Bellator’s Aaron Pico will be going for an Olympic wrestling team berth tonight when he faces Frank Molinaro in the 143 pound weight division final.
Pico, 19, from Whittier CA, is attempting to become the first teenager to make the Olympic team in freestyle wrestling in 40 years.
Pico has two prior wins over Molinaro, but Molinaro has had a killer tournament thus far in beating Logan Steiber, the four-time NCAA champion, as well a Brent Metcalf, one of the best U.S. wrestlers of the modern era, and like Steiber, a former Hodge trophy winner.
Pico and Ed Ruth were both signed by Bellator as amateur stars who will debut in MMA after the Olympics, or sooner if they fail to make the Olympic team.
Pico, was considered perhaps the best teenage prospect in decades as he was named pound-for-pound the best high school wrestlers in the country while only a freshman, where he went 42-0, with no close bouts, in taking the California state title. He was world champion in his age group in 2013, and against older competitors in the junior division, took third in the 2014 and 2015 world championships.
Still, because of how loaded the 143 pound division was, he was considered a long shot to make the team. With Metcalf, Steiber, Molinaro, Jordan Oliver, Zain Retheford, Jayson Ness and Reece Humphrey, it was considered the most loaded division in the tournament.
While growing up, Pico won a number of boxing and Pankration tournaments and Bellator signed him in 2014, shortly after his 18th birthday, to essentially a futures contract and he was introduced on one of the company’s major shows.
The finals at 143 will air on NBC Sports tonight at some point after 7 p.m. Eastern and 4 p.m. Pacific.
Many of the top wrestlers in the recent NCAA tournament are competing for slots on the team. Nick Gwiazdowski, who placed second at heavyweight, is in the super heavyweight division with the finals tonight.
Kyle Snyder, 20, the NCAA heavyweight champion and defending world champion, will compete at 215 pounds, will be in a tournament tomorrow.
As if their presence atop an MMA card in 2016 wasn’t bizarre enough, another footnote will be added onto the Bellator legacy of both Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice: busted for a positive drug test.
MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi broke the news Friday afternoon that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has “adminstratively suspended” both guys pending a full adjudication process due to a non-specified banned substance found in their pre-fight urine tests prior to Bellator 149.
Raimondi added that typical maximum suspension in Texas for this type of failure go up to 90 days with a $5000 fine. Bellator has yet to make a public comment.
The 52-year-old Shamrock lost to Royce Gracie in the main event via first round TKO after the referee missed Gracie kneeing Shamrock low, leading to strikes for the win. The 42-year-old Slice downed DADA 5000 in the night’s co-main event by TKO in the third round. It was later learned that 5000 nearly died in the cage after suffering renal failure due to bad weight cutting.
Welcome to our live coverage of Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell from Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The event is headlined by a bantamweight bout as former Bellator Featherweight and Bantamweight Champion Joe Warren takes on undefeated rising prospect Darrion Caldwell. The event airs on Spike TV at 9 PM eastern time and prelims will air on Spike.com at 7 PM eastern time. Join us for full coverage of the main card.
Coverage provided by Ryan Frederick
PRELIM RESULTS: Ray Wood def. Chris Jones by TKO (punches) at 3:10 of Round 1 Justin Patterson def. Chance Rencountre by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) Ricky Turcios def. Steve Garcia by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27) Neiman Gracie def. Roger Carroll by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) Jermayne Barnes def. Derek Palmer by TKO (punches) at 1:17 of Round 2 Treston Thomison def. Aaron Roberson by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:20 of Round 2
BANTAMWEIGHTS- JOE TAIMANGLO (21-6-1, 4-2 BFC) VS. SIRWAN KAKAI (12-3, 0-0 BFC)
ROUND 1- Taimanglo starts with a leg kick. Right hand from Taimanglo lands. Taimanglo lands a big flying knee and they start trading punches. Kakai lands a right hand. They trade punches. Taimanglo lands some right hands. Kakai lands a solid right hand in return. Taimanglo drops Kakai for a moment with a right hand. Kakai goes for a takedown and pushes against the fence. Taimanglo has the neck looking for a choke. Kakai is trying to scrmable out but Taimanglo turns it into a D’arce choke. Kakai escapes that but finds himself in a guillotine. Kakai gets out of that and starts landing from the top in the guard. Kakai moves to half-guard but they scramble to their feet. Back to the mat and Kakai lands from the top as the round ends. 10-9 Taimanglo.
