Tag: Zack Makovsky

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 Champ Zack Makovsky Looks to Join World Bantamweight Elite

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, BellatorZack Makovsky captured his first championship belt in 2010 after winning Bellator’s inaugural bantamweight tournament. Makovsky’s rise to glory came quietly, which is not surprising given his soft-spoken nature….

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Zack Makovsky captured his first championship belt in 2010 after winning Bellator’s inaugural bantamweight tournament. Makovsky’s rise to glory came quietly, which is not surprising given his soft-spoken nature. Still, it was an accomplishment worthy of some bragging rights, particularly given his grinding schedule; Makovsky fought six times in eight months in 2010, winning all his fights.

With the championship, Makovsky put himself on the international MMA radar, though he hasn’t been a surprise to those in the know. Among those was his Philadelphia Fight Factory teammate and fellow Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez, who told MMA Fighting that he forecasted Makovsky’s success from the beginning.

“For people who don’t know about Zack, you’re going to find out,” Alvarez said. “You don’t need my words to tell you, you’re going to find out very soon. The first time I met him, before I ever won a title, I said to him, ‘You’re going to be a world champion.’ That was maybe 5-6 years ago. He just had certain qualities where you knew that he was not going to have it any other way. Some guys just have what it takes. It’s not the talent, speed, strength or whatever, it’s the attitude. And he had that attitude to be a world champion.”

Bellator XXXII: Who Wants to Win a Poster-Sized Check?

(I like how they put "Season #3 Tournament Purses" in the memo line, so that Cole doesn’t get confused when he’s going through his stack of $100,000 novelty-checks at home. PicProps: MMAFrenzy)
By ReX “Write Pride” Richardson
B…

Cole Konrad Bellator heavyweight champion 32 XXXII deathclutch
(I like how they put "Season #3 Tournament Purses" in the memo line, so that Cole doesn’t get confused when he’s going through his stack of $100,000 novelty-checks at home. PicProps: MMAFrenzy)

By ReX “Write Pride” Richardson

Bellator’s third season just came out of the seventh inning stretch, visiting the Kansas City Power & Light District with a couple of championship matches on hand and two more events on the calendar. Unfortunately, you probably missed it due to either incompetence or fuckery most foul; the event was broadcast late, if at all, by every Fox affiliate in the multiverse. On top of that, it appears that the Fox-Dish Network pissing match has gone into perpetual death overtime, so essentially I’m saying that sometimes these things happen in MMA, and I was unable to watch and then come tell you guys about it. Sorry, bro. Since I feel bad about missing the last event (Bellator XXXI.V, at Talking Pines Casino, BFE), I’ve included this drawing of a spider, plus some other stuff after the jump.

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