Video of the Day - Curran v. Warren HL

Here is the ending of the Pat Curran title victory over Joe Warren which took place at Bellator 60 on 3/9/12 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.

Bellator Season 6 Preview

Bellator Season 6 will kick off on March 9th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The star studded show will feature a featherweight title fight between Pat Curran and Joe Warren, with the featherweight tournament kicking off.

Tournaments will be held in the 185, 170, 155, 145 and 135 pound men's divisions this season. Each division will also hold title fights for previous tournament winners, except in the 155 pound division, which saw Michael Chandler defeat Eddie Alvarez in an epic battle at Bellator 58.

The rematch of the season 5 HW title fight between Eric Prindle (7-1) and Thiago Santos (10-1) will happen at BFC 61. At BFC 59, Santos kicked Prindle in the groin at 1:24 of the first round, and Prindle was unable to continue. The fight was ruled a no contest. The winner will fight season 3 champ Cole Konrad.

Middleweight (185)

The middleweight division will find defending champion Hector Lombard (31-2-1) fighting season five champ Alexander Shlemenko (44-7) in a rematch of their Bellator 34 match-up. Lombard, a judo blackbelt, and powerful striker, is on a 24 fight win streak. Shlemenko is a dynamic kickboxer who won the Bellator season 2 and 5 tournaments.

(Pic from Lombard v. Shlemenko I)

Season 6 MW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 61 on March 16:

Brian Rogers (8-3) v Vitor Vianna (12-2-1)
Giva Santana (17-1) v Bruno Santos (12-0)
Victor O'Donnell (11-3) v Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (15-1)
Maiquel Falcão (28-4 1NC) v Norman Paraisy (10-1-1)

Welterweight (170)

The welterweight division will see champion Ben Askren (9-0) fighting season 5 tournament champ Douglas Lima (20-4) at Bellator 64. Askren, an NCAA champion and Olympic level wrestler, narrowly defeated Jay Hieron at Bellator 56 to defend his title which he captured with a win over Lyman Good. Lima won season 5's tournament with a decision over Steve Karl before brutally KO'ing Chris Lozano and UFC veteran Ben Saunders.

(Askren v. Ryan Thomas)

Season 6 WW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 63 on March 30th:

Karl Amoussou (13-4-2) v Chris Lozano (9-2)
Raul Amaya (9-0) v Ben Saunders (12-4-2)
Brian Foster (18-5) v David Rickels (8-0)
Bryan Baker (16-3) v Carlos Alexandre Pereira (33-9-1)

Lightweight (155)

Michael Chandler (9-0), defeated Eddie Alvarez via fourth round rear naked choke at Bellator 58, will likely get a non-title fight during the Season 6. Chandler won the Season 4 lightweight tournament, defeating Marcin Held, Lloyd Woodard and Patricky Freire. Chandler was an All-American at Missouri before making his transition to MMA.

(Michael Chandler v. Eddie Alvarez pictured)

Season 6 LW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 62 on March 23rd:

Patricky Freire (10-2) v Lloyd Woodard (11-1)
Rick Hawn (11-1) v Ricardo Tirloni (14-1)
J.J. Ambrose (17-3) v Brent Weedman (18-7-1)
Rene Nazare (10-1) v Thiago Michel (9-2)

Featherweight (145)

The featherweight division will see two title fights this season barring injury due to Joe Warren (7-2) attempting a run at the Season 5 bantamweight tournament. Warren, the season 2 champion, will fight Pat Curran (16-4) at Bellator 60. Curran won the summer series 145 pound championship, where he defeated Marlon Sandro, Ronnie Mann and Luis Palomino.

(Joe Warren v. Pat Curran Bellator promo pic)

The winner of the Joe Warren (7-2) and Pat Curran (16-4) will then fight Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire (17-1), who won the season 4 featherweight championship. Friere, a BJJ blackbelt and powerful Muay Thai striker, won season 4 by defeating Georgi Karakhanyan, Wilson Reis and Daniel Straus.

The Season 6 FW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 60 on March 9th:

Marlon Sandro (20-3) v Roberto Vargas (12-1)
Alexandre Bezerra (12-1) v Genair da Silva (11-4)
Wagnney Fabiano (14-3) v Ronnie Mann (20-4-1)
Jeremy Spoon (12-0) v Daniel Straus (17-4)

Bantamweight (135)

Season 3 champion Zach Makovsky (14-2) will fight Season 5 champion Eduardo Dantas (13-2) for the bantamweight title. Makovsky has fought in two non-title fights since his season 3 championship, defeating Chad Robichaux via TKO and Ryan Roberts via submission. Dantas captured the season 5 title by defeating Wilson Reis, Ed West and Alexis Vila.

