Tag: Patricio Pitbull

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.

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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…

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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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Long Line Forming for Fights Against Bellator’s Joe Warren

Filed under: Bellator, NewsUNCASVILLE, Conn. — If everything goes according to Joe Warren’s plans, he might find himself to be the busiest fighter in MMA. Warren, who is Bellator’s reigning featherweight champion, is moving forward with plans to enter…

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Joe WarrenUNCASVILLE, Conn. — If everything goes according to Joe Warren‘s plans, he might find himself to be the busiest fighter in MMA. Warren, who is Bellator‘s reigning featherweight champion, is moving forward with plans to enter the promotion’s upcoming bantamweight tournament field. But he also has two other fighters waiting for dates against him with hopes of wresting that featherweight belt from his grasp.

So in what order will he tackle his many tasks? According to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, Warren is locked and loaded for the bantamweight tournament, where he’ll take on former Cuban Olympic wrestler Alexis Vila in September.

But after that, things get tricky.

Of course, if Warren beats Vila, he’ll advance, and if he makes it through to the tournament finale, he’ll be booked up until November. That will leave current No. 1 contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire waiting … or not. Pitbull is currently recovering from a broken hand and his return date is yet undetermined.

If he’s healthy, he’d get the first featherweight title shot at Warren, but there’s another guy in line right behind him, and that’s Pat Curran, who punched his ticket to face-off for gold by knocking out Marlon Sandro at Saturday night’s Bellator 48.

Curran could potentially face either Warren or Pitbull, depending on who emerges from their bout with the belt. But it may be a while for that to happen. That may not be the worst thing for Curran, who has fought four times in the last four months and could probably use a break.

Rebney said Pitbull should get back into training in the next three to four weeks, and would likely need at least two months of camp before facing Warren.

So things will depend mainly on how far Warren advances and how quickly Sandro’s hand heals.

“If Joe … wins the bantamweight tournament and earns the right to fight [champion] Zach [Makovsky], then he could conceptually have three world title fights in a row,” Rebney said.

Here’s one more wrinkle for fun: Warren has brought up the possibility of trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in wrestling. Think there’s a back log of fighters waiting to get at him now? It might only get worse.

“It’ll play itself out, but it’ll be interesting theater to watch it play itself out,” Rebney said.

 

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Bellator to Host First Event in Canada on July 23

Filed under: Bellator, NewsJust over two years into its existence, Bellator will make its first trip into Canada when it goes to Rama, Ontario to host Bellator 47 at Casino Rama.

The summer series event, which will take place on July 23, will feature…

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Just over two years into its existence, Bellator will make its first trip into Canada when it goes to Rama, Ontario to host Bellator 47 at Casino Rama.

The summer series event, which will take place on July 23, will feature featherweight champion Joe Warren defending his belt against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.

According to Bellator, the event will also host the semifinals of the summer featherweight tournament. Among those in the field are Marlon Sandro, Ronnie Mann, and Pat Curran. The quarterfinals take place the month before, at Bellator 46.

To date, all Bellator events have taken place in the U.S., with Florida in the lead with six events hosted.

Casino Rama is located on reserve land about 90 miles north of Toronto, and has a 5,000-seat entertainment center that will play host to the event.

 

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Bellator 41 Results: Warren, Makovsky And Featherweight Semifinals

Filed under: Bellator, Results, NewsMMA Fighting has Bellator results from the Cocopah Resort and Casino in Yuma, Arizona.

Bellator 41 features two featherweight tournament semifinal bouts, as well as a pair of superfights, one featuring featherweight…

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MMA Fighting has Bellator results from the Cocopah Resort and Casino in Yuma, Arizona.

Bellator 41 features two featherweight tournament semifinal bouts, as well as a pair of superfights, one featuring featherweight champ Joe Warren, and another with bantamweight kingpin Zach Makovsky.

Bellator 41 results are below.