Tag: Pat Curran

Bellator 60 Results: What’s Next for the Winners and Losers?

Sixty events down, and Bellator continues to deliver entertaining fights and highlight reel moments seemingly with ease. Now once again, it’s time to ask: What’s next?What does the future hold after Pat Curran KTFO’d Joe Warren and cl…

Sixty events down, and Bellator continues to deliver entertaining fights and highlight reel moments seemingly with ease. Now once again, it’s time to ask: What’s next?

What does the future hold after Pat Curran KTFO’d Joe Warren and claimed Bellator’s Featherweight Championship? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring Bellator 60.

 

The Featherweight Tournament Semifinals

Our four Season Six Featherweight Tournament semifinalists are Alexandre Bezerra, Marlon Sandro, Mike Corey and Daniel Straus. Based on their track records, I think Sandro and Straus have got to be the favorites to win the entire tournament. Unless they get put against each other in the semifinals, I think it’s very likely that Straus vs. Sandro will be the finale of this tournament.

In regards to actual matchups, I have to say that I think Daniel Straus is the worst matchup for all three of the other semifinalists. Bezerra and Sandro have demonstrated good hands (more so in Sandro’s case) and great submission games, but Straus is a dominant, grinding wrestler.

Mike Corey is a grinding wrestler, too, but what I’ve seen of his wrestling leads me to believe that it’s just not as good as Straus’ at this point in time.

For Marlon Sandro, it’s all about neutralizing the ground game no matter who he’s put up against. All three of his possible opponents like taking fights to the ground, but none of them have true knockout power. Sandro does. He needs to let those hands go, and even if he can’t crack a chin, he’ll get into the finals so long as he focuses on keeping the fight standing.

For Alexandre Bezerra, it’s the exact opposite. Bezerra has a majority of his career wins by submission. He needs to take the fight to the ground no matter what. I do think Bezerra can submit Corey, but it’s going to take a lot of effort to submit Sandro or Straus. Is it possible, though? I’d say yes, and especially in Bellator, where the phrase “anything is possible in MMA” might as well be the promotion’s official motto.

And finally, I think Mike Corey is the official “dark horse” of this tournament.

He’s a good wrestler, but Daniel Straus is a great wrestler. Marlon Sandro could knock him out, Alexandre Bezerra could submit him. But this is Bellator we’re talking about, and Daniel Straus himself went from “dark horse” to one of Bellator’s best seemingly overnight thanks to his performances in a previous Bellator tournament.

 

Next for Joe Warren

As much as I dislike him for his brash cockiness, Joe Warren is definitely a star in Bellator. He’ll probably be in the next Featherweight tournament, or even the next Bantamweight tournament. Who knows? Maybe he’ll even try Lightweight.

Coming off of two incredibly humbling KO losses, I just don’t know what the future holds for Joe Warren. The only thing I’ll say for sure is that Warren will probably either fight in Japan at least once or in a “super-fight” in Bellator while spending time on the Bellator sidelines waiting for the next lighter-weight tournament to start up.

 

Next for Pat Curran

From relative obscurity to the winner of two Bellator tournaments at two different weight classes and now a Bellator champion…how can you not love Pat Curran?

We’re talking a humble fighter with exploding potential who’s not even in the prime of his career yet. I hesitate to call him a “Jon Jones” type of fighter; he hasn’t proven that yet. But mark my words: The potential is there. Curran could easily become Bellator’s equivalent of Jon Jones: a dominant, young champion who takes on and beats everyone that’s put before him.

I think we’ve only just begun to see the best of Pat Curran.

 

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts, as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 60 Results: As Spike TV Nears, Have We Seen the Start of a New Era?

Last night, upstart promotion Bellator Fighting Championships continued its quest for the No. 2 spot in the world of MMA promotions with the start of another new season live on MTV2.With a move to Spike TV more or less confirmed, one would think that B…

Last night, upstart promotion Bellator Fighting Championships continued its quest for the No. 2 spot in the world of MMA promotions with the start of another new season live on MTV2.

With a move to Spike TV more or less confirmed, one would think that Bellator might make the safe choice and opt into a holding pattern of “good but not great” shows until they can put all their efforts into a Spike TV mega-event. That’s not the case at all, as Bellator 60 had one of the best “Bellator moments” I’ve ever seen. Here are the full results with some early commentary.

  • Pat Curran defeats Joe Warren by KO at 1:25 of Round 3.
  • Daniel Straus defeats Jeremy Spoon by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
  • Mike Corey defeats Ronnie Mann by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
  • Marlon Sandro defeats Roberto Vargas by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:35 of Round 1.
  • Jake Nauracy defeats Cory Galloway by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:22 of Round 2.
  • Travis Wiuff defeats Anthony Gomez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
  • Sean McCorkle defeats Richard White by submission (neck crank) at 1:02 of Round 1.
  • Josh Shockley defeats Shamar Bailey by unanimous decision (scores not announced).
  • Alexandre Bezerra defeats Kenny Foster via submission (rear naked choke) 4:57 of Round 2.
  • Genair da Silva defeats Bobby Reardanz TKO (strikes) 0:51 of Round 3.

