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Bellator Season 5 Preview: Once More, With Feeling

Remember: *this* is the guy that the middleweights are competing to fight. Hector Lombard knocked Vitale down twice with one punch. VidProps: BellatorMMA/YouTube

So anybody notice that I mentioned Bellator yesterday? You did? And you didn’t comment about how splendiferous Bellator is, and how much you like watching the fights, and in general how witty and good looking we are here at CagePotato?
Well that’s just rude. I’m inclined to not even bother running down the other two tourneys planned for this season. Really, it’s like you don’t care.

Oh, alright. Come on in and we’ll have coffee and talk. But no staying over.

Remember: *this* is the guy that the middleweights are competing to fight. Hector Lombard knocked Vitale down twice with one punch. VidProps: BellatorMMA/YouTube

Oh, alright. Come on in and we’ll have coffee and talk. But no staying over.

We covered the bantamweight and welterweight tournament lineups yesterday, but Bellator’s fifth season will also feature fighters in the middleweight and heavyweight divisions, with some returning contenders and some fresh faces.

Middleweight

When Jared Hess ruined his knee fighting Alexander Shlemenko, he had to go through hours of grueling physical therapy. Not to be outdone, I spent a few hours in therapy myself, because that shit was disturbing. And when he returned to fighting at Bellator 42 against Chris Bell, I made one of the funniest jokes I’ve ever written (to me, at least): “Jared Hess is so tough that the production crew played Anita Ward as Chris Bell’s entrance music.”

Hess faces another Bellator favorite, Bryan Baker, who is kinda tough himself: dude was fighting in Bellator tournaments while going through chemotherapy treatments and still almost won the whole damn thing. He returned at Bellator 43, knocked out Joe Riggs, and then proposed to his girlfriend on television. Basically, whoever wins this fight gets a hole punched in his “Certified Badass” card.

Alexander Shlemenko returns as well after unsuccessfully challenging Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, and meets DREAM veteran Zelg Galesic in the quarterfinals. Galesic dropped two submission losses in DREAM (to Kazushi Sakuraba and Ronaldo Souza) before rebounding with a KO win over some poor English chap named Lee Chadwick.

Vitor Vianna makes his Bellator debut against “Smilin’” Sam Alvey, who picked up a split decision win over Karl Amoussou in a tournament qualifier in May. Vianna, who trains in Vegas with the Wand Fight Team, is 10-1-1, with his only loss due to an injury TKO (broken arm) against Thiago Silva.

Brian “The Predator” Rogers and Victor O’Donnell round out the 185 brackets. O’Donnell almost made it into the TUF house during the eleventh season (Ortiz vs Liddell), but was outpointed by Chris Camozzi. You may remember that Camozzi didn’t make it through the season either… because O’Donnell broke his jaw. Rogers enters the tournament on a hot streak, having defeated his last six opponents via KO or TKO in the first round. So look for these two guys to hit each other a lot.

Bryan Baker vs Jared Hess
Alexander Shlemenko vs Zelg Galesic
Vitor Vianna vs Sam Alvey
Brian Rogers vs Victor O’Donnell

Heavyweight

Looks like Bellator is going to try to find some more big men to challenge Cole Konrad, the man-mountain that I never say nice things about. I should really stop that. Here goes: Cole Konrad does really nice interviews. He seems like a really decent fella.

Ok, on to the tournament….

Neil “Goliath” Grove and Mike “300″ Hayes both participated in the first heavyweight tourney in season 3: Grove lost in the finals to Konrad, and Hayes dropped a split decision to Alexey Oleinik. Grove is a big dude and has a nasty habit of knocking his opponents out (all eleven of his wins came out of his fists), but Hayes has never been finished. First time for eveything? I think Goliath has got this one.

Ron “The Monster” Sparks joins the fray, currently 7-0 and ready for a step up in competition. I am a bit amused that Jonathan Ivey took him to decision, but I guess everyone has a bad night, right? Sparks will face Mark Holata, a regional fighter who is 2-0 under the Bellator banner, including a submission (due to strikes) win over Tracy Willis in April.

