It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Friday, October 21st, 2016) will come in the form of Bellator 162. Headlining the card are Alexander Shlemenko and Kendall Grove, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the rest of the main card. Alexander Shlemenko
It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Friday, October 21st, 2016) will come in the form of Bellator 162. Headlining the card are Alexander Shlemenko and Kendall Grove, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the rest of the main card.
Alexander Shlemenko and Kendall Grove meet in a middleweight bout in the main event of Bellator 162.
Bobby Lashley and Josh Appelt meet in a heavyweight bout in the co-main event of Bellator 162.
Goiti Yamauchi vs. Ryan Couture met in a lightweight bout at Bellator 162.
Opening the Bellator 162 main card on Spike TV was Hisaki Kato and A.J. Matthews in a middleweight bout. They both came out swinging. Matthews stunned him with a right hand and then continued to land some big strikes. Kato poked him in the eye and the fight was put on pause. The action resumes under two minutes to go. Kato has calmed down and was throwing more strikes. Kato rocked him with an uppercut, landed some more strikes and Matthews fell down to the ground. Kato swarmed him with strikes but Matthews got back to his feet but was in trouble. Kato dropped him with a straight right hand and the fight was stopped.
Here are the results for this event:
Main Card (SPIKE TV):
Middleweight Main Event: Alexander Shlemenko (53-9) vs. Kendall Grove (23-15)
Heavyweight Co-Main Event: Bobby Lashley (14-2) vs. Josh Appelt (12-5)
Lightweight Feature Bout: Goiti Yamauchi (19-3) vs. Ryan Couture (10-4)
Hisaki Kato def. A.J. Matthews via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:58
Preliminary Card (ONLINE):
Chase Gormley def. Bobby Brents by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Virgil Zwicker def. Dan Charles via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:31
Julia Budd def. Arlene Blencowe via majority decision (29-29, 30-27, 29-27)
Ricky Rainey def. Gilbert Smith def via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Steve Garcia def. Ronnie Lawrence via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
With a court appeal recently shortening his California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspension from a jaw-dropping three years to only one, former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko will be returning to the cage soon. News arrived from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Shlemenko will face former title contender Kendall Grove at Bellator 162 on October 21
With a court appeal recently shortening his California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspension from a jaw-dropping three years to only one, former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko will be returning to the cage soon.
News arrived from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Shlemenko will face former title contender Kendall Grove at Bellator 162 on October 21 from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. The former 185-pound champ has been out of action since Bellator 133 in February 2015, where he knocked out Melvin Manhoef with a highlight reel spinning backfist.
After the fight, Shlemenko was found to have testosterone to epitestosterone levels as high as 50:1 that of a normal man, and was issued a suspension by the CSAC. When that suspension ended up being for the aforementioned three years, Shlemenko appealed on a variety of tenants, one being that he did not receive a B-sample test that night. But the one that ultimately got his suspension reduced from three years to one was an appeal to the California Superior Court, who reduced the ban last month on the basis of an original letter from the CSAC stating Shlemenko was only suspended for a year.
That didn’t stop him from fighting in his native Russia in the meantime, however, as Shlemenko fought and beat Vyacheslav Vasilevsky twice this year. Prior to his win over Manhoef in Bellator, Shlemenko had lost two straight by submission to Tito Ortiz and Brandon Halsey, snapping an impressive 13-fight win streak where he defended the Bellator belt three times.
He’ll square off with Grove, the former UFC mainstay who has won two straight fights after also losing to Halsey at Bellator 137. Former WWE champ Bobby Lashley is also set to face a yet-to-be-named opponent at the Tennessee-based card.
Bellator 127 was arguably the weakest card on paper of the season so far. Still, it had some decent fights on it and some good action. For a free fight card, it was certainly worth the watch.
Of note on the prelims, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated an overmatched jobber in Malik Merad. Here’s a GIF of the finish (this GIF and others in the post via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
Bellator 127 was arguably the weakest card on paper of the season so far. Still, it had some decent fights on it and some good action. For a free fight card, it was certainly worth the watch.
