Tag: Patricio Pitbull

Bellator 123: Curran vs. Pitbull 2 Fight Card, TV Info and Predictions

Bellator has a new leader and direction. Fans will get a chance to see a little of it on Friday when the first post-Bjorn Rebney show takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Former Strikeforce head man Scott Coker is in now in …

Bellator has a new leader and direction. Fans will get a chance to see a little of it on Friday when the first post-Bjorn Rebney show takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Former Strikeforce head man Scott Coker is in now in charge of the brand, and he has big plans.

He told Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie that the promotion will move to monthly events next year, and there is a buzz and excitement surrounding the once troubled company.

Coincidentally, Bellator 123 happens on the same day the UFC will be in The Constitution State.

UFC Fight Night 50 will be held in Mashantucket, so the promotions will battle head-to-head for the attention of local MMA fans. 

That might sound like an easy win for the UFC, but this Bellator card is no joke. Aside from a potentially awesome rematch and featherweight title bout between Pat Curran and “The Pitbull” Patricio Freire, the card will also feature Cheick Kongo, “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal and Bobby Lashley.

It’ll be one of the most star-studded cards the company has produced. Here’s a look at the scheduled fights, my predictions and viewing information. Just below the table is a closer look at the four biggest main card bouts.

Need a second, third, fourth and even fifth opinion? Check out what MMA Junkie’s staff said about the top four fights on the card.

 

Cheick Kongo Will Outsmart Lavar Johnson

Both Cheick Kongo and Lavar Johnson are big, strong veterans of the UFC, and both men have one-punch KO power. 

While this could be a knock-down, drag-out affair, Kongo has traded in his mindless slugging nature for a more calculated approach of late. The 39-year-old can still drop bombs, but he takes his time more in recognition of his limited gas tank.

That’s something we’ve never seen Johnson do.

In almost every fight Johnson has lost, his lack of stamina has been the culprit. When stamina hasn’t gotten the best of him, his vulnerability to submissions has been his downfall.

Kongo isn’t a submissions specialist, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see him drop Johnson with a strike and lock in a basic submission like a rear-naked choke to finish off an already gassed opponent. That’s merely a hunch, but the definitive prediction is a first-round TKO for Kongo.

 

Bobby Lashley‘s Wrestling Skills Will Lead to Ground-and-Pound Win

Josh Burns is Bobby Lashley‘s opponent, and quite honestly, he isn’t much of a threat. Burns has lost four of his last five fights, and he’s extremely one-dimensional. He throws haymakers that he hopes find a home on his opponent’s face.

He’ll repeat this occurrence for about 90 seconds before he gets tired. Burns is likely being placed with Lashley to help the bigger name gain some momentum.

That’s unfortunate, but it should make for an exciting finish for Lashley.

The 38-year-old powerhouse should have no problem controlling Burns on the ground and pounding him out before the bell to end the first round.

 

King Mo Will Dominate Jacoby with his Wrestling and Strength

King Mo will beat former UFC and Glory fighter Dustin Jacoby to get back in the win column. Having lost two of his last three, including a disputed grudge match with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in May, Lawal needs a win in a big way.

Jacoby does present a tough challenge because he’s four inches taller than Lawal, and he possesses a strong kickboxing background. It’s clear from his comments to John Joe O’Regan of Sherdog that he plans to utilize those skills against Lawal.

Jacoby said:

After doing kickboxing and then watching all these MMA fights I have noticed that the leg kicks are wide open in MMA. That’s something I sort of already knew but never really felt it and saw it the way that I do now. The leg kicks are wide open and that set up the head kick in my last fight. I hit him with seven or eight hard low kicks, then faked a low kick and came up top with the head kick.

It would seem that a veteran like Lawal would be prepared for a heavy leg attack from Jacoby. Look for Lawal to counter the leg strikes with takedowns. Many forget that Lawal was a highly decorated collegiate wrestler. He’ll need to dust off those skills to take Jacoby out of his comfort zone.

Expect another ground-and-pound finish in this one.

 

Pat Curran Will Go 2-0 Against The Pitbull

The last time Curran and Freire met, the former emerged with a disputed split-decision victory. This time, Curran will leave less doubt. Initially, it seemed as if Curran was a little surprised by Pitbull‘s explosiveness in the first fight. 

The champion was caught off guard by Freire‘s ability to close the four-inch height gap. In the second round, Curran established his jab and Freire never really solved the length issue in the final three rounds. In the rematch, we should expect more of the same. 

Ever the cerebral fighter, Curran will simply pick up where the left off and control the mad dashes from Freire. The fight will still be competitive, but Curran will win an undisputed unanimous decision on more effective striking.