The start of Bellator 60 was an incredibly dominant performance by Marlon Sandro—unquestionably the night’s most dominant victory.

Sandro is still fighting to get out of the shadow of his KO loss to Pat Curran, and he took a big step towards getting back his aura of a monster with this victory. The way he totally dominated his opponent on the feet and then submitted him with a slick choke was nothing short of super-impressive and awesomely entertaining.

Ronnie Mann, unfortunately, continues to see his hype die in Bellator. I’m a fan of Mann and definitely a fan of the way he comes in looking to knock his opponent out, but this fight clearly demonstrated that his ground game needs serious work in one key area: getting back to his feet.

I hesitate to call this a boring fight or call Mike Corey a “Lay and Pray” wrestler. Corey was always fishing for something, Mann’s ground game was simply good enough for him to threaten with submissions and, if all else failed, get Corey back into his guard.

I’ve always believed that you deserve to get taken down if you can’t defend the takedown, so props to Mike Corey for knowing his opponent’s weaknesses and taking full advantage of them.

It’s always nice to see Daniel Straus win. He’s become one of my biggest “dark horse favorites” in Bellator. He’s incredibly humble, but he’s a diamond in the rough. He’s not just another grinding wrestler. There’s something about him that leads me to believe that one day he’ll be a Bellator champion. I’ll keep cheering for Straus and hoping that he gets his shot at Bellator gold one day.

And in the main event, Pat Curran KO’ing Joe Warren gave me the kind of raw, super-charged emotional reaction that I normally only reserve for big-time UFC main event mega-matches.

It’s simple math, actually: a fighter I really like and respect plus a fighter I really don’t like plus an amazing finish featuring the good guy beating the bad guy in highlight-reel fashion equals me jumping out of my chair shouting “YEAH!” at the top of my lungs.

All in all, Bellator continues its track of excellent shows with Bellator 60. Bellator’s been on a good roll for a good while now, and I’m seriously thinking about reversing my stance and making Bellator my official “dark horse favorite” promotion.

I’ll leave you with this: with the amount of good things happening to Bellator lately coupled with the amount of blows Strikeforce has been hit with following Zuffa purchasing them, Bellator may surpass Strikeforce as the No. 2 promotion by the end of 2012.

Even if Strikeforce makes more money, Bellator could still take the No. 2 spot (at least in my eyes), thanks to their consistently superb shows, especially since Strikeforce’s events have been very “hit and miss” since the Zuffa purchase.

 

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

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

Bellator 60: Bellator Edits Pat Curran’s Vicious Knockout of Joe Warren

Pat Curran definitively dethroned now former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren at Bellator 60 Friday night, winning in devastating knockout fashion. So devastating, in fact, that Bellator decided to edit the footage. Courtesy of the …

Pat Curran definitively dethroned now former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren at Bellator 60 Friday night, winning in devastating knockout fashion. 

So devastating, in fact, that Bellator decided to edit the footage. Courtesy of the fine folks over at MMA Mania, here is what an unedited version of the finishing sequence looked like.  

After one glance at the unedited footage, it goes without saying that the bout’s referee, Jeff Malott, is under a lot of heat right now for letting the fight continue as long as it did.

Warren took a barrage of clean knees and punches against the cage, but Malott refused to cease the action until the Greco-Roman wrestler was out cold after a series of nasty uppercuts from Curran.

This bout marked Warren’s second knockout loss in a row, lasting just 64 seconds with bantamweight Alexis Villa in September before getting his clock cleaned. 

Fans and analysts alike are wondering if the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” will ever step foot back in the cage, given his aspirations to wrestle in the 2012 Olympics. 

Meanwhile, Curran is a perfect 4-0 since dropping to 145 pounds, making a legitimate case to be considered a top-10 featherweight fighter in the world. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA Top 10 Featherweights: Any Challenges Left for Jose Aldo?

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Bellator, Rankings, FeatherweightsThe No. 1 featherweight in mixed martial arts returned to the cage at UFC 142 and needed less than one round to dispatch an opponent who entered the fight undefeated and widely regarded as the …

Filed under: , , , ,

Jose AldoThe No. 1 featherweight in mixed martial arts returned to the cage at UFC 142 and needed less than one round to dispatch an opponent who entered the fight undefeated and widely regarded as the No. 2 featherweight in MMA. So where does Jose Aldo go now after defeating Chad Mendes?

