Tag: Mike Richman

Bellator 95 Video Highlights + Results: Curran Submits Shamhalaev in Featherweight Title Defense, Year of the Rhino Continues

Bellator’s eighth season ended much like it began — with featherweight champion Pat Curran putting his belt on the line and emerging victorious. His opponent in the main event of last night’s Bellator 95 card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was Shahbulat Shamhalaev, the Dagestan-bred knockout artist who clinched his title shot with his KO of Rad Martinez in February. Unlike his 25-minute squeaker against Patricio Freire in January, Curran only needed half a round to take Shamhalaev down and put him to sleep with an arm-in guillotine, earning his second successful title defense.

Depending on availability, Curran’s next opponent could be Season 6 winner Daniel Straus — who was forced to withdraw from Bellator 95 due to a broken hand — or Bellator’s latest featherweight tournament winner, Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev, who defeated Mike Richman in a 15-minute dogfight last night. Though Richman was game through all three rounds, opening up some cuts on the Russian’s face in round two, Frodo clearly had the advantages in striking, takedowns, and overall aggression. Khasbulaev was awarded 30-27 scores from all three judges, and a $100,000 check from his employer.

In the night’s other Season 8 tournament final, middleweight Doug “The Rhino” Marshall continued his improbable career comeback by knocking out Brett Cooper in the first round. Cooper had some success early in putting Marshall on his back, but once Marshall regained his footing, it was Rhino Time. A hard right hand from Marshall sent Cooper to the canvas, and some follow-up bombs sealed the deal. The win increased Marshall’s Bellator record to 4-0, with three of those wins by first-round KO/TKO.

“Man, I hope he’s OK,” Marshall said afterwards. “I was trying to knock his beard off, but it didn’t come off. Maybe next time.”

Bellator’s eighth season ended much like it began — with featherweight champion Pat Curran putting his belt on the line and emerging victorious. His opponent in the main event of last night’s Bellator 95 card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was Shahbulat Shamhalaev, the Dagestan-bred knockout artist who clinched his title shot with his KO of Rad Martinez in February. Unlike his 25-minute squeaker against Patricio Freire in January, Curran only needed half a round to take Shamhalaev down and put him to sleep with an arm-in guillotine, earning his second successful title defense.

Depending on availability, Curran’s next opponent could be Season 6 winner Daniel Straus — who was forced to withdraw from Bellator 95 due to a broken hand — or Bellator’s latest featherweight tournament winner, Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev, who defeated Mike Richman in a 15-minute dogfight last night. Though Richman was game through all three rounds, opening up some cuts on the Russian’s face in round two, Frodo clearly had the advantages in striking, takedowns, and overall aggression. Khasbulaev was awarded 30-27 scores from all three judges, and a $100,000 check from his employer.

In the night’s other Season 8 tournament final, middleweight Doug “The Rhino” Marshall continued his improbable career comeback by knocking out Brett Cooper in the first round. Cooper had some success early in putting Marshall on his back, but once Marshall regained his footing, it was Rhino Time. A hard right hand from Marshall sent Cooper to the canvas, and some follow-up bombs sealed the deal. The win increased Marshall’s Bellator record to 4-0, with three of those wins by first-round KO/TKO.

“Man, I hope he’s OK,” Marshall said afterwards. “I was trying to knock his beard off, but it didn’t come off. Maybe next time.”

The main card was led off by a grudge match between ex-judo rivals Rick Hawn and Karo Parisyan. Parisyan was making his Bellator debut last night, and Hawn was returning to the welterweight division to greet him, following his unsuccessful tournament run at lightweight. Parisyan looked sharp in the opening frame, out-landing Hawn on the feet — until the closing seconds when Hawn landed a head kick that rung Parisyan’s bell and blitzed him with punches as the round ended. With momentum on his side, Hawn repeatedly found a home for his right hand in the second round. Eventually, he dropped Parisyan with it, and poured on hammerfists until the ref intervened.

Full results from Bellator 95 are below…

MAIN CARD
– Pat Curran def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev via submission (guillotine choke), 2:38 of round 1, retains featherweight title
– Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3), wins season 8 featherweight tournament
– Doug Marshall def. Brett Cooper via KO (punches), 3:39 of round 1, wins season 8 middleweight tournament
– Rick Hawn def. Karo Parisyan via KO, 1:55 of round 2

PRELIMINARY CARD
– Lyman Good def. Dante Rivera via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Sam Oropeza def. Shedrick Goodridge via TKO, 4:22 of round 2
– Tom DeBlass def. Carlos Brooks via TKO (doctor’s stoppage), 5:00 of round 2
– Phillipe Nover def. Darrel Horcher via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Jimmie Rivera def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
– Will Martinez def. Michael Brent Hess via KO, 4:15 of round 1
– Kevin Roddy def. Brylan Van Artsdalen via submission (armbar), 1:04 of round 2
– Liam McGeary def. Anton Talamantes via TKO, 1:18 of round 1

Bellator 92 Interview: Brett Cooper and Mike Richman Fight for Finals Berth, Respect


(Images via Sherdog, @MikeUSMCRichman)

By Elias Cepeda

You may have never heard of Brett Cooper (18-7), but chances are you know a lot of the guys he’s beaten. The middleweight has scored victories against six veterans of the UFC, Strikeforce, and WEC over the course of his eight-year career.

