Tag: Recap

Armchair Matchmaker: ‘UFC on FUEL: Franklin vs. Le’ Edition


(Febreze: It really is that fresh.) 

Although it wasn’t exactly cram-packed with exciting finishes, UFC Macao provided us with plenty to talk about nonetheless. Let’s not act like Bruce Leroy’s Haiduken punch just didn’t happen, because it did and it was either awesome or the dumbest f*cking thing we have ever seen. We can’t tell yet.

Elsewhere on the card, some people beat some other people by decision, so join us as we decipher the judge’s scorecards and try to determine who the night’s biggest winners should face next.

Cung Le: Despite being a healthy underdog with a significant size and slight age disadvantage, Cung Le was able to deliver a spectacular knockout in arguably the most high profile fight of his career. That being said, we’re not going to fool ourselves into thinking the 40 year old is truly in the title mix just yet. At this point, Le appears to be more invested in his film career than in that of his mixed martial arts one (and rightfully so), but the man is still a draw who can both deliver exciting finishes and hang with more than most, so it only makes sense to give him another high profile, low risk fight.

The problem is, there simply aren’t that many of those kind of fights available for Cung in the UFC’s current middleweight pool. Most of the division in currently tied up and Cung has stated that he would like to take some time away to spend with his family, so we think it would be best to give Cung some time off and have him face the winner of the Hector Lombard/Rousimar Palhares battle at UFC on FX 6, or maybe Chris Leben if he is able to get by Karlos Vemola at UFC 155. Who would you prefer, Taters?


(Febreze: It really is that fresh.) 

Although it wasn’t exactly cram-packed with exciting finishes, UFC Macao provided us with plenty to talk about nonetheless. Let’s not act like Bruce Leroy’s Haiduken punch just didn’t happen, because it did and it was either awesome or the dumbest f*cking thing we have ever seen. We can’t tell yet.

Elsewhere on the card, some people beat some other people by decision, so join us as we decipher the judge’s scorecards and try to determine who the night’s biggest winners should face next.

Cung Le: Despite being a healthy underdog with a significant size and slight age disadvantage, Cung Le was able to deliver a spectacular knockout in arguably the most high profile fight of his career. That being said, we’re not going to fool ourselves into thinking the 40 year old is truly in the title mix just yet. At this point, Le appears to be more invested in his film career than in that of his mixed martial arts one (and rightfully so), but the man is still a draw who can both deliver exciting finishes and hang with more than most, so it only makes sense to give him another high profile, low risk fight.

The problem is, there simply aren’t that many of those kind of fights available for Cung in the UFC’s current middleweight pool. Most of the division in currently tied up and Cung has stated that he would like to take some time away to spend with his family, so we think it would be best to give Cung some time off and have him face the winner of the Hector Lombard/Rousimar Palhares battle at UFC on FX 6, or maybe Chris Leben if he is able to get by Karlos Vemola at UFC 155. Who would you prefer, Taters?

Thiago Silva: We’re not really sure what to take away from Thiago Silva’s victory over Stanislav Nedkov, who was so gassed by the time the fight came to an end that it appeared as if a well-placed yawn could have knocked him over. Silva looked quicker than he had in quite some time in the early going, yet looked frustratingly slow and linear when it came to avoiding the Bulgarian’s lumbering takedown attempts. Sure, he’s a BJJ black belt who finally showcased his submission skills, but we know that we’ll get the best Thiago Silva — win or lose — when he’s matched up against another hard-hitting striker. Enter James Te Huna, an Australian slugger with bricks for hands and a chin that’s just as solid. Not only is it one of those “fun” fights we love so much, but it actually makes sense. Everybody wins!

Takanori Gomi: Speaking of fighters that are best left to swing for the fences against guys who will do the same, we come to “The Fireball Kid.” He’s managed to save his UFC career with two straight wins, but we’re not exactly ready to throw Gomi another contender so we can watch him get submitted again. It just hurts too much. Personally, I’d like to see Gomi face the winner of either the Melvin Guillard/Jamie Varner or the Sam Stout/John Makdessi fight. We’d be guaranteed another slugfest in either case, and if Gomi stands a chance of winning anything, it’s a slugfest. Because we’re not trying to convince ourselves that Gomi will be fighting for the title anytime soon, we’d just like to see an old friend end his career with the kind of fights that defined it.

