Category: MMA News

It’s an all-welterweight show tonight on Spike TV, headlined by a title fight in the main event. Action gets underway on Spike TV at 9 pm eastern. 

By Paul Fontaine for WrestlingObserver.com

New play by play announcer Sean Grande joins Jimmy Smith. Opening pretty heavily focused on the charismatic Michael Venom Page (MVP), who has star potential if he keeps winning. Main event is “17 months in the making”.

Welterweights Rudy “Bad News” Bears (16-13) vs Michael “Venom” Page (7-0)

You may remember Page from his unforgettable performance at the Bellator PPV last year, where he drew comparisons in style to Anderson Silva. They show Page’s walkout but not much to it. Todd Anderson is the referee.

Page gets a knockdown 30 seconds in but Bears takes him down after a spinning back kick attempt. Page is waving his arms around like a madman and jumping all over the place and he knocked him out cold with a left hook, walking away before the ref even called it off.

WINNER: MICHAEL PAGE (8-0) by KO at 1:05

Page got a post-fight interview but didn’t really say much. He did wear his sunglasses indoors, for whatever that’s worth. 

Welterweights Chris Honeycutt (6-0) vs Paul Bradley (22-6) 

Big John is the ref here after just working the UFC San Diego show two nights ago. Honeycutt is a 2 time NCAA All-American who is one of Bellator’s young prospects they hope to build around. 

Honeycutt stuffed on his first takedown attempt 30 seconds in. Honeycutt landing a lot of punches from distance but goes for another takedown and gets stuffed again 2 minutes in. Bradley with a cut over his right eye after 3:00 and stops another takedown attempt. Bradley with no answer for the striking of Honeycutt the rest of the round. 10-9 Honeycutt

Honeycutt with a double-leg takedown and completes it 30 seconds in but Bradley right back up. Bradley gets a flash takedown of his own 1:00 but Honeycutt back to his feet. Honeycutt seems to be tiring as he’s not throwing nearly as many strikes and Bradley controlling the page half-way through the round. Accidental headbutt opens up a cut on Bradley. Doctor calls the fight due to the cut. 

NO CONTEST as it’s ruled an accidental clash of heads

They showed highlights of prelim fight from earlier in the Women’s Flyweight division. Kaline Medeiros scored a submission in 3:24 with a Kimura to climb to 5-4 over Sarah Payant, who dropped to 1-1. Medeiros dominated the entire fight and it looked a complete mismatch. 

Welterweights “Irish” Brennan Ward (10-3) vs “The Leprechaun” Roger Carroll (16-11)

Cung Le and Randy Couture are at ringside watching the action as we to a promo for PBC boxing. An awful lot of filler on this show. 

Pre-fight video package for Ward-Carroll is completely ridiculous bro. Carroll singing Danny boy in a Leprechaun hat. Ward swearing every third word, bro. Ward doesn’t like wearing a shirt cause he’s f’ing jacked, bro. 

Carroll looks like a Chuck Liddell version of “Gillberg”, just a complete jobber. With a 16-11 record in the regionals, it’s clear what his role is tonight. John McCarthy is the ref again. 

Ward knocks him down with a front kick 10 seconds in. Ward with a takedown but lets Carroll back up. Ward hitting him at will. Ward keeps taking him down and then walking away. Carroll with a low-blow on Ward, bro. “He got me right in the sack” – Ward. Ward knocks him out cold with a straight right.

WINNER: BRENNAN WARD (11-3) by KO at 2:06. Honestly, this fight should never have been sanctioned. 

Carroll was taken out on a stretcher. Ward got a post-match promo and called out “anybody”. He replaced “bro” with “baby” in his venacular. Was expecting a call-out of MVP honestly. 

Welterweights Paul “Semtex” Daley (36-13-2) vs Dennis Olson (14-8)

They announced that Josh Koscheck will debut in December for the promotion and he did a cageside interview. Looks like they are going right to the Daley fight. 

Just realized this show is three hours and there have been just over 10 minutes of live fights through 100 minutes. Don’t expect this one to be long either. Dan Miragliotta is the ref. Daley knocks Olson down with the first punch of the fight but lets him back up and Olson takes him down 30 seconds in. Daley to his feet quickly and gets a takedown of his own. Daley laying in a lot of ground and pound but gets hit with an upkick. Daley stands up and backs off at 2:30. Daley lands a couple hard knees and follows up with short lefts but Olson takes him down again at 3:00. Daley sweeps to top position at 4:15 and stands up. Daley hit with an upkick and bleeding from the nose. Daley back into Olson’s guard and pounding him with punches and elbows to the head. Olson with an armbar attempt at the end of the round. 10-9 Daley

Daley knocks Olson down early but lets him back up. Daley pounding on him and knocks him down again, following up with ground and pound. Olson cut over the left eye and Daley finishes it with a vicious punch to the side of the head for the TKO win.

WINNER: PAUL DALEY (37-13-2) by TKO at 1:12 of Round 2. 

Post-fight promo for Daley. He put over Olson as a tough opponent. Disappointed that he didn’t finish in the first. Daley called out “Crotch-check”. He hates his hair and he hates him. Have to think that’ll be Kos’ first Bellator fight. 