Tonight at Bellator 92, Cooper fights another UFC veteran – TUF 7 castmember Dan Cramer – in the semifinals of Bellator’s Season 8 Middleweight tournament, airing on Spike. The 25-year-old Southern-California native’s journey towards respect and notoriety has been long and hard since he decided he wanted to become a mixed martial arts fighter.

His interest was as it is now, simple but hard to explain. “I was always an athlete as a kid, and in all the sports I did I always wanted to be the best,” Cooper tells CagePotato.

“When I started training martial arts, I figured the way to show you’re the best at that was to fight in MMA. So, when I first walked into a gym, I told the coaches, ‘I want to be a fighter,’” he laughs.

Cooper admits that people like that often get dismissed or laughed at in serious gyms. But the kid stuck with it and threw himself into the deep end, fighting early and often. Cooper was seventeen the first time he fought as a professional, though it wasn’t until a couple years later that he says he started thinking of himself as a pro.

“I didn’t start to take it as a professional thing until I was around twenty years old,” he says. “Around that time, I fought Rory Markham, I fought [Jason] Von Flue. I started to take it more seriously and train even better, to fight those guys.”


(Images via Sherdog, @MikeUSMCRichman)

By Elias Cepeda

You may have never heard of Brett Cooper (18-7), but chances are you know a lot of the guys he’s beaten. The middleweight has scored victories against six veterans of the UFC, Strikeforce, and WEC over the course of his eight-year career.

Tonight at Bellator 92, Cooper fights another UFC veteran – TUF 7 castmember Dan Cramer – in the semifinals of Bellator’s Season 8 Middleweight tournament, airing on Spike. The 25-year-old Southern-California native’s journey towards respect and notoriety has been long and hard since he decided he wanted to become a mixed martial arts fighter.

His interest was as it is now, simple but hard to explain. “I was always an athlete as a kid, and in all the sports I did I always wanted to be the best,” Cooper tells CagePotato.

“When I started training martial arts, I figured the way to show you’re the best at that was to fight in MMA. So, when I first walked into a gym, I told the coaches, ‘I want to be a fighter,’” he laughs.

Cooper admits that people like that often get dismissed or laughed at in serious gyms. But the kid stuck with it and threw himself into the deep end, fighting early and often. Cooper was seventeen the first time he fought as a professional, though it wasn’t until a couple years later that he says he started thinking of himself as a pro.

“I didn’t start to take it as a professional thing until I was around twenty years old,” he says. “Around that time, I fought Rory Markham, I fought [Jason] Von Flue. I started to take it more seriously and train even better, to fight those guys.”

Cooper’s motivation in the sport is still to become the best in the world. He looks at this Bellator tournament, with its brutal competition schedule and cable network television stage, as a chance to take his next big step in that direction.

“The stage that Bellator is providing, especially now with being on Spike, is a big opportunity,” he says. It is even worth putting himself through fighting every three or four weeks, something previously unheard of in modern MMA. “I don’t think anyone would really want to do a tournament, because it is so challenging. But, with this opportunity, I’m all for it. If I were to win this tournament, it would mean I’m among the best in the world.”

Bellator Featherweight tournament semi-finalist Mike Richman (14-2) had a different path to MMA but has a similar goal as Cooper. Richman’s fight against Alexandre Bezerra tonight in Temecula, CA — also on the Bellator 92 main card — is a bit of a homecoming for the former Marine.

In between three tours of Iraq, Richman was stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton. He’s actually spending time there with old friends and amidst familiar surroundings while speaking with us during fight week.

Richman says that after high school, with all his friends going off to college, he instead joined the Marine Corps because he “wanted to get out there, travel, and actually do something.” While Richman loves the Marine Corps and says it has become a huge part of his identity and who he is, he got out of military service because of an intense desire to once more, “do something.” This time, it was to compete in MMA professionally.

“We watched a lot of fights, a lot of UFC, out there,” he says. “We also did a lot of grappling in training.”

Richman began to think that he, in fact, could also do what he saw pro fighters do on TV. “I told my superiors and friends and they thought I was crazy,” Richman says.

“They said, ‘Richman, you’re doing great as a Sergeant, you could make a career out of this.’ But I knew I wanted to try MMA.”

While he is still struggling to break through, no one thinks Richman is crazy anymore. He’s built one of the best records out of any American featherweight prospect and is two wins away from a title shot with a major organization.

“My old Sergeant told me recently, ‘I remember you telling me you wanted to fight years ago and now we see you fighting on TV – you’re really doing it.’ Hearing that meant the world to me,” the Minnesota native admits.

