Tag: Recap

Armchair Matchmaker: ‘UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot’ Edition


(Having recently established himself as the alpha male, the Bigfoot eagerly races off into the jungles of Brazil to copulate with the herd’s last remaining female.)

We may be a few days removed from UFC on FX 5, but that doesn’t mean that the future has already been determined for the night’s biggest winners. Joe Silva and Sean Shelby may be the best in the biz, but even they could probably use a bit of matchmaking advice — or at least a backup plan– considering that half of the fights they book in the aftermath of this event will be cancelled due to injury, arrest, or a classic case of bitch wife. This is where the Armchair Matchmaker comes in, for what are sports without over analysis, needless speculation, and a headscratching appearance from Liam Neeson? By the end of this article, you will have witnessed at least one of these.

Here we go.

Antonio Silva: You might chalk this up to laziness, but pairing the rebounding “Bigfoot” against Stefan Struve seems like an awesome idea to us. We know Stefan called out Fabricio Werdum following his big win over Stipe Miocic at UFC on FUEL 5, but we think this matchup makes just as much sense, if not more. Both men have recently reestablished themselves at legitimate threats and Werdum 2.0 (you know, the one that can do this to people on the feet) seems like he would put on a clinic against either man. It would be a stretch to declare that either Struve or Silva are exactly title-worthy material yet, so let these two big men slug it out and give the winner a top contender. It’s a classic battle of Chin vs. Lankiness — Jay Leno vs. Conan O’Brien in an MMA ring, if you will — and would surely deliver an exciting finish inside the distance.


(Having recently established himself as the alpha male, the Bigfoot eagerly races off into the jungles of Brazil to copulate with the herd’s last remaining female.)

We may be a few days removed from UFC on FX 5, but that doesn’t mean that the future has already been determined for the night’s biggest winners. Joe Silva and Sean Shelby may be the best in the biz, but even they could probably use a bit of matchmaking advice — or at least a backup plan– considering that half of the fights they book in the aftermath of this event will be cancelled due to injury, arrest, or a classic case of bitch wife. This is where the Armchair Matchmaker comes in, for what are sports without over analysis, needless speculation, and a headscratching appearance from Liam Neeson? By the end of this article, you will have witnessed at least one of these.

Here we go.

Antonio Silva: You might chalk this up to laziness, but pairing the rebounding “Bigfoot” against Stefan Struve seems like an awesome idea to us. We know Stefan called out Fabricio Werdum following his big win over Stipe Miocic at UFC on FUEL 5, but we think this matchup makes just as much sense, if not more. Both men have recently reestablished themselves at legitimate threats and Werdum 2.0 (you know, the one that can do this to people on the feet) seems like he would put on a clinic against either man. It would be a stretch to declare that either Struve or Silva are exactly title-worthy material yet, so let these two big men slug it out and give the winner a top contender. It’s a classic battle of Chin vs. Lankiness – Jay Leno vs. Conan O’Brien in an MMA ring, if you will — and would surely deliver an exciting finish inside the distance.

Jake Ellenberger: He may have come away with a victory over a legit fighter in Jay Hieron on Friday, but Ellenberger’s performance was easily one of the most disappointing in recent memory, which is saying something considering he was just TKO’d in his last fight. Ellenberger seemed far too content to throw haymakers with the hope of a flash KO and never really went out of his way to try and obtain a finish, so there’d be no better way to light a fire under him for his next fight than to pair him with perennial trash-talking contender Josh Koscheck. Kos is coming off a close loss to Johnny Hendricks, who he ranked just above “Ingleburger” in a previous interview and would love the opportunity to prove all of us retarded, fighter-ranking assholes wrong anyway.

John Dodson: Although Dodson earned the right to fight newly-crowned flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson with his impressive second round knockout of Jussier Formiga, we’d rather see Dodson take on the drunken asshole that couldn’t keep quiet on Friday in a no holds-barred street fight to the death. If Dodson wins, we can never complain about another flyweight fight again. If he loses, we pack him and as many flyweights as humanely possible into an undersized car and let the hijinks ensue.