Of note on the prelims, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated an overmatched jobber in Malik Merad. Here’s a GIF of the finish (this GIF and others in the post via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
In the main card opener, Christian M’Pumbu faced Kendall Grove. This was M’Pumbu’s first fight at middleweight and it went poorly. The first round was five minutes of wall-and-stall for the most part. In the second, Grove managed to get M’Pumbu’s back during a quick scramble and sunk in a rear naked choke.
The next match featured Rafael Silva against Rob Emerson. Silva laid and prayed his way to a decision win. There was nothing notable or impressive about this fight save for Emerson’s uncanny resemblance to Doug Marshall.
Karo Parisyan met Fernando Gonzalez in the co-main event. This fight wasn’t competitive. Gonzalez hurt a sluggish Parisyan early with a hook and then landed some brutal follow-up ground and pound over the course of the next minute to put Parisyan away.
Then came the main event. Justin Wilcox fought Daniel Straus. This one didn’t last long. Straus clipped Wilcox early with a left hand, face-planting him. After a few more punches, the fight was called.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Daniel Straus def. Justin Wilcox via KO (punches), round 1, 0:50.
Fernando Gonzalez def. Karo Parisyan via TKO (punches), round 1, 1:43.
Rafael Silva def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Kendall Grove def. Christian M’Pumbu via submission (rear naked choke), round 2, 4:14.
Preliminary Card
Ray Sloan def. Nick Moghaddam via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Saad Awad def. Sergio Rios via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x 2)
Thierry Sokoudjou def. Malik Merad via TKO, round 2, 4:04.
Keith Berry def. Joe Pacheco via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ricky Rainey def. Johnny Cisneros via KO, first round, 3:18.
Justin Baesman def. Johnny Mercurio via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
It’s Friday night, and that means Bellator! This was the promotion’s 114th outing, and it was a feisty one. It featured the semifinals of the season 10 featherweight tournament and one semifinal bout of the middleweight tournament. The Bellator middleweight title was also up for grabs.
The event opened with UFC vet Kendall Grove taking on Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper. This was a middleweight tournament semifinal bout, the only one of the night.
Early in the first round, Cooper landed a stiff leg kick that floored Grove. Cooper pounced on him, but Grove reversed his fortunes. He took Cooper’s back and maintained the position for the rest of the round. He was unable to secure a rear naked choke despite several attempts. Towards the end of the round he resorted to ground and pound. As he poured more on, Cooper wilted and turtled, but he was saved by the bell.
The second round was much closer. Both fighters managed to pepper each other. Grove worked his jab, and Cooper’s money combination was a left uppercut followed by a straight right. It was this same combo that sent Grove crashing to the mat late in the second frame. Some vicious follow-up ground and pound from Cooper starched Grove and Big John McCarthy stepped in, perhaps a little too late.
It’s Friday night, and that means Bellator! This was the promotion’s 114th outing, and it was a feisty one. It featured the semifinals of the season 10 featherweight tournament and one semifinal bout of the middleweight tournament. The Bellator middleweight title was also up for grabs.
The event opened with UFC vet Kendall Grove taking on Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper. This was a middleweight tournament semifinal bout, the only one of the night.
Early in the first round, Cooper landed a stiff leg kick that floored Grove. Cooper pounced on him, but Grove reversed his fortunes. He took Cooper’s back and maintained the position for the rest of the round. He was unable to secure a rear naked choke despite several attempts. Towards the end of the round he resorted to ground and pound. As he poured more on, Cooper wilted and turtled, but he was saved by the bell.
The second round was much closer. Both fighters managed to pepper each other. Grove worked his jab, and Cooper’s money combination was a left uppercut followed by a straight right. It was this same combo that sent Grove crashing to the mat late in the second frame. Some vicious follow-up ground and pound from Cooper starched Grove and Big John McCarthy stepped in, perhaps a little too late.
