Tag: Vitor Vianna

Bellator 61 Recap: Some Faces Get Smashed, No Arms Get Collected

Brian Rogers’ walk-off flying knee KO (Courtesy of YouTube/BellatorMMA)

Bellator kicked off its fourth 185-lb tournament last night and it was a pretty good night of scraps for those in the bludgeoning business. Despite a last minute cancellation of the scheduled Prindle-Santos rematch, the card marched bravely on. Eight middleweights squared off for a chance to advance to the semis and ultimately to challenge reigning champ Hector Lombard. It may not be the most popular tournament at the moment, but it’s ours, dammit, and here’s how it played out.

The opening bout in the eight-man scrum pitted Season 5 runner-up Vitor Vianna against Brian Rogers. Rogers came out as the early aggressor, firing off hard shots at a passive Vianna. Eager to get the fight to the ground, Vianna worked for the takedown, but his back only graced the canvas once for a few seconds following a hip-toss by Rogers. Back on the feet, “The Predator” stunned Vianna with a right hand that wobbled him back on his heels. Smelling blood, Rogers leapt in with flying knee for a textbook falling tree KO. “”That was my third flying knee knockout. Google it,” said Rogers in his post-fight interview. I would, boss, but I’m terrified of the internet. All nine of Rogers’ victories have come by first round stoppage. Not too shabby.

Brian Rogers’ walk-off flying knee KO (Courtesy of YouTube/BellatorMMA)

Bellator kicked off its fourth 185-lb tournament last night and it was a pretty good night of scraps for those in the bludgeoning business. Despite a last minute cancellation of the scheduled Prindle-Santos rematch, the card marched bravely on. Eight middleweights squared off for a chance to advance to the semis and ultimately to challenge reigning champ Hector Lombard. It may not be the most popular tournament at the moment, but it’s ours, dammit, and here’s how it played out.

The opening bout in the eight-man scrum pitted Season 5 runner-up Vitor Vianna against Brian Rogers. Rogers came out as the early aggressor, firing off hard shots at a passive Vianna. Eager to get the fight to the ground, Vianna worked for the takedown, but his back only graced the canvas once for a few seconds following a hip-toss by Rogers. Back on the feet, “The Predator” stunned Vianna with a right hand that wobbled him back on his heels. Smelling blood, Rogers leapt in with flying knee for a textbook falling tree KO. “”That was my third flying knee knockout. Google it,” said Rogers in his post-fight interview. I would, boss, but I’m terrified of the internet.  All nine of Rogers’ victories have come by first round stoppage. Not too shabby.

Giva Santana knew exactly what he wanted to do in his bout with Bruno Santos. So did the fans. And unfortunately for him, so did Santos. Santana, who owns more arms than Kali, worked dutifully to drag Santos to the mat, but “Carioca” wasn’t having it. He rolled out of two takedowns in a close first round and even pulled up on a slam in the second to avoid a ground battle with Santana. Santos continued to take out “The Arm Collector’s” base in the third with a series of leg kicks, and he defended well when they did hit the canvas. It wasn’t the evening’s most exciting bout, but the performance was enough to score Santos a unanimous decision and extend his record to a perfect 13-0.

Through the power of television, Bellator turned back the clock and showcased an undercard bout from earlier in the evening. The Trey Houston-Jeremiah Riggs must have been contested under “The Ultimate Fighter Live” rules, as both men swung for the fences and held nothing back for a potential second round. That go-for-the-kill pace left both men winded half-way through the opening frame. With his back against the cage, Houston exploded forward, driving Riggs across the cage and ending up in side-mount. After a scramble and more haymakers, Houston again scored the takedown. Mounted, Riggs flipped off the cage and reversed positions, but “That Just Happened” happened again with a beautiful armbar to end the fight. The 23-year-old Houston is now 9-0, with all wins coming via stoppage.

Vyacheslav Vasilvsky cut a path to the second round through Victor O’Donnell’s swollen face. Both men were aggressive in the first, with O’Donnell scoring two takedowns and working for mount. He tried to get the fight to the ground again in the second, but was stuffed on a takedown and stumbled backward by a short jab right on the button. From there, it was two rounds of survival. The Russian’s ground and pound had his opponent turtling up, and on the feet he continued to hurt O’Donnell with his accurate hands. O’Donnell showed great heart and proved too tough to put away, but he was out gunned in this battle. Vasilevsky scored the unanimous decision and picked up his fourteenth straight win.