Aldo’s camp has indicated he doesn’t intend to move up to 155 pounds unless it’s to fight for the UFC lightweight title. So that’s probably not in the offing. And that raises the question: Are there any challengers left for Aldo at 145 pounds?

For the identity of some potential opponents for Aldo going forward, check out the latest list of the top 10 featherweights in mixed martial arts below.

Top 10 Featherweights in Mixed Martial Arts
(Number in parentheses is the fighter’s previous ranking.)

1. Jose Aldo (1): What’s been so impressive about Aldo is how none of his fights are even close. Since signing with Zuffa in 2008 Aldo is 11-0, with four wins by first-round knockout or TKO, three wins by second-round knockout or TKO, one win by third-round TKO, and three wins by unanimous decision. He didn’t lose more than one round in any of the three decisions, all of which were five-round fights.

2. Hatsu Hioki (3): Hioki has a great resume, with wins over Marlon Sandro, Takeshi Inoue, Ronnie Mann and Mark Hominick twice. But he looked just so-so in winning a split decision over George Roop in his UFC debut. He’ll have to look better when he faces Bart Palaszewski back home in Japan at UFC 144 if he wants to prove he belongs in the Octagon with Aldo.

3. Chad Mendes (2): The best hope Mendes had of beating Aldo was getting him down and getting on top of him, and Aldo’s takedown defense proved to be too good. (Aldo did benefit from grabbing the fence at one point.) Mendes is a good enough wrestler to threaten almost anyone at 145 pounds, but Aldo is leaps and bounds better than him as a striker.

4. Pat Curran (4): Curran looked outstanding in defeating Marlon Sandro in the Bellator featherweight tournament final, and Bellator has a great featherweight title fight lined up for March 9, with Curran taking on Joe Warren.

5. Erik Koch (5): Koch was supposed to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 143 in what could have given the UFC its next No. 1 contender at featherweight. Unfortunately Koch is injured and had to drop out of the fight, and a return date for Koch has not been announced.

6. Bart Palaszewski (NR): Palaszewski’s impressive win over Tyson Griffin establishes him as a potential future contender to the featherweight belt. Moving down to featherweight was a great move for him, but he’ll have a tough test on his hands against Hioki at UFC 144.

7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (9): After dropping down to featherweight last year, Kawajiri submitted both Joachim Hansen and Kazuyuki Miyata. A fight with Dream featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya would be great.

8. Dustin Poirier (10): Poirier will take on Max Holloway at UFC 143, and if he puts on a good show he might find himself getting Aldo next.

9. Chan Sung Jung (NR): After Aldo, the Korean Zombie might be the hottest featherweight in the sport right now. He was recognized as having the Fight of the Year in 2010 with Leonard Garcia and the Submission of the Year in 2011 for finishing Garcia with a twister in their rematch, and then he needed just seven seconds to knock out Mark Hominick. Jung is on such a roll right now that there’s some talk he could be next in line for Aldo, although that would be an extremely tall order: Jung is a lot of fun to watch, but Aldo is on another level as a striker.

10. Mark Hominick (6): Hominick is now on a two-fight losing streak after falling to Aldo and Jung, but he’ll hold onto his spot in the Top 10 for now. He’s a skilled striker who’s still only 29 years old and has a good future in the featherweight division, but he should get a step down in quality of competition, which is just what he will get when he takes on Eddie Yagin at UFC 145 in Atlanta.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Pat Curran to Face Joe Warren in Bellator Featherweight Title Bout on March 9

Filed under: Bellator, NewsPat Curran will get his second crack at Bellator gold on March 9 at Bellator 61.

That’s when the fast-rising featherweight will face off with reigning champion Joe Warren at The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, Bellator…

Filed under: ,

Pat Curran will get his second crack at Bellator gold on March 9 at Bellator 61.

That’s when the fast-rising featherweight will face off with reigning champion Joe Warren at The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced on Wednesday.

In 2011, Curran won a chance to fight for the lightweight crown but fell in a unanimous decision to Eddie Alvarez. Afterward, he dropped weight to move into the lower division and steamrolled the tournament field with finish wins over Luis Palomino and Marlon Sandro, as well as a decision over Ronnie Mann, to advance to a title bout.

Since then, Curran (16-4) has been waiting on the sidelines for his chance, as first, Warren (7-2) tried his hand at becoming a two-division champ but got knocked out by bantamweight Alexis Vila. And then, Curran was forced to wait as previous tournament winner Patricio “Pitbull” Freire was queued up to fight Warren first.

As it turns out, Freire suffered a hand injury that required surgery, allowing Curran to cash in his opportunity first.

For Curran, it will be a home game of sorts, as the Crystal Lake, Illinois fighter is based only about 75 miles from the fight venue.

Bellator’s sixth season premieres with a March 2 event, though a location for that show has yet to be announced.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments