Tag: Mike Corey

Bellator 65 Recap: Improvements Abound

Before I even begin to analyze this card, let’s get a few things out of the way: No, there were not as many decisions on this card as last week’s smothering performances; the main event ended by submission. No, the card overall was not comparable to a ProElite event, although there was a light sparring session thrown in with the fights that we could have done without. Simply put, the main card of Bellator 65 brought a lot of decisions, but was overall an entertaining event.

The evening kicked off with the opening bouts of the season six bantamweight tournament. The first bout saw Marcos Galvao outwork Ed West on his way to a unanimous decision victory. West attempted to keep Galvao outside with kicks throughout the fight, but Galvao was able to consistently take West down and avoid submission attempts. When the fight would find its way back to the feet, Marcos Galvao threw flying knees and hard rights to win over the judges, 30-27 on all scorecards.

As for the other opening bout of the bantamweight tournament- it happened. That’s about all there is to say about Luis Nogueira vs. Alexis Vila. In a fight that saw very little action, Nogueira managed to avoid Vila’s wild strikes throughout the first round and take Vila’s back. And that’s about it; neither fighter landed anything of significance for the rest of the bout, although Vila was more active than Nogueira for the rest of the fight. Controversial decision? If there was more action, maybe. But since Vila’s offensive output was equally non-existent, it’s hard to say that either fighter deserved a victory.

Before I even begin to analyze this card, let’s get a few things out of the way: No, there were not as many decisions on this card as last week’s smothering performances; the main event ended by submission. No, the card overall was not comparable to a ProElite event, although there was a light sparring session thrown in with the fights that we could have done without. Simply put, the main card of Bellator 65 brought a lot of decisions, but was overall an entertaining event.

The evening kicked off with the opening bouts of the season six bantamweight tournament. The first bout saw Marcos Galvao outwork Ed West on his way to a unanimous decision victory. West attempted to keep Galvao outside with kicks throughout the fight, but Galvao was able to consistently take West down and avoid submission attempts. When the fight would find its way back to the feet, Marcos Galvao threw flying knees and hard rights to win over the judges, 30-27 on all scorecards.

As for the other opening bout of the bantamweight tournament- it happened. That’s about all there is to say about Luis Nogueira vs. Alexis Vila. In a fight that saw very little action, Nogueira managed to avoid Vila’s wild strikes throughout the first round and take Vila’s back. And that’s about it; neither fighter landed anything of significance for the rest of the bout, although Vila was more active than Nogueira for the rest of the fight. Controversial decision? If there was more action, maybe. But since Vila’s offensive output was equally non-existent, it’s hard to say that either fighter deserved a victory.

In the featherweight tournament semifinals, Daniel Straus picked up a unanimous decision over Mike Corey, despite having Corey in danger early and often throughout the fight. Mike Corey fought zombie-style against Straus, walking through Straus’ offense in an attempt to bring the fight to the ground. Straus was clearly tired and frustrated by the end of the fight, spitting out his mouthpiece in an effort to buy time.

This isn’t to say that Straus didn’t impress; as hard as Corey worked for the takedown, he was only successful with one takedown attempt. Straus improves to 5-1 in Bellator and 19-4 overall with the victory.

In the evening’s main event, Eduardo Dantas proved his legitimacy in the bantamweight division with a dominant victory over bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky. Makovsky found early success with his takedowns, yet was unable to do much of anything in Dantas’ guard. Meanwhile, Dantas had Makovsky looking timid on his feet, catching the champion with hard kicks throughout the opening frame.

Dantas continued to press the action in the second round, capitalizing on a Makovsky takedown with a reversal and eventually mounting the champion. Once Dantas earned full mount, the fight was all but over. Dantas set up an arm-triangle choke that put Makovsky to sleep, winning the bantamweight title. Dantas improves to 14-2 overall, including a 4-0 run in Bellator.


All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

One final note: Lyman Good has qualified for next season’s welterweight tournament. Rather than attempt to describe his fight, let’s just show you the video. It won’t take long.