Main Event
For the Bellator Welterweight Championship – Champion Douglas “The Phenom” Lima (26-5) vs Andrey “The Spartan” Koreshkov (17-1)

Lima’s brother Dhiego, the UFC fighter, accompanied him to the cage. They showed both walk-outs. Nothing special. They put Lyman Good, who just got a UFC win, on the top of Koreshkov’s notable wins. Kevin MacDonald is the ref for this title fight.

Koreshkov goes for an early takedown but gets stuffed by Lima. Completes it at 1:00. Lima to his feet fairly easily. Koreshkov takes him down again at 2:00. Lima to his feet at 2:30. Lima with a vicious leg kick almost knocks Koreshkov down. Koreshkov with another takedown at 4:30 as Lima was finding his range on his feet. Koreshkov did nothing from top position but the 3 takedowns should be enough to take the round. 10-9 Koreshkov

Jimmy Smith gave Lima the first round. It was close. Lima outstruck Koreshkov 13-6 in Round 1. Koreshkov controlling the cage for the first 2:00 but neither guy landing much. Lima with a takedown just after the 2:00 mark. Lima to his feet and Koreshkov follows. Koreshkov still advancing but neither guy landing much of anything on the feet. Koreshkov with a takedown at 4:15. 10-9 Koreshkov

Jimmy has it even after 2. Lima starting to land from distance while backing up. Koreshkov continuing to control the pace and gets a takedown at 1:15. Koreshkov is bleeding and it’s getting all over Daley as he’s on the bottom. Lima sweeps to  top position and gets to his feet at 2:30. Ref broke up a minute long clinch on the cage. Koreshkov with another easy takedown at 4:00. Koreshkov starting to land punches from the top. 10-9 Koreshkov

Smith has it 2 rounds 1 for Koreshkov and he’s advancing again to start the round. Crowd starts up a “Let’s go Lima” chant. Takedown by Koreshkov at 1:45. Lima sweeps to top position again and tries to stand but Koreshkov brings him right back down again. Another sweep to top from Lima at 4:00 and he gets to his feet but Koreshkov brings him right back down again. Ref breaks it up with 15 seconds left. 10-9 Koreshkov

Lima advancing to start the round as he knows he needs a finish. Koreshkov more active on the feet though and quickly takes control of the action. Lima looking exhausted as he’s throwing half-hearted punches that are missing badly. Koreshkov backs Lima up with punches at 3:30. Lima got a knockdown off a punch with 15 seconds left and ended the round throwing punches from the top. 10-9 Lima, 49-46 overall for Koreshkov and we should have a new champion. 

WINNER AND NEW BELLATOR WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION: ANDREY KORESHKOV (18-1) by unanimous decision (48-47, 50-45 x 2)

By the Secret Psychic Spy (secretpsychicspy@yahoo.com)

Starting Bankroll: $1,500

Current Bankroll: $1,030.06

Last week: 3/5 Overall 65/114 (57%)

Two big shows this weekend, with Bellator 140 tonight and UFC Fight Night 72 tomorrow morning/afternoon in North America or evening in the UK. I’ve looked up and down both cards and found 5 value picks. One from tonight’s show and 4 from tomorrow’s.

Pick 1 – Douglas Lima (26-5) -175 over Andrey Koreshkov (17-1) I’m betting $100 to win $57.14

This is the main event of the Bellator show and Lima defends his Welterweight title against tournament winner Koreshkov. Lima has looked outstanding in Bellator, with 5 straight KO wins and I think he gets a sixth here. He’s faced a much tougher level of competition than Koreshkov.

Pick 2 – Rob Whiteford (11-2) -145 over Paul Redmond (11-4) I’m betting $100 to win $68.97

Whiteford will be a huge hometown hero in his native Scotland and he should blitz Redmond fairly easily. Redmond should losing his 2nd straight here, after also losing his UFC debut earlier this year.

Pick 3 – Teemu Peckalen (7-0) -125 over Mickael Lebout (12-4-2) I’m betting $100 to win $80

Peckalen is making his UFC debut. He’s won every one of his career fights by KO or submission. Lebout has fought once in UFC, just this past April and lost to lightly regarded Sergio Moraes. Peckalen should have a successful start to his UFC career here.

Pick 4 – Jimmie Rivera (16-1) -125 over Marcus Brimage (6-4) I’m betting $100 to win $80

Rivera is also making his UFC debut but has some impressive wins on the regional circuit, including Jesse Brock, Cody Stevens and Carson Beebe. He’s knocked out each of his last two opponents, including a 16 second win in his last fight. Brimage has lost 3 of his last 4, including being knocked out twice and shouldn’t be much of a match for Rivera here.

Pick 5 – Paddy Holohan (11-1-1) -185 over Vaughan Lee (14-10-1)

Holohan is a training partner of Conor McGregor and the luck of the Irish should carry over here, as Holohan has looked great so far in his UFC career. With his charisma, he could be just a couple of wins away from competing for a title in the relatively weak flyweight division. Lee has been finished in 3 of his last 5 fights and will probably make it 4 of 6 here.

All told, I’m betting $500 with a chance to win $340.16

On with the betting game.

