(And to think, had Kimbo landed his signature headbutt to the groin that night, EliteXC might still be in operation. Photo via Divulgação.)
By CagePotato reader BJ Last
Welcome back to Sliceworld! The man who took the internet by storm in 2003, turned into a popular MMA circus act in 2007, fell from relevance in 2010, started boxing jobbers in 2012, and everyone sort of forgot about in 2014, is now signed with the second biggest MMA promotion in the world. The only question remaining now — aside from why? and also huh? — is who should be Slice’s first opponent under the Bellator banner? Scott Coker & Co. have two options, as far as I see it:
1) They can try to find Slice a “legitimate” (yes, there’s a reason for air quotes) opponent in an attempt to rebuild him as a genuinely dangerous MMA fighter.
2) They can channel their inner Japanese MMA promotion and go full freakshow.
I’ll tell you what I want (what I really, really want), or at least what I see as the most likely options for each scenario. Let’s start with the “legitimate” opponents…
(And to think, had Kimbo landed his signature headbutt to the groin that night, EliteXC might still be in operation. Photo via Divulgação.)
By CagePotato reader BJ Last
Welcome back to Sliceworld! The man who took the internet by storm in 2003, turned into a popular MMA circus act in 2007, fell from relevance in 2010, started boxing jobbers in 2012, and everyone sort of forgot about in 2014, is now signed with the second biggest MMA promotion in the world. The only question remaining now — aside from why? and also huh? — is who should be Slice’s first opponent under the Bellator banner? Scott Coker & Co. have two options, as far as I see it:
1) They can try to find Slice a “legitimate” (yes, there’s a reason for air quotes) opponent in an attempt to rebuild him as a genuinely dangerous MMA fighter.
2) They can channel their inner Japanese MMA promotion and go full freakshow.
I’ll tell you what I want (what I really, really want), or at least what I see as the most likely options for each scenario. Let’s start with the “legitimate” opponents…
Tito Ortiz – This is the most likely (and probably least interesting) option. Despite what some people think, this fight makes the most sense for Bellator and Ortiz. Bellator gets to have a main event with two name fighters, and could pack the card with other prospects in the hope that people tuning in for this fight will also watch the, you know, talented people on the card. That’s pretty much what Bellator did with their first pay-per-view, and it’ll give Tito a three-fight win streak to carry in against the winner of Liam McGeary vs. Emanuel Newton for the light-heavyweight title.
Rematch – James Thompson is currently under contract with Bellator and Seth Petruzelli has said he’d come out of retirement for a rematch. There are only 2 problems with these potential matchups. 1) No one would care who won and 2) There’s no real benefit to Bellator if either Thompson or Petruzelli pick up a win.
Ok, so they’re pretty big problems.
Someone Without a Wikipedia Page – If Bellator wants Kimbo to win so that they have enough footage to hype his next fight, they need to give him the UFC’s CM Punk treatment (or the Sokoudjou Bellator debut treatment), a.k.a an obscure/underskilled opponent. Then again, the last time a promotion had Kimbo face a part-time, semi-retired fighter, it didn’t end well for the promotion. And by not end well, I mean the semi-retired fighter KO’d Kimbo in under 20 seconds, causing the promoter to lose his shit cage-side and eventually sinking the entire promotion. If Bellator wants an opponent they can be sure Kimbo will beat, they’ll need to go the Milwaukee MMA matchmaking route.
Eric Prindle – Just because Bellator could re-use most of the greatest promo video ever.
On Page 2, we get a little more creative with our matchmaking efforts…
Bellator MMA has carved itself a nice spot in the mixed martial arts community. With the return of Scott Coker as the organization’s president, there seems to be a growing air of confidence that the promotion is heading in a better direction, per…
BellatorMMA has carved itself a nice spot in the mixed martial arts community. With the return of Scott Coker as the organization’s president, there seems to be a growing air of confidence that the promotion is heading in a better direction, per Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately, one of the toughest challenges in the MMA industry is to create stars that fans want to see. Bellator continues to work on this process and with that in mind, here is a look at some of the best fighters it has on its roster.