 

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Patricio Pitbull, Daniel Straus Rightfully Pissed About This Whole ‘Straus vs. Curran III’ Thing


(via Pitbull’s Twitter.)

Last night, I decided to jump on a grenade and inform you of everything that was wrong with Bellator’s decision to book a third fight between Daniel Straus and Pat Curran at Bellator 112. That I have somehow managed to avoid being dubbed a “jealous h8r” for my opinion up to this point is a miracle on par with Stefan Struve’s return to sparring, but I digress.

In any case, the main point I outlined in the case against Straus vs. Curran III was that there was a far more interesting (and logical) matchup to be had: Straus vs. Pitbull 2. You see, not only had Patricio “Pitbull” Freire won the season 9 featherweight tournament in November with a first round TKO of Justin Wilcox (the third TKO win in his past 4 fights), but he remains the only man to defeat newly-crowned champion Daniel Straus in Bellator. Throw in the fact that Straus was utterly dominant in his victory over Curran just two months ago and you’d have to be a short-sighted nincompoop to rebook Straus vs. Curran III, right?

Wrong. Bellator booked it, and now Patricio Pitbull is pissed right the fuck off. Which can only mean that he will be forced to fight for Bellator for the rest of his natural life, Amen.


(via Pitbull’s Twitter.)

Last night, I decided to jump on a grenade and inform you of everything that was wrong with Bellator’s decision to book a third fight between Daniel Straus and Pat Curran at Bellator 112. That I have somehow managed to avoid being dubbed a “jealous h8r” for my opinion up to this point is a miracle on par with Stefan Struve’s return to sparring, but I digress.

In any case, the main point I outlined in the case against Straus vs. Curran III was that there was a far more interesting (and logical) matchup to be had: Straus vs. Pitbull 2. You see, not only had Patricio “Pitbull” Freire won the season 9 featherweight tournament in November with a first round TKO of Justin Wilcox (the third TKO win in his past 4 fights), but he remains the only man to defeat newly-crowned champion Daniel Straus in Bellator. Throw in the fact that Straus was utterly dominant in his victory over Curran just two months ago and you’d have to be a short-sighted nincompoop to rebook Straus vs. Curran III, right?

Wrong. Bellator booked it, and now Patricio Pitbull is pissed right the fuck off. Which can only mean that he will be forced to fight for Bellator for the rest of his natural life, Amen.

After posting a series of Tweets, Facebooks, and Instagrams mocking Bellator’s “Where Titles are Earned” motto, Fabricio spoke with MMAJunkie:

I’m very disappointed with the whole situation. I’m very upset with the organization.

They said I would be fighting the winner of Straus vs. Curran III, but I question why that fight has to happen first. I told them I should get the shot, and then they just said that’s the direction the company is going and for me to just keep doing what I’m doing. Nothing they do right now is going to make right what they have done to me.

But if Bellator doesn’t believe in me – if they don’t want me to be champion and to do things right – I’d like to just ask them to let me out of my contract.


Fun fact: Swap the pistol with a railroad spike, and this is exactly how a Bellator contract meeting looks. 

I find it interesting that Bellator told Patricio that his rematch wouldn’t be in line with “the direction the company is going.” Fans have been wondering for a while if Bellator’s merger with Viacom has been responsible for any of their puzzling business decisions as of late, and exactly how much decision-making power founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney has been left with. Decisions like Straus vs. Curran III, which a fan of the sport like Bjorn would probably recognize as against his company’s best interest, seem to suggest that he is either not driving the Bellator bus anymore or is asleep at the wheel.

But one aspect I didn’t cover in my virulent takedown objectionable critique of Straus vs. Curran III is the location in which the fight will take place. Thankfully, Daniel Straus is here to comment on that situation as well (via Straus’ Facebook):

Oh, now I see what Bellator was talking about with “the direction they were going.” Bellator 112 is transpiring at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, a mere hour and a half drive from Curran’s hometown of Crystal Lake, Illinois. They were just being literal. I wonder how Eddie Alvarez is going to feel when they announce that his trilogy fight with Michael Chandler will be going down in the backseat of the Trans Am that Chandler got his first hummer in. (#carpuns)

So yeah, you done fucked up, Bellator. Here with a closing statement about how bad you done fucked up is, once again, Patricio Pitbull (via MMAFighting this time):

That whole ‘where the title shots are earned, not given’ is pure bulls–t now. That doesn’t exist anymore. Bellator is eating its own words. They didn’t respect my wins in the tournament.