Dong Hyun Kim: Although he’s already called out Demian Maia for a rematch of their UFC 148 contest that ended with an unfortunate rib injury, we’d like to see Kim take his grappling talents elsewhere. Specifically, against a certain Icelandic grappling phenom with a demeanor that can only be described as…stoic. We’ve all been riding the Gunnar Nelson hype train for some time know, so why not see how he fares against a seasoned veteran like Kim? The grappling exchanges between these two could become the things of legend, and when you’re dealing with a fighter as stifling, dominant, and often tiresome as Kim, that’s the best you can hope for.

And because we feel we must address this, let’s move on to the night’s biggest loser…

Rich Franklin: Well, Rich, we surely didn’t expect to see you go down like that. It’s beyond an understatement to declare that “Ace’s” best days (and chin) are behind him, but there’s no denying the brilliant and captivating career he’s had. The UFC’s go-to guy also seems smart enough to realize that he should get out of the game before he suffers any more losses as brutal as the one he suffered Saturday, because they are only more likely to happen the longer he sticks around. But if Rich really feels the need to give the fight game one last shot, I dunno, maybe match him up against Vladimir Matyushenko in a special rules match where they both sit at a table, get drunk, and compare scars?

I don’t know, I’m just spitballing here.

–J. Jones

World Series of Fighting 1: Impressions from the First Event

By CagePotato contributer Andreas Hale

The World Series of Fighting held their first event at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Although the main card appeared to be stuffed with squash matches, it was a pretty good night of fights and I was there to get a good gauge on the atmosphere and if WSoF could become a player in the MMA world that Dana White rules with an iron fist.

First things first, it wasn’t the sellout they promised as word is that they only sold 1500 tickets and comped double that to ensure a nice fight atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a good evening of fights that the crowd was receptive to. Oh yeah, ring girls. Lots of ring girls. They were like a platoon that switched in and out. I didn’t know ring girls needed breaks but whatever. It’s enough variety to keep fans engaged between rounds. I mean, Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste are great but six beats two every single gotdamn time. Right? But I digress…

Media sat on a stage that put us eye level with the cage and we could damn near touch it (or slap a cameraman) if we tried hard enough. We could actually feel some of the punches landed. Pretty good stuff. Oh yeah, and there were fights.

By CagePotato contributer Andreas Hale

The World Series of Fighting held their first event at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Although the main card appeared to be stuffed with squash matches, it was a pretty good night of fights and I was there to get a good gauge on the atmosphere and if WSoF could become a player in the MMA world that Dana White rules with an iron fist.

First things first, it wasn’t the sellout they promised as word is that they only sold 1500 tickets and comped double that to ensure a nice fight atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a good evening of fights that the crowd was receptive to. Oh yeah, ring girls. Lots of ring girls. They were like a platoon that switched in and out. I didn’t know ring girls needed breaks but whatever. It’s enough variety to keep fans engaged between rounds. I mean, Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste are great but six beats two every single gotdamn time. Right? But I digress…

Media sat on a stage that put us eye level with the cage and we could damn near touch it (or slap a cameraman) if we tried hard enough. We could actually feel some of the punches landed. Pretty good stuff. Oh yeah, and there were fights.

Andrei Arlovski def. Devin Cole via 1st round TKO (2:37)

In the main event, Arlovski walked out to some rap song where the chorus barked “Andrei Arlovski.” Cool or corny, I’m not sure. I’ll probably roll with corny. At any rate, all I was thinking about was “if he gets knocked out this great rap song will all be a waste.” Devin Cole’s biggest victory was against Mike Kyle back in 2006 so the chances he would beat Arlovski were slim to none.

Trying to rival Bruce Buffer, the announcer’s catch phrase heading into the main event was “Can you feel it!?!?” Nope, sure can’t. Not with that.