In the main event of the evening, UFC exile Maiquel Falcao took on Norman Paraisy in a heated battle. Falcoa worked for takedowns early on, briefly securing mount and crowding the Frenchman against the fence through much of the first. At the end of the opening round, “Big Rig” hoisted Paraisy into the air, nearly securing a picture perfect “human torture rack” before losing control and dropping his opponent. As the bell sounded, Falcoa landed with a slightly late knee to the body, prompting a very late left hand from Paraisy. The two apologized, but shit was on. Falcao cranked it up a notch in the second, firing off leg kicks and finding a home for his flurries. The Brazilian dropped Paraisy twice in the second, but chose a bit of bravado and posturing over swarming in for the finish. Again, the round ended with some post-bell action from Falcao. The final frame was all “Big Rig”. Paraisy was hurt in the standup and found no sanctuary on the ground. Predictably, the fighting ended shortly after the final bell, but when the dust had settled a dominant Falcao got his hand raised.

The tournament’s four winners will advance to the semi-finals at Bellator 66. Rogers is slated to take on Santos while Vasilevsky will go to work against Falcao.

FULL RESULTS: (via AdCombat.com)

Middleweight Quarterfinals:
Norman Paraisy v Maiquel Falcao – Falcao by Unanimous Judges Decision R3
Vitor Vianna v Brian Rogers – Rogers by KO Flying Knee Strike 4:14 R1
Bruno Santos v Giva Santana – Santos by Unanimous Judges Decision R3
Victor O’Donnell v Vyacheslav Vasilevsky – Vasilevsky by Unanimous Judges Decision R3

Preliminary Card (Live on Spike.com):

Trey Houston v Jeremiah Riggs – Houston by Submission – Armbar, 3:30 R1
Eric Scallan v Derrick Krantz – Krantz by Submission – Choke, 3:01 R1
Jason Sampson v Jeremy Myers – Sampson by Submission Rear naked choke 2:25 R3

 

Who You Should Bet On at Bellator 61


(Two words: Stanky toe.) 

We’re in the midst of the longest MMA drought of the year, Potato Nation. With only one UFC and one Strikeforce event scheduled in the next month, the gambling addicts within the CP staff are damn near starving to death. Seriously, we’ve been forced to start taking bets on things like: how long Karma can grow his fingernails before he scratches someone’s eyes out, the IQ of BG’s child (currently), and which cockroach in Danga’s apartment will finally die of lead poisoning.

Perhaps it’s a sign of how far the sport has come in the past few years that we expect a card every couple weeks; pehaps it is just a sign of our greed. In either case, Bellator has stepped up to fill the void left behind by all the major organizations, and thankfully so. With three events planned in the next two weeks, it presents a perfect opportunity to get some bad picks and ridiculous parlays out of your system before it really costs you.

Despite the main event being cancelled at the last second, tonight’s Bellator 61 card still presents some intriguing match-ups and more than a couple ways to come out with a more padded wallet to spend on tomorrows festivities, ie. green colored beer and an end of the night stomach pumping. But let’s get one thing straight, this is not your mamma’s Gambling Addiction Enabler, this is a sort of similar yet entirely different monster. CagePotato can not be held accountable for the following betting advice, so read at your own risk.

First, let’s take a look at the card…


(Two words: Stanky toe.) 

We’re in the midst of the longest MMA drought of the year, Potato Nation. With only one UFC and one Strikeforce event scheduled in the next month, the gambling addicts within the CP staff are damn near starving to death. Seriously, we’ve been forced to start taking bets on things like: how long Karma can grow his fingernails before he scratches someone’s eyes out, the IQ of BG’s child (currently), and which cockroach in Danga’s apartment will finally die of lead poisoning.

Perhaps it’s a sign of how far the sport has come in the past few years that we expect a card every couple weeks; pehaps it is just a sign of our greed. In either case, Bellator has stepped up to fill the void left behind by all the major organizations, and thankfully so. With three events planned in the next two weeks, it presents a perfect opportunity to get some bad picks and ridiculous parlays out of your system before it really costs you.

