“Sapo” has been fighting for ONE Championship for the past several years. He took on Ben Askren in his promotional debut in April of 2015. However, that fight ended in a No Contest as the result of an unintentional eye poke.
Heading into the fight Santos had dropped two of his last four contests. With the victory, Santos’ MMA record improved to 65-11-1 and 1 No Contest. As for Abe, the former UFC fighter has now suffered three-straight losses.
His current record sits at 6-3. It was the first time he was finished in his MMA career.
To put it mildly, I’ve been skeptical about Bellator’s non-title fights in the past. They’ve all been total squash fights, and light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu actually managed to lose his against Travis Wiuff back at Bellator 55. Last night didn’t exactly make me a believer in non-title fights, but I won’t act like I wasn’t impressed with lightweight champion Michael Chandler after his performance against Akihiro Gono.
Chandler followed up his brilliant fourth round rear-naked choke over Eddie Alvarez back at Bellator 58 with a quick TKO over Akihiro Gono. After catching Gono early with a straight right, Chandler pounced on a stunned Gono and rained down punches until he earned the stoppage. Michael Chandler improves to 10-0 overall, with six fights ending in the first round.
At the post-fight press conference, Akihiro Gono announced his retirement from MMA. Gono has lost three fights in a row, and his record now stands at 32-18-7. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision over Diego Gonzalez at Sengoku 12 in March 2010. While it’s never easy to watch an icon of the sport retire, it’s even harder to watch him continue to lose. Thanks for the memories, Magic Man.
To put it mildly, I’ve been skeptical about Bellator’s non-title fights in the past. They’ve all been total squash fights, and light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu actually managed to lose his against Travis Wiuff back at Bellator 55. Last night didn’t exactly make me a believer in non-title fights, but I won’t act like I wasn’t impressed with lightweight champion Michael Chandler after his performance against Akihiro Gono.
Chandler followed up his brilliant fourth round rear-naked choke over Eddie Alvarez back at Bellator 58 with a quick TKO over Akihiro Gono. After catching Gono early with a straight right, Chandler pounced on a stunned Gono and rained down punches until he earned the stoppage. Michael Chandler improves to 10-0 overall, with six fights ending in the first round.
At the post-fight press conference, Akihiro Gono announced his retirement from MMA. Gono has lost three fights in a row, and his record now stands at 32-18-7. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision over Diego Gonzalez at Sengoku 12 in March 2010. While it’s never easy to watch an icon of the sport retire, it’s even harder to watch him continue to lose. Thanks for the memories, Magic Man.
In Welterweight Tournament action, Bryan Baker survived an early salvo from UFC veteran Ben Saunders to pick up a unanimous decision victory. Saunders appeared to have Baker in trouble early, attempting numerous submissions, including a flying triangle and a triangle transitioned into an armbar that appeared to have Baker locked up. However, Baker defended the submission attempts from Saunders well, and found success with his takedowns throughout the rest of the fight.
Surprisingly, not only did Baker earn numerous takedowns throughout the fight, but he also got the better of many of the standup exchanges as well. Saunders managed to find success in the clinch, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to earn the victory. Baker improves to 18-3 overall, and will meet the winner of Karl Amoussou vs. David Rickels in order to determine who gets the next shot at Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren.
Also of note, the Ontario, Canada crowd was treated to a victory from Canadian fan-favorite Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford. Ford earned a second round TKO over the always game Luis Santos. After getting rocked early, Ford crumbled Santos with a brutal knee to the body and kept punching until he earned the stoppage. Ford improves to 18-4, with only one victory coming by way of decision.
And oh yeah, a heavyweight bout between Damian Grabowski and Dave Huckaba happened. Grabowski won by unanimous decision. Trust me, that’s all you need to know.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Michael Chandler def. Akihiro Gono via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:56
Bryan Baker def. Ben Saunders via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Ford def. Luis “Sapo” Santos via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:24
Damian Grabowski def. Dave Huckaba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card:
Will Romero def. Matt Veal via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:25
David “Bo” Harris def. Nick Kirk via (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cosmo Alexander def. Lorawnt-T Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nordine Taleb def. Matt MacGrath via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:30
Dom O’Grady def. Nathan Gunn via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:51
A middleweight bout between Canadian standout Cory MacDonald (12-2) and well-travelled veteran Brendan Seguin (23-17-1) and a welterweight scrap between former TFC champion Ryan Ford (17-4) and WEC veteran Luis Santos (50-7-1) have been added to Bellator’s May 4 Bellator 67 card, set for Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. CagePotato.com learned of the MacDonald-Seguin pairing and confirmed the rumored Ford-Santos bout today from sources close to both bouts.