Anyways, Arlovski did exactly what was expected as he smashed an overhand right into Cole’s temple and sent him to the canvas. Arlovski followed him there and hammerfists met Cole’s face.

The end.

Anthony Johnson def. DJ Linderman via 1st round KO (3:58)

Yeah, we all knew that Anthony Johnson could separate your body from your spirit in one punch, but this was ri-goddamn-diculous. Johnson continued his crusade to destroy foes in the 205 division as he wrecked DJ Linderman with a right hook that sent him face first into the canvas. Here’s how it went…

Johnson and Linderman danced around a bit. Johnson kicked Linderman in the nuts real, real hard. Linderman got himself together and Johnson went after him. A poke in the eye had Johnson in trouble. Herb Dean didn’t see the eye poke and urged the blinking Johnsno to continue. Instead of Linderman being cordial, he decided to rush him. Hey, all is fair in war, right? Unfortunately, that just pissed Johnson off and he uncorked a right hook that landed with the impact of Thor’s Hammer and sent Linderman face planting to the canvas. Even referee Herb Dean looked down like “Damn!” before checking to see if Linderman was dead. Fortunately, he wasn’t.

Marlon Moraes def. Miguel Torres via split decision (30-27 & 29-28 for Moraes, 29-28 Torres)

Once upon a time, Miguel Torres was considered to be unbeatable. A punch by Brian Bowles in 2009 shattered his unbreakable image and it hasn’t been the same for him ever since (3-5 in his last 8 fights after going 37-1). A stint in the UFC was chopped down by Michael McDonald and a rape van tweet that he couldn’t shake. His debut in WSoF was thought to be a rebirth but it was a rather rude awakening that perhaps the game has passed him by. Torres looked out of sync and lost against Brazilian Marlon Moraes as his stalking style was disintegrated in the first minute of the fight when Moraes clocked him with a combination and blood trickled from his scalp. From there — with a bizarre mixture of boos and Ric Flair “woos” echoing through the crowd — Torres was out struck by Moraes as he proved to be the faster and stronger fighter. It wasn’t the most exciting fight but Moraes was so comfortable that he attempted a jumping roundhouse in the third round. You wouldn’t have done that to Torres five years ago. But today, it’s a different story. A late takedown during a relatively competitive third sealed his fate. Well, almost. Somehow, one judge inexplicably scored the fight 29-28 for Torres but the other two judges managed to get it right with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 for Moraes.

Tyrone Spong def. Travis Bartlett via 1st round TKO (3:15)

101-5-1 is Tyrone Spong’s kickboxing record before deciding to head to the world of MMA. Obviously, his debut was hyped. Poor Travis Bartlett stood in the way of Spong becoming 1-0. That didn’t last long. The kickboxing beast handed out a savage beating to Bartlett that will likely have light heavyweights crapping their pants. After nearly kicking Bartlett’s head into the audience on several occasions, Spong settled for a straight right hand that dropped his foe to the canvas in a “no mas” manner eerily reminiscent of how Forrest Griffin collapsed to the canvas against Anderson Silva. It was ugly, it was brutal, it was beautiful.

—

Elsewhere on the card…

Tyson “The Man Of” Steele stopped Gregor Gracie in the first round with a hulk smash TKO. Time of stoppage was 2:11

Brian Cobb ended Rony Torres two-year, 11-fight win streak with a split decision victory.

Steve Carl pulled a nifty transition from crucifix to rear naked choke to elicit the tapout at the 2:11 mark.

Josh Burkman was impressive as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Gerald Harris.

JZ Cavalcante bent TJ O Brien’s leg like a pretzel as he scored a first round submission in 63 seconds.

David Branch’s workman like performance earned him a unanimous decision victory over Dustin Jacoby.

Spotted In The Crowd: Jake Shields, Urijah Faber, Rashad Evans, Travis Browne, Pat Militich, Vitor Belfort, Martin Kampmann, Ian McCall, Jay Heiron, TJ Lavin, Josh Barnett, Rampage Jackson, Chael Sonnen, Joseph Benevidez & Frank Trigg

Ohio Athletic Commission to Review Horrifyingly Late Stoppage of Zaromskis/Koreshkov at Bellator 78


(More frightening than anything you’ll see this Halloween. Gif courtesy of Zombie Prophet.) 