Despite the main event being cancelled at the last second, tonight’s Bellator 61 card still presents some intriguing match-ups and more than a couple ways to come out with a more padded wallet to spend on tomorrows festivities, ie. green colored beer and an end of the night stomach pumping. But let’s get one thing straight, this is not your mamma’s Gambling Addiction Enabler, this is a sort of similar yet entirely different monster. CagePotato can not be held accountable for the following betting advice, so read at your own risk.

First, let’s take a look at the card…

Main Card
Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy
Vitor Vianna vs. Brian Rogers
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O’Donnell
Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos

Preliminary Card 
Brent Taylor vs. Josh Quayhagen
Trey Houston vs. Jeremiah Riggs
Derrick Krantz vs. Eric Scallan
Jeremy Myers vs. Jason Sampson

The preliminary card currently has no betting lines available, so we’ll focus on just the middleweight quarterfinals for the time being.

Let’s start with Falcao vs. Paraisy. Despite suffering a heart attack back in November, Falcao is currently listed at -330 over at BestFightOdds.com, a line that is a little inflated to say the least. Falcao is a walking paradox, a man who likes to end his fights early yet can’t seem to stop punching once he has started, regardless of what the ref or timekeeper says. He is so used to the first round, in fact, that in his only appearance in the UFC (against Gerald Harris at UFC 123), it appeared as if he forgot how to fight once he reached the third round. Paraisy, on the other hand, is likely getting such a bad billing because his last Bellator performance (Bellator 3-4 in 2009) resulted in a third round submission loss to Dave Menne. Since then, however, he’s reeled off five wins and a draw, including wins over Paulo Filho and Jack Mason. He’s also never been knocked out. Though that means nothing against a guy like Falcao in the early going, Paraisy’s superior cardio and strong wrestling base could prove to pay dividends in the latter rounds. Our advice, put Falcao in your parlay, and place a small side bet of maybe twenty or thirty dollars on Paraisy, depending on what your cash situation is.

The Rogers/Vianna and Santos/Santana fights aren’t worth betting on alone, but as far as adding to your parlay’s goes, the smart money is on Vianna (-125) and Santana (-115). Rogers has some power in his hands, but the same goes for Vianna, who also adds a ridiculous list of grappling credentials to his credit including 2 world BJJ Championships, 6 Brazilian national champions, and an ADCC NO GI trials runner up spot. He will dictate where this fight takes place, and should be good pick over Rogers. That being said, four once gloves can put anyone to sleep, so a small bet on Rogers wouldn’t hurt.

As we all know, Giva Santana is one of the greatest one trick ponies the sport has ever seen, collecting 13 arm bar wins in just 18 fights. Santos, however, has only finished two opponents in twelve fights, and despite being undefeated, should be listed as more of a dog here. He’s a grinder with severely limited striking skills who lacks the kind of speed of aggression that could put Giva in any sort of trouble. He’ll be looking to hold “The Arm Collector” down, a notion that will prove deadly when faced with Santana’s explosive guard. Santana is a lock, so don’t hesitate to throw him in your parlay as well.

That takes us to our last main card fight, Vitor O’Donnell (+235) vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (-255). O’Donnell is primarily a grappler, scoring nine of his 11 wins by way of submission. He is also coming off a knockout loss to Brian Rogers at Bellator 50. Yes, many said the fight was stopped short, which I’m not really going to comment on; a KO loss is a KO loss. Rogers, though a beast in his own right, is nowhere near as well rounded Vasilevsky is. A two time world Sambo champion, former judo champion, and 2010 M-1 Global Light Heavyweight champion, Vasilevsky has been waiting sixteen fights for his coming out party, compiling a 15-1 record in that time, and should steamroll O’Donnell, barring any last second jitters. He is well versed in submissions and too good on the feet, so look for a quick and violent finish to this one.

So to sum up, place 50 to 75 dollars on a Falcao-Vianna-Santana-Vasilevsky parlay, which will net you $391.32 on the high end. That is a steal considering you are betting on all favorites. And if you’re feeling up to it, place a small side bet of 20 to 30 dollars on Paraisy-Rogers parlay, which could still double your total investment if your parlay goes to shit.

