It would be a shame if we only remembered last night’s Bellator 99 as the first night of the promotion’s transformation into The UFC Senior Circuit, but honestly, there wasn’t much to write about on the main card of last night’s fights. So let’s start off on a positive note and talk about the main event.
In the main event of the evening, Bellator’s homegrown prospect Patricio Pitbull (Patricio Freire if you want to get technical) make very short work of Diego Nunes. The usually aggressive Pitbull was cautious during the bout, opting to wait for Nunes to lunge at him. The inevitable happened just over seventy seconds into their fight, and Pitbull made “The Gun” pay dearly for doing so. Pitbull not only improves to 19-2 in his professional MMA career, but now he also holds a victory over a guy that the casual MMA fan may have actually heard of – something that leads me to believe that Bellator’s “Sign Ex-UFC Fighters Who Won’t Challenge for the Title” business model may not be as foolish as most of us are making it out to be.
In fact, I’d be willing to write an Unsupportable Opinion piece based around that last sentence…if it weren’t for the gigantic waste of time that was the clash between Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander. Believe it or not, the fight between the forty-something ex-UFC gatekeepers was worse than you were expecting it to be. Probably not “Worst Fight of the Year” at this year’s Potato Awards bad, but it’ll certainly be included in the discussion. View at your own risk after the jump.
(Patricio Pitbull Vs. Diego Nunes.)
It would be a shame if we only remembered last night’s Bellator 99 as the first night of the promotion’s transformation into The UFC Senior Circuit, but honestly, there wasn’t much to write about on the main card of last night’s fights. So let’s start off on a positive note and talk about the main event.
In the main event of the evening, Bellator’s homegrown prospect Patricio Pitbull (Patricio Freire if you want to get technical) make very short work of Diego Nunes. The usually aggressive Pitbull was cautious during the bout, opting to wait for Nunes to lunge at him. The inevitable happened just over seventy seconds into their fight, and Pitbull made “The Gun” pay dearly for doing so. Pitbull not only improves to 19-2 in his professional MMA career, but now he also holds a victory over a guy that the casual MMA fan may have actually heard of – something that leads me to believe that Bellator’s “Sign Ex-UFC Fighters Who Won’t Challenge for the Title” business model may not be as foolish as most of us are making it out to be.
In fact, I’d be willing to write an Unsupportable Opinion piece based around that last sentence…if it weren’t for the gigantic waste of time that was the clash between Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander. Believe it or not, the fight between the forty-something ex-UFC gatekeepers was worse than you were expecting it to be. Probably not “Worst Fight of the Year” at this year’s Potato Awards bad, but it’ll certainly be included in the discussion. View at your own risk after the jump.
Also of note, Blagoy Ivanov returned to action on the preliminary card last night. Ivanov, who was the victim of an assault that nearly killed him last February, only needed seventy-seven seconds to choke out Manny Lara during their bout. Ivanov had the potential to make an impact on Bellator’s heavyweight division, and judging by his performance last night, hasn’t lost a step despite spending so much time away from the sport.
Full Results
Main Card
Patricio Freire def. Diego Nunes via KO (punches), 1.19 of Round One
Fabricio Guerreiro def. Des Green via unanimous decision
Vladimir Matyushenko def. Houston Alexander via unanimous decision
Justin Wilcox def. Akop Stepanyan via submission (rear-naked choke), 2.20 of Round Two
Joe Taimanglo def. Andrew Fisher via unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
Virgil Zwicker def. Nick Moghaddam via TKO (punches)
Blagoi Ivanov def. Manny Lara via submission (guillotine), 1:17 of Round One
Goiti Yamauchi def. Musa Toliver via submission (rear-naked choke), 1.01 of Round One
Gavin Sterritt def. Andy Murad via split decision
Hector Ramirez def. Savo Kosic via unanimous decision
If we needed any more proof that Michael Chandler deserves to be mentioned among the world’s best 155’ers, we got it last night at Bellator 85 in Irvine, California, when the reigning Bellator lightweight champion made decorated judoka Rick Hawn look like it was his first time on the mats. Chandler completed his takedowns with impressive ease, and when he saw an opportunity to take Hawn’s neck during a scramble in round two, he seized on it, sinking a rear-naked choke and showcasing the killer instinct that has now become a hallmark of Chandler’s game. To be honest, it wasn’t much of a fight, and this season’s lightweight tournament field doesn’t suggest that his next challenger will make things any harder for him. On the bright side, Chandler may have just established himself as Bellator’s greatest home-grown fighter — a budding superstar for the promotion’s new Spike TV era.
