Tag: King Mo

Bellator 97 Videos + Results: Chandler Destroys Rickels, Askren Dominates Koreshkov in Far Less Entertaining Fashion

(Video via MMAJunkie)

Maybe one day there will be a Bellator lightweight contender who’s talented enough to defeat champion Michael Chandler — but it ain’t gonna be the dinosaur guy. (No offense.)  Season 8 lightweight tournament winner David Rickels had a good head of steam going into his title challenge against Chandler last night at Bellator 97, with four straight wins including a TKO of Saad Awad back in March. But against a truly world-class lightweight, the Caveman was in way over his head.

As you can see in the video above, Rickels didn’t even have a chance to get started. Chandler swarmed as soon as he staggered Rickels with a right straight, landing more follow-up power shots and diving after Rickels when the challenger hit the mat. In just 44 seconds, Rickels was unconscious and Michael Chandler (now 12-0 overall) had made his second title defense with another fearsome display of killer instinct.

Chandler’s next fight will likely come against Dave Jansen, the Season 7 lightweight tournament winner who hasn’t been able to face Chandler yet due to injury. Jansen is 6-0 in Bellator, and is clearly the most qualified man for the job. And yet, we can’t help but wonder how Chandler would stack up against some of the top 155’ers in the UFC — not like that would ever happen.

Speaking of dominant Bellator champions who could use a higher level of competition…


(Video via MMAJunkie)

Maybe one day there will be a Bellator lightweight contender who’s talented enough to defeat champion Michael Chandler — but it ain’t gonna be the dinosaur guy. (No offense.)  Season 8 lightweight tournament winner David Rickels had a good head of steam going into his title challenge against Chandler last night at Bellator 97, with four straight wins including a TKO of Saad Awad back in March. But against a truly world-class lightweight, the Caveman was in way over his head.

As you can see in the video above, Rickels didn’t even have a chance to get started. Chandler swarmed as soon as he staggered Rickels with a right straight, landing more follow-up power shots and diving after Rickels when the challenger hit the mat. In just 44 seconds, Rickels was unconscious and Michael Chandler (now 12-0 overall) had made his second title defense with another fearsome display of killer instinct.

Chandler’s next fight will likely come against Dave Jansen, the Season 7 lightweight tournament winner who hasn’t been able to face Chandler yet due to injury. Jansen is 6-0 in Bellator, and is clearly the most qualified man for the job. And yet, we can’t help but wonder how Chandler would stack up against some of the top 155′ers in the UFC — not like that would ever happen.

Speaking of dominant Bellator champions who could use a higher level of competition…

Before his welterweight title defense last night against Season 7 tourney winner Andrey Koreshkov, Ben Askren completely wrote off his formerly unbeaten opponent, describing Koreshkov’s ground game as “embarrassing.” It turned out to be a very apt description, although Askren should feel free to share some of that embarrassment.

If you’ve watched any of Askren’s performances before, I probably don’t need to tell you what happened, but in short, Funky Ben took Koreshkov to the mat in every single round, and threw down enough half-hearted strikes to avoid being stood up by the ref. He racked up a truly absurd striking differential, and there were moments in the fight where Askren was confident enough to do absolutely nothing without fear of reprisal. That’s undoubtedly impressive, although not particularly entertaining to watch.

But while Askren was successfully able to lead the crowd in chants of “USA!” early in the fight, the fans eventually turned on him, as they always do. After nearly 18 minutes of Askren’s safe, stifling, tedious top control, the referee called it a TKO, more out of boredom than anything else. Afterwards, Askren accused the fans of being Communists. If booing lay-and-pray makes you a Communist, then yes, I believe the workers should own the means of production. Fun fact: Ben Askren is currently without a contract. Let the bidding war begin!

Elsewhere on the card, Muhammad Lawal went back to his wrestling roots for a ground-and-pound-based victory over Jacob Noe to win the 2013 Summer Series light-heavyweight tournament final, while Patricio Freire bounced back to the W column with a savage third-round TKO against Jared Downing. (Note: Downing was an injury replacement for Rob Emerson, who reportedly pulled a muscle while banging Ian McCall’s wife.)

And of course, this happened.