-J. Jones 

Bellator Announces Season 6 Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinal Matches


(And YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown, and YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown!) 

Bellator recently announced the lineup and first round match-ups for its 6th season middleweight tournament, and it features more than its fair share of familiar faces. First off, after reportedly suffering a heart attack during training back in November, former UFC middleweight Maiquel Falcao will be returning to action against 10-1-1 Norman Paraisy. Paraisy, a Paris, France native, previously fell to a first round rear-naked choke at the hands of inaugural UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne in his last Bellator appearance, which took place back in April of 2009. Paraisy has gone 5-0-1 since the loss, picking up wins over Paulo Filho and Jack Mason among others. True to his fighting style, Falcao last picked up a first round TKO victory over Douglas Del Rio, a video of which is below.

(Falcao also strayed from his usual fighting style, however, as he actually managed to stop punching his opponent when the ref intervened.) 


(And YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown, and YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown!) 

Bellator recently announced the lineup and first round match-ups for its 6th season middleweight tournament, and it features more than its fair share of familiar faces. First off, after reportedly suffering a heart attack during training back in November, former UFC middleweight Maiquel Falcao will be returning to action against 10-1-1 Norman Paraisy. Paraisy, a Paris, France native, previously fell to a first round rear-naked choke at the hands of inaugural UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne in his last Bellator appearance, which took place back in April of 2009. Paraisy has gone 5-0-1 since the loss, picking up wins over Paulo Filho and Jack Mason among others. True to his fighting style, Falcao last picked up a first round TKO victory over Douglas Del Rio, a video of which is below.


(Falcao also strayed from his usual fighting style that night, as he actually managed to stop punching his opponent when the ref intervened.) 

Also scheduled to throw down are Giva “The Arm Collector” Santana and undefeated Bruno Santos. Owning an incredible 13 wins by armbar in 17 victories, with all but one of those wins coming in the first round, Santana last picked up another first round armbar over Darryl Cobb at Bellator 53. Santos is perhaps Santana’s polar opposite, as ten of his twelve victories have gone the distance, so it will be interesting to see how things play out if this one drags into the later rounds. Our prediction, however, is that Santana collects yet another arm before, in Bryan Baker-esque fashion, proposing to Ronda Rousey and giving birth to the child that will eventually save the limbs of mankind from Rousimar Palhares. Fight fire with fire, Potato Nation.

Elsewhere on the card, season 5 runner-up Vitor Vianna will square off against Brian “The Predator” Rogers. Both men are coming off losses to eventual season winner Alexander Shlemenko; Rogers succumbed to a second round TKO at Bellator 54 and Vianna dropped a unanimous decision at Bellator 57.

And finally, submission specialist Vitor O’Donnell will lock horns with 15-1 Sambo practitioner Vyacheslav “Slava” Vasilevsky. For the love of Krzysztof Soszynski was that name hard to spell. O’Donnell’s last Bellator appearance was a quick one, a first round TKO via head kick at the hands of Brian Rogers in the season 5 quarterfinals.

Any of these names starting to sound familiar? Bjorn Rebney might want to consider adding a few more new faces to Bellator’s next middleweight tourney, because as much as we love rematches, we can only watch the same guys kick each other’s asses for so long. Unless those two happen to be Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

Bellator’s sixth season is set to kick off on March 9th, and features CP lifer/steroid aficionado Sean McCorkle taking on Richard White, Joe Warren defending his featherweight title against Pat Curran, and the featherweight tournament quarterfinals.

-Danga 

Bellator 57: Lima, Shlemenko Punch Tickets to Title Shots

(Saunders-Lima, via Zombie Prophet)

While every fight fan in North America turned to FOX to catch the UFC’s broadcast debut, then made their way to pay-per-view to witness boxing’s continued fall from legitimacy, the family members of Bellator’s fighters and people hoping to catch reruns of “Daria” headed over to MTV 2 for the conclusion of their Season 5 welterweight and middleweight tournaments.