Justin Edwards: Edwards is four fights into his UFC career, yet we still don’t really know what to make of the guy. His 45-second victory over Neer was both impressive and unexpected, but again, it didn’t tell us much about him other than the fact that he has a nasty arm-in guillotine. Simply put, we need to see more of Edwards, and a fight that would show us a lot about the guy would be against a Dan Miller type fighter. Not only does Miller also possess one of the nastiest guillotines in the division — which he used to score his last victory — but he is a well rounded, middle-of-the-pack guy who would be the perfect litmus test for Edwards. Miller was expected to face Sean Pierson at UFC 152, but pulled out when he received word that his son Danny Jr. would be undergoing a much needed kidney transplant. Now that Danny Jr. appears to be in the clear for the time being, we imagine Dan could use some more help paying the bills, and a win over Edwards would be a solid step in the right direction.

Michael Johnson: The TUF 12 product was able to overcome some early difficulty against Danny Castillo (thanks in part to a slight mental error by “Last Call”) in the first round and scored the most vicious knockout of his career in the second. Now finding himself on a three fight win streak, Johnson could use a slight step up in competition to see if he can overcome adversity again. A clash against the ever-improving Matt Wiman would make sense. Wiman recently scored a huge upset over Paul Sass at UFC on FUEL 5, and like Johnson, could use another big victory to keep his name in circulation.

Mike Pierce: It was almost eerie how similar Pierce’s and Johnson’s performances were last Friday. Both men were rocked in the first round, only to release the Kraken (I TOLD YOU!) and deliver a spine-shattering knockout early in the second. Considering how terrible Pierce looked in his victory over Carlos Eduardo Rocha his last trip out, he has to be feeling like a boss right now and rightfully so. Pierce is now 7-3 in his UFC career, with all of his losses coming to title challengers, so why not toss him another former title challenger? After falling to a third round come from behind submission at the hands of Martin Kampmann, Thiago Alves was supposed to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 149, but blah blah blah injury curse, so pairing him against Pierce seems like a pretty smart move to effectively destroy any hope one of these men has at a title shot (or another in Alves’ case).

Are there any matchups that you’d rather see, Potato Nation?

–J. Jones

[VIDEO] Dave Bautista Wins MMA Debut


(It could be argued that the gun gave him an unfair advantage.)

Former WWE professional wrestling star Dave Bautista made a successful MMA debut last night in Providence, RI. Bautista beat Vince Lucero via TKO (ground strikes) in the first round of their main event bout.

Lucero, a late replacement, out weighed Bautista by nearly forty pounds and came into the cage with well over forty professional fights under his belt but couldn’t survive the pro wrestler’s ground attack. Early on, Lucero hurt Bautista on the feet with punches.

Once he was able to get space and clear his head, however, Bautista took things to the ground with a double leg take down. From there he moved to side mount, then mount and rear mount before unloading a series of unanswered punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.

“I am better than I showed,” Bautista told interviewer Joe Lauzon after the win.

Perhaps, perhaps not. But Bautista definitely has more guts than other celebrity performers out there who play tough guys on TV or film but have no idea what it is like to train for and take part in a real fight.

The pro wrestler promised that he would continue to fight and thanked his Tampa area team and coaches. Check out the fight video as well as full event results after the jump.


(It could be argued that the gun gave him an unfair advantage.)

Former WWE professional wrestling star Dave Bautista made a successful MMA debut last night in Providence, RI. Bautista beat Vince Lucero via TKO (ground strikes) in the first round of their main event bout.

Lucero, a late replacement, out weighed Bautista by nearly forty pounds and came into the cage with well over forty professional fights under his belt but couldn’t survive the pro wrestler’s ground attack. Early on, Lucero hurt Bautista on the feet with punches.

Once he was able to get space and clear his head, however, Bautista took things to the ground with a double leg take down. From there he moved to side mount, then mount and rear mount before unloading a series of unanswered punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.

“I am better than I showed,” Bautista told interviewer Joe Lauzon after the win.