The next match was the first featherweight tournament semifinal. Des Green faced Will Martinez. After a minute or two of feeling out, Martinez landed a tremendous right hand that wobbled Green. Green managed to maintain his composure though, shooting for a double leg, driving Martinez completely across the cage and taking him down. Martinez stood back up shortly after hitting the mat. Some sloppy striking exchanges ensued, with both fighters missing big. Martinez hit Green with a wicked body kick, then clinched and started dirty boxing. He maintained dominance over the striking for the rest of the first round, scoring with right hands at will—that is until he was taken down with about a minute to go in the round. Green hit a couple of great right hands from inside Martinez’s guard, and Martinez landed a nice upkick. The rounded ended with a bit of blood coming from Martinez’s mouth.
Green started the second round aggressive. Martinez made him pay with a left hand that wobbled him. Nevertheless, Green pushed through it and clinched with Martinez, taking his back while standing and tenderizing Martinez’s thighs with knees. After about a minute or two of this, Green slammed Martinez with a stunning suplex. Repetition was the story for the rest of the round. Green sat in Martinez’s guard. Martinez went for a submission, and Green avoided it.
The third round began with Martinez rushing forwards, throwing three jabs and slipping. After that, Martinez intentionally parked himself against the fence. It appeared as though Martinez was attempting to bait Green. It worked, but not as Martinez intended. Green came in and nailed him with a right hand. Martinez recovered quickly. Very late in the round, Martinez rocked Green with a left hook, but it was too little, too late. Green ended the fight with a takedown, practically guaranteeing the round and the fight. The judges agreed with this assessment; Green won a unanimous decision victory.
The co-main event, and last featherweight tournament semifinal, pitted Daniel Weichel against Matt Bessette. Things started off poorly for Bessette. Weichel floored him with a straight right counter to a leg kick. Weichel followed it up with some ground and pound; Bessette’s rubber guard was ineffective. The first round stalled out at that point. Weichel didn’t pass into half guard until there was a minute left in the first round. Bessette managed to escape with about 30 seconds left, but received a stiff knee to the face for his efforts.
Weichel started round 2 by literally shoving Bessette to the canvas. He let Bessette return to his feet. The two exchanged knees. There were some more missed or otherwise meaningless strikes. Bessette was the more active fighter, which might’ve won him the round on the scorecards, though the same claim could be made for a takedown Weichel scored late in the round (but Bessette rose to his feet immediately afterwards).
Bessette tried to continue turning the pace up in the third frame but Weichel stymied him with a takedown. He spent much of the round in Bessette’s guard, easily shrugging off submission attempts and stalling until the end of the fight. Not surprisingly, the judges awarded Weichel with a unanimous decision win. He’ll be meeting Des Green in the finals.
The night’s main event featured a middleweight title fight between champion Alexander Shlemenko and challenger Brennan Ward. Ward frustrated Shlemenko early on, hitting the champ with a good uppercut as well as a stiff knee. He also managed to evade and block much of Shlemenko’s offense..that was until he ate a few punches and a knee. Shlemenko blocked a Ward takedown but wound up pressed against the fence. A low blow from Ward put a stop to the action for a minute. After the fight resumed, Ward took Shlemenko’s back. A neck crank failed to end the fight. A rare stand-up from the back occurred (we still don’t know what Big John was thinking) and the two started wildly exchanging. Shlemenko wobbled Ward with a hook, but he still had enough composure to drag the Russian to the mat and take his back a second time. He couldn’t sink in a choke before the round ended.