Ben Saunders opened his match by trying to take Douglas Lima’s head off with a series of kicks, but when those failed to meet their mark the two fighters clinched and headed for the cage where they’d jockey for position and trade a few obligatory knees and punches. Thrice referee Yves Lavigne separated the pair only to see them return to the fence and grind the fight to a halt. With under a minute left, Lima caught a kick and slammed Saunders to the mat but was instantly swept and mounted. “Killa B” closed out the round in control and dropping a score of hard, short elbows on Lima’s skull. Saunders drove in for the clinch at the onset of round two, but yet another break by Lavigne gave Lima the space he needed to work. “The Phenom” slipped a Saunders right and countered with one of his own. That one punch would be enough. Saunders crumbled to the mat and Lima followed up with hammerfists until shoved away. Lima’s effort earned him the tournament championship, $100 G’s, and a shot at Welterweight Champion Ben Askren.

(Saunders-Lima, via Zombie Prophet)

While every fight fan in North America turned to FOX to catch the UFC’s broadcast debut, then made their way to pay-per-view to witness boxing’s continued fall from legitimacy, the family members of Bellator’s fighters and people hoping to catch reruns of “Daria” headed over to MTV 2 for the conclusion of their Season 5 welterweight and middleweight tournaments.

Ben Saunders opened his match by trying to take Douglas Lima’s head off with a series of kicks, but when those failed to meet their mark the two fighters clinched and headed for the cage where they’d jockey for position and trade a few obligatory knees and punches. Thrice referee Yves Lavigne separated the pair only to see them return to the fence and grind the fight to a halt. With under a minute left, Lima caught a kick and slammed Saunders to the mat but was instantly swept and mounted. “Killa B” closed out the round in control and dropping a score of hard, short elbows on Lima’s skull. Saunders drove in for the clinch at the onset of round two, but yet another break by Lavigne gave Lima the space he needed to work. “The Phenom” slipped a Saunders right and countered with one of his own. That one punch would be enough. Saunders crumbled to the mat and Lima followed up with hammerfists until shoved away. Lima’s effort earned him the tournament championship, $100 G’s, and a shot at Welterweight Champion Ben Askren.

(Shlemenko-Vianna, via Zombie Prophet)   

Vitor Vianna was game early on to throw down with Bellator’s Whirling Dervish of knockouts, Alexander Shlemenko, but he was ultimately outgunned by the Russian’s unorthodox arsenal. Though he showed a healthy respect for Shlemenko’s spinning attacks, Vianna stood his ground and, though out struck, found a home for his kicks and combinations in the first round. From there however Vianna’s caution grew to withdrawl; he failed to engage and counter Shlemenko, which allowed the Russian to pick his shots and dictate the exchanges. Shlemenko took the fight on all three score cards to secure the unanimous decision and earn his rematch against Bellator Middleweight champ Hector Lombard.

Thanks, Bellator, for proving that tournaments can be completed in a timely fashion. Thanks as well for giving your champs fights that actually mean something.

Full Results (via MMAJunkie.com):

MAIN CARD
• Douglas Lima def. Ben Saunders via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:21 – wins welterweight tournament
• Alexander Shlemenko def. Vitor Vianna via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) – wins middleweight tournament
• Roger Hollett def. John Hawk via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alexandre Bezerra def. Doug Evans via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 4:04
PRELIMINARY CARD
• Matt Van Buren def. Shawn Levesque via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:38
• Chris Horodecki vs. Mike Corey declared majority draw (29-28 Horodecki, 28-28, 28-28)
• Dave Jansen def. Ashkar Morvari via submission (rear-naked choke) Round 2, 2:47
• Denis Puric def. Chuck Mady via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 5:00
• Eric Moon def. Josh Shockley via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:35
• Taylor Solomon def. Mike Sledzion via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:10

Bellator 54 Recap: Shlemenko & Vianna Advance, Big Rig is Bellator Bound

Shlemenko vs. Rogers from last night’s Bellator 54

If last night’s Bellator 54 in Atlantic City, New Jersey was a preview of things to come, then under no condition should you skip the finale of this season’s middleweight tournament. Unless you don’t like watching exciting brawls and devastating knockouts. In that case, I really don’t know why you’re here in the first place.