While Michael Chandler made his title defense with little resistance, reigning featherweight champion Pat Curran faced a much trickier test in Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Their title fight (which led off the Spike TV broadcast) played out as a 25-minute kickboxing match, which started slow but built into an entertaining and evenly-pitched battle. Curran’s striking was just a little more active and accurate, however, and if you were judging on facial damage through the fight, Pitbull’s swollen-shut right eye and bloodied mouth didn’t exactly scream “winner.” When the scores were announced, “Judo” Gene LeBell saw it for the challenger, but the other two judges made the right call in awarding the win to the defending champ.
In addition to the two title fights, Bellator 85’s main card also featured a pair of light-heavyweight tournament quarterfinals. Unfortunately, those UFC castoffs we mentioned yesterday are well on their way to becoming Bellator castoffs as well, as Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Seth Petruzelli were steamrolled by their lesser-known competitors. Russian M-1 Challenge vet Mikhail Zayats stunned Sobral with a spinning-backfist near the end of the first round of their fight, then swarmed him to the canvas and fired down punches until the fight was stopped. (Eddie Alvarez’s wife called that shit, you guys.)
If we needed any more proof that Michael Chandler deserves to be mentioned among the world’s best 155′ers, we got it last night at Bellator 85 in Irvine, California, when the reigning Bellator lightweight champion made decorated judoka Rick Hawn look like it was his first time on the mats. Chandler completed his takedowns with impressive ease, and when he saw an opportunity to take Hawn’s neck during a scramble in round two, he seized on it, sinking a rear-naked choke and showcasing the killer instinct that has now become a hallmark of Chandler’s game. To be honest, it wasn’t much of a fight, and this season’s lightweight tournament field doesn’t suggest that his next challenger will make things any harder for him. On the bright side, Chandler may have just established himself as Bellator’s greatest home-grown fighter — a budding superstar for the promotion’s new Spike TV era.
While Michael Chandler made his title defense with little resistance, reigning featherweight champion Pat Curran faced a much trickier test in Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Their title fight (which led off the Spike TV broadcast) played out as a 25-minute kickboxing match, which started slow but built into an entertaining and evenly-pitched battle. Curran’s striking was just a little more active and accurate, however, and if you were judging on facial damage through the fight, Pitbull’s swollen-shut right eye and bloodied mouth didn’t exactly scream “winner.” When the scores were announced, “Judo” Gene LeBell saw it for the challenger, but the other two judges made the right call in awarding the win to the defending champ.
In addition to the two title fights, Bellator 85′s main card also featured a pair of light-heavyweight tournament quarterfinals. Unfortunately, those UFC castoffs we mentioned yesterday are well on their way to becoming Bellator castoffs as well, as Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Seth Petruzelli were steamrolled by their lesser-known competitors. Russian M-1 Challenge vet Mikhail Zayats stunned Sobral with a spinning-backfist near the end of the first round of their fight, then swarmed him to the canvas and fired down punches until the fight was stopped. (Eddie Alvarez’s wife called that shit, you guys.)
It was an unexpected finish, but not nearly as strange as Petruzelli’s anti-climactic showing against Jacob Noe, in which the Silverback blew out his knee during a takedown attempt midway through the first round, and immediately turtled up as Noe ground-and-pounded the crap out of him. Ah well. We still have King Mo, right?