ROUND 2- Taimanglo looks to set up a flying knee but Kakai sees it coming. Taimanglo with some leg kicks. They clinch against the fence but break quickly. Kakai misses some punches but then they each land inside the pocket. Taimanglo lands a leg kick but eats a big punch from Kakai. Kakai with a high kick. Taimanglo fakes a takedown attempt and lands a right hand. They trade punches. Taimanglo keeping his hands low but landing more. Kakai with a leg kick. They trade punches. Kakai has a takedown attempt blocked. Taimanglo stuffs a takedown attempt and lands a nice punch. They clinch against the fence as the round ends. 10-9 Taimanglo, 20-18 Taimanglo.
ROUND 3- Taimanglo comes out with a body kick. Kakai getting aggressive with his kicks and lands a nice left hook. Taiamnglo lands a solid combo. Kakai buckles him with a leg kick. They trade punches. Kakai with a leg kick. Kakai with a big takedown against the cage but they bounce right back to their feet. They break. Taimanglo looks ehausted. Kakai gets the body lock against the fence and lands some knees. They battle in the clinch against the fence. They break. They each land some punches as the fight goes the distance. 10-9 Kakai, 29-28 Taimanglo.
Official Result- Joe Taimanglo def. Sirwan Kakai by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
ROUND 1- They trade leg kicks to start. Jenkins with another. Jenkins with a body kick and Yamauchi lands one himself. They are tangled against the fence and Yamauchi jumps on the back of Jenkins. Yamauchi looking for a standing choke. Yamauchi has it nearly locked in but lets go. Jenkins with some back punches. Yamauchi still working for the choke but takes some elbows from Jenkins. Yamauchi goes back for the choke. He’s not quite getting it under the neck and he’s had three minutes in this position. Jenkins keeps fighting it off. Yamauchi gives it one last big attempt but Jenkins gets out as the round ends. 10-9 Yamauchi.
ROUND 2- They trade kicks to start off the round. Jenkins shoots in and gets a big takedown. They are against the fence with Jenkins in the guard. Yamauchi looking for the arm from the bottom but fence is in the way. Jenkins with some body punches from the top. Yamauchi lets go of the arm and Jenkins is in the full guard. Jenkins passes to half-guard and is smothering from top but not doing a lot. Jenkins then starts to land a little. Jenkins gets to his feet but goes right back into the guard after missing a big right hand. Round ends with not a lot of action going on during that five minutes. 10-9 Jenkins, 19-19.
ROUND 3- They trade kicks and Jenkins goes high. Yamauchi lands a big leg kick and misses a spin kick. Jenkins shoots in and scores the takedown. They are against the fence. Jenkins looking to pass guard. Not much happening here. Jenkins doing just enough to keep it from being stood up as Yamauchi looks for the arm. Yamauchi has the arm looking to extend but Jenkins defends it. Jenkins gets back into full guard. Jenkins with some punches from the top but he looks more like he is stalling. Yamauchi looks for one last armbar attempt as the fight ends. Boring fight. 10-9 Jenkins, 29-28 Jenkins.
Official Result- Bubba Jenkins def. Goiti Yamauchi by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-27)
WELTERWEIGHTS- FERNANDO GONZALEZ (24-13, 4-0 BFC) VS. GILBERT SMITH (12-4, 0-0 BFC)
ROUND 1- Smith comes out with a combo. Smith ducks under a punch from Gonzalez and scores a big takedown. Gonzalez reverses position and gets on top but Smith has his neck. They scramble up for a moment but go back to the mat. Gonzalez is in side control against the fence and landing punches. They get to their feet but go back down against as Smith looks for the takedown. Gonzalez lands some elbows as Smith works to the top. They get back to their feet. Smith works for another takedwn but Gonzalez sprawls and lands punches and ends up on top in side control. Gonzalez with body punches. Gonzalez gets the neck and looks for a guillotine choke. He had it in but Smith escaped. They get back to their feet and hit the mat again. 10-9 Gonzalez.
ROUND 2- They come out trading punches. Smith scores a takedown and is on top. Smith landing punches against the fence on top. Gonzalez is able to reverse position by sweeping. They scramble to their feet and Smith drags the fight back down. Smith landing soft punches from the top and Gonzalez is not doing much in return. Gonzalez has the neck but looks like he is just holding on with nothing. They are stood up. They trade shots as the round ends. 10-9 Smith, 19-19.