Alexander Shlemenko and Brian Rogers both promised a knockout before the fight, and it quickly became apparent that neither man planned on breaking that promise. A back and forth battle from the opening seconds, the fight saw each fighter land hard shots to his opponent. In the second round, however, Shlemenko’s superior clinch game helped him get the better of Rogers, as Shlemenko rocked Rogers with knees to the head before the referee stopped the fight. Alexander Shlemenko is now 42-7 in his MMA career, and 6-1 in Bellator.

The evening’s co-main event, Vitor Vianna took home a quick TKO over Bryan Baker. From the start of the fight, Baker showed little respect for Vianna’s striking. Bryan Baker chose to throw bombs at Vianna in hopes of getting a quick finish. Bryan Baker chose poorly.


Shlemenko vs. Rogers from last night’s Bellator 54

If last night’s Bellator 54 in Atlantic City, New Jersey was a preview of things to come, then under no condition should you skip the finale of this season’s middleweight tournament. Unless you don’t like watching exciting brawls and devastating knockouts. In that case, I really don’t know why you’re here in the first place.

Alexander Shlemenko and Brian Rogers both promised a knockout before the fight, and it quickly became apparent that neither man planned on breaking that promise. A back and forth battle from the opening seconds, the fight saw each fighter land hard shots to his opponent. In the second round, however, Shlemenko’s superior clinch game helped him get the better of Rogers, as Shlemenko rocked Rogers with knees to the head before the referee stopped the fight. Alexander Shlemenko is now 42-7 in his MMA career, and 6-1 in Bellator.

The evening’s co-main event, Vitor Vianna took home a quick TKO over Bryan Baker. From the start of the fight, Baker showed little respect for Vianna’s striking. Bryan Baker chose to throw bombs at Vianna in hopes of getting a quick finish. Bryan Baker chose poorly.

In a non-title bantamweight scrap, Bellator champion Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky took home a first round north-south choke against a game, but overmatched Ryan Roberts. The victory marks Makovsky’s eighth straight. Meanwhile, Roberts is still searching for his first victory in Bellator, having lost a unanimous decision to Eric Marriott at Bellator 32 in his last appearance with the promotion.

Also of note, those of you who watched the prelims on Spike.com have noticed that Bellator has signed UFC veteran Maiquel “Big Rig” Falcao. The 28-4 Chute Boxe product is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with twenty three of his victories ending via knockout. Unfortunately, you probably remember him for beating Gerald Harris at UFC 123 in a fight so boring that both men were subsequently bounced from the UFC. To be fair, Big Rig was technically cut due to legal issues. Hopefully Falcao will add more exciting fights to a middleweight division already full of them.

Full results, courtesy of MMAJunkie.com:

MAIN CARD RESULTS

Alexander Shlemenko def. Brian Rogers via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:30 – middleweight-tourney semifinals
Vitor Vianna def. Bryan Baker via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:54 – middleweight-tourney semifinals
Champ Zach Makovsky def. Ryan Roberts via submission (north-south choke) – Round 1, 4:48 – non-title bantamweight fight
Jacob Kirwan def. Rene Nazare via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS

Duane Bastress def. Daniel Gracie via TKO (cut) – Round 2, 5:00
Joey Kirwan def. Lewis Rumsey via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:40
Claudio Ledesma def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Andria Caplan def. Adrienne Seiber via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Bellator 50: With A Name Like “Hollywood”, How Can the Crowd Not Be Jerks?

“Man, I just can’t tell you how much stronger I feel since I got my leukocyte count under control, you know?  I feel like I could do this all day!”  PicProps:  Keith Mills for Sherdog

Since we all know that you didn’t watch Bellator last night, how about a recap?  Come on inside for accounts of the event, plus videos of the middleweight tournament bouts, courtesy of Zee2TehPee and ArnForgesArn.com — massive props to those guys.  Boo boo on the crowd in Hollywood, Florida, which seemed just a little too quick to rain down boos on a good night of fights.  Come on inside and I’ll tell you all about it.

“Man, I just can’t tell you how much stronger I feel since I got my leukocyte count under control, you know?  I feel like I could do this all day!”  PicProps:  Keith Mills for Sherdog

Since we all know that you didn’t watch Bellator last night, how about a recap?  Come on inside for accounts of the event, plus videos of the middleweight tournament bouts, courtesy of Zee2TehPee and ArnForgesArn.com – massive props to those guys.  Boo boo on the crowd in Hollywood, Florida, which seemed just a little too quick to rain down boos on a good night of fights.  Come on inside and I’ll tell you all about it.