2015 Betting Game: Secret Psychic Spy vs Ryan Frederick

Current Standings:

Ryan Frederick: $1,082.53 (Picked Lawler, Gordon, Hein, Alvarez, Ortega, Noons, Browne, Magny, Matthews)

Secret Psychic Spy: $1,290.18 (Picked Samman, Bosse, Amirkhani, Henderson, Breese, Pyle, Wee, Andrews)

Both of us were winners last weekend but young Ryan crept a little closer as Robbie Lawler was slightly more of an underdog than Samman was. I’m going with the debuting Jimmie Rivera at -125 for the reasons indicated above.

Ryan’s pick is Thales Leites at +105 over Michael Bisping. Bisping is good on home soil but Leites is on a solid win streak and has been getting the job done impressively in his UFC comeback. I see him as a better fighter at this stage over Bisping and winning a close fight. 

Good luck, enjoy the fights and remember, don’t bet more than you can afford to lose and try to have fun with it!

Uncasville, CT. (July 16, 2015) – The official weigh-ins for “Bellator 140: Lima vs. Koreshkov” concluded today from The Mohegan Sun Arena, with both Welterweight Champion Douglas Lima (26-5) and his opponent Andrey Koreshkov (17-1) hitting their 170-pound marks.

In addition to the aforementioned headliner, Bellator 140, which airs live and free on Spike at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT, features four additional must-see welterweight attractions.

In the co-main event, the explosive Paul “Semtex” Daley (36-13)looks to put an end to the present winning streak of Dennis Olson (14-8). Daley looks to impress once again when he competes in Connecticut, following up on his victory at “British Invasion” in February.

Hometown favorite “Irish”Brennan Ward (10-3) looks to remain undefeated in 2015 when he meets Roger Carroll (16-11), who replaced Gavin Sterritt on short notice. “Irish” has not been involved in a fight that reached the judges’ scorecards since 2012.

Undefeated Edinboro University of Pennsylvania wrestling standout Chris “The Cutt” Honeycutt (6-0) receives the toughest test of his career, when he meets fellow All-American wrestler and nine-year MMA veteran Paul “The Gentleman” Bradley (22-6).

In the opening televised bout of the evening, Michael “Venom” Page (7-0) will attempt to return to his impressive trend of finishing fights when he faces 29-fight veteran Rudy “Bad News” Bears (16-13). “MVP” was originally slated to compete in February, but during the lead-up to the bout, sustained a cut that has kept him out of action since last year.

Douglas Lima (170 lbs.) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (170 lbs.)

Paul Daley (171 lbs.) vs. Dennis Olson (173 lbs.)

*Olson fined for missing weight

Brennan Ward (171 lbs.) vs. Roger Carroll (171 lbs.)

Chris Honeycutt (171 lbs.) vs. Paul Bradley (171 lbs.)

Michael Page (171 lbs.) vs. Rudy Bears (170.75 lbs.)

Preliminary Card (6:45 p.m. ET)

Kaline Medeiros (124.25 lbs.) vs. Sarah Payant (128.5 lbs.)

*Payant fined for missing weight

Dean Hancock (155.75 lbs.) vs. Alex Dunworth (155.25 lbs.)

Ryan Quinn (159.75 lbs.) vs. Waylon Lowe (160 lbs.)

Billy Giovanella (125.75 lbs.) vs. Remo Cardarelli (123 lbs.)

Blair Tugman (136 lbs.) vs. Kin Moy (138.25 lbs.)

*Moy fined for missing weight

Parker Porter (260.25 lbs.) vs. Eric Bedard (257 lbs.)

Ilya Kotau (170.5 lbs.) vs. Nicolas Sergiacomi (171 lbs.)

By Josh Nason, WrestlingObserver.com

For the first time publicly that I know of, Ken Shamrock finally commented on the allegations that he and Kimbo Slice participated in a “worked” match in the main event of Bellator’s recent big show on Spike TV. He did an interview with Australia-based Submission Radio and discussed the fight, Joe Rogan’s comments about it, whether there’s still interest in fighting brother Frank or Royce Gracie, and if bare-knuckle boxing is still in his future. 

Here’s the transcript provided by Submission Radio:

On why he couldn’t finish Kimbo on the ground:

“Well it’s frustrating for me too, because when I look back on it I just can’t believe I couldn’t finish it. And it really was just basically the excitement, you know? It felt like I was dominating him. I controlled his wrists in the clinch, I controlled his body in the corners, I controlled takedowns, I was able to take him down pretty easily twice, and then he gave up his back and I put my hooks in, and it just felt like everything was easy and I felt stronger. And instead of just working and using technique, when I threw the choke on – immediately when I threw the choke on, I tried to use power and strength just to choke him out, you know?

“I just…it was just overexcitement, you know? I got the position that I wanted and I was gonna finish it quickly, and then I made a lot of mistakes. I mean trying to squeeze in on there and then not being able to, and I was squeezing it, not being able to balance myself on his back and make sure that I stayed where I was supposed to be in case he wanted to come up. And you know, it’s just stupid mistakes. There’s nothing I can do about it. I look back on it, it was idiotic and dumb, but you know, I’m human, and I went in there and I did the best I could. I made a mistake and I paid for it.”

If it was true that Kimbo was talking to him during the clinch and what exactly Kimbo said:

“That’s correct, there was talking. When I had his wrist – and it was after I took him down the first time and he got back up and I had him in a front face lock and I had his wrist controlled – he told me to let him go. “let me go, let’s bang, lets bang” and then I kneed him in the face, on the side. I had it and he goes “is that all you got” and I said “no, no, baby. I got something else for ya” and that’s when I took him down and got his back and tried to choke him out.”