Blagoi Ivanov is a Bulgarian Sambo specialist, and you should really be excited about seeing him. While still barely into his MMA career, Ivanov holds a win over Kazuyuki “Ironhead” Fujita — a fight in which Ivanov broke both his hands. (Hey, they don’t call him “Ironhead” for nothin’.) Oh, and he also won the 2008 World Sambo Championships, defeating a Russian guy by the name of Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals. He’ll face Thiago “Big Monster” Silva, a heavy-handed BJJ black belt who has been out for a year due to unrevealed injuries.

Abe Wagner, another guy that got bounced out of the TUF house (he lost a decision to Jon Madsen), has had mixed results lately. After a quick win over a grossly out of shape Tim Sylvia, Wagner was submitted by Aaron Rosa, then got back in the win column with a submission win of his own. Now 10-4, Wagner meets Eric Prindle in the quarters. Prindle, a US Army vet, has a submission win on his record, but don’t let that fool you: the other guy tapped to strikes. Not that he’s not learning some subs — Prindle is currently training at Team DeathClutch with guys like Rodrigo Medeiros and Erik Paulson.

Neil Grove vs Mike Hayes
Mark Holata vs Ron Sparks
Blagoi Ivanov vs Thiago Santos
Eric Prindle vs Abe Wagner

Now, comment, you bastards.

Oh, and have a safe and happy weekend.

[RX]

PS Don’t forget about ONE.

Cole Konrad, Zach Makovsky Capture Bellator Titles

Filed under: Bellator, NewsJust a week before his better known teammate is set to defend the most prestigious heavyweight championship in MMA, Cole Konrad won a belt of his own, capturing the Bellator heavyweight championship with a keylock submission …

Filed under: Bellator, News

Just a week before his better known teammate is set to defend the most prestigious heavyweight championship in MMA, Cole Konrad won a belt of his own, capturing the Bellator heavyweight championship with a keylock submission victory over Neil Grove at Bellator 32.

Konrad, a two-time collegiate All-American who trains with UFC champ Brock Lesnar in Minnesota, followed the same blueprint that took him to the finals, overpowering his opponent with a takedown midway through the first. But unlike his previous two tournament bouts, he found a finish, moving to mount before locking in the fight-ending submission with just 15 seconds left in the first round.

“I’ve been working all aspects of the game every day but submissions flow so well from wrestling so it’s a little bit easier to pick up right now,” he said. “I felt great tonight, hats off to Neil. He’s a great competitor and I had to be on my toes from the get-go. Fortunately I was.”

Bellator XXXII: Who Wants to Win a Poster-Sized Check?

(I like how they put "Season #3 Tournament Purses" in the memo line, so that Cole doesn’t get confused when he’s going through his stack of $100,000 novelty-checks at home. PicProps: MMAFrenzy)
By ReX “Write Pride” Richardson
B…

Cole Konrad Bellator heavyweight champion 32 XXXII deathclutch
(I like how they put "Season #3 Tournament Purses" in the memo line, so that Cole doesn’t get confused when he’s going through his stack of $100,000 novelty-checks at home. PicProps: MMAFrenzy)

By ReX “Write Pride” Richardson

Bellator’s third season just came out of the seventh inning stretch, visiting the Kansas City Power & Light District with a couple of championship matches on hand and two more events on the calendar. Unfortunately, you probably missed it due to either incompetence or fuckery most foul; the event was broadcast late, if at all, by every Fox affiliate in the multiverse. On top of that, it appears that the Fox-Dish Network pissing match has gone into perpetual death overtime, so essentially I’m saying that sometimes these things happen in MMA, and I was unable to watch and then come tell you guys about it. Sorry, bro. Since I feel bad about missing the last event (Bellator XXXI.V, at Talking Pines Casino, BFE), I’ve included this drawing of a spider, plus some other stuff after the jump.