Perhaps, perhaps not. But Bautista definitely has more guts than other celebrity performers out there who play tough guys on TV or film but have no idea what it is like to train for and take part in a real fight.

The pro wrestler promised that he would continue to fight and thanked his Tampa area team and coaches. Check out the fight video as well as full event results after the jump.

Full card results courtesy of MixedMartialArts.com:

Dave Bautista def. Vince Lucero via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:05
Chandler Holderness def. Todd Chattelle via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, :27
David Loiseau def. Chris McNally via TKO (cut) – Round 1, 2:30
John Howard def. Brett Chism via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:31
Mike Campbell def. Gemiyale Adkins via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Calvin Kattar def. Saul Almeida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Luis Felix def. Marc Stevens via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tyler King def. Josh Diekmann via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-28)
Greg Rebello def. Chris Guillen via submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:26
Brennan Ward def. Shedrick Goodridge via TKO (punches)- Round 1, 2:36
Andre Soukhamthath def. Rob Costa via TKO (cut) – Round 2, 4:44
Nate Andrews def. Leon Davis via submission (guillotine), Round 2, :29
Kevin Horowitz def. Tyson Chartier via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

– Elias Cepeda

UFC on FX 5 Results & Aftermath: Browne KO’d by Bigfoot’s Right Hand, His Own Hamstring

(The leg injury didn’t help, but did you really think Browne’s two tiny hand tattoos stood a chance against Silva big foot ink?)

Well, that was anticlimactic. In many ways, the main event of UFC on FX 5 encapsulated the rest of the card – fun at times but, in some part due to forces beyond its control, not something that lived up to its potential. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was able to stop a game Travis Browne after the latter suffered a debilitating leg injury in the first round.

Browne found success with his offense when the round began, but somewhere over the course of the fight, his hamstring popped. Ouch.

Even typing that felt painful. And evidently, it was just as painful and incapacitating as you would think it is. Browne almost collapsed simply from throwing a punch at one point. Eventually,Bigfoot took advantage by rushing in, cornering Browne against the fence and delivering a mammoth right hand to Browne’s jaw.

The follow up shots sealed Silva’s victory, and most likely saved his job. For Browne and MMA fans alike, however, this was a difficult loss to swallow.

(The leg injury didn’t help, but did you really think Browne’s two tiny hand tattoos stood a chance against Silva big foot ink?)

Well, that was anticlimactic. In many ways, the main event of UFC on FX 5 encapsulated the rest of the card – fun at times but, in some part due to forces beyond its control, not something that lived up to its potential. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was able to stop a game Travis Browne after the latter suffered a debilitating leg injury in the first round.

Browne found success with his offense when the round began, but somewhere over the course of the fight, his hamstring popped. Ouch.

Even typing that felt painful. And evidently, it was just as painful and incapacitating as you would think it is. Browne almost collapsed simply from throwing a punch at one point. Eventually,Bigfoot took advantage by rushing in, cornering Browne against the fence and delivering a mammoth right hand to Browne’s jaw.

The follow up shots sealed Silva’s victory, and most likely saved his job. For Browne and MMA fans alike, however, this was a difficult loss to swallow.

In the co-main event, Jake Ellenberger took a unanimous decision over the returning Jay Hieron in what looked like a glorified sparring session. Neither fighter appeared comfortable coming forward, but Ellenberger was able to occasionally capitalize on mistakes by Hieron.

The most significant moment of the fight came in the second round, when Ellenberger managed to land a take down and damaged Hieron with short elbows on the ground. Beyond this, however, virtually nothing of significance was landed by either party.

That said, although Ellenberger didn’t manage to distinguish himself in victory. A win is a win.

He now will attempt to get himself back into position as a contender for the welterweight crown. As for Hieron, this probably wasn’t the homecoming he anticipated. Hopefully he’ll get another chance to prove he belongs in the UFC.

The flyweight tilt between John Dodson and Jussier Formiga was probably the most significant bout of the night. It was set to determine the number one contender to the new champion, Demetrious Johnson.