This list includes some of its current champions and other fighters who are worth a view. If these men and women were free agents it would not be a far cry to see them land in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Check out the GIF highlights and the complete results below (all via Zombie Prophet):
Bubba McDaniel vs. Emiliano Sordi:
The GIF tells the entire story of this fight. McDaniel shot in and earned a tight guillotine choke for his efforts. It was a slick submission win for Sordi.
Alexander Sarnavskiy vs. Dakota Cochrane:
Domination was in vogue at Bellator 128. Sarnavskiy vs. Cochrane was just as one-sided as Sordi vs. McDaniel. Sarnavskiy made Cochrane look like he hadn’t boxed in his life. After rocking him on the feet and flooring him, Sarnavskiy sunk in a rear naked choke.
Michael Page vs. Nah Shon Burrell:
The fight many expected to be the fight of the night turned out to be a dud. There weren’t many highlights from this match. Burrell tried to wall-and-stall Page, but Page managed to land far more strikes. He won via decision. The GIF above shows off a post-fight scuffle between the two fighters–or it shows officials trying to break up a hug. You decide.
Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren:
Much to our surprise, Joe Warren managed to defeat Eduardo Dantas! Warren out-wrestled and out-hustled the Brazilian, who seemed disinterested in the fight. To use a terrible cliche, Warren just WANTED IT MORE [barfs from using that phrase]. Warren’s performance was of the gritty wrestler variety. As such, it doesn’t lend itself to GIF highlights. So what we have above is an illegal kick to the head of a grounded Dantas. Big John McCarthy didn’t take a point for this infraction, which caused some controversy among MMA fans on Twitter.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Joe Warren def. Eduardo Dantas via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Michael Page def. NahShon Burrell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alexander Sarnavskiy def. Dakota Cochrane via submission (rear naked choke), 2:32 of round 1.
Emiliano Sordi def. Bubba McDanial via submission (guillotine), 0:58 of round 1.
Preliminary Card
Cortez Coleman def. William Florentino via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Andreas Michailidis vs. Jason Butcher via TKO (strikes) at :28 of round 2.
Emmanuel Sanchez def. Stephen Banaszak via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:18 of round 1.
John Teixeira def. Scott Cleve via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
J.C. Cottrell def Jonathan Gary via submission (guillotine) at 3:38 of round 2.
Brandon Seyler def. Demario Cade via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:25 of round 1.
In the final days leading up to their bantamweight title unification bout Friday at Bellator 128, Joe Warren has done his best Chael Sonnen impersonation in an attempt to get under the skin of Eduardo Dantas.
Unfortunately for Warren, the Bellator MMA …
In the final days leading up to their bantamweight title unification bout Friday at Bellator 128, Joe Warren has done his best ChaelSonnen impersonation in an attempt to get under the skin of Eduardo Dantas.
Unfortunately for Warren, the BellatorMMA bantamweight champ seems just as comfortable engaging in a war of words as he does a slugfest in the cage.
In different interviews that were conducted Wednesday, Warren and Dantas threw verbal jabs at each other in what was either a genuine exchange of disdain or a late attempt to hype their fight, which will take place at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
Warren told Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie that he believes the Brazilian has ducked him, and on Saturday, he’ll ultimately succumb to Warren’s “pressure.”
Eduardo Dantas is a champion who’s scared and runs away from competitors. I’ve been trying to fight this guy for a long time now. He’s a young kid. What do you expect? Champions stand in there and defend their belts. Champions don’t run. I just don’t know if he’ll be able to deal with the pressure I’m going to bring.
In an interview with Elias Cepeda of Cagewriter (via Yahoo), and apparently not in response to Warren’s comments, Dantas squashed the notion that he ever ran from the former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler.
“It doesn‘t make a big difference to me,” said the 25-year-old Dantas, who pulled out of his first scheduled bout with Warren at Bellator 118 due to a head injury. “Everyone knows I’m the champ. To me, Bellator gave him a belt because he’s famous, so they could take pictures with him holding it.”