Although it was marginally overlooked in our weekend wrap-up of the event, you guys might have heard that Marius Zaromskis was nearly ground into a fine white powder by the fists of Andrey Koreshkov in their co-main event matchup at Bellator 78 this past weekend. Despite the fact that referee Jerry Poe was literally watching the action from the perfect angle, he apparently suffered a case of sudden onset blindness at the worst possible moment, allowing Koreshkov to reign down some 11 unanswered blows — which were each fight-ending power strikes in and of themselves — before calling a stop the fight. It made Josh Rosenthal’s stoppage of Chris Weidman vs. Mark Munoz look like Rick Fike’s stoppage of Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson 1. Word has it that even Steve Mazzagatti started screaming “Wake the fuck up ref!” at his television during the fight. Needless to say, people were pissed.

But we can rest assured for the time being, because Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato recently told BloodyElbow that the fight was “under review.” While we truly appreciate that notion on behalf of the fighters, we’re not exactly sure what potential punishments could arise from a review (although an attempted manslaughter charge for Poe seems appropriate) or how they could be carried out.

The problem is, we’ve seen these kinds of referee blunders go unpunished before — as will likely be the case in this instance — so it almost begs one to ask what exactly a referee has to do (or not do) in order to be held accountable for their decisions.


(More frightening than anything you’ll see this Halloween. Gif courtesy of Zombie Prophet.) 

Although it was marginally overlooked in our weekend wrap-up of the event, you guys might have heard that Marius Zaromskis was nearly ground into a fine white powder by the fists of Andrey Koreshkov in their co-main event matchup at Bellator 78 this past weekend. Despite the fact that referee Jerry Poe was literally watching the action from the perfect angle, he apparently suffered a case of sudden onset blindness at the worst possible moment, allowing Koreshkov to reign down some 11 unanswered blows — which were each fight-ending power strikes in and of themselves — before calling a stop the fight. It made Josh Rosenthal’s stoppage of Chris Weidman vs. Mark Munoz look like Rick Fike’s stoppage of Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson 1. Word has it that even Steve Mazzagatti started screaming “Wake the fuck up ref!” at his television during the fight. Needless to say, people were pissed.

But we can rest assured for the time being, because Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato recently told BloodyElbow that the fight was “under review.” While we truly appreciate that notion on behalf of the fighters, we’re not exactly sure what potential punishments could arise from a review (although an attempted manslaughter charge for Poe seems appropriate) or how they could be carried out.

The problem is, we’ve seen these kinds of referee blunders go unpunished before — as will likely be the case in this instance — so it almost begs one to ask what exactly a referee has to do (or not do) in order to be held accountable for their decisions. Reffing a fight is no easy task and requires a level of split-second decision making that most people are simply not capable of making. The argument over what constitutes a “correct” stoppage is solid in theory, but often comes under fire when actually applied in the cage.

Just take the Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin fight at UFC 116, for example. Was Lesnar “intelligently defending” himself after getting rocked in the first round? If you consider turtling up and trying to kick out Carwin’s ankles intelligent defense, then yes, yes he was. Josh Rosenthal, who is considered one of the best refs in the game, would agree with you. But many MMA fans or even referees for that matter probably wouldn’t. In the end, Rosenthal’s no-stoppage proved to be the “correct” decision, but again, it’s completely a matter of opinion. And with each new referee that enters the game comes a new opinion of what justifies a correct stoppage and a new set of variables.

Obviously, Poe’s flub was an extreme instance of referee subjectivity being completely off base, but dependent on whether or not the OAC decides to hold Poe accountable for his actions could mark a huge turning point in the refereeing of the sport. Because any unnecessary accumulation of blows to the head can be even more devastating to a fighter in the long run than in the immediate. Just ask Gary Goodridge.

Then again, handing out suspensions to referees for late stoppages could conversely lead to more premature stoppages than we are already used to. It’s not a problem that poses an easy solution, but the Ohio Athletic Commission’s decision could move things in the right direction to say the least.