A middleweight bout between Canadian standout Cory MacDonald (12-2) and well-travelled veteran Brendan Seguin (23-17-1) and a welterweight scrap between former TFC champion Ryan Ford (17-4) and WEC veteran Luis Santos (50-7-1) have been added to Bellator’s May 4 Bellator 67 card, set for Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. CagePotato.com learned of the MacDonald-Seguin pairing and confirmed the rumored Ford-Santos bout today from sources close to both bouts.
MacDonald has been relatively inactive the past two years, having only fought (and won) twice, but sources say the reason for his lack of action was a shortage of opponents willing to face him in Canada. The Kingston, Ontario native, who holds a win over UFC vet Edwin Dewees and seemed en route to a win over fellow Canuck Jonathan Goulet until a freak injury forced his corner to throw in the towel after the first round, will log time training for the bout at Tristar in Montreal. He decided to move to middleweight in the hopes of attracting more opposition and he’ll get a formidable opponent in Seguin who has fought a lion’s share of the sport’s toughest fighters.
“The Caucasian Devastation” holds wins over UFC vets Jake Ellenberger, Kyacey Uscola, Rob Kimmons and Goulet. During his 12-year career he also fought Denis Kang, Joe Doerksen, Dean Lister, Joey Villasenor and Martin Kampmann. Seguin hasn’t lost since dropping a decision to Forrest Petz in 2009.
Ford will finally make his Bellator debut on the card after legal and contract issues with his former manager, Mark Pavelich who owns the Maximum Fighting Championship put him at odds with the Chicago-based promotion after the Canadian promoter sent BFC a cease and desist letter claiming that “The Real Deal” was still an MFC fighter. It seems that both sides have settled their differences and are moving forward.
Arguably the biggest win of Ford’s career came against Karo Parisyan last May. Since then he has gone 2-1, including a surprise loss to David Hulett for the Aggression MMA welterweight strap in September.
Santos has the edge in experience over “The Real Deal” in the experience department, however, with 36 more fights. The husband of fellow fighter Carina Damm, “Sapo” won a hard-fought decision over Dan Hornbuckle in the opening round of Bellator’s season 5 tournament, only to be submitted via highlight-reel keylock by Ben Saunders in the second round.
When you’re fighting a guy nicknamed “The Arm Collector”, who has won twelve of his sixteen victories by armbar, you might spend extra time working on your takedown defense. And maybe resist the urge to stick your arms out during the fight. I emphasize “you”, because Darryl Cobb, the middleweight who fought Giva “The Arm Collector” Santana on the undercard of Bellator 53 last night in Miami, Oklahoma, did not have the same gameplan. Giva Santana is now 17-1 in his MMA career, his only loss a split-decision at the hands of Bellator veteran Jaime Jara.
In main card action, Ben Saunders picked up his fourth straight victory since being bounced from the UFC by submitting Luis Santos in the third round. Killa B showed off a much more well-rounded attack than what we’re accustomed to seeing from him, thoroughly out-grappling Santos for the entire fight. In other welterweight tournament action, Douglas Lima picked up a brutal second round knockout against Cleveland native Chris Lozano. Lima has now won eight straight fights, and will meet Ben Saunders at Bellator 56 on November 12 to determine the winner of the welterweight tournament.
When you’re fighting a guy nicknamed “The Arm Collector”, who has won twelve of his sixteen victories by armbar, you might spend extra time working on your takedown defense. And maybe resist the urge to stick your arms out during the fight. I emphasize “you”, because Darryl Cobb, the middleweight who fought Giva “The Arm Collector” Santana on the undercard of Bellator 53 last night in Miami, Oklahoma, did not have the same gameplan. Giva Santana is now 17-1 in his MMA career, his only loss a split-decision at the hands of Bellator veteran Jaime Jara.