(Makovsky v. Robichaux pictured)

Quarter-Finals Participants, likely to begin at BFC 64:

Marcos Galvao (10-5-1)
Hiroshi Nakamura (14-5-4)
Masakatsu Ueda (14-1-2)
Alexis Vila (11-1)
Luis Nogueira (12-2)
Rodrigo Lima (9-0)
Ed West (17-6)
Travis Marx (18-3)

Video of the Day - Vila v. Warren

Here is Alexis Vila fighting Joe Warren at Bellator 51 which took place on 9/24/11 at the Canton Civic Center in Canton, Ohio.

Vila advanced to the final four in the BW tourney with the big time KO.

Bellator Season 4 Round-Up

Bellator Season 4 kicked off this past Saturday from the Tachi Palace Casino in Lenmoore, California. The welterweight tournament was wittled down to the final four, as Rick Hawn, Jay Hieron, Lyman Good and Brent Weedman advanced.

It appears that champions will fight mainly in non-title bouts this season. Women's champ Zoila Frausto won her return to Bellator with a unanimous decision win over Katrina Hallinan.

Featherweight Tournament - 1st Round BFC 37

Patricio Freire (14-1, 2-1 BFC) v Georgi Karakhanyan (14-2-1)
Kenny Foster (8-2, 1-0 BFC) v Eric Larkin (3-0, 1-0 BFC)
Zac George (20-3, 0-0 BFC) v Wilson Reis (11-2, 3-2 BFC)
Daniel Straus (14-3, 1-0 BFC) v Nazareno Malegarie (19-0)

LHW Tournament - 1st Round BFC 38

Daniel Gracie (5-2-1) v Tim Carpenter (6-0, 1-0 BFC)
Nik Fekete (4-0) v Richard Hale (15-3)
Chris Davis (10-2) v Christian M'Pumbu (15-3-1)
DJ Linderman (8-1) v Raphael Davis (10-1)

Lightweight Tournament - 2nd Round Qualifiers

Mike Chandler (6-0, 3-0 BFC)- Chandler deated the hyped European prospect Marcin Held in the first round via an arm triangle choke. Chandler posseses a solid ground game with 3 submissions and 3 TKO's, most due to ground and pound.

Toby Imada (29-15, 5-2 BFC)- After the odd last second withdrawl of his original opponent Ferrid Kheder, Imada bested the undefeated Josh Shockley via armbar just under 80 seconds into the first round. With a vaunted ground game, expect the Bellator vet to keep looking for submissions.

Lloyd Woodward (11-0)- The undefeated Woodward was able to win in his toughest test to date with a second round TKO of Carey Vanier. Showing excellent takedown defense throughout the bout, Woodward landed a left hook in the second before finishing off Vanier.

Patricky Freire (8-1)- Friere impressed in his MMA debut taking out the noted striker Razor Rob McCullough in the first round. Friere had a solid first round, but probably lost the second. In the third, Friere connected on a solid right hand, pushing him into the second round.

2nd Round Qualifiers following BFC 35

Rick Hawn (10-0, 2-0 BFC)- Hawn won a stand-up battle against fellow judo blackbelt Jim Wallhead. Hawn has improving boxing skills with high level grappling. Hawn finished 9th in the 2004 Olympics in Judo.

Lyman Good (11-1, 4-1 BFC)- Good maintained constant pressure on Chris Lozano in his opening round match-up for a unanimous decision victory. Good will look to use his power striking in a second round match-up against high level judo player Rick Hawn.

Brent Weedman (18-5, 4-0 BFC)- Weedman won a tough decision against Dan Hornbuckle that could have gone either way. Weedman suffered a cut above his right eye in the scrap. Weedman has solid grappling. Weedman will be looking for another solid performance in his second round match-up against Jay Hieron.

Jay Hieron (20-4, 1-0 BFC)- Hieron dominated Anthony Lapsley for the entire fight before an interesting ending. Ref Josh Rosenthal believed that Lapsley was out following a rear naked choke despite a protest. Regardless, Hieron's grappling proved too much for Lapsley in his 3 and a half minutes of action. Hieron did not suffer any damage in his fight.


Current Bellator Champions:

Cole Konrad - HW (7-0, 5-0 BFC)
Hector Lombard - MW (27-2, 6-0 BFC)
Ben Askren - WW (7-0, 4-0 BFC)
Eddie Alvarez - LW (21-2, 5-0 BFC)
Joe Warren - FW (6-1, 4-0 BFC)
Zach Makovsky - BW (12-2, 4-0 BFC)
Zoila Frausto - Women's 115 (11-1, 5-0 BFC)

Champions Fights:

Zoila Frausto won a unanimous decision over Katrina Hallinan
Eddie Alvarez fights Pat Curran (12-3, 3-0 BFC) at BFC 39
Ben Askren fights Nick Thompson (38-13, 0-0 BFC) at BFC 40
Zach Makovsky fights Chad Robichaux (11-0, 0-0 BFC) at BFC 41
Hector Lombard fights Falaniko Vitale (28-9, 0-0 BFC) at BFC 44

(Eddie Alvarez)

Bellator Finals Forecast

Last night, the Bellator Season 2 tourneys continued to unfold as the 170 pound division claimed its two finalists, Dan Hornbuckle and Ben Askren. In a non-title featured bout, featherweight champ Joe Soto (9-0, 4-0 BFC) continued his reign of terror as he destroyed UFC veteran Diego Saraiva in the first round.

Sengoku veteran Dan Hornbuckle (21-2, 2-0 BFC) defeated former Marine Steve Carl via a modified kimura. He will fight 2X NCAA champ Ben Askren (5-0, 2-0 BFC) for the 170 pound title, who defeated UFC veteran Ryan Thomas via unanimous decision. Expect Hornbuckle to try to keep this fight standing to take advantage of Askren's lackluster striking.

(Dan Hornbuckle KO of Gono Pictured)

In other tournament action, featherweight Joe Warren will square off against Patricio "Pitbull" Freire . Warren (4-1, 2-0 BFC) punched his ticket to the finals with two lackluster decision victories over Georgi Karakhanyan and Eric Marriot. Pitbull (14-0, 2-0 BFC), won his first fight via heel hook over William Romero before a unanimous decision over Wilson Reis. Expect Warren to look for the takedown early and often, with Pitbull trying to lock in a choke or score a KO.

(Pitbul Friere Pictured)

The lightweight tournament has featured the biggest upset of the tournament, with Pat Curran (11-3, 2-0 BFC) finding his way to the finals. Pat recently upset tournament favorite Roger Huerta via unanimous decision, and KO'd GSP training partner Mike Ricci in his first fight.

Curran will face last year's runner-up Toby Imada (25-12, 4-1 BFC) in the finals. Toby has utilized his superior grappling in his first two bouts, scoring armbar victories over Carey Vanier and James Krause. Expect Curran to try to utilize his kickboxing while Imada looks to lock in yet another memorable submission.

(Toby Imada Pictured)

Match-ups:

145: Pitbull Freire v. Joe Warren - TBD
155: Pat Curran v. Toby Imada - BFC 21
170: Dan Hornbuckle v. Ben Askren - BFC 22
185: Alexander Shlemenko v. Bryan Baker - TBD

Bellator Featherweight Tournament

Bellator Fighting Championships has announced the official line-up of its season two 145 pound tournament. The winner will bank a cool 100 thousand dollars and fight the winner from season 1, Joe Soto.

You can catch Bellator on Fox Sports Net on Thursday nights, with highlight shows on NBC and Telemundo. The 170 pound field will soon be announced which is absolutely stacked.

Here is a look at the 145 pound fighters match-ups:

Joe Warren (2-1) W's over Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe in Dream
Eric Marriott (17-2) Midwest fighter with 8 submission victories

Georgi Karakhanyan (12-1-1) 8 sub wins, former pro soccer player
Bao Quach (17-9-1) Strikeforce, Shooto and WEC vet

Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (12-0) Team Nogueira fighter, BJJ Black Belt
William Romero (5-0) Canadian fighter, 2 KO's, 2 Subs

Wilson Reis (9-1) 2 W's in Bellator, W over Abel Cullum, BJJ Black Belt
Shad Lierley (5-2) IFL veteran, undefeated at 145, solid wrestler

(Wilson Reis celebrates)

Dream 9 - Super Hulk

The first round of the "Superhulk" tournament kicked off with Gegard Mousasi earning yet another victory, this time against super-heavyweight Mark Hunt. Ikuhisa Minowa and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou were also able to topple their respective giants in Bob Sapp and Jan Nortje.

Jose Canseco's black pajama pants couldn't stop a Hong Man Choi beating, as Canseco crumpled to the canvas after attempting a kick and ate numerous punches before tapping. Apparenty Canseco had injured his knee before training. The final four of the Super Hulk tournament are Sokoudjou, Minowa, Mousasi and Choi.

The Dream FW tournament also wrapped, with three upsets, and a final four of Tokoro, Fernandes, Takaya and Warren. Joe Warren toppled the seemingly untouchable Kid Yamamoto for his first loss since 2002. The Mayhem Miller v. Jacare MW championship was not determined, as Miller struck Jacare in the head with a kick while Jacare was grounded. The bout was declared a no contest.

Results:
Ikuhisa Minowa def Bob Sapp Sub (Achilles Lock) R1, 1:15
Hong Man Choi def Jose Canseco Sub (Punches) R1, 1:17
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def Jan Nortje TKO (Punches) R1, 2:29
Gegard Mousasi def Mark Hunt Sub(Armbar) R1, 1:19
Tatsuya Kawajiri def Gesias Cavalcante Dec (Unanimous)
Hideo Tokoro def Abel Cullum Sub(Rear-Naked Choke) R2, 1:38
Hiroyuki Takaya def Yoshiro Maeda TKO (Punches) R1, 9:40
Bibiano Fernandes def Masakazu Imanari Dec (Unanimous)
Joe Warren def Norifumi Yamamoto Dec (Split)
Ronaldo Souza no contest Jason Miller (Illegal Kick)


(Ikuhisa Minowa, now with a 42-30 record, pictured)