–J. Jones

Bellator 78 Results: Good, Koreshkov Advance to Welterweight Finals

When I managed to speak to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney after Bellator 69 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, he spoke very highly of welterweight prospect Andrey Koreshkov, who had just improved to 10-0 that evening.  The twenty-two year old Russian fighter earned a spot in this season’s welterweight tournament, where he would quietly improve to 11-0 at Bellator 74 with a unanimous decision over Jordan Smith. At last night’s Bellator 78, Koreshkov looked to make a name for himself against Marius Zaromskis in the tournament semifinals.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about the main event of the evening. Former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good took the next step towards earning the title back with a second round TKO over Michail Tsarev, although he arguably could not have picked up a more unimpressive victory. This isn’t to say that Good looked bad up until that point -he didn’t – but because the stoppage was, frankly, cheap. Good accidentally poked Tsarev in the eye in the middle of the second round, causing Tsarev to turn to the referee looking for time out. It looked like the referee was about to call for a break in the action, but Lyman Good pounced on “The Lonely Wolf.” The TKO victory was awarded to Good shortly afterwards.

Video of the main event, as well as Koreshkov’s victory, is after the jump

When I managed to speak to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney after Bellator 69 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, he spoke very highly of welterweight prospect Andrey Koreshkov, who had just improved to 10-0 that evening.  The twenty-two year old Russian fighter earned a spot in this season’s welterweight tournament, where he would quietly improve to 11-0 at Bellator 74 with a unanimous decision over Jordan Smith. At last night’s Bellator 78, Koreshkov looked to make a name for himself against Marius Zaromskis in the tournament semifinals.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about the main event of the evening. Former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good took the next step towards earning the title back with a second round TKO over Michail Tsarev, although he arguably could not have picked up a more unimpressive victory. This isn’t to say that Good looked bad up until that point -he didn’t – but because the stoppage was, frankly, cheap. Good accidentally poked Tsarev in the eye in the middle of the second round, causing Tsarev to turn to the referee looking for time out. It looked like the referee was about to call for a break in the action, but Lyman Good pounced on “The Lonely Wolf.” The TKO victory was awarded to Good shortly afterwards.


Good vs. Tsarev. This fight is why they say protect yourselves at all times, guys.

In the evening’s co-main event, Andrey Koreshkov lived up to his hype with a first round TKO over Marius Zaromskis. Zaromskis couldn’t find his range against the young, aggressive Russian striker, absorbing some hard punches and knees while mounting little offense of his own. Two minutes into the fight, a left hand from Koreshkov dropped Zaromskis to the mat allowing Andrey Koreshkov to drop punches to Marius’ head until the referee waived things off.

Koreshkov and Good will fight each other in the Welterweight tournament finals.


Koreshkov vs. Zaromskis

In non-tournament action, Daniel Straus returned to action last night, opting to take a warm-up fight before his featherweight title shot against the winner of the upcoming Pat Curran/Patricio Pitbull fight. While there’s a lot that can go wrong in these situations – namely the challenger loses and/or gets injured – Straus dominated his opponent, UFC veteran Alvin Robinson, on his way to a second round rear-naked choke victory. Also on the main card, Brian Rogers took to the cage for the first time since walking away from his job as a special education teacher to focus on fighting full-time. Rogers looked impressive against Dominique Steele, showing the aggression he’s known for, but also showing the patience and control he usually lacked. In the end, Rogers walked away with a unanimous decision victory.

One final note: Zoila Gurgel, the current Bellator 115-pound women’s champion who has yet to defend her title, returned to action last night on the preliminary card. In the non-title bout, Gurgel fought 4-2 fighter Casey Noland. Booking the champion in a non-title bout on the preliminary card of an event is already a pretty bad sign, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bjorn Rebney said before the fight that he’d assess Gurgel afterward. The good news for Gurgel is that she obviously won the fight. However, it’ll be interesting to see how confident Rebney feels moving forward with Zoila Gurgel after watching her lose the first round to a 4-2 no-name fighter who was essentially brought in to lose.