It wasn’t even close. Straus won and is the f–king champion. Curran does not deserve a rematch. Curran is (Bellator’s) little boy. I hope Straus beats him up. I want Straus to destroy him inside the cage.

I won’t fight again. I will wait for my shot at the title to shut Bellator up.

File another grievance form to Bellator’s HR department, which has got to look like Charlie Kelly’s mailroom by now.

–J. Jones

Bellator 103 Recap: Patricio Freire and Wilcox 3:16 Advance to the Featherweight Tournament Finals

Bellator 103 is over — and judging by our front page poll, a significant portion of you don’t really care that much. But we love free MMA so, we watched the card. Here’s our recap:

The first fight of the night pitted old-school Bellator fighter (he fought at Bellator 20) and UFC washout Aaron Rosa against Russian Sambo expert Mikhail Zayats. The bout ended in 47 seconds. Clinch, takedown, kimura, tap. That was the whole fight.

In the second bout on the main card, David Rickels made one of the most innovative entrances in MMA when he drove to the cage in a replica of Fred Flintstone’s car. Thankfully for Rickels, his performance lived up to his entrance. He consistently beat JJ Ambrose to the punch, battering “Superman” throughout the fight, which was stopped in the third round when Ambrose couldn’t defend a tidal wave of body shots.

The third fight of the night, a featherweight tournament semifinal, was the most lackluster. Jesus freak Justin Wilcox took on mullet-wearing Guam native Joe Taimanglo. Wilcox won a ho-hum unanimous decision. The highlight came after the fight when Wilcox referenced John 3:16. If you watched pro wrestling in the late 1990s, you’d know why that was a big deal. But yeah, Wilcox-Taimanglo was mainly takedowns and ineffective ground-and-pound. If you DVR’d the fights, you have our permission to skip this one.

In the night’s main event, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire met Fabricio Guerreiro in the second featherweight tournament semifinal. Freire, known as an aggressive striker, showed off his grappling abilities throughout the fight. He was constantly one step ahead of Guerreiro in the BJJ department, which earned “Pitbull” a unanimous decision victory. With the win, he became the first three-time tournament finalist in Bellator history. He will face Justin Wilcox in the finals.

The complete results for Bellator 103 are after the jump…

Bellator 103 is over — and judging by our front page poll, a significant portion of you don’t really care that much. But we love free MMA so, we watched the card. Here’s our recap:

The first fight of the night pitted old-school Bellator fighter (he fought at Bellator 20) and UFC washout Aaron Rosa against Russian Sambo expert Mikhail Zayats. The bout ended in 47 seconds. Clinch, takedown, kimura, tap. That was the whole fight.

In the second bout on the main card, David Rickels made one of the most innovative entrances in MMA when he drove to the cage in a replica of Fred Flintstone’s car. Thankfully for Rickels, his performance lived up to his entrance. He consistently beat JJ Ambrose to the punch, battering “Superman” throughout the fight, which was stopped in the third round when Ambrose couldn’t defend a tidal wave of body shots.

The third fight of the night, a featherweight tournament semifinal, was the most lackluster. Jesus freak Justin Wilcox took on mullet-wearing Guam native Joe Taimanglo. Wilcox won a ho-hum unanimous decision. The highlight came after the fight when Wilcox referenced John 3:16. If you watched pro wrestling in the late 1990s, you’d know why that was a big deal. But yeah, Wilcox-Taimanglo was mainly takedowns and ineffective ground-and-pound. If you DVR’d the fights, you have our permission to skip this one.

In the night’s main event, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire met Fabricio Guerreiro in the second featherweight tournament semifinal. Freire, known as an aggressive striker, showed off his grappling abilities throughout the fight. He was constantly one step ahead of Guerreiro in the BJJ department, which earned “Pitbull” a unanimous decision victory. With the win, he became the first three-time tournament finalist in Bellator history. He will face Justin Wilcox in the finals.

Here are the complete results…

Main Card
Patricio Freire def. Fabricio Guerreiro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Justin Wilcox def. Joe Taimanglo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
David Rickels def. J.J. Ambrose via TKO (punches), 2:37 of round 3
Mikhail Zayats def. Aaron Rosa via submission (kimura), 0:47 of round 1

Preliminary Card
Carlos Eduardo def. Wayman Carter via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:06 of round 1
Remy Bussieres def. Blake Pool via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Maurice Jackson def. Matt Uhde via TKO (doctor stoppage, cut), 0:52 of round 1
Donnie Bell def. Marcio Navarro via submission (neck crank), 2:06 of round 1
Jeimeson Saudino def. Jesse Thornton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ricky Musgrave def. Cody Carrilo via submission (kimura), 2:59 of round 1

—Matt Saccaro

Bellator 99 Recap: Pitbull Smashes Nunes, Matyushenko vs. Alexander Was Pretty Much a Waste of Time

(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.