ROUND 3- Gonzalez with a combo as Smith shoots for a takedown but is stuffed. Smith lands a big left hand and has Gonzalez hurt and turns it into a takedown. Smith has him againsyt the fence. Gonzalez landing elbows from the bottom. Smith tries to posture up but loses the position. They scramble back to their feet. Smith lands punches and goes for a takedown and Gonzalez falls to the mat before Smith can even land it. Smith smothering from top and lands a knee as they get to their feet. They scramble and Gonzalez ends on top in half-guard as is landing elbows. Gonzalez in full guard now and landing from top. They get up to their feet.Smith lands some big punches. Smith with a nice combo but Gonzalez lands a solid body kick as the fight ends. 10-9 Smith, 29-28 Smith.
Official Result- Fernando Gonzalez def. Gilbert Smith by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
BANTAMWEIGHTS- JOE WARREN (13-4, 11-3, BFC) VS. DARRION CALDWELL (8-0, 5-0 BFC)
ROUND 1- Caldwell with a head kick and he gets Warren to the mat. Caldwell takes the back and looks for a choke. He has the back against the fence. Caldwell with punches from the back as he has Warren pinned against the fence. Caldwell still has the back and is landing some punches. They get to their feet and Caldwell with a huge German suplec and he has the back of Warren again on the mat. Caldwell looking for the choke and he has it in. It is deep and Warren is out cold! Caldwell stays undefeated as he choke Warren out cold and gets the submission win.
Official Result- Darrion Caldwell def. Joe Warren by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:23 of Round 1
Just weeks after Wanderlei Silva had his lifetime ban reduced to 3 years, “The Axe Murderer” has signed with Bellator MMA to an exclusive multi-year, multi-fight contract the promotion announced today. Silva is eligible to apply for reinstatement in May of 2017 and cannot fight anywhere that recognizes suspensions by the Nevada State Athletic Commission until that time.
Bellator has announced a number of international events for 2016 so it’s possible he could fight before that time. Silva has a 35-12-1 record and this signing comes on the 3rd anniversary of his last fight in the UFC, where he scored a 2nd round KO of Brian Stann, who retired after that fight. The former Pride Middleweight Champion was a legendary figure in the sport who had a stretch between April 2000 and December 2004 where he had 18 fights with no losses and 14 knockouts. Those fights were against the top fighters in the world at the time including, Dan Henderson, Rampage Jackson, Sakuraba, Mirko Cro Cop and others. He’s now 39 with his best days over a decade behind him but as shown in recent weeks, Bellator seems willing to book fights with guys that are long past their prime and have done so with ratings success.
No fight was announced, or even hinted at, in the company press release but they did say that Silva fielded multiple offers from companies around the world before deciding to sign with Bellator MMA.
Bellator 150 is live on Spike TV from the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas. There’s a good mix of familiar names and up and coming prospects on the five fight main card. Action gets underway at 9 pm eastern.
Women’s Flyweights Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova (10-3) vs “Ruthless” Rebecca Ruth (5-1)
The ladies kick off the festivities! Big John is your referee. This opened up as a real slugfest with both ladies landing hard shots right off the bat. Lena got a takedown 1:30 in and right into side control with a choke but Ruth escaped and swept into side control herself. Lena working for a head triangle from the bottom. Ruth landing knees to the body as Lena tries to get to her feet. Lena to her feet at 4:00 but Ruth still controlling her in a clinch. Separation at 4:30 and Ruth unloaded with a punch combo and then right back to a clinch. 10-9 Ruth
Ruth slipped early in round 2 and Lena pounced on her but Ruth quickly up. Both ladies landing punches and kicks again early and then Ruth took Lena down 45 seconds in. Lena up quickly. Ruth cut on the forehead. Ruth knocked Lena down with a punch but didn’t go right to the mat with her, giving her a chance to get up. Cage clinch at 2:00 with Ruth in control. Ruth landing punches to the head from the clinch and then they separate at 3:00. Ruth with a body punch combo at 3:15. Lena bleeding from the nose. Ruth landing more punches and stalking Lena around the cage. Lena is staggering from punches but still on her feet. Lena answers back with a punch combo of her own at 4:00. Spinning back fist by Lena misses and she slips. Ruth follows her to the ground and working for an armbar. Lena gets top position but Ruth still with the arm cinched. Bell saves Lena. 10-9 Ruth, 20-18
Lena is the signee that Bellator was trumpeting but Ruth stealing the spotlight from her. Announcers putting over Lena’s heart though in staying in this fight that she’s being dominated in. Ruth with a takedown 45 seconds in. Announcers point out that all of Ruth’s wins have been by submission as she works for a sub from her back. Ruth landing elbows to the head as she moves into side control though. Ruth takes Lena’s back as she tries to make her way to her feet and every time Lena even gets to her knees, Ruth drags her right back down. Lena to her feet at 2:45 and Ruth takes her down with a judo throw. Cut on Ruth’s forehead bleeding heavily now but she’s still controlling Ruth and keeping her on the mat. Ruth holding Lena down with a rolling half-nelson at 3:45. Lena still looking for a submission but Ruth active enough on top that it would be difficult. At 4:30, Ruth stood up, forcing Lena to her feet. Awesome visual at Ruth’s hair is wildly all over the place as she presses forward with punches and takes Lena down just before the bell. 10-9 Ruth, 30-27. Last round could arguably be a 10-8
WINNER – REBECCA RUTH (6-1) by unanimous decision. Scores 29-28 x 2; 30-27
Ruth got promo time. She thanked her family, friends and God and put over the USA. Her kids were at ringside and she said that missing some of her kids games and practices are worthwhile when you work hard and get a win like this. Very good promo and she came off pretty likeable.