In prelim action, Emanuel Newton advanced in the LHW tournament bracket by choking out Atanas Djambazov, and UFC vet Jason Lambert pulled off a slick first-round armbar against Hector Ramirez in a non-tourney bout. Plus, Savant Young ended Mike Guymon’s brief lightweight comeback in violent fashion, and Jamie Yager indeed got his ass kicked. Hooray! Full results from Bellator 85 are below…
Main Card
– Michael Chandler def. Rick Hawn via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:07 of round 2
– Jacob Noe def. Seth Petruzelli via TKO, 2:51 of round 1
– Mikhail Zayats def. Renato Sobral via TKO, 4:49 of round 1
– Pat Curran def. Patricio Freire via split-decision (48-47 x 2, 47-48)
Preliminary Card
– Aaron Miller def. Joe Camacho via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
– Jason Lambert def. Hector Ramirez via submission (inverted straight armbar), 3:59 of round 1
– J.J. Ambrose def. Brian Warren via submission (guillotine), 0:50 of round 2
– Emanuel Newton def. Atanas Djambazov via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:21 of round 2
– Savant Young def. Mike Guymon via KO, 0:48 of round 2
– Joe Williams def. Jamie Yager via TKO, 4:02 of round 1
– Cleber Luciano def. Mario Navarro via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Bellator’s first event on Spike TV will take place Thursday, January 17th, at the University of California’s Bren Center in Irvine, California, and will be headlined by a pair of title fights. The promotion confirmed the news today, revealing that undefeated phenom Michael Chandler will make his first official lightweight title defense at the event (aka Bellator 85) against Rick Hawn, the 14-1 Olympic judoka who won the Season 5 lightweight tournament earlier this year.
Also on the card, featherweight champion Pat Curran — who’s 4-0 since dropping to 145 and is coming off his near-murder of Joe Warren — will be putting his belt on the line against explosive contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Though Freire won all three of his fights in 2011, winning the Season 4 featherweight tournament, he wasn’t able to compete in 2012, partly due to injuries.
And that’s not all. During a Bellator/Spike TV conference call held earlier today, many more details about Bellator 85 and the promotion’s upcoming eighth season were announced. For instance…
Bellator’s first event on Spike TV will take place Thursday, January 17th, at the University of California’s Bren Center in Irvine, California, and will be headlined by a pair of title fights. The promotion confirmed the news today, revealing that undefeated phenom Michael Chandler will make his first official lightweight title defense at the event (aka Bellator 85) against Rick Hawn, the 14-1 Olympic judoka who won the Season 5 lightweight tournament earlier this year.
Also on the card, featherweight champion Pat Curran — who’s 4-0 since dropping to 145 and is coming off his near-murder of Joe Warren — will be putting his belt on the line against explosive contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Though Freire won all three of his fights in 2011, winning the Season 4 featherweight tournament, he wasn’t able to compete in 2012, partly due to injuries.
And that’s not all. During a Bellator/Spike TV conference call held earlier today, many more details about Bellator 85 and the promotion’s upcoming eighth season were announced. For instance…
– Season 8 will last 12 weeks, and will feature five tournaments in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
– Via MMAJunkie: “[Bellator 85] will feature Seth Petruzelli and Mike Guymon, plus the Bellator debut of Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral in the light heavyweight tourney against Russian Mikhail Zayats.” UFC vets Jason Lambert and Hector Ramirez are also scheduled to compete.
– Bellator 86 will take place the following week, January 24th, at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and will feature Ben Askren‘s latest title defense against Karl Amoussou, King Mo vs. TBA, and welterweight fights featuring Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima.
(Curran vs. Friere could well be one of the best fights in Bellator history.)
Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that an anticipated featherweight title bout between champion Joe Warren and season 4 tournament winner Patricio “Pitbull” Friere will act as the headliner for the promotion’s first show in Canada on July 23 in Rama, Ontario.
Bellator 47 will be part of the organization’s summer series and will take place at Casino Rama, a native-run casino just northeast of Orillia.
According to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, the overwhelming demand for a show in Canada and the recent decision by the Ontario government to sanction MMA prompted the decision to bring an event to a popular destination like Casino Rama, where the province’s first event was held in April.
“Our fans have been asking us to come to Canada since our first season,” says Rebney. “Casino Rama is an unbelievable venue and should make for a magical night of fights at Bellator 47.”
(Curran vs. Friere could well be one of the best fights in Bellator history.)
Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that an anticipated featherweight title bout between champion Joe Warren and season 4 tournament winner Patricio “Pitbull” Freire will act as the headliner for the promotion’s first show in Canada on July 23 in Rama, Ontario.