The two exchanged hooks to start the next round. Shlemenko hit a trio of knees to Ward’s body and missed an outside trip. He followed that up with a nasty round kick to the body. Ward tried to take Shlemenko down off a kick, but wound up in an extremely tight guillotine, so tight that Ward tapped before Shlemenko even dropped to guard. A good showing from Ward, though. He gave Shlemenko a tougher fight in the first round than most expected.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brennan Ward via submission (guillotine), 1:22 of round 2
Daniel Weichel def. Matt Bessette via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Desmond Green def. Will Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Brett Cooper def. Kendall Grove via KO (punches), 3:33 of round 2
Preliminary Card
Justin Wilcox def. Jason Fischer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bubba Jenkins def. Sean Powers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Linton Vassell def. Trevor Carlson via submission (rear naked choke), 1:54 of round 2
Gavin Sterritt def. Mike Estus via submission (guillotine choke), 3:29 of round 1
Joe Rodriguez def. Eric Wahlin via submission (arm triangle), 2:06 of round 2
Bellator 104 was one of the promotion’s most stacked cards this season. When Bellator mainstay Karl Amoussou and three UFC vets (Paul Sass, Rob Emerson, and Paul Bradley) are relegated to the prelims, there’s some good or at least decent fights on the main card.
The prelims were exciting and had a few notable happenings.
Cliff Wright vs. Derek Loffer was a thrilling back-and-forth match that saw Wright win via armbar late in the second round.
After that, Brandon Girtz pulled a Chris Leben. No, he didn’t urinate in a bed or fail a drug test. He fought twice in two weeks and won both matches like Leben did back in 2010. Girtz submitted Poppies Martinez and Mike Estus at Bellator 102 and Bellator 104, respectively. And these weren’t Hail Mary submissions; Girtz controlled both guys before torquing their arms.
Then, Rob Emerson—wife stealer and one of a select few men to defeat the next Anderson Silva—heel hooked Jared Downing in under two minutes.
Paul Sass, too, won in short order, this time with a toe hold. His opponent Rod Montoya was seemingly ignorant of the fact that Sass has an amazing guard since he kept taking Sass down. Surprise, surprise, Montoya was submitted.
Unfortunately, Karl Amoussou vs. Paul Bradley couldn’t live up to the exciting standard set by the night’s previous bouts. Bradley won a unanimous decision that saw him lay in a gassed Amoussou’s guard for two out of three rounds.
That ended the prelims and brought us into the main card on Spike, which started with *gulps* a Bellator heavyweight fight between Eric Prindle and Peter Graham. It started out alright enough, with Graham nearly finishing Prindle, but then it quickly descended into the usual Bellator heavyweight routine: Heavy breathing, long periods of inactivity, and looping, exhausted punches. At the last second, Graham hit Prindle with a front kick to the face that floored him. Graham won via unanimous decision.
Read the recap for the Bellator 104 main card after the jump.
(Spoiler alert: The guys on the left beat the guys on the right.)
Bellator 104 was one of the promotion’s most stacked cards this season. When Bellator mainstay Karl Amoussou and three UFC vets (Paul Sass, Rob Emerson, and Paul Bradley) are relegated to the prelims, there’s some good or at least decent fights on the main card.
The prelims were exciting and had a few notable happenings.
Cliff Wright vs. Derek Loffer was a thrilling back-and-forth match that saw Wright win via armbar late in the second round.
After that, Brandon Girtz pulled a Chris Leben. No, he didn’t urinate in a bed or fail a drug test. He fought twice in two weeks and won both matches like Leben did back in 2010. Girtz submitted Poppies Martinez and Mike Estus at Bellator 102 and Bellator 104, respectively. And these weren’t Hail Mary submissions; Girtz controlled both guys before torquing their arms.
Then, Rob Emerson—wife stealer and one of a select few men to defeat the next Anderson Silva—heel hooked Jared Downing in under two minutes.
Paul Sass, too, won in short order, this time with a toe hold. His opponent Rod Montoya was seemingly ignorant of the fact that Sass has an amazing guard since he kept taking Sass down. Surprise, surprise, Montoya was submitted.
Unfortunately, Karl Amoussou vs. Paul Bradley couldn’t live up to the exciting standard set by the night’s previous bouts. Bradley won a unanimous decision that saw him lay in a gassed Amoussou’s guard for two out of three rounds.
That ended the prelims and brought us into the main card on Spike, which started with *gulps* a Bellator heavyweight fight between Eric Prindle and Peter Graham. It started out alright enough, with Graham nearly finishing Prindle, but then it quickly descended into the usual Bellator heavyweight routine: Heavy breathing, long periods of inactivity, and looping, exhausted punches. At the last second, Graham hit Prindle with a front kick to the face that floored him. Graham won via unanimous decision.