Bellator is all about their “special announcements” and we’ve got one coming up later tonight as it pertains to the middleweight title and Champion Rafael Carvalho.
Featherweights Gaston Reyna (5-0) vs Chuka Willis (6-2)
Willis is just 22 but Reyna is a finisher with his 5 pro fights going a total of 11 minutes. Willis is also the local guy. Rob Hinds is the 3rd man in the cage. Willis initiates a cage clinch early. Sean Grande on commentary says this is a fight they’ve been trying to put together for a couple of years on the regional circuit and it was only bumped to the main card when the original main event was cancelled. Willis briefly takes Reyna down but he gets up. Willis still controlling him in a clinch. Reyna with a trip takedown but Willis right up. They separate at 2:30. Reyna threatening Willis with kicks and keeping him at a distance but Willis shoots in and takes him down. Reyna with a guillotine on the way down though. Reyna also with a body triangle and Willis loses his mouthpiece while still in the choke. Willis out and in top position. Willis with back mount at 4:30 as the guillotine attempt may have tired Reyna out. Close round, 10-9 Willis
Willis knocks Reyna down with a punch 30 seconds in and follows him to the mat but Reyna up quickly. Willis holding him against the cage and lands some knees to the body, including one that looked a little low. Takedown by Willis at 1:15. Reyna cut on the side of his head, which apparently happened in the first round. Reyna to his feet at 1:45. Ref breaks it up as apparently Reyna hit a low blow but the announcers didn’t really explain it. Willis holding Reyna against the cage on the restart but Reyna getting a chance to recover from that knockdown. Reyna with a standing guillotine attempt at 2:45 but lets it go quickly. They are promising a live interview with Royce Gracie later tonight. Reyna with a spin kick to the body landing right before the bell. 10-9 Willis, 20-18 overall
Jimmy has it 1 round a piece, which is certainly possible. Willis with a takedown 30 seconds in and takes his back on the ground but Reyna gets to his feet quickly. Willis holding him against the cage like he did most of the 2nd round. Ref warns them to improve their position at 1:30. Willis gets him back down at 2:00 and lands some punches to the head. Reyna up again fairly quickly but Willis still controlling him against the cage. The announcers discussed the new weight-cutting policy and how it would favor Willis, who cuts more weight. They get warned again for lack of action at 3:30. He finally breaks them up at 4:00. Reyna coming forward but Willis catches him with a punch. Reyna initiates a cage clinch, which is kind of stupid since he needs a finish. Willis gets control at 4:45. Brief separation and Reyna firing out with a punch combo. Reyna going for a guillotine standing as the round ends. 10-9 Willis, 30-27 overall
WINNER – CHUKA WILLIS (7-2) by unanimous decision; scores 29-28, 30-27 x 2
The announced after this fight that Rafael Carvalho will defend the Middleweight title the week after their next tentpole event against Melvin Manhoef. Pat Curran will take on Georgi Karakhanyan in the co-main on that card on May 20th.
Middleweights Kendall Grove (22-15) vs Francisco France (13-3-1)
Rob Hinds gets the dukes for this one. France keeping his distance early as Grove has a huge reach advantage at 6 ft 6. The winner here could be next in line for the Carvalho-Manhoef winner. France starting to connect with leg kicks and backs Grove up to the cage, initiating a clinch. Grove hits him with a low blow, causing a break. On the restart, France lost his position, which was a mistake by the ref. France lands another hard leg kick and goes back tothe clinch. Grove gets control and lands some foot stomps and knees to the body. Ref warning them to improve at 4:00. France gets control at 4:15 and lands knees to the body. Both guys trading punches to the body from the clinch. 10-9 France but very close
Graove backs up France with punches early and finishes him with ground and pound to get the stoppage.
WINNER – KENDALL GROVE (23-15) by KO at 35 seconds of Round 2.
Grove dedicated the win to his brother, who passed away last month.
Royce Gracie was interviewed at cageside. Says he tried to get out but Scott Coker pulled him back in. Says there’s no controversy and he beat Ken Shamrock no question, like he did the first two times. They also announced that they will re-air this show next Saturday, which is up against a UFC PPV. Very interesting.
Lightweights David “Caveman” Rickels (16-4) vs “Super Dooper” Bobby Cooper (12-6)
Of course they air Rickels’ entrance. Superstar reaction from the crowd. Even louder for his intro. Big John is back again as the third man. One of Cooper’s “noteable wins” is someone named Rome Lindsey. So, ya, this could be a walk for the Caveman. Caveman opens with hard leg kicks. Both guys trading punches at 1:00 and Cooper actually getting the better of it. Caveman initiates a cage clinch at 1:15 but Cooper wrestles away control. Rickels gets separation and unloads with a punch combo before clinching up again. Quick separation. Rickels slips throwing a punch at 2:30 but Cooper lets him back up. Rickels shoots for a takedown but it’s blocked and he eats a hard punch to the head from Cooper. Another cage clinch with Rickels in control. Cooper nails some punches but Rickels with a knee to the body that crumples Cooper. Rickels all over him with ground and pound and Cooper leaking blood like a faucet. McCarthy gave him a bit of time but finally stepped in to stop it.
WINNER – DAVID RICKELS (17-4) by TKO
A welterweight bout from the prelims aired next, which saw Andre Fialho move to 6-0 with a 29 second KO of Manny Meraz, who drops to 8-2. Impressive power as Meraz was out with one punch.
Main Event –
Heavyweights Cheick Kongo (23-10-2) vs Vinicius Spartan (8-3)
Sean Grande mentions that Kongo has fought guys like Cain Velasquez, Mark Hunt, Mirko Cro Cop and Matt Mitrione while making sure to mention that Mitrione is a free agent. At 40, he really has been in there with just about every top name in the division. All of Spartan’s wins have been by stoppage. Big Jiohn gets the main event reffing assignment. Spartan with a huge height and reach advantage, using it to control the cage early. McCarthy warning Spartan to either close his hand or keep his fingers in, as he’s cocked to poke Kongo in the eye if he hits him in the face. Fans booing 1:30 in as nothing much happening. Kongo with a brief bunch flurry at 1:45. Kongo gets it into the centre of the cage where there’s still nothing happening. Kongo connecting with hard leg kicks. Spartan starting to advance again and nails a nice punch combo at 3:15 but Kongo clinches up on the cage. Spartan with a trip takedown at 4:00 but Kongo right up. Kongo continuing to land leg kicks. Spartan’s leg starting to show damage. Spartan nails a spinning back fist that rocks Kongo but he recovers and goes to a cage clinch with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Kongo
Kongo landing leg kicks early again. Spartan with a hard punch to the head that connects flush 30 seconds in but Kongo shakes it off. Spartan continuing to advance. Kongo starting to mix in punch combos with the leg kicks. Spartan starting to react to each kick. Crowd booing heavily at 2:15 as not much happening in a typical Kongo fight. Kongo blocks a spinning back fist but Spartan takes him down at 2:45. Spartan with body punches while Kongo just tries to hold him in his guard. Ref warning them to work at 3:45. Spartan trying to advance but Kongo defending well. Ref stands them up with 15 seconds left. Very close round, 10-9 Spartan
Jimmy has Kongo up two rounds. Total strikes are 37-13 for Kongo. Spartan with a takedown 30 seconds in. Spartan trying hard to advance but again, Kongo defending very well and holding him in his guard. Crowd booing again at 1:45. Kongo to his feet at 2:00 and quick separation. Kongo right back to the leg kicks and landing punches that rock Spartan. Kongo with a takedown attempt stuffed by Spartan. Kongo landing knees to the body from the clinch. Ref breaks it up at 3:00. Spartan knocks Kongo down with a punch and follows him to the ground but doesn’t throw many strikes on the ground and Kongo again just holding him there. Ref stands them up with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Spartan, 29-28 overall for him but it depends how you score round 2. Kongo not acting like he thinks he won, while Spartan holding up his hands in a victory pose.