Video highlights and full results are below…

Bellator 97
July 31st, 2013
Santa Ana Star Center; Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Main Card:
– Michael Chandler def. David Rickels via KO, 0:44 of round 1 [for Bellator lightweight title]
– Ben Askren def. Andrey Koreshkov via TKO, at 2:58 of round 4 [for Bellator welterweight title]
– Muhammed Lawal def. Jacob Noe via verbal submission (punches), 2:51 of round 3 [light-heavyweight tournament final]
– Vitaly Minakov def. Ryan Martinez via TKO, 4:02 of round 3 [heavyweight tournament final]
– Patricio Freire def. Jared Downing via TKO, 0:54 of round 3

Preliminary Card:
– Bubba Jenkins def. Mike Barreras via TKO, 1:05 of round 2
– Anthony Leone def. Frank Baca via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:07 of round 3
– Rafael Silva def. Rodrigo Lima via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:03 of round 3
– Will Brooks def. Cris Leyva via TKO, 2:20 of round 3
– Jeremy Kimball def. Keith Berry via KO, 1:45 of round 2
– Shawn Bunch def. Russell Wilson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
– Donald Sanchez def. Cliff Wright via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
– Adrian Cruz def. Felipe Chavez via TKO, 4:24 of round 2
– Javier Palacios def. Richard Jacques via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

TEASER TRAILER: “MMA Impressions With Jade Bryce, Part 2?…Coming Soon

(Props: YouTube.com/CagePotato)

Roy Nelson. Tito Ortiz. Rampage Jackson. Anderson Silva. BJ Penn. Stephan Bonnar. King Mo. Jamie Varner. Phil Baroni.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Previously: CagePotato Presents: MMA Impressions, With Jade Bryce [VIDEO]


(Props: YouTube.com/CagePotato)

Roy Nelson. Tito Ortiz. Rampage Jackson. Anderson Silva. BJ Penn. Stephan Bonnar. King Mo. Jamie Varner. Phil Baroni.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Previously: CagePotato Presents: MMA Impressions, With Jade Bryce [VIDEO]

Bellator 96 Recap: King Mo and War Machine Score First-Round Wins, Babalu Sobral Announces Retirement Following Loss


(Like I said, betting money on Petruzelli would be a *terrible* idea. / Photo via Facebook.com/BellatorMMA)

Bellator’s 2013 Summer Series kicked off last night in Thackerville, Oklahoma — population: 404 — with the semifinals of the promotion’s latest light-heavyweight and heavyweight tournaments. The televised card was an overall success, featuring fast action, brutal stoppages, and much-needed wins for a pair of marquee names. But it didn’t go well for everybody. Here are the important points…

War Machine Is Back in General Population
In a non-tournament bout that opened the broadcast, charmingly outspoken welterweight War Machine returned to competition for the first time since his latest stint in jail, facing journeyman Blas Avena. Machine appeared to be in fine form, putting Avena on his back in the second half of the opening round, trapping his arm, and slugging Avena with left hands until the match was stopped at the 3:55 mark. Random thought: War really needs to be a coach on season 2 of Fight Master. You want drama? There’s your drama.

Heavyweights Gonna Heavyweight
Both of the heavyweight tournament semi-finals resulted in gnarly first-round knockouts. During the prelims, Ryan Martinez — who came in as a short-notice replacement for the injured Vinicius Queiroz — slugged out Richard Hale with punches from the top. And on the main card, undefeated Russian prospect Vitaly Minakov needed just 32 seconds to beat the crap out of Ron Sparks. Minakov is now 11-0, with six of those wins coming in the first minute of the fight. He and Martinez will now face each other at Bellator 97, July 31st in Albuquerque.

Farewell, Sweet Babalu


(Like I said, betting money on Petruzelli would be a *terrible* idea. / Photo via Facebook.com/BellatorMMA)

Bellator’s 2013 Summer Series kicked off last night in Thackerville, Oklahoma — population: 404 — with the semifinals of the promotion’s latest light-heavyweight and heavyweight tournaments. The televised card was an overall success, featuring fast action, brutal stoppages, and much-needed wins for a pair of marquee names. But it didn’t go well for everybody. Here are the important points…

War Machine Is Back in General Population
In a non-tournament bout that opened the broadcast, charmingly outspoken welterweight War Machine returned to competition for the first time since his latest stint in jail, facing journeyman Blas Avena. Machine appeared to be in fine form, putting Avena on his back in the second half of the opening round, trapping his arm, and slugging Avena with left hands until the match was stopped at the 3:55 mark. Random thought: War really needs to be a coach on season 2 of Fight Master. You want drama? There’s your drama.

Heavyweights Gonna Heavyweight
Both of the heavyweight tournament semi-finals resulted in gnarly first-round knockouts. During the prelims, Ryan Martinez — who came in as a short-notice replacement for the injured Vinicius Queiroz — slugged out Richard Hale with punches from the top. And on the main card, undefeated Russian prospect Vitaly Minakov needed just 32 seconds to beat the crap out of Ron Sparks. Minakov is now 11-0, with six of those wins coming in the first minute of the fight. He and Martinez will now face each other at Bellator 97, July 31st in Albuquerque.

Farewell, Sweet Babalu
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Jacob Noe was certainly the most competitive fight on the main card, with both light-heavyweights landing well through the first two rounds. The third round could have been the deciding frame, but Noe didn’t let it go to the judges. After stunning Sobral with punches and opening up a cut near his left eye, Noe threw the kitchen sink at Babalu, who stumbled around and ate punches until the ref called a standing TKO at the 3:32 mark of the final round. Despite his wooziness, Sobral didn’t appear too pleased with the call.

If you’re a well-traveled MMA veteran who has fought for the biggest organizations in the world, but you’re now being stopped by a virtual unknown in the opening round of a Bellator tournament, it might be a good sign to hang up the gloves — and that’s exactly what Babalu did after the fight, announcing his retirement in the cage. It’s hard to say if Sobral’s retirement will be permanent, or one of those temporary retirements that fighters seem to love so much. But for now, the BJJ black-belt leaves behind a 37-11 career record, and can claim victories over Chael Sonnen, Mauricio Rua, Robbie Lawler, Jeremy Horn, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

King Mo Smashes — and I Mean Smashes — Seth Petruzelli


(Skip to the 1:11 mark for the brain-damage.)

Look, I still think making Muhammad Lawal a 15-1 favorite in this fight was ludicrous. This wasn’t exactly Cro Cop vs. Dos Caras Jr. — it was a halfway legitimate matchup. But King Mo won, and he made it look easy. As soon as Lawal completed his first takedown, it was the beginning of the end. With Petruzelli on his back, Lawal grabbed his feet, swung them out of the way, and dived in with one of the most savage haymakers-from-above in MMA history. Nobody could have survived that shot, and Petruzelli was no exception. And so, Lawal bounces back from his surprise upset against Emanuel Newton at Bellator 90, and will now face Jacob Noe in the finals of the light-heavyweight summer tourney at Bellator 97. Meanwhile, Petruzelli’s Bellator record drops to 1-2.

And now, full results from Bellator 96…

MAIN CARD
Muhammed Lawal def. Seth Petruzelli via KO, 1:35 of round 1
Jacob Noe def. Renato Sobral via TKO, 3:32 of round 3
Vitaly Minakov def. Ron Sparks via TKO, 0:32 of round 1
War Machine def. Blas Avena via TKO, 3:55 of round 1

PRELIMINARY CARD
Damon Jackson def. Keith Miner via TKO, 2:00 of round 1
Raphael Butler def. Jeremiah O’Neal via TKO, 2:57 of round 1
Ryan Martinez def. Richard Hale via KO, 2:19 of round 1
Brandon Halsey def. Joe Yager via split decision (30-28 x 2, 28-30)*
Derek Campos def. Brandon Girtz via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Justin McNally def. Steven Artoff via verbal submission (triangle choke), 2:44 of round 1

UNAIRED MATCHES (FOLLOWING THE MAIN CARD BROADCAST)
Chas Skelly def. Jarrod Card via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Keith Berry def. Cortez Coleman via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Mike Maldonado def. Chavous Smith via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:27 of round 1

* That 28-30 has to be a scoring error by the judge. Yager had a point deducted for groin-strikes, so even if he won every round, the highest score he could have received would be 29.

Absurd Betting Line of the Day: King Mo is a 15-1 Favorite Against Seth Petruzelli, Who Will Probably Beat Him


(Be honest: How many of you were even aware that this fight was happening? / Image via Facebook.com/King.Mo.FH)

Props to @MMAdamMartin for giving us the heads up that Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal is currently as high as a -1545 betting favorite in his scheduled match against Seth Petruzelli this Wednesday at Bellator 96. Keep in mind that Lawal was a 10-1 favorite in his last match against Emanuel Newton, which ended with Mo getting knocked out with a spinning backfist in the first round.

Let that sink in for a moment. Still with us? Good. So, after losing that match, Lawal has somehow become an even more immense favorite against a guy who is BEST KNOWN FOR A DRAMATIC UPSET, FOR FUCK’S SAKE.

At this point, you can get Seth Petruzelli for +725 at SportBet and 5Dimes, meaning that a $100 bet on the Silverback would return $725 in profit if he wins. Meanwhile, a $1,545 wager on Lawal would return $100 in profit if he wins, which has to be the dumbest investment in the history of world currency.

If you want to bet on Petruzelli, do it now before the oddsmakers sober up.


(Be honest: How many of you were even aware that this fight was happening? / Image via Facebook.com/King.Mo.FH)

Props to @MMAdamMartin for giving us the heads up that Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal is currently as high as a -1545 betting favorite in his scheduled match against Seth Petruzelli this Wednesday at Bellator 96. Keep in mind that Lawal was a 10-1 favorite in his last match against Emanuel Newton, which ended with Mo getting knocked out with a spinning backfist in the first round.

Let that sink in for a moment. Still with us? Good. So, after losing that match, Lawal has somehow become an even more immense favorite against a guy who is BEST KNOWN FOR A DRAMATIC UPSET, FOR FUCK’S SAKE.

At this point, you can get Seth Petruzelli for +725 at SportBet and 5Dimes, meaning that a $100 bet on the Silverback would return $725 in profit if he wins. Meanwhile, a $1,545 wager on Lawal would return $100 in profit if he wins, which has to be the dumbest investment in the history of world currency.

If you want to bet on Petruzelli, do it now before the oddsmakers sober up.

Fresh Off His Knockout Of ‘King Mo’, Emanuel Newton Believes Bellator LHW Title Will Be His


(Photo via Bellator.com)

By Elias Cepeda

Last month, former Strikeforce champion Muhammad Lawal was scheduled to take his next academic step towards the Bellator light-heavyweight tournament title. Sure, he had to fight someone, but no one seemed to give much credit to his opponent, Emanuel Newton.

The two had traveled and trained in the same circles, even together, but their careers couldn’t have been more different. Lawal was a former top international wrestler that entered high-level MMA with great fanfare and quickly became one of the most dangerous 205-pound fighters in the world.

Newton, instead, had toiled on mostly the regional circuits for nearly ten years. He had fought, and sometimes beaten, guys who would go on to fight and win in the UFC, but Newton’s own shot at the big time had yet to come.

Fighting in the Bellator tournament, however, gave him his chance. Both Newton and Lawal won their first-round fights in January and advanced to face one another. All the attention, including from this writer and site, was on Lawal.

With his pedigree, brash public persona, and world class skills, “King Mo” was the story. The world took for granted that he had taken a step down to fight in Bellator after being fired by Zuffa (the parent company of Strikeforce and the UFC) and that Lawal would easily stomp through every one of his opponents in the tournament, Newton included.


(Photo via Bellator.com)

By Elias Cepeda

Last month, former Strikeforce champion Muhammad Lawal was scheduled to take his next academic step towards the Bellator light-heavyweight tournament title. Sure, he had to fight someone, but no one seemed to give much credit to his opponent, Emanuel Newton.

The two had traveled and trained in the same circles, even together, but their careers couldn’t have been more different. Lawal was a former top international wrestler that entered high-level MMA with great fanfare and quickly became one of the most dangerous 205-pound fighters in the world.

Newton, instead, had toiled on mostly the regional circuits for nearly ten years. He had fought, and sometimes beaten, guys who would go on to fight and win in the UFC, but Newton’s own shot at the big time had yet to come.

Fighting in the Bellator tournament, however, gave him his chance. Both Newton and Lawal won their first-round fights in January and advanced to face one another. All the attention, including from this writer and site, was on Lawal.

With his pedigree, brash public persona, and world class skills, “King Mo” was the story. The world took for granted that he had taken a step down to fight in Bellator after being fired by Zuffa (the parent company of Strikeforce and the UFC) and that Lawal would easily stomp through every one of his opponents in the tournament, Newton included.

For his part, Lawal insisted to us that Newton was a real fighter who posed real danger, but no one really listened. Fighting is intrinsically meritocratic when left to its own devices, however, and our expectations and prejudices have no bearing on what happens in the ring.

On February 21st, Emanuel Newton cut Muhammed Lawal’s Bellator coronation short by knocking him out cold in the first round with a spinning back fist. The punch, like Newton himself, looked to be an afterthought. But both packed more power and surprising timing than was expected, and tonight Newton finds himself in the finals of Bellator’s Season 8 light-heavyweight tournament against Mikhail Zayats.

The day before weighing in for the fight this week, Newton insisted to CagePotato that Lawal’s hype didn’t faze him leading up to their bout last month. “I didn’t feel too much, man. I didn’t let the hype, the attention for my opponent, anything, affect me. I had a fight in front of me and that was it,” he told us.

Not buying into your opponent’s hype is one thing, but being such an overlooked underdog had to have motivated “The Hardcore Kid.” Still, the plain-speaking Newton insists that he didn’t feel slighted. Rather, he was too busy training to worry about being insulted by being dismissed. He does allow that winning was sweet, though.

“Afterwards it was definitely sweet,” he said. “I  liked showing what I can do.”

Predictably, Newton didn’t let his surprise KO of Bellator’s biggest star distract him from his next task — fighting Zayats in about a month’s time. “I had to move forward,” he said. “I have a tough guy in front of me.”

Indeed he does. Zayats has won his past seven fights, including a TKO over former UFC title challenger, Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

Newton may not talk trash, but his confidence is unmistakable. It is also clear that much of it comes from his faith.

“I feel like I’ve got God with me and so there’s nothing I can’t do,” Newton told us.

He doesn’t seem to mean that God wants him to win and not Zayats, necessarily. Newton just seems to believe that the higher power he believes in makes anything possible for him, if he reaches out and grabs it.

“I think Mikhail is a God-fearing man as well,” Newton ended.

“But it’s just my time, now.”

Oversight of the Day: King Mo Doesn’t Think His Droopy Hands Played Any Part in His KO Loss Last Thursday

He might only be a few days removed from his shocking Bellator 90 upset at the hands of Emanuel Newton, but it doesn’t appear as if Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has learned a damn thing from it yet. Mo has been training with renowned boxing instructor Jeff Mayweather ever since signing his groundbreaking Bellator/TNA double contract last May, and has even knocked out the occasional training partner or two in his time there. But King Mo is not Floyd Mayweather, and this fact was never made more obvious than in the moments leading up to his KO loss last Thursday.

In an attempt to mimic Mayweather’s “shoulder roll” technique, Mo’s hands could be spotted closer to his waist than his face for the majority of the fight, which would have been fine had Mo counterbalanced that disadvantage with sharp combinations and head movement. Since Mo did nothing of the sort, he wound up losing his spot in the light heavyweight tourney finals and costing me over 2200 dollars on a eight-fight parlay yousonofabitchbastardWHYGODWHY. But if you were to ask Mo, the knockout was not the result of his own arrogance and was in fact quite the opposite:

I didn’t even see the shot. A lot of people saying that I was fighting cocky and with my hands down, but if you watch it, when he missed with his right hand, I threw a right hand and then he came with the spinning backfist.

He might only be a few days removed from his shocking Bellator 90 upset at the hands of Emanuel Newton, but it doesn’t appear as if Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has learned a damn thing from it yet. Mo has been training with renowned boxing instructor Jeff Mayweather ever since signing his groundbreaking Bellator/TNA double contract last May, and has even knocked out the occasional training partner or two in his time there. But King Mo is not Floyd Mayweather, and this fact was never made more obvious than in the moments leading up to his KO loss last Thursday.

In an attempt to mimic Mayweather’s “shoulder roll” technique, Mo’s hands could be spotted closer to his waist than his face for the majority of the fight, which would have been fine had Mo counterbalanced that disadvantage with sharp combinations and head movement. Since Mo did nothing of the sort, he wound up losing his spot in the light heavyweight tourney finals and costing me over 2200 dollars on a eight-fight parlay yousonofabitchbastardWHYGODWHY. But if you were to ask Mo, the knockout was not the result of his own arrogance and was in fact quite the opposite:

I didn’t even see the shot. A lot of people saying that I was fighting cocky and with my hands down, but if you watch it, when he missed with his right hand, I threw a right hand and then he came with the spinning backfist.

So he kind of caught me in the act of punching, but no excuses, I’m good, and I will be back and hopefully I get to fight him again in the future. It was the first time I had been knocked out, and the good thing is I came to pretty quick. When I saw the ref standing over me, I just said, ‘Damn!’

Hey, at least Mo didn’t go with the “I am too talented to train” routine, right? Anyone?

If you lost more money that I did an account of Mo, feel free to vent your frustrations in the comments section. As for me, I’m sure these legs will unbreak themselves any…day…now…

–J. Jones