Kendall Grove made his return to mainstream American MMA (looking life Rufio from Hook) versus Joe Vedepo. Grove controlled the fight from bell to bell. Vedepo spent most of the fight about to be submitted or knocked out. It was one of those fights where the winner looked good but the loser did such a great job of getting his ass beat that everyone can’t shut up about his “heart.”
In the night’s first welterweight tournament semifinal, Ron Keslar upset War Machine in decisive fashion. He took War Machine down immediately, took his back, and choked him unconscious at 3:31. We’re still debating at the CagePotato offices as to whether Christy Mack will leave War Machine for Keslar now.
In the second welterweight tournament semifinal, which was Bellator 104′s main event, Brent Weedman and Rick Hawn faced off. It wasn’t the first time these two fighters met. They fought back in May 2012, with Hawn winning. Hawn won via unanimous decision this time too, but it was a ho-hum affair. This season’s welterweight final will therefore be Rick Hawn vs. Ron Keslar.
Here are the complete Bellator 104 results:
Main Card
Rick Hawn def. Brent Weedman via Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ron Keslar def. War Machine via technical submission (rear naked choke), 3:31 of Round 1
Kendall Grove def. Joe Vedepo via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Peter Graham def. Eric Prindle via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Paul Bradley def. Karl Amoussou via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Paul Sass def. Rod Montoya via submission (toe hold), 2:01 of Round 1
Robert Emerson def. Jared Downing via submission (heel hook), 1:44 of Round 1
Brandon Girtz def. Mike Estus via submission (armbar), 4:25 of Round 1
Cliff Wright def. Derek Loffer via submission (armbar), 4:28 of Round 2
Andre Tieva def. Chris Lane via TKO (punches), 2:14 of Round 1
In May 2012, Lashley suffered the second loss of his career when he dropped a decision to James Thompson at Super Fight League 3; he was inactive for a year following that fight. But now, he’s rebuilding. Earlier this month, Lashley scored a second-round keylock victory over Kevin Asplund at Titan FC 25, and last night he returned to action against Matthew Larson at Global Warrior Challenge: British Invasion card in Kansas City, Missouri, winning by rear-naked choke in 98 seconds. Check out the video above.
The victory bumped Lashley’s MMA record to 9-2, and you can look at it one of two ways: 1) Lashley is still a powerful, dangerous s.o.b., particularly in the first round of a fight; or 2) Larson put up about as much resistance as a Bubba Dummy, and the sooner we forget this match the better.
In May 2012, Lashley suffered the second loss of his career when he dropped a decision to James Thompson at Super Fight League 3; he was inactive for a year following that fight. But now, he’s rebuilding. Earlier this month, Lashley scored a second-round keylock victory over Kevin Asplund at Titan FC 25, and last night he returned to action against Matthew Larson at Global Warrior Challenge: British Invasion card in Kansas City, Missouri, winning by rear-naked choke in 98 seconds. Check out the video above.
The victory bumped Lashley’s MMA record to 9-2, and you can look at it one of two ways: 1) Lashley is still a powerful, dangerous s.o.b., particularly in the first round of a fight; or 2) Larson put up about as much resistance as a Bubba Dummy, and the sooner we forget this match the better.
Bobby Lashley def. Matt Larson via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:38 of round one
Marcin Lazarz def. Ricco Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
Andre Winner def. Drew Fickett via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Kendall Grove def. Danny Mitchell via TKO, 4:53 of round one
Oli Thompson def. Kevin Asplund via TKO, 3:21 of round one
L.C. Davis def. James Saville via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Dayman Lake def. Jake Heun via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:34 of round one
Jack Marshman def. Wayne Cole via TKO, 3:26 of round one
Max Nunes def. Justin Davis via TKO, 2:39 of round one
Michael Johnson def. Jerome Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Jake Murphy def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