WINNER – CHEICK KONGO (24-10-2) by split decision; scores 30-27, 28-29 and 29-28. No way Kongo won that third round.
Bellator and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have reached an out-of-court settlement on their lawsuit. As part of the agreement Jackson will return to fight in Bellator.
Bellator released the information today stating Jackson’s return is part of an amicable agreement to settle litigation.
Jackson signed with Bellator in 2013 after his UFC contract expired on a joint deal with Spike TV, Bellator and TNA. Jackson was signed to headline a PPV against Tito Ortiz, but due to a neck injury to Ortiz in training, the fight fell through. Jackson won three fights in Bellator, over Joey Beltran, Christian M’Pumbu and King Mo Lawal, the latter a very disputed decision in a grudge match.
On December 20, 2014, UFC announced that Jackson had signed a new deal to return to UFC. Scott Coker, the President of Bellator, immediately stated that Jackson still had multiple fights left on his contract and they filed suit against him.
Jackson had claimed to be a free agent based on a contract breach, claiming he had not gotten a full breakdown of the PPV numbers for the Lawal fight. Bellator officials stated he was told the number and they had publicly released the number at approximately 100,000 buys. Jackson was also unhappy that Bellator had not gotten him movie roles as was talked about in the original contract negotiations.
Bellator originally got an injunction to stop him from fighting in UFC. However, an appellate court in New Jersey overturned the injunction and allowed Jackson to face Fabio Maldonado on 4/25 in Montreal, a fight he won. However, the injunction went back into effect after the fight, and Jackson’s career has been on hold ever since because he did not want to go back to Bellator.
Holly Holm won four different awards at tonight’s World MMA Awards in Las Vegas. Holm was awarded Female Fighter of the Year, Upset of the Year, Knockout of the Year and Breakthrough Fighter of the Year. The show was taped in Las Vegas for TV on FS 2 . We’ll see if Ariel Helwani’s nice speech about me makes the cut.
Award winners:
Knockout of the Year: Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey
Media Source of the Year: MMAFighting.com
Submission of the Year: Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano
Fight of the Year: Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald
Coach of the Year: Rafael Cordeiro
Reporter of the Year: Ariel Helwani
Gym of the Year: Jackson/Winkeljohn
Leading Man: Dana White
Comeback of the Year: Eddie Alvarez vs. Gilbert Melendez
Trainer of the Year: Mike Dolce
Lifetime Achievement Award: Bruce Buffer
Promotion of the Year: UFC
Analyst of the Year: Dominick Cruz
Referee of the Year: John McCarthy
Upset of the Year: Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey
Best program: UFC Embedded
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Holly Holm
Ringcard Girl of the Year: Arianny Celeste (who in her speech said this was the silliest award)
Male Fighter of the Year: Conor McGregor, who cut a taped heel promo
The promotion announced today that Henderson’s first fight in Bellator will be at Bellator 153 against Andrei Koreshkov and it will be for the Welterweight title. “Bendo” had two fights in UFC at the higher weight class, winning them both, in 2015. He won a split decision over Jorge Masvidal in his last UFC fight in November which followed a 4th round submission of Brandon Thatch in February.
Koreshkov is 23-5 and won the Bellator Welterweight Championship over Douglas Lima via unanimous decision in July at Bellator 140. That was his fourth straight win in the Bellator cage and fifth straight overall. He has not lost since being knocked out in the fourth round by current ONE Championships Welterweight Champion Ben Askren in a 2013 bout. Overall, he’s 9-1 in Bellator with 5 wins by knockout.
The Henderson-Koreshkov fight should do good TV numbers for Bellator, given Henderson’s track record in terms of TV ratings. This bout has been announced for April 22nd, a Friday, so this would not appear to be a “tent-pole” event for Bellator, which is interesting. Should Henderson win the title, he would likely end up facing the winner of the upcoming Paul Daley-Josh Koscheck fight and former Champion Douglas Lima would be another possibility.