Was he surprised that Kimbo was able to escape the submission:

“Listen, Kimbo didn’t escape it. What happened was that I went in for the choke and tried to slip the choke in tighter, and when I did that, I turned my body sideways on his back and I slipped off. It wasn’t what he did, it was what I did. It was my mistake, nothing that he did ’cause he didn’t do anything other than let me fall off his back.”

His response to Joe Rogan and some of the MMA community believing his fight with Kimbo was fixed:

“Why in the world would someone in Joe Rogan’s position sound off on something like that when there’s no proof, when it’s just speculation of his thoughts of what he thought. That could literally ruin somebody’s career. That’s like me going out there and telling his wife that he cheated on his wife, yet I don’t have any proof, but someone just said something. Those are things, when you say them being in a professional position where you have the people’s ear and you have a responsibility to make sure that whatever you say, you can back up, that you could prove, and not just say it because you think it. Because you ruin people’s lives on something that you have no proof. And he’s wrong what he’s saying. He’s wrong what he’s saying, and therefore he could have ruined my career and my life on what he’s saying, when there’s no proof to it.”

Was the fight was really “fixed”?

“I swear on everything that I love, my family, my god, everything that I love. That fight was not fixed. And the people that are saying it are saying it because they’re angry or they lost a bet, because they bet in Vegas, or they’re just trying to be hurtful. That’s it.”

Will he fight again?

“Absolutely. What I did in that fight, if you look at the body of work that I did, it was completely domination over a guy that was supposed to be stronger a guy than me, that was supposed to be bigger, stronger, and obviously you look at what happened when I signed to do this fight. A lot of the same people that are saying the fight was fixed, almost all of them said I should have never been in the ring, “I can’t, I’m 51, I’m too old, I can’t compete at that age”. And now they’re saying I can’t lose. Now they’re saying there’s no way I could have lost. So I’m really confused on these guys and the way they think, because one minute I can’t fight and I shouldn’t be in the ring, and the next minute I can’t lose. They’ve lost their mind.”

“I’m gonna be better next time I get in the ring because It’s not gonna be seven years before I get back in the ring again. So I’m gonna be better the next time I go out, so why would I stop now when I’ve already put in a great body of work and I can get better.”

Would he be open to fighting Royce Gracie next?

“I’ll tell ya, Royce Gracie is the one I want to fight. I mean it’s been a long time coming. That second fight that we had, he’s the one saying “oh it was a draw, it was a draw” and I think anyone who watched it knows it’s not. But in my opinion, man let’s do this third one. The whole tour that I’m on right now when I came back, was to get fights that were unfinished. And Kimbo jumped up, I got that. Royce has gotta be the next in there. I want that one so bad, but I don’t want people just to think this either, because if I ever get the opportunity to fight Kimbo again, then I’m going to jump at that. Because in my opinion, man, he got lucky. But whatever, he won the fight. I give him props to it.”

On how the third fight with Royce would play out differently to their previous two:

“Oh man, [I would be] so much more knowledgeable. When I fought Royce I was two and a half years in, and he had all the experience behind him, and then the training of the education of training. We weren’t all there. We were developing these – I developed to sit in the pocket and ground and pound. So all of this ground and pound, I developed that in order to fight Royce. So there’s so much more of a development that I’ve had since that time when I was just learning on the fly. While I was in the ring I was learning how to fight these guys. So now with all the education that I have and the understanding that I have, there’s no way Royce Gracie would be able to go with me like he did then. There’s no way in my opinion. I’m gonna stop him.”

Would he be open to fighting his brother Frank in Bellator:

“I don’t exclude anything. I would never just straight out challenge my brother, but if it was fight that he wanted or a fight that made sense then I’d do it. Absolutely.”

Is he still planning to do his bareknuckle boxing event?

“Yeah, well actually we’re in the process right now. I can’t really talk much about a lot of the stuff we’re working through right now, but yeah that’s gonna happen. And we’re just waiting to put the all the, cross the t’s and dot the I’s right now. So right now it’s looking really good. It’s something I’m really interested in. No doubt.”

By the Secret Psychic Spy (secretpsychicspy@yahoo.com)

Starting Bankroll: $1,500

Current Bankroll: $952.79

Last week: 4/5 Overall 60/105 (57%)

We’re back on the right track again with a healthy profit last week. With two shows to choose from, there were a lot of fights to pick from and I’ve found 5 with which you can make money. I haven’t said it in a while in this column but you should always size your bets the same and if you do that, you should make money with these picks.

I went back over the history since this column began and even though I’m down, it’s because I made some outlandish bets after getting cocky early on. If you’d stayed the course and bet $100 on each pick since this column began, you’d have made a very slight profit. Better yet, if you only went with the picks in the betting game, you’d be way up, even betting both mine and Ryan’s. Something to keep in mind.

This week, we’ve got 1 pick from tonight’s Bellator show on Spike and the rest from the UFC show tomorrow night on FS 1.

Pick 1 – David Rickels (16-3) -200 over John Alessio (35-17) I’m betting $100 to win $50

Rickels is best known for his wild entrances but he’s also a pretty good fighter. Alessio has seen better days in a career going way back to the early days of UFC. Rickels will send his hometown fans home happy with a win.

