weren’t aware). Additionally, word has it that Bosse holds the distinct honor of being the only hockey player who ever took off his skate and tried to stab someone with it.
But there is a silver lining to be found in all this, at least for Bosse. The 11 fight MMA veteran also told La Presse that he will now pursue work as a firefighter, and that his decision to step away was also influenced by the upswing his personal life has recently taken.
“When I started in hockey, I had rage in me,” he said. “This sport helped me channel that. It was my therapy. Today, that rage is no longer in me. Today, I’m doing well. I don’t feel the need to fight anymore, to go make war.”
Thanks for the memories, Steve. Enjoy that lucrative golf-career and Bob Barker ass-whooping you are inevitably destined for.
To honor Bosse’s brief-yet-violent run as an MMA fighter, here is once again footage of him putting Houston Alexander to bed.
(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.