Bellator 153 will take place at the Mohegan Sun Casino on April 22nd and tickets go on sale this Friday February 5th. There will be a presale for members of Bellator Nation starting tomorrow, February 3rd.
Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson announced Tuesday that he has signed with Bellator MMA.
Henderson’s contract expired after his split decision win over Jorge Masvidal on 11/28 in Seoul, South Korea, and it was well known he was in talks with Bellator since that point. UFC had the right to match the Bellator offer, but declined according to a tweet from MMA Junkie’s John Morgan who spoke with Dana White.
It is expected Henderson will fight at welterweight in Bellator where he would be considered a strong favorite if he were to face current champion Andrey Koreshkov. The 170 pound division is wide open for him to talk into a title fight, but he’d have more money fights at lightweight. Lightweight is the company’s strongest division with the likes of current lightweight champion Will Brooks, Michael Chandler, and Josh Thomson.
On Facebook, Henderson (23-5) thanked the UFC, including a number of people behind the scenes as well as White and Lorenzo Fertitta. He also did an interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour show.
“I’m beyond excited for this next phase of my career,” he wrote. “It’s a big move, like any move when switching employers or jobs after having worked somewhere for such a long time.
Henderson started with Zuffa in 2009, as part of the WEC lightweight division. He had a classic all-time match later that year when he won the interim title in a match with Donald Cerrone, and followed that up with by beating Jamie Varner for the title. Henderson lost the title to Anthony Pettis in another of the great fights of the era, via decision, in 2010, featuring Pettis doing the Showtime kick off the cage to knock Henderson down in the closing minute of the fight. Henderson then defeated Frankie Edgar on February 26, 2012, to win the UFC lightweight title. He defended it four times before losing to Pettis on August 31, 2013. He fought at welterweight in his last two UFC fights.
Bellator MMA is back on Spike TV tonight with it’s first show of 2016, Bellator 148 – Daley vs Uhrich. Originally, Josh Koscheck was to headline this show with Paul Daley in the co-main, leading to a rematch of their controversial 2010 fight in UFC, which led to Daley receiving a permanent banishment from the company for hitting Koscheck after the final bell. Should Daley win tonight, they will probably just go straight to the Koscheck match on one of their tentpole shows later this year.
The rest of the card is your standard Bellator fare. Chris Honeycutt and Paul Bradley are rematched after their 2015 fight ended in a no-contest due to an accident clash of heads. Honneycutt is an undefeated prospect that Bellator is hoping to build around and he was dominating the first fight before it was stopped. Two big heavyweights clash in what should be a fun fight with Tony Johnson Jr and Raphael Butler. Both have impressive records and the winner will likely be a future opponent of Bobby Lashley should they decide to stripe Vitali Minakov of the Heavyweight title and create a new champion. Rounding out the card and probably kicking off the show will be Bellator stalwart Patrick Freire up against Ryan Couture. Freire is coming off a loss on the last Bellator show of 2015 against Derek Anderson and Couture has two straight submission wins. Whether he’s ready for it or not, a win over Pitbull will probably mean that Couture will at least be in discussions for a title shot against Will Brooks.
The SpikeTV broadcast starts at 9 pm eastern and will have live coverage here once the show starts. The prelims are streaming at http://bellator.spike.com/ starting at 7:40 pm eastern.
Prelims results:
Carl Seumanutafa (10-6) over Javy Ayala by 2nd rd TKO (ground and pound)
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (3-0) over Amber Thackett by 1st rd submission (armbar)
Justin Smitley (10-6) over Art Arciniega by decision
Heavyweights Raphael Butler (9-1-1) vs Tony Johnson Jr (9-2) Mark Beltran – ref
Sean Grande said that Scott Coker has worked things out with Vitaly Minakov and he’ll be back in Bellator to defend his title later this year and also said that the winner of this fight is a possible contender. He also brought up the names of Bobby Lashley and Cheick Kongo. A low blow broke things up after 2 minutes of grappling against the cage. After the restart , it was more grappling before they both started throwing hard punches for about 15 seconds and then right back to grappling. Butler ended up on top and held him down for the last minute. Close round, 10-9 Butler
More grappling to start round 2 with Butler in control of a cage clinch for the first minute or so before Butler got away from the cage. They stayed clinched up with Johnson walking him around the cage. When I said “fun fight” in the opening, this was not what I had in mind. Butler got a takedown 3 minutes in. Butler landed some elbows that didn’t do much damage while Butler just tried to work out of bottom position. Johnson took his back at 4:15 and started landing punches to the head. Butler up at 4:30. 10-9 Johnson, 19-19 overall
Johnson with a takedown right away. Butler briefly to his feet but Johnson took his back and dragged him down. Johnson flipped him over and right into side control but Butler gave up his back again. Butler up at 2:30. They noted that the only time Johnson has ben stopped is by Daniel Cormier, the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Ref broke it up due to lack of action but Johnson took him right back down again and immediately took his back. Johnson landing a lot of punches to the head but not terribly hard and Butler still defending. A lot of the punches seemed close to the back of the head but Beltran not even warning him. Ref stopped it with about 30 seconds left, even though he didn’t even warn Butler to defend himself.