Full Results:

Main Card
Eduardo Dantas def. Zach Makovsky via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:26
Daniel Straus def. Mike Corey via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) featherweight-tournament semifinal
Luis Nogueira def. Alexis Vila via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – bantamweight-tournament opening round
Marcos Galvao def. Ed West via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight-tournament opening round

Preliminary Card
Duane Bastress def. Plinio Cruz via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:52
Will Martinez def. Terrell Hobbs via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:13
Scott Heckman def. Lester Caslow via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:40
Kris McCray def. Ailton Barbosa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lyman Good def. LeVon Maynard via KO (punch) – Round 1, 0:13 – welterweight-tournament qualifier
E.J. Brooks def. Mikhail Malyutin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Bellator 60 Recap: Curran Smashes Warren, Obtains Featherweight Title

Say what you want about how bitter SPIKE is acting towards the UFC ever since acquiring rights to Bellator. But after watching Bellator 60 last night in Hammond, Indiana on MTV2, it’s not hard to understand what SPIKE sees in the promotion. Season Six kicked off with a bang, with a new featherweight champion and four men advancing in the season’s featherweight tournament.

Even without considering Joe Warren’s Greco-Roman background, it’s no surprise that Warren’s gameplan would consist of attempting takedowns early and often after the brutal knockout loss to Alexis Vila he suffered in his last fight at Bellator 51. And while Warren found success with his takedowns, he was completely unable to keep Pat Curran on the mat. Curran landed some hard shots throughout the fight, but a hard right knee in the third round put Warren out on his feet. But since the referee didn’t stop the fight, Curran then landed a flurry of punches and knees that caused Joe Warren to turn his back to the challenger. And when the referee still didn’t stop the fight, Pat Curran landed two huge uppercuts that floored Warren, finally ending the fight one minute and twenty five seconds into the third round. With the victory, Curran improves to 17-4 in his MMA career, including a 7-1 run in Bellator.

Video After the jump.

Say what you want about how bitter SPIKE is acting towards the UFC ever since acquiring rights to Bellator. But after watching Bellator 60 last night in Hammond, Indiana on MTV2, it’s not hard to understand what SPIKE sees in the promotion. Season Six kicked off with a bang, with a new featherweight champion and four men advancing in the season’s featherweight tournament. 

Even without considering Joe Warren‘s Greco-Roman background, it’s no surprise that Warren’s gameplan would consist of attempting takedowns early and often after the brutal knockout loss to Alexis Vila he suffered in his last fight at Bellator 51. And while Warren found success with his takedowns, he was completely unable to keep Pat Curran on the mat. Curran landed some hard shots throughout the fight, but a hard right knee in the third round put Warren out on his feet. But since the referee didn’t stop the fight, Curran then landed a flurry of punches and knees that caused Joe Warren to turn his back to the challenger. And when the referee still didn’t stop the fight, Pat Curran landed two huge uppercuts that floored Warren, finally ending the fight one minute and twenty five seconds into the third round. With the victory, Curran improves to 17-4 in his MMA career, including a 7-1 run in Bellator.

 
Curran vs. Warren. Props: IronforgesIron.com

In featherweight tournament action, Daniel Straus used his size advantage to outpoint Jeremy Spoon on his way to a unanimous decision victory. After opening the fight looking for the rare standing arm-triangle, Straus opted for a more traditional attack consisting of takedowns and leg kicks for the remainder of the bout. The loss marks the first one in Jeremy Spoon’s career.

In other tournament action, Mike Corey managed to survive an early salvo from Ronnie Mann en route to a unanimous decision victory. Corey utilized his superior wrestling to put Mann on his back and rain down punches. The victory is Mike Corey’s first under Bellator. Also of note, both Marlon Sandro and Alexandre Bezerra advance in the tournament with victories by rear-naked choke. Marlon Sandro was particularly dominant against Roberto Vargas, absolutely crushing Vargas on the feet before earning the submission.

 
Sandro vs. Vargas. Props to IronforgesIron.com

Full results:

MAIN CARD

Pat Curran def. Joe Warren via KO (punches) – Round 3, 1:25
Daniel Straus def. Jeremy Spoon via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Mike Corey def. Ronnie Mann via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marlon Sandro def. Roberto Vargas via submission (rear-naked choke)- Round 1, 3:35

PRELIMINARY CARD

Alexandre Bezerra def. Kenny Foster via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:57
Jake Nauracy def. Cory Galloway via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 2, 4:22
Travis Wiuff def. Anthony Gomez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sean McCorkle defeats Richard White via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 1:02
Josh Shockley def. Shamar Bailey via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27
Genair da Silva def. Bobby Reardanz via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 0:51