Victor O’Donnell vs Brian Rogers

Man, Victor O’Donnell looks like the little brother of Bronan the Barbarian. Ok, there was a bit of a stoppage controversy on this one, kids, but it’s the kind where you kind of feel bad for everyone involved. Brian Rogers has a streak going of putting a quick smashing on his opponents, so when he wobbles O’Donnell with a headkick and a flurry of hooks, then follows him to the canvas with hammerfists, you can’t really blame referee Troy Waugh for diving it to stop it.  Unfortunately, O’Donnell still has plenty of fight left in him, since he was busy establishing guard and wrist control when Waugh waves it off.  Brian “The Predator” Rogers scores another TKO victory (referee stoppage due to strikes) at 1:56 in the first, but the crowd turns on him, booing the stoppage.  Rogers, who comes off as an extremely nice guy, goes full-on heel with them in the interview.  Very strange fight.

Sam Alvey vs Vitor Vianna

Speaking of strange fights, there’s this.  Sam Alvey has his model girlfriend in his corner, gloves on and everything.  Vitor Vianna has BJJ championships like Joe Johnson has shoes, but he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to take Alvey down and introduce us all to the Portuguese Pretzel Choke.  So they stay standing, but neither fighter shows much in the way of killer instinct, and 90% of the action is in the last two minutes of the fight. Alvey moves forward most of the fight, defends takedowns well, and scores some damage on Vianna, but Alvey winds up losing a split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29).  The crowd turns on Vianna as well, who seems to have learned English from Wanderlei, if nothing else.  Poor fella.  Vianna promises better next time, and I hope so.

Bryan Baker vs Jared Hess

The Battle of Dudes Fresh Off of Expensive Surgeries was going to be a lose-lose for me, because I like both of them. Both Baker and Hess had tune-up fights for the tournament, but this would be their first real competition, and it turned out to be a fantastic fight: a really technical grappling exchange with a good tempo. Hess did not look like his pre-surgery self — the limitless gas tank that helped him grind through opponents started to run out by the end of the first, he made quite a few technical errors on the ground, and he did look wobbly and awkward on his feet through the second and third. True to form, though, Hess never quit. The referee stopped the fight because Baker had him back mounted, hooks in, fully extended and dropping big hooks to his cranium region. (Oh, and Baker’s wife still wails like a banshee in the crowd the entire damn fight, and this time she had back-up.) Bryan Baker defeats Jared Hess by TKO (referee stoppage due to ground and pound) at 2:52 of round 3.

Zelg Galesic vs Alexander Shlemenko

Alexander Shlemenko lied to our faces … and I have new respect for him. The Russian whirlwind has expressed open disdain for submission grappling on the ground pretty much anytime someone comes near him with a camera and a translator, and he chases knockouts . Then he comes out to fight Croatian kickboxer Zelg Galesic and goes for a clinch like he’s a heat seeking judo missile. It took less than two minutes for Shlemenko to secure a nasty standing guillotine/neck crank that was right up there with Dan Miller’s. Props to Shlemenko for actually working to improve and roundout his skill set, plus more props for playing it close to the vest. More props on top of that for that monster submission. The big knock against The Storm has been that he was one-dimensional and anyone with some high school wrestling could take him down. If Shlemenko can bring his wrestling and submission defense up to par, suddenly that crazy striking style of his becomes a whole lot scarier. Alexander Shlemenko defeats Zelg Galesic via Submission (Standing Guillotine/Neck Crank) at 1:55 of round 1.

Spike.com Card

Brett Cooper defeats Valdir Araujo via TKO (punches) at 0:35 of round 3.

Radley Martinez defeats Brian van Hoven via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3).

Ailton Barbosa defeats Ryan Keenan via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:55 of round 1.

Christian Souza defeats John Kelly via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3).

J.P. Reese defeats Martin Brown via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3).

Marcelo Goncalves defeats Dietter Navarro via submission (armbar) at 2:01 of round 1.

Shah Babonis defeats Marcos de Matta via KO (punch) at 2:04 of round 3.

[RX]