Bellator Heavyweights and Wisconsin: Not So Boring If You’re Drunk

(Above: ‘Ayyyyyy’ — An expression of combat known worldwide. / Below: Matt Major shows off the design that got him eliminated on last night’s episode of Project Runway.)
By ReX “I H8 FSN” Richardson
Last night, Bellator XXIX went …

(Above: ‘Ayyyyyy‘ — An expression of combat known worldwide. / Below: Matt Major shows off the design that got him eliminated on last night’s episode of Project Runway.)

By ReX “I H8 FSN” Richardson

Last night, Bellator XXIX went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin (which I believe is a Native American word meaning “Dude, I Think We’re Lost”) and put on the first nationally-televised MMA event ever in the state. Bellator seems to thrive by signing fighters hungry for wins, and has kept the energy up by focusing on the lighter weight classes, so it was a bit of a curveball when a heavyweight tournament was announced. Many questioned if Bellator could pull enough quality heavyweights with the conditioning necessary to put on entertaining fights. Heavyweight fights in the Bellator promotion to this point have been a mixed bag, but we’re starting to see the cream rise so I’m optimistic that some fun stuff happens. A couple of loser-leaves-town matches round out the televised card, featuring some guys who’ve been bounced out of tournaments previously (and want back in), plus they snagged the tubby Guida brother to test the light heavyweight waters.

Come on in and I’ll fill you in on the latest Bellator results and news. I promise I’ll lay off the fat jokes this time.

Neil Grove, Cole Konrad Advance at Bellator 29

Filed under: BellatorWith two fights down and one to go, Neil Grove is tearing through the Bellator Fighting Championships heavyweight tournament. Next he’ll have to face Cole Konrad, who has been winning less dynamic fights, in the tournament final.

…

Filed under: Bellator

With two fights down and one to go, Neil Grove is tearing through the Bellator Fighting Championships heavyweight tournament. Next he’ll have to face Cole Konrad, who has been winning less dynamic fights, in the tournament final.

Grove destroyed Alexey Olenik Thursday night, whacking Olenik with a head kick, pouncing on him on the ground and finishing the fight with a series of hammer fists that led the referee to call it off after just 45 seconds of fighting. It was the second first-round TKO for Grove in the Bellator tournament; he previously defeated Eddie Sanchez by first-round TKO in the quarterfinals.

“If you fight you come out to win, not to score points,” Grove said. “My job is to finish the fight quite quickly.”

Bellator XXIV: She’s Rollin’ Through Your Single Leg, She’s Snatchin’ Your Ankle Up

(Run and tell *that*, homeboy. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)
By DL “Friday the ReX13th” Richardson
Look, you know me, and you know what I’m going to say about the Bellator Fighting Championships: when it comes to MMA, they&rs…

(Run and tell *that*, homeboy. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

By DL “Friday the ReX13th” Richardson

Look, you know me, and you know what I’m going to say about the Bellator Fighting Championships: when it comes to MMA, they’re doing it right. Bellator does away with traditional ranking and matchmaking for their main events; they instead sign an eight-person field and let the fighters decide amongst themselves. It’s a format that appeals to fans and fighters alike, and it’s produced some exciting fights and amazing finishes. When some promotions go after a high-visibility free agent, they try to feed them impressive victories and pave the way toward championships. Bellator just drops them in the quarterfinals like everyone else. Upsets happen (see: Huerta, Roger). Cinderella stories happen (see: Curran, Pat). But it feels much more legitimate seeing champions develop organically like this while some promotions throw title fights to guys coming off of losses.

Never mind if injuries throw things off (Curran out versus Eddie Alvarez due to shoulder injury), or if those high visibility free agents get a shot at the champ anyway (Huerta in versus Alvarez, albeit in a non-title bout) or speculations that Bellator is on the verge of financial insolvency — they’re putting on good shows and the fighters are hungry. There’s entertainment in them there FSN channels.

If you’ve missed Bellator like I’ve missed Bellator (or if you’ve just missed me, for whatever reason), come along and I’ll tell you about the first event of Bellator’s third season. We’ll talk about the minor leagues of heavyweights, and the elite picture of the women’s featherweight field. Plus we might talk about how catchy that Bed Intruder Song is…