After an uneventful first round, Dodson was able to land two serious left hands, each of which knocked Formiga down. The second time, Dodson didn’t allow him to get back up, firing off a barrage of ground and pound and sealing his title shot.

Michael Johnson earned KO of the Night after surviving the two runners up from Danny Castillo in the first round. However, in the second, Johnson connected with a beautiful counter left hook that turned Castillo’s lights out.Johnson followed with vicious shots on the ground, but these were academic.

Josh Neer was upset by Justin Edwards, as he was choked unconscious within a minute. Edwards’ guillotine earned him Submission of the Night. And from the Fuel undercard, Diego Nunes’ spirited victory over Bart Palaszewski picked up Fight of the Night.

Finally, Yves Edwards and Jeremy Stephens… um… yeah, that didn’t happen. Oops.

Main Card Results

Antonio Silva def. Travis Browne via TKO at 3:27 of Round 1

Jake Ellenberger def. Jay Hieron via UD (29-28 x 3)

John Dodson def. Jussier Formiga via TKO at 4:35 of Round 2

Justin Edwards def. Josh Neer via SUB at 0:45 of Round 1

Michael Johnson def. Danny Castillo via KO at 1:06 of Round 2

Prelim Results

Mike Pierce def. Aaron Simpson via KO at 0:29 of Round 2

Marcus LeVesseur def. Carlo Prater via SD (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

Jacob Volkman def. Shane Roller via SUB at 2:38 of Round 1

Diego Nunes def. Bart Palaszewski via UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28)

Darren Uyenoyama def. Phil Harris via SUB at 3:38 of Round 2

Bellator 75 Report: Prospects & Low Blows


(Thiago Santos has no doubt had better nights)

By Elias Cepeda

When heavyweight Ryan Martinez (8-2) hit Manny Lara (4-2) twice in the groin over the course of their three round Bellator 75 prelim bout Friday night in Hammond, IN one could only assume that he secured the low blow highlights for the night. Then Eric Prindle came along in the night’s main event and stole Martinez’ nut shot thunder.

If there was a low blow of the night bonus award…what am I saying? If there was a low blow of the decade award, Eric Prindle’s axe kick to the family jewels of a downed Thiago Santos would be the clear front runner.

After a failed jumping guillotine choke left Santos on his back with seconds left in the first round of their Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal bout, Prindle (7-3) began kicking him with round houses to the legs. Then the massive Prindle thought to get all GSP with it and loaded up with a stomping axe kick, likely aimed for Santos’ mid section.

Instead, the full force of a 265 pounder’s stomp came down onto the groin of a prone Santos. The Brazilian was given five minutes to recover.

He could have been given thirty. It would likely not have made a difference. Santos laid flat on his face without moving, not even able to writhe in agony, before being lifted onto a stretcher and taken out of the cage.


(Thiago Santos has no doubt had better nights)

By Elias Cepeda

When heavyweight Ryan Martinez (8-2) hit Manny Lara (4-2) twice in the groin over the course of their three round Bellator 75 prelim bout Friday night in Hammond, IN one could only assume that he secured the low blow highlights for the night. Then Eric Prindle came along in the night’s main event and stole Martinez’ nut shot thunder.

If there was a low blow of the night bonus award…what am I saying? If there was a low blow of the decade award, Eric Prindle’s axe kick to the family jewels of a downed Thiago Santos would be the clear front runner.

After a failed jumping guillotine choke left Santos on his back with seconds left in the first round of their Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal bout, Prindle (7-3) began kicking him with round houses to the legs. Then the massive Prindle thought to get all GSP with it and loaded up with a stomping axe kick, likely aimed for Santos’ mid section.

Instead, the full force of a 265 pounder’s stomp came down onto the groin of a prone Santos. The Brazilian was given five minutes to recover.

He could have been given thirty. It would likely not have made a difference. Santos laid flat on his face without moving, not even able to writhe in agony, before being lifted onto a stretcher and taken out of the cage.

Santos (11-1) won by DQ and advanced to the semi finals of the tournament in a month, if he’s even able to fight at that point. At the post event press conference Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney was not sure if he would be able to and said that if Santos is unable to continue, Martinez would replace him in the tournament.

The ending was disappointing for everyone and was also ironic because Prindle and Santos had fought before, a year ago, and that fight also ended with a low blow. That time Santos hit Prindle low and when Prindle was unable to continue the fight was ruled a no contest.

For some reason Prindle’s coach Erik Paulson was given a chance to ask a question of his fighter at the post presser as if he represented a media outlet. No doubt genuine, the still necessarily partisan Paulson gave his charge a softball and leading question about the supposed unfairness of him getting disqualified for the low blow when the last time he was hit low, the fight was just ruled a no contest.

For his part, Prindle was apologetic and said that it wasn’t his call to make. This writer, for one, thinks that the next Prindle/Santos fight needs to either take place with them both wearing medieval chastity belts or be fought under Junkyard Rules.

Young Bucks

During his post fight interview and while speaking at the post presser twenty three year-old Alexander Volkov (17-3) looked shy and overwhelmed by the stage and moment. In his fight with Brett Rogers (12-5), however, the young Russian looked masterful in winning a unanimous decision and advancing to the Heavyweight Tournament semis.

Volkov bullied Rogers around the ring with punches, kicks and knees from the start and by the second round had the convicted wife beater shirking from the fight and merely backing up or running away. Rogers had held his own for a round with Fedor Emelianenko and knocked out former world champion Andrei Arlovski but was completely out classed by Volkov’s sharp striking.

Volkov had already beaten a former UFC world champ himself when he beat Ricco Rodriguez earlier this year. The win over Rogers was the Russian’s first fight in the states and it was a successful coming out party.

If he wants to continue impressing on U.S. soil, he’ll have to take out Vinicius Kappke de Queiroz (6-2), who also impressed Friday night. Queiroz was dropped fast and hard early by Mark Holata (12-4).

Somehow the Brazilian was able to recover on the ground and submitted Holata with an arm bar from the full guard, advancing to the semis. The drama of Queiroz’ come back win highlights one of the dangers of Bellator’s tournament format.

Queiroz is a warrior and should be celebrated for having the conditioning and heart to continue and pull out a win, but there is no way he should be physically cleared to fight in less than a month as he’ll have to be in order to continue in the Bellator tournament. The ‘Spartan’ didn’t just get knocked down, he went totally rigid after getting hit and slowly fell like a chopped redwood.

His head hitting the ground woke Quieroz up and, though he was able to win, he later said that he couldn’t remember how he had ended up on the ground. The man is clearly concussed and shouldn’t be jumping right into another training camp and fighting again in less than four weeks.

I love the spirit of Bellator’s tournament structure but one has to wonder if its schedule is too demanding and dangerous for fighters at times.

Richard Hale (20-4) didn’t look like he’ll have problems maintaining his strength up in the heavyweight division as he quickly took out UFC vet Mike Wessel (12-5). Former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe (21-8-1) and Bo Harris (7-3) had a hard-fought and intense bout. Beebe came away with the unanimous decision on the strength of his wrestling and pressure on the feet.

Full Bellator 75 results below via MMA Junkie:

Thiago Santos def. Eric Prindle via disqualification (groin kick) – Round 1, 4:54

Alexander Volkov def. Brett Rogers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Richard Hale def. Mike Wessel via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:19

Vinicius Queiroz def. Mark Holata via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:26

Jason Graves def. Rafal Skibinski via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:50

Cliff Wright def. Bobby Reardanz via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:39

Ryan Martinez def. Manny Lara via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27)

Chase Beebe def. Bo Harris via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Joe Williams def. Rod Montoya via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:17

Anthony Gomez vs. Jose Medina via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:32

 

Bellator 74 On-the-Scene Report: MMA’s Scrappy #2 Tries Its Luck in Atlantic City

(Bellator 74 video highlights, via YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

By Sean Cunningham

Pride Fighting Championships. International Fight League. Affliction. M-1 Global. As each rival organization has been gobbled up or at least driven from American shores, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has inched closer to ensuring that in this land, “MMA” means “UFC.” The only thing standing between them and total North American domination is Bellator Fighting Championships. Bellator currently airs fights on MTV2 and in 2013 will shift to Spike TV, the cable network where the UFC dwelled before leaving for plush new Fox Network accommodations. With the UFC going through some growing pains — witness the cancellation of UFC 151 and UFC President Dana White calling his most promising star’s trainer a “sport killer” — it seems a perfect time to check in on the competition.

My girlfriend Maggie and I attended Bellator 74 at Caesars in Atlantic City. In general, Bellator treads a less-glamorous path than their rival, with upcoming events at Hammond, Indiana; Windsor, Ontario; Reading, Pennsylvania; Dayton, Ohio; and Rama, Ontario, while the UFC journeys to Minneapolis, Seattle, and Montreal and leaves the continent entirely for Rio de Janeiro and Macau. Atlantic City is common ground for both promotions, with Bellator holding multiple events there yearly and the UFC having returned in June after a seven-year absence. (Incidentally, with the rise of gambling in neighboring states causing local gaming revenue to plummet from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $3.3 billion in 2011, A.C. needs every MMA event possible.)

Growing up in Nevada and New Jersey, I attended a good number of casino fights. (It was a deeply wholesome childhood, filled with apple picking, fireflies, and demanding that the cocktail waitress bring me a Long Island iced tea while the dice were still hot.) The fights were divided into two categories: mega-bouts and ballroom events. Bellator 74 was a ballroom event, meaning a ring was assembled in the middle of a ballroom, chairs were put around the ring, and there you are.


(Bellator 74 video highlights, via YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

By Sean Cunningham

Pride Fighting Championships. International Fight League. Affliction. M-1 Global. As each rival organization has been gobbled up or at least driven from American shores, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has inched closer to ensuring that in this land, “MMA” means “UFC.” The only thing standing between them and total North American domination is Bellator Fighting Championships. Bellator currently airs fights on MTV2 and in 2013 will shift to Spike TV, the cable network where the UFC dwelled before leaving for plush new Fox Network accommodations. With the UFC going through some growing pains — witness the cancellation of UFC 151 and UFC President Dana White calling his most promising star’s trainer a “sport killer” — it seems a perfect time to check in on the competition.

My girlfriend Maggie and I attended Bellator 74 at Caesars in Atlantic City. In general, Bellator treads a less-glamorous path than their rival, with upcoming events at Hammond, Indiana; Windsor, Ontario; Reading, Pennsylvania; Dayton, Ohio; and Rama, Ontario, while the UFC journeys to Minneapolis, Seattle, and Montreal and leaves the continent entirely for Rio de Janeiro and Macau. Atlantic City is common ground for both promotions, with Bellator holding multiple events there yearly and the UFC having returned in June after a seven-year absence. (Incidentally, with the rise of gambling in neighboring states causing local gaming revenue to plummet from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $3.3 billion in 2011, A.C. needs every MMA event possible.)

Growing up in Nevada and New Jersey, I attended a good number of casino fights. (It was a deeply wholesome childhood, filled with apple picking, fireflies, and demanding that the cocktail waitress bring me a Long Island iced tea while the dice were still hot.) The fights were divided into two categories: mega-bouts and ballroom events. Bellator 74 was a ballroom event, meaning a ring was assembled in the middle of a ballroom, chairs were put around the ring, and there you are.

The downside to a ballroom fight is that you lose the buzz created when a headliner is announced and walks through the arena to the ring, since in a ballroom the distance between the entrance and the fighter is maybe 15 feet, so as soon as he appears, he’s there. (Also, it’s disorienting to see video of the fighters waiting in the “locker room” and realize it’s basically a meeting room with some towels.) The draw of the ballroom event is the intimacy: You feel like you can reach out and touch the fighters because in a good percentage of the seats, you can.

Bellator is a classic ballroom event in the sense it’s about a system, not star power. (General casino fight rule: the Tysons of the world ain’t in ballrooms.) Bellator 74 hosted the Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals, meaning you saw eight top fighters in action for a shot at the title. Even if you didn’t know their names — and yes, there may be a few people unfamiliar with the career of Nordine Taleb — you still get to experience the crème de la crème of a weight class in an evening.