Full Results:

Main Card

Lyman Good def. Michail Tsarev via TKO (strikes), 3:54 of Round Two
Andrey Koreshkov def. Marius Zaromskis via TKO (strikes), 2:14 of Round One
Daniel Straus def. Alvin Robinson via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:51 of Round Two
Brian Rogers def. Dominique Steele via unanimous decision

Preliminary Card

Zoila Gurgel def. Casey Noland via unanimous decision
Jason Butcher vs. Shaun Asher via submission (guillotine choke), 1:32 of Round One
Billy Horne def. Trey Houston via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:30 of Round One
Mikkel Parlo def. Jared Combs via TKO (strikes), 3:51 of Round One
Rob Hanna def. Rocky Edwards via split decision
Justin McNally def. David Blattman via submission (triangle choke), 0:38 of Round One

@SethFalvo

UFC 153 Pay-Per-View Buys Confirm That Squash Matches Are Totally Hot Right Now


(We’re sorry, Stephan, but unless those things are actual guns, you’re getting your ass kicked tonight.) 

In the days leading up to UFC 153, many of you (and by you, we mean the entire MMA Interwebz) had some less than favorable things to say about the pairing of Stephan Bonnar and Anderson Silva. As if the bookies hadn’t told us all we needed to know, the general consensus among fans seemed to be the evening’s main event was a “travesty, a sham, and a mockery” that “blasphemed the great sport of MMA” and was a “completely meaningless squash match” whose “insulting pairing” would be reflected in “the abysmal pay-per-view numbers it receives.” And those were the favorable comments.

But for every fifteen of you complaining, there were apparently five or more of you who were forced to stifle your true excitement over this matchup like a pedo at a tee-ball game, because if the early numbers are any indication, squash matches featuring unstoppable killing machines are the new superfights. According to several reports, the pay-per-view numbers for UFC 153 are in the range of 340,00 to 410,000 buys. These numbers not only exceeded expectation, but are not that far below September’s squash match of the month featuring Jon Jones and Vitor Belfort, which managed to clear over 450,000 buys despite having those little guys that no one cares about fighting in the night’s co-main event.


(We’re sorry, Stephan, but unless those things are actual guns, you’re getting your ass kicked tonight.) 

In the days leading up to UFC 153, many of you (and by you, we mean the entire MMA Interwebz) had some less than favorable things to say about the pairing of Stephan Bonnar and Anderson Silva. As if the bookies hadn’t told us all we needed to know, the general consensus among fans seemed to be the evening’s main event was a “travesty, a sham, and a mockery” that “blasphemed the great sport of MMA” and was a “completely meaningless squash match” whose “insulting pairing” would be reflected in “the abysmal pay-per-view numbers it receives.” And those were the favorable comments.

But for every fifteen of you complaining, there were apparently five or more of you who were forced to stifle your true excitement over this matchup like a pedo at a tee-ball game, because if the early numbers are any indication, squash matches featuring unstoppable killing machines are the new superfights. According to several reports, the pay-per-view numbers for UFC 153 are in the range of 340,00 to 410,000 buys. These numbers not only exceeded expectation, but are not that far below September’s squash match of the month featuring Jon Jones and Vitor Belfort, which managed to clear over 450,000 buys despite having those little guys that no one cares about fighting in the night’s co-main event.

While the numbers for UFC 153 might not be that outstanding at a glance, first consider that aside from Anderson Silva, UFC 153 was essentially deprived of the kind of star power that casual fans are willing to fork over 50 dollars for, thanks in no small part to our friend the injury curse. The co-main event featured Dave freaking Herman for Chrissakes. Jon Fitch was on the main card, you guys. Jon. Fitch. These are not factors that normally add up to UFC gold, yet thanks to the power of one genetically-enhanced cyborg from the future and the pure enthusiasm of Brazilian fans, UFC 153 managed to come out with better numbers than UFC 147 and 150 combined.

So although we may never get the Silva/Jones superfight we’ve always wanted, enough of us will keep tuning in for the mere opportunity to watch either one of them beat the shit out of a hapless opponent. Based on these numbers, we estimate that Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen will do upwards of 24 million buys, receive it’s own television spin-off, and return to theaters in stunning 3D in 2014. And the Ferris wheel keeps on a spinnin’.

No wonder Silva doesn’t want to fight Chris Weidman or Michael Bisping; their chances of not being completely embarrassed out there lie just outside the fan’s interest range. Andy knows that we want to see him keep his hands at his sides, evade then shuffle back to where his opponent just tried to hit him, and deliver one-shot knockouts at the drop of a hat or not see him at all. You know what your audience likes, Joe, now set up the Silva vs Kyle Maynard super-squash-match-extravaganza that we have all been begging for!

–J. Jones

Bellator 77 Recap: Clementi Ruins Sarnavskiy’s Bellator Debut, Advances to Lightweight Semifinals

Highlights from Clementi vs. Sarnavskiy

With no competition from the UFC last night (well, no real competition, at least), Bellator took to the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania to make a statement with Bellator 77. The main card played host to the quarterfinals of this season’s lightweight tournament.

In the evening’s main event, 20-0 Russian lightweight Alexander Sarnavskiy made his Bellator debut against UFC veteran Rich Clementi. Despite his creative, diverse offense, Sarnavskiy struggled early against Clementi, almost succumbing to a rear-naked choke at the end of the first round. Although he would adjust to end up making the fight very close, in the end Clementi won by split-decision. With the victory, Rich Clementi improves to 45-21-1.

In the co-main event, WEC veteran Dave Jansen finished a very game Magomed Saadulaev with a standing arm-in guillotine forty-one seconds into the third round. After a close first round, Jansen spent the second round breaking down Saadulaev with his ground and pound. Video of the entire fight is available after the jump.


Highlights from Clementi vs. Sarnavskiy

With no competition from the UFC last night (well, no real competition, at least), Bellator took to the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania to make a statement with Bellator 77. The main card played host to the quarterfinals of this season’s lightweight tournament.

In the evening’s main event, 20-0 Russian lightweight Alexander Sarnavskiy made his Bellator debut against UFC veteran Rich Clementi. Despite his creative, diverse offense, Sarnavskiy struggled early against Clementi, almost succumbing to a rear-naked choke at the end of the first round. Although he would adjust to end up making the fight very close, in the end Clementi won by split-decision. With the victory, Rich Clementi improves to 45-21-1.

In the co-main event, WEC veteran Dave Jansen finished a very game Magomed Saadulaev with a standing arm-in guillotine forty-one seconds into the third round. After a close first round, Jansen spent the second round breaking down Saadulaev with his ground and pound. Video of the entire fight is available after the jump.


Dave Jansen vs. Magomed Saadulaev

In other tournament action, Marcin Held took home a unanimous decision victory over Murad Machaev, marking his fourth-straight victory. Also of note, Ricardo Tirloni finished off Rene Nazare with a D’Arce choke in the second round. The entire fight was a back-and-forth slugfest, with each fighter rocking his opponent. With the crowd expecting a huge knockout, Tirloni landed a hard right hand early in the second round leading to the fight-ending D’Arce choke one minute and fourteen seconds into the second round.


Ricardo Tirloni vs. Rene Nazare

Full results:

Main Card:

Rich Clementi def. Alexander Sarnavskiy by Split Decision
Dave Jansen def. Magomeda Saadulaev by Submission (guillotine choke), 0:41 of Round Three
Marcin Held def. Murad Machaev by Unanimous Decision
Ricardo Tirloni def. Rene Nazare by Submission (D’Arce choke), 1:14 of Round Two

Preliminary Card:

Matthew Lozano def. Dave Morgan by Submission (Inverted Triangle Choke), 2:28 of Round Two
Lew Polley def. Carmelo Marrero by Unanimous Decision
Darrell Horcher def. E.J. Brooks by KO, 0:21 of Round One
Cosmo Alexander def. Mike Bannon by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage), 5:00 of Round Two
Duane Bastress def. Ariel Sepulveda by Split Decision
Brett Martinez def. Eric Albright by Submission (Guillotine Choke), 3:28 of Round Two