Bellator 47 will be part of the organization’s summer series and will take place at Casino Rama, a native-run casino just northeast of Orillia.
According to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, the overwhelming demand for a show in Canada and the recent decision by the Ontario government to sanction MMA prompted the decision to bring an event to a popular destination like Casino Rama, where the province’s first event was held in April.
“Our fans have been asking us to come to Canada since our first season,” says Rebney. “Casino Rama is an unbelievable venue and should make for a magical night of fights at Bellator 47.”
According to Casino Rama media relations manager, Jenna Hunter, the show will be one of several Bellator will be holding at the casino this year.
“Another benefit is the number of events fans can expect to see. The tournament format allows fans to really latch onto a fighter and watch them rise (or fall) through the ranks,” Hunter points out. “Unlike other events, we will be presenting several shows a year and that’s a HUGE plus for MMA fans in Ontario that no one else is offering them.”
The event will also play host to the semi-finals of Bellator’s Featherweight Summer Series Tournament, which includes Ronnie Mann, Marlon Sandro, Nazareno Malegarie and Pat Curran. The winners of the Bellator 46 June 25 quarter-final bouts will fight on the card.
The last event of Bellator’s fourth season went down last night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the finals of the light-heavyweight and featherweight tournaments. Christian M’Pumbu earned his way to the LHW finals by knocking out Chris Davis and Tim Carpenter, and it was business as usual against co-finalist Richard Hale. M’Pumbu dropped Hale once in the first round, but was unable to finish him with a D’arce choke. The Congolese-French standout didn’t make the same mistake twice; after scoring another knockdown in the third, M’Pumbu threw down leather until the ref was forced to stop the fight, picking up a $100,000 check and the title of Bellator’s first-ever light-heavyweight champion.
In the featherweight final, Patricio Freire edged out Daniel Straus to a unanimous decision, earning a rematch with champion Joe Warren, who he lost a split decision to last June. Full Bellator 45 results are after the jump…
The last event of Bellator’s fourth season went down last night in Lake Charles, Louisiana, featuring the finals of the light-heavyweight and featherweight tournaments. Christian M’Pumbu earned his way to the LHW finals by knocking out Chris Davis and Tim Carpenter, and it was business as usual against co-finalist Richard Hale. M’Pumbu dropped Hale once in the first round, but was unable to finish him with a D’arce choke. The Congolese-French standout didn’t make the same mistake twice; after scoring another knockdown in the third, M’Pumbu threw down leather until the ref was forced to stop the fight, picking up a $100,000 check and the title of Bellator’s first-ever light-heavyweight champion.
In the featherweight final, Patricio Freire edged out Daniel Straus to a unanimous decision, earning a rematch with champion Joe Warren, who he lost a split decision to last June. Full Bellator 45 results are after the jump…
MAIN CARD RESULTS
– Christian M’Pumbu def. Richard Hale via TKO, 4:17 of round 3
– Patricio Freire def. Daniel Straus via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Sam Alvey def. Karl Amoussou via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
– Shawn Jordan def. John Hill via TKO, 1:56 of round 1
– Luis “Sapo” Santos def. Nicolae Cury via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Tim Ruberg def. Mike Fleniken via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Rene Nazare def. Kelvin Hackney via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:46 of round 1
– Joseph Abercrombie def. Ben Parpart via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:11 of round 1
(That’s no mean mug, that’s really just Warren’s normal expression. PicProps: Bellator.com)We bid you good morning, Potato Nation, and we present you with our second installment of preview materials for the upcoming Bellator tournaments, t…
(That’s no mean mug, that’s really just Warren’s normal expression. PicProps: Bellator.com)
We bid you good morning, Potato Nation, and we present you with our second installment of preview materials for the upcoming Bellator tournaments, this time running down the 145ers set to do battle in March. By now you should know that Bellator will be airing live on Saturdays on MTV2, so we’re really going to stop telling you. But don’t come crying to us when your DVR doesn’t magically start recording the fights in the new time slot, all teary-eyed with your bare face hanging out, asking us what went on and who advanced, because we totally won’t even tell you.
Sorry about that. Listen, go grab some coffee, and venture in past the jump for introductions and videos for all eight featherweights confirmed for the brackets.