(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

Bellator Champion Pat Curran: “I Don’t Ever Want to Fight in a Tournament Again”

Pat Curran may have won two tournaments while fighting for Bellator; however, that doesn’t mean that the reigning featherweight champion has any interest in going for a hat trick.As part of the move to Spike TV, Bellator president Bjorn Rebney has also…

Pat Curran may have won two tournaments while fighting for Bellator; however, that doesn’t mean that the reigning featherweight champion has any interest in going for a hat trick.

As part of the move to Spike TV, Bellator president Bjorn Rebney has also added in a new policy which will allow him to schedule rematches for any title bout that is deemed worthy of a second meeting.

During Friday’s teleconference to promote Bellator 85, Curran was asked about the new policy and whether or not he supported it:

It’s great. Especially for a champion, if you do lose, you have that opportunity to take a second fight and redeem yourself. Coming out of two tournaments…I don’t want to ever fight in a tournament again.

With top stars from the company unwilling to enter the gauntlet once again, Rebney was right to remove such a booking limitation.

Curran won Bellator‘s Season 2 lightweight tournament but was unsuccessful in dethroning champion Alvarez for the belt. Based on the organizational structuring, Curran needed to win another tournament before he would be granted a second chance at picking up gold.

In 2011, Curran dropped to featherweight and picked up his second tournament victory. Not taking his second chance for granted, “Paddy Mike” unleashed a brutal combo of strikes that repeatedly knocked out champion Joe Warren.

However, who could blame Curran for not wanting to start from scratch? As the most marketable competitor in the featherweight division, heading back to the drawing board isn’t a desirable outcome by any means.

Ultimately, this could prove to be a moot point, as Curran certainly doesn’t plan on losing his belt anytime soon. Heading into his first title defense against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Curran has great expectations following an excellent training camp.

The bout with Pitbull will kick off the main card of Bellator 85, which airs live on Spike TV on Thursday, January 17 at 10pm.

The champion doesn’t take any offense at being booked in the first fight on the card. In fact, he is flattered by the faith that Rebney has displayed by putting him in the first Bellator bout to ever air on their new network:

I’m looking to start the year off right and have fireworks with Pitbull. I want to put on the best performances of my life and please the crowd. I want to keep amazing people.

Fireworks will be on full display at the event, as Curran and Freire are two of the most exciting featherweights on the planet, sharing 11 knockouts and 23 finishes between them.

For more analysis on all things Bellator, stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA.

Andrew Saunders is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

With Patricio Pitbull Injured, Pat Curran to Face Joe Warren for Bellator 145-Pound Title

Filed under: Bellator, NewsA hand injury has forced Patricio “Pitbull” Freire to undergo surgery, scuttling plans for his Bellator featherweight title shot against Joe Warren. So instead, Bellator will go to plan B.

By virtue of his recent 2011 Summer…

Filed under: ,

Pat CurranA hand injury has forced Patricio “Pitbull” Freire to undergo surgery, scuttling plans for his Bellator featherweight title shot against Joe Warren. So instead, Bellator will go to plan B.

By virtue of his recent 2011 Summer Series featherweight tournament win, Pat Curran was next in line after Freire, but now he’s been bumped ahead with Freire on the shelf, and Curran will face off with Warren at an early 2012 event.

The promotion confirmed the bout on Tuesday, but has not yet finalized an exact date for the title fight.

This will be Curran’s second shot at a Bellator championship. In 2010, he won a lightweight tournament and advanced to face reigning champ Eddie Alvarez, but lost a unanimous decision. Afterward, he dropped to featherweight and impressed during his three fights through the bracket, defeating Luis Palomino via submission, Ronnie Mann by decision, and then stopping pre-tournament favorite Marlon Sandro in a second-round knockout.

Curran is 16-4 overall.

Warren (7-2) recently attempted to become a two-division champion in Bellator, hoping to add a bantamweight belt to his collection, but in a first-round fight with Alexis Vila, he was knocked out in just 64 seconds. He previously won the 145-pound belt in September 2010 with a KO of Joe Soto. This will be his first title defense.

Freire (17-1), who won a season four featherweight tournament, will eventually take on the winner of Curran-Warren. The promotion confirmed that Freire’s surgery was expected to keep him out of the gym for three months.

 

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