In true Sonnen-like spirit, the 37-year-old Warren elaborated on how his rivalry with Dantas has become a family matter:
My wife wants me to put this guy down bad. So this is going to be a family affair with me beating the s–t out of this guy. My wife doesn’t like the kid. She hates him, and my wife doesn’t hate anybody and respects everybody. Dantas really pissed her off by skipping out on our fight, talking about me being on steroids when I’m the cleanest man in the sport. He’s just scared! He’s a scared little kid. I’m getting in his head a little bit and it’s hurting him, and that’s the difference with age, being able to handle something with respect or not. The words I say to him come strictly out of annoyance. I’ve never had my wife tell me she wants somebody dead, and I told her ‘no problem.’
Dantas ended his interview with a bold message to Warren and any other bantamweight who plans to take his belt, saying: “It doesn‘t matter where guys fight. If I fight anybody, I kill them.”
In May, Warren scored a unanimous-decision win over Rafael Silva at Bellator 118 to claim the bantamweight interim belt. He won his first world title by knocking out Joe Soto in the second round at Bellator 27 in February 2010 for the featherweight title.
Pat Curran took the featherweight strap from Warren with a third-round KO at Bellator 60 in March 2012.
Warren holds an overall record of 11-3, and his nine wins in Bellator MMA give him the most in the company’s history for any bantamweight.
Dantas (16-3) has prevailed in each of his six fights in Bellator MMA, including three wins in bantamweight title fights.
He won the belt when he submitted Zach Makovsky (arm-triangle choke) in the second round at Bellator 65 in April 2012. Four months later, Dantas got knocked out in the first round by Tyson Nam in his next bout at Shooto Brazil 33: Fight for BOPE II.
Dantas bounced back and finished his next two opponents in the second round in Bellator MMA bantamweight title fights. He first knocked out Marcus Galvao at Bellator 89 in February 2013 and then submitted Anthony Leone (rear-naked choke) at Bellator 111 in March.
Bellator 118 is Bellator season 10’s penultimate event. Joe Warren had a chance to claim the interim bantamweight title if he beat Rafael Silva. And that wording is deliberate. Silva missed weight, so if he won, Bellator wouldn’t award him the title. It was only a championship fight for Warren. Semifinal bouts for the welterweight tournament and summer series light heavyweight tournament took place as well.
What fights should you fast forward when you watch this card on your DVR and which ones should you watch intently? Read on and find out.
Bellator 118 is Bellator season 10′s penultimate event. Joe Warren had a chance to claim the interim bantamweight title if he beat Rafael Silva. And that wording is deliberate. Silva missed weight, so if he won, Bellator wouldn’t award him the title. It was only a championship fight for Warren. Semifinal bouts for the welterweight tournament and summer series light heavyweight tournament took place as well.
What fights should you fast forward when you watch this card on your DVR and which ones should you watch intently? Read on and find out.
British light heavyweight prospect Liam McGeary is on many a radar in MMA (including ours), and has been since Bellator season 9. He took on Mike Mucitelli in the first of the Summer Series tournaments.
Round 1: Mucitelli hit a double leg, but McGeary reversed it and landed in mount. Mucitelli managed to escape mount and return to his feet, but it didn’t matter. McGeary hit a hook that lawnchair’d Mucitelli. It was like turning off a light switch. All strength left Mucitelli’s body and he collapsed lifeless to the canvas like an intern who’s just been told they’re not getting hired. This one warrants posting the GIF (via Zombie Prophet).
Round 1: Not much action after the first minute, but then Galvao rushed Vasquez, secured a body lock, and slammed him. Galvao wasn’t able to make much use of the takedown though. Vasquez returned to his feet midway through the round, and landed a handful of stiff jabs to boot. Vasquez bum-rushed Galvao with a flurry of inaccurate punches, then clinched him. This was a mistake as Galvao hit a gorgeous throw. Vasquez immediately got to his feet though, and then took down Galvao, who got up quickly as well. Vasquez rushed Galvao again and it looked like he almost pulled guard, which was a very questionable decision. Not much else happened in the last 30 seconds. Galvao landed some ground and pound.