Like Cooper, Richman believes that that winning the Bellator tournament will put him in elite company. “Winning would mean less financial stress in my life. I do have two kids. Winning that amount of money in that amount of time would be really great,” he says.

But as with all true fighters, the fighting isn’t done for the money alone. Two days before stepping into the cage to fight another man, but also to try and make his dreams come true, Richman reveals his perhaps his truest motivation. “Winning also means breaking into the top ten in the world, and that doesn’t have a price tag,” he says.

Puzzling Knockout of the Day: Richard Hale Knocks Out Thiago Santos at Bellator 79

The main event of last night’s Bellator 79 produced one of the oddest instances of an athlete giving up mid-contest since Bob Hamelin retired during a minor league baseball game. Santos dominates the fight from the beginning, rocking him with early combinations and controlling him on the ground. Yet as the fighters are separated, Santos takes out his mouth guard and appears disinterested in continuing. A few half-assed punches later, Hale counters Santos, who drops to the canvas and turtles up until the fight is waived off.

Was this just a case of Thiago Santos having conditioning issues? Probably, although gassing out halfway through the first round is pathetic even at the amateur levels. Is Richard Hale’s striking just that underrated? Maybe – Santos lost a tooth during the fight, which explains why his mouth was bleeding, although don’t ask me to point out the punch that caused it. Regardless of the reason, Hale earned a victory last night because Santos essentially gave up during the fight, and will now face the winner of Vinicius Queiroz vs. Alexander Volkov for the promotion’s heavyweight championship.

After the jump – Shahbulat Shamhalaev knocks out Mike Richman at Bellator 79 in a far more traditional fashion.

The main event of last night’s Bellator 79 produced one of the oddest instances of an athlete giving up mid-contest since Bob Hamelin retired during a minor league baseball game. Santos dominates the fight from the beginning, rocking him with early combinations and controlling him on the ground. Yet as the fighters are separated, Santos takes out his mouth guard and appears disinterested in continuing. A few half-assed punches later, Hale counters Santos, who drops to the canvas and turtles up until the fight is waived off.

Was this just a case of Thiago Santos having conditioning issues? Probably, although gassing out halfway through the first round is pathetic even at the amateur levels. Is Richard Hale’s striking just that underrated? Maybe – Santos lost a tooth during the fight, which explains why his mouth was bleeding, although don’t ask me to point out the punch that caused it. Regardless of the reason, Hale earned a victory last night because Santos essentially gave up during the fight, and will now face the winner of  Vinicius Queiroz vs. Alexander Volkov for the promotion’s heavyweight championship. 

After the jump – Shahbulat Shamhalaev knocks out Mike Richman at Bellator 79 in a far more traditional fashion.

Knockout of the Day: Mike Richman Levels Jeremy Spoon in 23 Seconds at Bellator 76


(Seen here: The one strike that didn’t land.) 

While we were all busy watching Eddie Alvarez head kick his way into the UFC at last weekend’s Bellator 76 event, it turns out that another just as devastating first round head kick knockout had taken place less than an hour beforehand, and in about 4 minutes less fight time. The matchup, which paired fellow featherweight prospects Mike Richman and Jeremy Spoon against one another, barely got under way before Big John had to step in and save Spoon’s ass from certain death. No, it was not because he suffered a gruesome in-ring injury, but rather because Richman decided to play Major Payne to Spoon’s Bam Bam Bigelow roughly twenty seconds into the fight.

Video after the jump. Catch it before it’s gone. 


(Seen here: The one strike that didn’t land.) 

While we were all busy watching Eddie Alvarez head kick his way into the UFC at last weekend’s Bellator 76 event, it turns out that another just as devastating first round head kick knockout had taken place less than an hour beforehand, and in about 4 minutes less fight time. The matchup, which paired fellow featherweight prospects Mike Richman and Jeremy Spoon against one another, barely got under way before Big John had to step in and save Spoon’s ass from certain death. No, it was not because he suffered a gruesome in-ring injury, but rather because Richman decided to play Major Payne to Spoon’s Bam Bam Bigelow roughly twenty seconds into the fight.

Video after the jump. Catch it before it’s gone. 

Unless you’re a big fan of fighter walkouts, skip to the 5:30 mark for the action. Then prepare for your sphincter to involuntarily contract as Richman stares a hole into your soul at the 6:08 mark. Seriously, that might be the creepiest/rapiest post fight celebration face this side of Gabriel Gonzaga that I’ve ever witnessed. Shang Tsung would approve.

With the victory, Richman earned himself a spot in Bellator’s featherweight semifinals against Shahbulat Shamhalaev, who defeated American Cody Bollinger by first round TKO just one fight earlier. The winner of the season will get an inevitable shot at champion Pat Curran, who is no stranger to the art of the head kick KO himself, if he is able to get past Patricio Freire whenever the hell those two are set to meet.

–J. Jones