Pick 2 – Steve Bosse (10-1) +175 over Thiago Santos (10-3) I’m betting $100 to win $175

Taking a bit of a flyer here on the debuting Bosse, who’s looked at as somewhat of a gimmick fighter. But here’s the thing: dude can fight. He’s got wins over Houston Alexander and Wes Sims, both far bigger fighters with a lot of experience. Santos is just 2-2 in UFC and I think he falls below .500 here.

Pick 3 – Sirwan Kakai (11-2) +120 over Danny Martinez (17-6) I’m betting $100 to win $120

I don’t know much about Kakai. He did fight Chris Beal in a fight to get into the TUF house on the same season Martinez did and both lost those fights. Martinez was signed and went on to lose his two UFC fights, at Flyweight. He’s moving up a weight class here and I’m saying he goes to 0-3.

Pick 4 – Steve Montgomery (8-2) -120 over Tony Sims (11-2) I’m betting $100 to win $83.33

Both guys are making their UFC debuts but Montgomery comes in with a slightly better track record, having knocked out former UFC fighter Brock Jardine in his last fight. Sims hasn’t beaten anyone of note and lost to the only name fighter he’s faced (Drew  Dober).

Pick 5 – Leandro Silva (17-2-1) -165 over Lewis Gonzales (10-1) I’m betting $100 to win $60.61

Silva’s got the UFC experience and beat tough vet Charlie Brenneman with a first round stoppage in his last fight. Gonzales has some national exposure with World Series of Fighting but is far less experienced and will fall in his UFC debut.

All told, I’m betting $500 with a chance to win $488.94

On with the betting game.

2015 Betting Game: Secret Psychic Spy vs Ryan Frederick

Current Standings:

Ryan Frederick: $842.53 (Picked Hein, Alvarez, Ortega, Noons, Browne, Magny, Matthews)

Secret Psychic Spy: $1,070.18 (Picked Amirkhani, Henderson, Breese, Pyle, Wee, Andrews)

Freddy caught up a little bit last week as Hein was slightly less of a favorite than Mr.Finland but we’re going to change that this week.

I’m taking the debuting Steve Bosse as an underdog in hopes  of opening up a bigger lead over young Ryan.

Freddy’s pick and analysis:

Eddie Gordon +165 over Antonio Carlos Junior

I don’t like a lot on this card, but I do like the underdog in this one. Gordon has more overall experience than Carlos Junior, and while both former TUF winners have been disappointing in their post-TUF careers, I like Gordon just slightly to get the job done in this one. Carlos Junior is making his middleweight debut too, and Gordon’s experience will just be enough to get him by.

Good luck, enjoy the fights and above all else remember, Freddy’s staying down!

–

By Paul Fontaine, WrestlingObserver.com

Fun show tonight that should have some knockouts and skilled fighting, pretty much all you can ask for if you’re an MMA fan. After last weekend’s record rating, this show should settle into “normal” levels for Bellator but the action may actually be better. But it won’t be without it’s spectacles.

Joe Schilling is just about the most exciting 2-4 fighter you’re ever going to see on a national stage. David Rickels has the most outlandish entrances this side of Mayhem Miller, and we’ve got two clubbing heavyweights in the main event of what should be a slobberknocker. 

We’ll have live coverage of the show starting at 9 pm eastern but if you’re jonesing for some MMA before that, Spike.com will air a fairly strong prelim card, featuring former main card fighters Bubba Jenkins and Javy Ayala. I’ll have blow by blow over at MMADraws.com and I’ll also post the results here, and I’ll be back here for the main card when it kicks off on Spike!

We  are live on Spike!

The Featherweights are up first.

Pat “Paddy Boy” Curran (20-7) vs Emmanuel “El Matador” Sanchez (10-1)

Big John is the ref. Curran is coming off consecutive losses for the first time in his career. Sanchez took the first on short notice. Sanchez landing a lot of leg kicks. Curran landing more punches but Sanchez controlling the pace. Curran with a nice combo that rocked Sanchez with about a minute left. 10-9 Curran

Accident clash of heads early in the 2nd and the ref stops the action to look at it. Sanchez is cut pretty bad  and the doctor is called to look at it. It’s allowed to continue. Curran gets a takedown right off the break. Sanchez up quickly. Sanchez more active on his feet and controlling the pace but it looks like he’s missing a lot of his strikes. Curran throwing less but far more efficiently. Sanchez knocked Curran down with a punch that may have been a slip at 4:00. Curran with a late takedown that may clinch the round. 10-9 Curran

Strikes were 61-29 Curran through 2. Sanchez still pressing but Curran controlling himself nicely and picking and choosing his shots. Curran with a takedown 1:00 in. Curran now with some swelling over his right eye. Curran landing hard elbows from the top. Curran getting close to mount and takes the back at 2:45. Curran goes for a guillotine but loses it and position and they’re back on their feet at 3:00. Curran with another takedown at 3:15. Curran with the body triangle at 3:45 and trying to work for a choke after taking his back. Curran briefly gets the choke with 30 seconds left but Sanchez explodes out and to his feet. They’re trading knees as the fight ends. 10-9 Curran

Randy Couture was shown in the crowd as we’re waiting for the scores.