Round 2: Galvao landed an overhand right to counter Vasquez’s lazy jab. Vasquez hit a decent left hook. His footwork allowed him to stay out of Galvao’s range, but he never capitalized on it. He’d either throw one punch at a time or a messy flurry. Vasquez moved in to trade but Galvao timed a double-leg perfectly and slammed him to the mat with authority. After like two minutes of stalling, Vasquez got back up…only to be taken down again and for more ineffective ground and pound and guard passing to take place. Vasquez gets up again as the round ends in a front face-lock. Vasquez keeps one hand on the ground to avoid a knee but Galvao throws two of them anyway. The ref doesn’t give a shit. Cool.
Round 3: Both dudes missed basically all their strikes for the first two minutes. Galvao grabbed a body lock and got takedown. He took Vasquez’s back and attempted a rear-nakd choke; he couldn’t clinch it. The second attempt failed too. The other 500 attempts fail too. Right as the round ends, Vasquez escapes and sits in Galvao’s guard, throwing weak punches. Galvao earned a decision victory.
This welterweight tournament semifinal was originally supposed to feature Andrey Koreshkov vs. Sam Oropeza–and it was supposed to take place at Bellator 115. Alas, Oropeza weighed in heavy at 172.4 pounds. He was unable to make weight after given an hour, and was replaced by Justin Baesman. And there were about 45 minutes of commercials before this fight. Holy shit.
Round 1: Koreshkov started off throwing an array of kicks from the outside, but didn’t land any too convincingly. His hands worked better. He hit a nice combo topped off with an uppercut. Koreshkov threw a spinning back kick that nearly landed, and then threw a wild flurry followed up by a flying knee that knocked Baesman out cold. Squash match, but what else do you expect from a late replacement jobber?
Round 1: Joe Warren clinched immediately but it was Silva that got the takedown and slam. Then he took Warren’s back, but Warren exploded out of the position and rose back to his feet…only for Silva to press him up the cage for the next few minutes. Surprisingly, Silva dominated the clinch work for the first few minutes, that was until Warren landed a giant knee to the body. Silva backed off after that, then Warren nearly locked up a guillotine. The two got back up. After a lull, Silva started spamming right hands and hurt Warren badly. Warren landed a desperation takedown that saved his consciousness with about a minute to go, and then nothing happened on the ground while the round ended.
Round 2: Warren through a shitty flying knee and almost paid for it with his consciousness a la Andrei Arlovski. Warren hit a double leg, but Silva stood up about 20 seconds after getting taken down. Both fighters look gassed, but Silva looks worse. Despite being tired, Silva hits a spinning back kick to the body, and then a stiff uppercut. Warren took Silva down again but Silva used his butterflies to sweep warren and return to his feet. Silva turned up the volume with his strikes, landing right hands at will. Silva caught Warren in the air during a flying knee and threw him to the floor. Silva attempted a spinning back kick as a follow-up but got taken down off it. Like with every other take down in this fight, Silva got up almost immediately. Then he turned the tables on warren and took him down. The round ends after a pattern of both guys taking each other down and getting up.
Round 3: Warren hit Silva with a massive right hand that wobbled him, then attempted an awful-looking flying round kick. Warren stepped into a right hand, then threw a massive overhand right of his own which missed. Warren ate a big right, but then shot a double-leg and landed it. This time Silva didn’t get up right away; he was tired. Warren landed some elbows. He’d occasionally stack Silva but would never land any great ground and pound from the position. Silva went for an arm-bar but it failed; Warren’s arm wasn’t deep enough. Warren finished the round on top in side control. This was pretty brutal in terms of entertainment value.
Round 4: Warren pressed Silva immediately and took him down. Unlike last round, Silva got back up, then tried a takedown of his own. The two battled in the clinch for a little bit before Warren wrestled a breathing-heavy Silva to the mat. He took Silva’s back, then switched to mount, but couldn’t keep it. Cue the same pattern of get up-clinch-get taken down and repeat. Warren tried a pro wrestling pile driver but didn’t have the strength left. Warren took Silva’s back right as the round ended.
Round 5: This round was basically the same as the last one. I don’t wanna use the term “lay and pray” but ugh. About half way through the fight Warren hit an illegal knee in the clinch while Silva had his hands on the mat. The Joe Warren clinch/ground smother continues. The fight ends. Warren wins a decision and the interim bantamweight belt.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Joe Warren def. Rafael Silva via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Andrey Koreshkov def. Justin Baesman via KO (flying knee), 1:41 of round 1.