WINNER – TONY JOHNSON JR (10-2) by TKO (punches) at 4:24 of the third
For anyone who may have missed the Rizin show on New Year’s Eve, Spike is running a show that will air right after this called “The Emperor and The King” which one would assume will include both the Fedor and King Mo fights from Rizin.
Lightweights Patricky Freire (14-7) vs Ryan Couture (10-3) John McCarthy – ref
Sean Grande brought up how Patricky Pitbull had Eddie Alvarez beat when they fought but then Jimmy pointed out that Pitbull went on to lose that fight. As I’m typing that, Couture rocked Pitbull with a punch that knocked him down but he let him back up. Ptibutt rocks Couture with a punch at 2:15 but Couture stays on his feet. Couture bleeding from his nose from that shot but moving forward with punches. Pitbull dropped Couture with one punch. Couture stayed down for a long time flat on his face after the punch
WINNER – PATRICKY FREIRE (15-7) by KO (punch)
Lashley and Josh Thomson were in a commercial for Dave and Busters between fights that was just dreadful. Royce Gracie was interviewed via sattelite about next month’s fight with Ken Shamrock Jiu Jitsu that his Dad taught him will beat the wrestling of Shamrock.
Welterweights Chris Honeycutt (6-0) vs Paul Bradley (22-6) Mike Beltran – ref
Honeycutt gets a huge pop as he’s from Fresno, where this show is taking place. Bradley dropped Honeycutt with a punch early and then swarmed him with punches. Ref stepped in and stopped it. Honeycutt protesting but he was wobbly and not defending at all.
WINNER – PAUL BRADLEY (23-6) by TKO (punches)
Crowd booed the hell out of Bradley during the winner’s announcement and post-fight interview. He called out the crowd for booing, saying he was just doing his job. Bradley says “I hope I’m in contention for a title shot”.
They aired the Javy Ayala/Carl Seumanutafa fight from the prelims next. Carl won by 2nd round KO due to ground and pound as posted above. Ayala dominated the first, almost a 10-8 round. He nailed a flying knee early in the second and was all over Seumanutafa. Carl managed to work his way to the top position and then started to take over. Ayala looked exhausted and Carl busted him open with an elbow to the head and methodically worked his way into mount and it was stopped fairly quickly after that when he just kept landing unanswered punches. Ayala just leeking blood at the end of it.
Main Event –
Welterweights Paul Daley (37-13-2) vs Andy Uhrich (11-5) John McCarthy – ref
Paul Daley cut an AWESOME taped promo for the Fresno crowd. “People of Fresno, I came here to entertain you all. Your hometown boy, Josh CROTCH-check is nowhere to be found. I’m gonna show you real entertainment and how a real fighter fights. This is just a preview of the ass-whupping your hometown boy is gonna get”. They cut to a shot of Koescheck in the crowd, clearly amused but feining anger. Andy Uhrich comes out to the Hulk Hogan theme “Real American”.
Daley controlling the distance early. Uhirich landing light strikes from distance and shoots for a takedown but easily stuffed by Daley. Crowd actually chanting for Uhrich during a clinch. Daley dropped him with a punch at the end of a combo and Uhrich is out.
WINNER – PAUL DALEY (38-13-2) by KO at 2:00
Daley and Koscheck yelling at each other, as Koscheck is at cageside. Daley all over Koscheck in his post-fight promo. He says he came out and entertained the fans and “Crotch-check” would’ve put them to sleep. Koscheck just making the “keep talking” motion. This fight should have some steam when it happens.
Thanks for joining me tonight. Dave has you covered for UFC on FOX tomorrow afternoon!