WINNER: PAT CURRAN (21-7) by UD (30-27×3)

They aired a video package for the next fight, which is good because Schilling’s opponent, Kato, has never fought in North America. All of his fights have ended in the first round though. Schilling cut a nice mean-guy promo, even getting in an S-Bomb.

Joe “Stitch ‘Em Up” Schilling (2-4) vs Hisaki Kato (4-1)

Sorry, it appears one of Kato’s fights went past the first. Rob Hinds is YOUR referee. Schilling throwing hard head kicks and Kato gets a takedown 1:30 in. Schilling seems completely lost on the ground. Kato not doing much either. Kato postures up a couple times to try and land strikes standing but mostly just Schilling trying to hold him in guard. Kato gets mount right before the round ends but Schilling gets up right before the round ends. 10-9 Kato

Kato knocked Schilling out with a hard straight punch and Schilling went down with a flat back bump.

WINNER: HISASKI KATO (5-1) by knockout at 34 seconds of the 2nd

They aired a cute vignette of of David Rickels driving around Kansas City, cutting a promo on John Alessio. Nothing special to the promo but very unique and kind of fun to see something like that on an MMA show.

Another vignette. Rickels looks like a mishmash of Daniel Bryan, Eric Young and Conor McGregor. Alessio comes from the land of grizzly bears, hockey and beer. Rickels calls himself the “Caveman of the People”. He wants blood, brains and battering the $hit out of people. They show Rickels backstage and he’s even wearing a Conor style suit.

Bellator just tweeted that they’re about to announce a new signing. And of course we get walkouts for the next fight, our co-main event.

David “Caveman” Rickels (16-3) vs John Alessio (35-17)

You wanna know long Alessio’s been around? He lost to Pat Miletich at UFC 26. And that was his 10th pro fight. Rickels looks very much unlike a caveman in his walkout, coming out in a cheetah suit and sunglasses. 

Rickels gets a huge reaction for his intro. Rob Hinds has the officiating duties. Rickels looks much bigger than Alessio. Rickels rocks Alessio with a knee and follows up with a series of punches and elbows but Alessio seems to have weathered it. Alessio comes back with a nice flurry. Rickels with a hard left to the body and follows up with a knee. Rickels teeing off on Alessio and he drops to the ground. The ref stepped in and Rickels landed an knee while he was down. It looked like the ref was about to stop it, which is unfortunate. Ref is giving him a lot of time but it doesn’t like Alessio has any interest in continuing. And the ref calls it off. It will either be a no contest or a DQ. 

Bout is ruled a no contest

Recap package of last week’s show aired next. This was a nice way to kill two minutes while reminding everyone of the key wins, which pretty much all went Bellator’s way, unlike tonight. And then we get an interview via Skype with Kimbo. 

Kimbo says Bellator is his home now. No heavyweights in this business are safe. He loves training and he knows he has some weak points and he’s going to work on them. He talked about the main event and put it over as a fight that will probably end in a KO. As we go to break, they are promising some “Big News” from Scott Coker after the break.

Okay, this was big news. Josh Koscheck has been signed by Bellator!

Not much to the pre-match video package for the main event. Both guys need a win. Kongo has never had a World title and he needs to win this fight to get that long awaited shot. Volkov has lost two in a row (not exactly true but it’s a good story) and wants HIS title back. 

They show the walk-outs. Volkov out to “We Will Rock You” by Queen. Volkov looks a lot like Alex Gustafsson. Same build, probably similar walk-around weights, even though Volkov is a heavyweight. Kongo out to some generic rap song.

Main Event
Alexander “Drago” Volkov (24-5) vs Cheick Kongo (22-10-2)

 Big John is the ref for this Heavyweight BATTLE. Kongo goes for a takedown early and eats some hard knees to the body. Volkov basically just stalking Kongo, striking very efficiently. Kongo working hard for the takedown and completes it at 2:30. Volkov to his feet briefly but tries for a guillotine and Kongo takes him right back down. Kongo opens up a cut on Volkov’s forehead with a hard elbow. Kongo continuing to land shots but they’re being at least partially blocked by Volkov. Clear 10-9 Kongo

Kongo with a takedown 30 seconds in. Volkov has nothing for him on the ground, much like Joe Schilling earlier. Kongo landing elbows to the body, mainly in the rib area, while trying to advance position and Volkov’s cut is bleeding pretty heavily from the forehead. Volkov working for a Kimura from the bottom 4:00 in but he doesn’t have a good angle for it. Lost the hold when he went for a sweep. Kongo with a couple hard elbows to the head in the last 30 seconds. Crowd starting to boo.10-9 Kongo, almost a 10-8, as Volkov did next to nothing.

Kongo with a takedown 30 seconds in again. Ground strikes in the last round were 60/76 for Kongo and 0/0 for Volkov and the whole round was on the ground. Kongo landing hard elbows and punches to the head again. Volkov trying to scramble out of it but Kongo just smothering him. Ref finally stands them up at 3:45. Kongo with a takedown attempt and Volkov has a guillotine that pops the crowd for a second but Kongo gets out of it. Kongo on top again and seems content just to ride out the round. 

WINNER: CHEICK KONGO (23-10-2) by UD (30-27×3)

Main event was awful, working going out of your way to miss. Bellator will be back July 17th, which will cap off 5 shows in 8 days between Invicta, UFC and Bellator. I should be joining you all for at least one of those!