Marcos Galvao def. Thomas Vasquez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Liam McGeary def. Mike Mucitelli via KO (punch), 0:20 of round 1
Preliminary Card
Dante Rivera def. Gemiyale Adkins via majority decision (29-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Jesus Martinez def. Ryan Caltaldi via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Tim Woods def. Eugene Fadiora via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Darrion Caldwell def. Joe Pingitore via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:32 of round 1
Lester Caslow def. Jay Haas via submission (guillotine choke), 2:29 of round 1
Sidney Outlaw def. Mike Bannon via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kevin Roddy def. Amran Aliyev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bellator 107 was a crucial show for Bellator. Over one million people were exposed to their product last week. Did they wow anyone who decided to tune in for a second week in a row?
Yes and no.
They made a poor decision in starting the card with a fight between virtually unknown fighter Derek Campos and disappointing British prospectMartin Stapleton. Any converts from the previous event likely switched channels after this fight started; it was that bad. The only notable part of this contest was when Stapleton’s knee almost went out (or at least that’s what it looked like) during a spinning backfist attempt, resulting in a crazy jig. Campos won via unanimous decision.
Fortunately, the second fight of the night picked up the pace a little bit. After a lackluster first round, the middleweight tournament final between Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward ended in fireworks. In what can only be described as “beast mode,” Ward battered Parlo’s body with sledgehammer-like punches (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA), and then started teeing off on Parlo’s head. Ward battered Parlo so badly that the fight was stopped while Parlo was still standing. It was one of the best displays of the pure violence inherent in MMA in recent memory.
Get the run down of the co-main and main event after the jump.
(Photo via Bellator MMA)
Bellator 107 was a crucial show for Bellator. Over one million people were exposed to their product last week. Did they wow anyone who decided to tune in for a second week in a row?
Yes and no.
They made a poor decision in starting the card with a fight between virtually unknown fighter Derek Campos and disappointing British prospectMartin Stapleton. Any converts from the previous event likely switched channels after this fight started; it was that bad. The only notable part of this contest was when Stapleton’s knee almost went out (or at least that’s what it looked like) during a spinning backfist attempt, resulting in a crazy jig. Campos won via unanimous decision.
Fortunately, the second fight of the night picked up the pace a little bit. After a lackluster first round, the middleweight tournament final between Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward ended in fireworks. In what can only be described as “beast mode,” Ward battered Parlo’s body with sledgehammer-like punches (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA), and then started teeing off on Parlo’s head. Ward battered Parlo so badly that the fight was stopped while Parlo was still standing. It was one of the best displays of the pure violence inherent in MMA in recent memory.
The bantamweight tournament final was the night’s co-main event. Joe Warren faced off against Travis Marx. After a first round that saw more grinding than a senior prom, Warren dropped Marx with a perfectly-timed knee and finished him off with punches.
Bellator 107′s main event and heavyweight tournament final pitted Cheick Kongo against Vinicius “Spartan” Queiroz’s replacement, Peter Graham. Kongo added a smattering of aggression into his usual “clinch against the cage indefinitely” strategy, but the fight still left a lot to be desired. Kongo won a unanimous decision victory.
Overall, the event was barely okay. The two poor fights bookended the two good fights. This meant viewers started off with a bad taste in their figurative mouths, and then left the card with the same taste. A card that left viewers feeling unsatisfied was the last thing Bellator needed the week after the biggest event in their history, and the week before their biggest star—Rampage Jackson—is fighting.
Here are the complete results for Bellator 107:
Main Card
Cheick Kongo def. Peter Graham via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Warren def. Travis Marx via TKO (knee and punches), 1:54 of Round 2
Brennan Ward def. Mikkel Parlo via TKO (punches), 1:39 of Round 2
Derek Campos def. Martin Stapleton via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Patricky Freire def. Edson Berto via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Jonas Billstein def. Cortez Coleman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mike Mucitelli def. Ryan McCurdy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Raphael Butler def. Josh Burns via verbal submission (punches), 2:14 of Round 1
Linton Vassell def. Matt Jones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
In the final days leading up to their bantamweight title unification bout Friday at 