How was this crème? Here are my notes after watching Andrey Koreshkov vs. Jordan Smith, Michail Tsarev vs. Tim Welch, Marius Zaromskis vs. Nordine Taleb, and Lyman Good vs. Jim Wallhead:

-Upon looking at the card, Maggie immediately said: “They’re all Rocky IV!” Indeed, each fight followed the pattern of the American Rocky vs. the foreign Drago: two against Russians, one against a Brit, and, most provocatively of all, one versus a French-Canadian.

-Turns out one of the fights was a little more complicated than Rocky IV. While listed out of San Jose, Marius Zaromskis was actually born in Lithuania in the former Soviet Union, meaning it’s like if Drago emigrated to the United States, then fought…himself?

-Three of the four fights went the distance, with Koreshkov, Zaromskis, and Good each winning their fights on points. Tsarev submitted Welch in the second. Yes, this does mean the semis could potentially feature two additional IVs.

-Bellator’s big challenge from having so many Russian fighters? Americans will gladly embrace athletes from other lands, but we like them to speak our language. (Witness Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in tennis.) Based on the pre-fight videos and post-fight interviews, Koreshkov and Tsarev don’t yet even attempt English. Chuck Liddell‘s ability to schmooze on ESPN prior to bouts helped bring the UFC attention at a point when they still needed it; these laid-back promotional moments are infinitely trickier when a translator’s involved.

-Speaking of Liddell, he would have been proud to see Lyman Good vs. Jim Wallhead, in which each fighter boasted a mohawk. (Technically, Wallhead may have had a fauxhawk; regardless, I think the Iceman would be touched.)

-Of the four winners, Michail Tsarev struck me as the most impressive fighter, entering the ring with a career record of 23-2 and nearly submitting Tim Welch in the first before finishing it in round two.

-Sticking with that submission, Tim Welch is a proudly Irish fighter, complete with shamrock tattoo. Watching him, I was reminded that we Irishmen need to avoid being brutally choked, because when denied oxygen we turn comically red. Also, eventually, we die.

-Michail Tsarev has one of the most unusual nicknames ever for a fighter: the Lonely Wolf. While “Lone Wolf” is hardly original and undeniably bad-ass, somehow adding that “ly” makes it take on a unique, morose quality. When he learns English, I hope he follows every victory by taking the mic and announcing, “I’m so lonely”, then silently weeping for a few minutes.

-Best Ring Girl: Maggie and I both went Mercedes. (No offense, Jade.)

-Biggest Potential Crowd-Pleaser: Marius Zaromskis. He speaks English fluently, makes a point of going for knockouts (in his pre-fight video he discussed the joys of kicking people in the head), and after a win does backflips. He does a lot of backflips, performing one for every side of room and repeating them until he sticks the landing to his satisfaction. Seriously, he may have used more energy on this than the actual fight.

-Most Helpful Heckle: During the Marius Zaromskis-Nordine Taleb fight, one attendee who was not pulling for Montreal’s Nordine yelled, “Hit the Frenchman!” (Sure enough, almost immediately grasping the wisdom in this strategy, Zaromskis did so.)

-Biggest Crowd Favorite: Lyman Good. To the surprise of no one, the former titleholder who fights out of New York and likes to mix it up drew the most fan support.

-Worst Evening: Many a fighter can find consolation after a tough loss by telling himself, “I didn’t win tonight, but at least no one crushed my testicles.” Not the U.K.’s Jim Wallhead. With just seconds left, Lyman Good charged in to close the night with a bang. Unfortunately, for the second time in the fight, he connected with Wallhead’s bangers and mash. Good had a point deducted but was so far ahead on the scorecards it didn’t matter, meaning all that was left was for Wallhead to recover enough for them to run out the clock. So everyone patiently waited as an obviously suffering Wallhead hobbled around the ring on his hands and feet, hoping at some point he would again be capable of standing upright. At last he rose, the clock ran out, and Wallhead left the ballroom, presumably to find the gypsy and ask her to remove the curse.

And that was my night of Bellator. Will it challenge the UFC for American supremacy any time soon? Seems unlikely, but it should stick around longer than the I.F.L. As noted, Bellator appears on basic cable and plays cities often neglected by the UFC — in the case of Rama, Ontario, they reached a place I wasn’t aware existed — so if you enjoy the tournament approach and feel there haven’t been enough back-flipping emigres and punched Frenchmen in your life recently, you know where to go.

UFC on FUEL 5 Wrap-Up: Stefan Struve’s Emotional Post-Fight Interview & Full Post-Fight Press Conference [VIDEOS]

Aside from displaying a much improved striking game in his second round TKO win over up-and-coming prospect Stipe Miocic last weekend, veteran heavyweight Stefan Struve put to rest all of the speculation regarding his chin (at least for the moment) by successfully eating the Clevelander’s best punches without looking much worse for the wear. But what most of the general public was completely unaware of heading into last weekend’s main event was the plight of Struve’s father, who had been diagnosed with cancer just a couple months ago and has been battling the disease ever since.

Obviously the news did not come easy to Struve, who was training for his fight with Miocic at the time, but the Dutchman managed to push through the onslaught of emotions and turn in a Brett Favre-esque performance on Saturday night. It wasn’t until his victorious post-fight interview that Struve brought everything to light, breaking down in heartrending fashion:

My dad [found out he had] cancer two months ago. He’s in therapy. He’s doing well, but, still. Yeah, I’ve been wanting to go home. It will be good to go home and see him again.

Having recently lost a family member to cancer, I can tell you first hand how difficult a process it is to deal with for all parties involved. I’m sure many of you readers could say the same. But like Struve said, his father is doing fine for the time being, so Struve should rest assured that he will be bringing his biggest victory inside the octagon home with him. We here at CP would like to let the Struve family know that our thoughts and prayers are with them in this difficult time. If Stefan’s performances inside the octagon are any indication, we imagine that his father will likely beat that pussy cancer inside of three rounds.

After the jump: A full video of the UFC on FUEL 5 post-fight press conference in which Dana White discusses his broner for Brad Pickett, pokes fun at the emotionless cyborg known as Gunnar Nelson, and tells everyone who thought the card sucked to stick it “right up your ass.” If only the President of this great nation could be so frank.

Aside from displaying a much improved striking game in his second round TKO win over up-and-coming prospect Stipe Miocic last weekend, veteran heavyweight Stefan Struve put to rest all of the speculation regarding his chin (at least for the moment) by successfully eating the Clevelander’s best punches without looking much worse for the wear. But what most of the general public was completely unaware of heading into last weekend’s main event was the plight of Struve’s father, who had been diagnosed with cancer just a couple months ago and has been battling the disease ever since.

Obviously the news did not come easy to Struve, who was training for his fight with Miocic at the time, but the Dutchman managed to push through the onslaught of emotions and turn in a Brett Favre-esque performance on Saturday night. It wasn’t until his victorious post-fight interview that Struve brought everything to light, breaking down in heartrending fashion:

My dad [found out he had] cancer two months ago. He’s in therapy. He’s doing well, but, still. Yeah, I’ve been wanting to go home. It will be good to go home and see him again.

Having recently lost a family member to cancer, I can tell you first hand how difficult a process it is to deal with for all parties involved. I’m sure many of you readers could say the same. But like Struve said, his father is doing fine for the time being, so Struve should rest assured that he will be bringing his biggest victory inside the octagon home with him. We here at CP would like to let the Struve family know that our thoughts and prayers are with them in this difficult time. If Stefan’s performances inside the octagon are any indication, we imagine that his father will likely beat that pussy cancer inside of three rounds.

After the jump: A full video of the UFC on FUEL 5 post-fight press conference in which Dana White discusses his broner for Brad Pickett, pokes fun at the emotionless cyborg known as Gunnar Nelson, and tells everyone who thought the card sucked to stick it “right up your ass.” If only the President of this great nation could be so frank.

–J. Jones