Preliminary Card (6:45 p.m. ET)

Gaston Reyno (4-0) submitted Greg Scott (3-4) in 1:17
Bobby Cooper (11-6) SD over Pablo Villaseca (9-1) 
Bubba Jenkins (9-2) TKO (punches)over Joe Wilk (18-12) at  1:00 of Round 2 
Augusto Sakai (8-0) TKO (corner retirement) over Daniel Gallemore (4-3) at 5:00 of Round 2
Alex Huddleston (6-1) sub (rear naked choke) over Javy Ayala (8-4) at 1:12
Bryanna Fissori (2-0) UD over Iony Razafiarison  
Aaron Ely (5-2) 2nd round sub (guillotine) over Jeimeson Saudino (8-5) at 1:05 of the 2nd 

The following is a press release:

Mulvane, Kan. (June 25, 2015) – Following weigh-ins at Kansas Star Arena on Thursday, the Bellator 139 main event between Cheick Kongo (22-10-2) and Alexander Volkov (24-5) will go on as planned less than 24-hours later.

In addition to the headliner, “Bellator MMA: Kongo vs. Volkov,” which airs live and free on Spike at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT, features three additional must-see main card bouts.

In the co-main event, home state hero David “The Caveman” Rickels (16-3) looks to put an end to the present winning streak of John “The Natural” Alessio (35-17). Not only is Rickels exciting once he enters the cage, but it’s his walkouts that also garner plenty of attention

The always-exciting Joe Schilling (2-4) will continue his torrid pace in 2015 when he meets promotional newcomer Hisaki Kato (4-1). “Stitch Em’ Up” is already slated to compete during the kickboxing portion of “Bellator: Dynamite” in September.

In the opening televised bout of the evening, former Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran (20-7) will try to put an end to his current two-fight skid when he meets 24-year-old Emmanuel Sanchez (10-1) on short notice. “Paddy Mike” was originally slated to face Goiti Yamauchi, but an injury derailed the tilt.

Main Card (9 p.m. ET)

– Bellator Heavyweight Main Event: Cheick Kongo (238.6) vs. Alexander Volkov (242)
– Bellator Lightweight Fight: David Rickels (155.9) vs. John Alessio (155.4)
– Middleweight Fight: Joe Schilling (185.9) vs. Hisaki Kato (185.5)
– Bellator Featherweight Fight: Pat Curran (145.6) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (145.5)

Preliminary Card (6:45 p.m. ET)

– Bellator Heavyweight Fight: Derek Bohi (264) vs. Frederick Brown (229.4)
– Bellator Bantamweight Fight: Jeimeson Saudino (134.3) vs. Aaron Ely (134.7)
– Featherweight Fight: Iony Razafiarison (140.8) vs. Bryanna Fissori (144)
– Bellator Heavyweight Fight: Alex Huddleston (248.6) vs. Javy Ayala (263.9)
– Bellator Heavyweight Fight: Daniel Gallemore (264.9) vs. Augusto Sakai (263)
– Bellator Featherweight Fight: Bubba Jenkins (145.9) vs. Joe Wilk (145.8)
– Bellator Lightweight Fight: Bobby Cooper (155.9) vs. Pablo Villaseca (156)
– Bellator Featherweight Fight: Greg Scott (145.7) vs. Gaston Reyno (145)

By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com

In a story that tells a great deal about what the casual fight fan wants to see, last Friday’s Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock Bellator MMA main event ended up as the second most watched fight so far on cable television in 2015, and the most watched show in the promotion’s history.

The peak quarter hour did 2.1 million viewers, and the fight itself is likely to do well above that when the information is available.

The 1.58 million viewers for the three hour show trailed only the Jan. 17 UFC: Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver Fox Sports One show (2.75 million viewers) as the highest rated MMA event on cable so far this year.

Bellator’s prior record was 1.24 million viewers for a complete show and 1.84 million for a peak quarter, set on 11/15 for the Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar show, the first “tentpole” event since new CEO Scott Coker took over.

The following is from a third party.

Bobby Lashley came on Submission Radio to discuss his Bellator 138 return:

Official Prediction for fight against Dan Charles at Bellator 138

“I think it will be second round ground and pound.”

Story behind Lashley hurting his knee during a bank robbery stopping him from trying to make the Olympic games

“It was a crazy story, it was a crazy li’l time. I mean I was actually just going into the bank to deposit some money, and these guys came in and kicked the door down and they actually shot at me. My back was turned, but I just saw everybody from the front kinda ducking down and screaming and diving, so I took a dive, landed on the floor and it busted my knee open. And at that point I had to have two surgeries after it, and that potentially just ended my amateur wrestling career.”

On being one of the few pro wrestlers who made the switch to MMA and followed his dreams

“Well it’s one of those things where you can’t do half-assed. Either you gotta just go in full board and get it, or you gotta stay out. So I know some of the guys that are big fans, they do some Jiu Jitsu, they may hit the mitts and stuff like that, but they know what kind of dedication it needs, and some of the guys are still kind of questioning it right now. So I think we might have a few other guys jump across board and try a fight or two. I’m happy for Punk and I’m happy for anybody else who wants to do it. You only live once and you only have a short window to do what you want to do. So if they want to do it they gotta do it quick.”