In main card action, Ben Saunders picked up his fourth straight victory since being bounced from the UFC by submitting Luis Santos in the third round. Killa B showed off a much more well-rounded attack than what we’re accustomed to seeing from him, thoroughly out-grappling Santos for the entire fight. In other welterweight tournament action, Douglas Lima picked up a brutal second round knockout against Cleveland native Chris Lozano. Lima has now won eight straight fights, and will meet Ben Saunders at Bellator 56 on November 12 to determine the winner of the welterweight tournament.
In non-tournament action, Thiago Santos, originally set to fight Blagoi Ivanov in the heavyweight tournament before visa issues forced him off of Bellator 52, easily took care of Detroit heavyweight Josh Burns. The victory propels Thiago Santos back into the tournament to replace the injured Mike Hayes. Coincidentally, Mike Hayes was scheduled to meet Blagoi Ivanov in the next round. Also, British prospect Ronnie Mann got back in the W column with a first round triangle choke over Kenny Foster. Mann dedicated the fight to his recently deceased trainer, Shawn Tompkins.
(Chris Lozano jacks Brent Weedman with an uppercut during their three-rounder at Caesars Atlantic City. Photo via Bellator)
Bellator’s fifth season kicked off last night, featuring the quarterfinals of their latest welterweight tournament. Still undefeated since his release from the UFC last year, Ben Saunders grabbed his second Bellator victory — and a spot in the semi-finals — in classic “Killa B” fashion, abusing Chris Cisneros for two rounds before ending the bout early in the third frame with a storm of knees from his infamous Thai clinch. Former MFC welterweight champion Douglas Lima also impressed in his promotional debut, winning a unanimous decision over Steve Carl.
On a less-triumphant note, former Bellator standouts Chris Weedman and Dan Hornbuckle ate their second-consecutive losses at the event. Weedman, who ran through his first four opponents under the Bellator banner before getting outpointed by Jay Hieron at the Season 4 Welterweight Finals, fell short once again against Chris Lozano. Weedman took the first round easily on the strength of a knockdown and a slam-takedown, but Lozano controlled the next ten minutes and won a unanimous nod from the judges. Earlier in the evening, Dan Hornbuckle was thoroughly handled by season Brazilian vet Luis “Sapo” Santos.
(Chris Lozano jacks Brent Weedman with an uppercut during their three-rounder at Caesars Atlantic City. Photo via Bellator)
Bellator’s fifth season kicked off last night, featuring the quarterfinals of their latest welterweight tournament. Still undefeated since his release from the UFC last year, Ben Saunders grabbed his second Bellator victory — and a spot in the semi-finals — in classic “Killa B” fashion, abusing Chris Cisneros for two rounds before ending the bout early in the third frame with a storm of knees from his infamous Thai clinch. Former MFC welterweight champion Douglas Lima also impressed in his promotional debut, winning a unanimous decision over Steve Carl.
On a less-triumphant note, former Bellator standouts Chris Weedman and Dan Hornbuckle ate their second-consecutive losses at the event. Weedman, who ran through his first four opponents under the Bellator banner before getting outpointed by Jay Hieron at the Season 4 Welterweight Finals, fell short once again against Chris Lozano. Weedman took the first round easily on the strength of a knockdown and a slam-takedown, but Lozano controlled the next ten minutes and won a unanimous nod from the judges. Earlier in the evening, Dan Hornbuckle was thoroughly handled by season Brazilian vet Luis “Sapo” Santos.
Spike.com’s broadcast of the prelims turned out to be a crowd-pleasing affair, as all five local feature fights ended by stoppage. Full Bellator 49 results are below.
Main Card (Season 5 Welterweight Quarterfinals)
– Chris Lozano def. Brent Weedman via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Ben Saunders def. Chris Cisneros via TKO, 0:29 of round 3
– Luis Santos vs. def. Dan Hornbuckle via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Douglas Lima def. Steve Carl via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
Spike.com Prelims
– Alexandre Bezerra def. Scott Heckman via TKO, 1:38 of round 2
– Giedrius Karavackas def. LeVon Maynard via TKO, 1:32 of round 3
– Joel Roberts def. Brylan Van Artsdalen via technical submission (triangle choke), 1:47 of round 2
– Lester Caslow def. James Jones via TKO (injury), 0:15 of round 2
– Azunna Anyanwu def. J.A. Dudley via TKO, 4:16 of round 2