Thoughts on James Thompson pulling out of their fight and the fight being cancelled for a second time in a 4 month period

“Dude, I knew it. I was talking to somebody beforehand and I was like “man, you know as much as I want to fight him…..”. First of all, I was surprised that he took the fight in the first place. The first time, I don’t think the fight was really scheduled. It was just one of those things where they wanted it to happen. I wasn’t ready for it. I’d injured my hand earlier in the year so the fight wasn’t really been scheduled. So when the fight didn’t come to fruition at the end, it was kind of one of those things where I had to take the heat for it – which I don’t mind doing. This time on the other hand, he signed the contract, I signed the contract, everything was ready to go, but I was super surprised that he took it in the first place. Because we fought before, and the first time I felt I beat him up pretty bad. And I was like “I can’t believe he wants to take that ass whopping again”. And then I was like “well when’s the time?”. I was just pulling for the time for him to drop out. And sure enough he dropped out.”

“I was training for him, and then with the opponent change it kinda sucks a little bit. Because when you go into camp, for me, I don’t super study my opponent. You know? But I knew it was going to be James Thompson, so I knew what to expect from it. I knew he was going to come in there real heavy, he’s going to charge, he’s going to try to hold [me], he’s going to try and weigh on me and everything like that. So we based our camp completely around him. So now with the new guy coming in, I mean the guy’s good. He’s got a 9-2 record, but he’s gonna be a little lighter, he’s gonna be a little quicker, he’s gonna be a different fighter. It’s a different opponent. A lot of times you come in there and say, look the guy took it last minute but I took it last minute also because it’s a completely different opponent than we trained for in the past five to six weeks. So I don’t mind it. You know, I’m ready, and I told them that I’m ready. So when they changed the opponent I was like “put somebody else in there and lets go”. ‘Cause going into training camp, you put a lot into training camp. The last thing that I want to do is like back out of a fight now.”

If James Thompson is someone that Lashley wants to rematch regardless

“I want to, but it has to happen. You know, Bellator wants it to happen and I know a lot of fans are kinda excited about it happening. It’s gotta happen. And I know he’s not hurt. I know he’s not hurt. I don’t know what his case is, I don’t know what the situation is, but I know he can go out there and he can take the fight. So hopefully after this fight I’m gonna try to call him out right away. If this fight goes the way I plan for it to go, I’m gonna call him out right away and say “hey, no disrespect, but I want you to get your ass out here and fight”. We gotta have that fight, because there’s a lot of speculation – I mean a lot of people watched the fight and it’s torn.  Most of the people say I won, but at the end of the fight they raised his hand. So let’s fix that. Let’s see who really won.”

“Hopefully we can fight in July. I know they got fight cards coming out there every month with Bellator, and I’m gonna stay in camp just in case the opportunity comes up. You know, people get hurt all the time, so I’m gonna stay ready. So hopefully he can get back. Maybe he can take some rehab time and be ready for July. If he does, then that’s when we are going to fight.”

If training for a completely different fighter is a concern for Bobby

“Everything is kind of a concern. You know, I’m not really worried about it to the point where “oh I’m worried about the guy”. Everything is going to be a concern because it’s a fight. And when you’re a heavyweight, 200 plus pounds, slinging leather, anything can happen. So I’m gonna be cautious out there of course, but I just had such a good training camp and I feel better than I felt in a long time. So I don’t think he’s gonna be ready for the kind of pressure that I’ll be bringing in this fight.”

On Lashley feels more pressure to have a dominant performance in this fight because he’s fighting a lesser known opponent

“No, ’cause that’s every one of my fights. Every one of my fights going in. Even if they’re a bigger name than me. Most of the guys that I fight have more to gain. So it is kind of one of those deals, where when they come out and fight me – yeah it really doesn’t matter if the guys are higher ranked than me, if they have a better record. It doesn’t matter. It seems like every time I’m put in the same position, where they have more to gain and I have a lot to lose. So it doesn’t really matter. I don’t even look at it that way anymore. I kind of erased that out of my mind and just think “hey, it’s a fight, and this is a fighter and it’s a heavyweight fighter, so anything can happen”. So I just gotta train hard and go out there and stick to the game plan.”

On if Lashley would be open to a potential Kimbo Slice fight in the future, despite both being from American Top Team?

Yeah, you know business is business and he understands it. He gets it all. So how I look at it, I mean some people would never do it. For me, I’m a little different. I mean at the end of the day we’re all out here trying to feed our families, and if that’s a good fight and that’s a fight that they want, I’m up for it.”

 “You know it’s gonna be one of those fights where I’m gonna shake his hand before and I’m gonna shake his hand afterwards, but I really don’t see it happening to tell you the truth. But you never know. You never know what’s going to happen next. Depends on I guess a lot of different factors. But you never know, never know. I’m willing. I’ll pretty much do anything that they need me to do right now.”

James Thompson, scheduled to face TNA’s (and Bellator’s) Bobby Lashey at the next big Bellator show on June 19th in St. Louis, has pulled out due to injury.

The fight was a rematch of their 2012 bout in India, which Thompson won via decision.

Lashley will now face Dan Charles, a 9-2 heavyweight who has won his last two Bellator fights. The new matchup will be part of the same event headlined by Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock.