Bellator Fighting TV taping 5-29 Monroe, LA
By James B. McDaniel
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May 30, 2009
Bellator IX, originally scheduled for Montreal Canada, was coming to us this weekend out of Monroe, La. After running into road blocks with the now notorious Quebec commission, Bellator FC made what in retrospect was a wise move bringing their organizations ninth installment to the Monroe Civic Center in North East Louisiana.
Monroe, La lies at the heart of the former Mid-South Wrestling territory and is home to generation upon generation of fight fans. That much was evident by the look of the sell out crowd for an event that took place with only two weeks notice.
1. Chas Skelly vs. Mike Braswell – 155
Chas Skelly and Mike Braswell put on an exciting three round bout, which in the end had to be decided by the judges. The story of the match was the Wrestler Skelly bulling Gracie Jiu Jitsu student Braswell against the cage and taking him down only to fight off submission attempts, get frustrated, stand up and attempt foot stomps on his downed opponent. Skelly was almost always in dominant position, but Braswell delivered almost all of the punishment. Being one of only two decisions on the card, this likely won’t make TV. However if it does, make a point of catching this one if for no other reason than the repeated standing armbar attempts by Braswell in the first round
Judges ruled 29-28 for Braswell, and 30-27, 29-28 for the winner by Split Decision: Chas Skelly.
The crowd was NOT pleased.
2. Dan Keenan vs. Chad Leonhardt – 175
Keenan is a wrestler from Chicago, Leonhardt hailed from Shreveport, La and walked out to “Country Boy Can Survive.” Needless to say, the Louisiana crowd was biased.
Keenen came out with hard kicks, Leonhardt responded with some nice hands. One of the highlights of the match for me, was when a lady in press row next to me exclaimed that if she were an ultimate fighter her main priority would be to tan…for the people’s sake. I might add here that these men were white. Very white. Now, back to the action… Keened threw a kick that was caught, he jerked away and missed a spinning backfist. Leonhardt responded with a big right, clenched and threw a monster knee to Keenan’s Chin, knocking him out at 3:03 of the 1st.
3. Shawn Jordan – Jayme McKinnie – Heavyweights
The crown was going nuts for this one from the very beginning. Jordan is a 6’0 250 lb student of Tim Credeur. He is also a two time Texas State High School Wrestling Champion, and a two time NCAA National Champion at Fullback for the LSU Tigers. His opponent on the night, Jayme McKinnie, is a 6’4 265 pound striker who was absolutely ripped.
After 30 seconds of circling the two men launched into a furious exhange of hands. Jordan broke it up with a huge Oklahoma Stampede style takedown despite McKennie holding the cage. Jordan got his back, had his hooks in going for a rear naked choke when McKennie actually powered out of it... that’s right, with a 250 pound man on his back, he just stood up. Insane. McKennie got separated and delivered a big knee only to get taken down and slammed yet again. Jordan ended up in his opponents guard delivering blistering GNP. After a sort period of time the men ended up on their feet again trading kicks. McKennie literally ran away, Jordan shot and got caught in a tight guillotine but was saved by the bell.
McKennie answered the bell for round 2 with a big kick, but took a hard shot to the chin in return. Jordan pounced into side control and won almost immediately with what appeared to be a head/arm choke, though from my angle I could not be sure.
Jordan has a future in this business. McKennie might as well, but if not, with his physique and size, I would highly encourage him to look into a future with Vince McMahon.
4. Christian Fulgium vs. Alex Andrade - 185
Andrade came out swinging like a poor mans Wanderlei Silva. Fulgiam got him against the cage and ended up in the ground qworking full guard. From there Andrade unleashed a vicious GNP for the win at 2:01 of the 1st rd.
5. Shad Lierley vs. Nate Murdock - 145
A few quick notes: Lierley is the man who in 2007 took Chris Horodecki to a match of the year level decision in the now defunct IFL. In his pre-fight interview Murdock came off as the lovable goof ball.
Shad stepped into this match SIGNIFICANTLY smaller, a full 7 inches shorter than his 6'2" opponent.
The story of the first round was Shad taking Murdock down and GNP'ing him to the point of bursting his cauliflower ear. Murdock did however finally manage to get control of Lierley in North/South position just as the round ended.
The second round began with a battle of leg kicks that ended with Nate kneeing Shad for a low blow with Lierley almost simultaneously taking him down with a big slam into side control. The entire rest of the round involved Nate working into full guard and Shad working his GNP.
The third round started with Nate using his long legs to establish his distance. this appeared to be a great strategy until he gave it up for no apparent reason. Nate then shot in like before but was stuffed and nailed with a shot to the temple. Shad responded with a knee and a take down attempt. This was thwarted when Nate inexplicably dropped down pulling shad into his guard. From there Nate went to butterfly guard, Shad attempted a Kimura and moved to side control at which point he choked Murdock out for the win.
6. Isidro Gonzalez vs. Nick Ring - 185
Notes: One of my key notes going into this match was that Gonzalez was 16-12 with only 3 fights leaving the first round. Either he wins quickly or loses just as quickly.
Nick Ring came in as a bit of a question mark. He won the Pride American auditions a few years back, is 7-0 and defeated Bill Mahood in his first pro fight. Oddly though this was his first fight in 3 years and only his fourth in the last six.
Nick came out with some solid kicks followed by a brief back and forth. Gonzalez then shot in, Nick picked him up and slammed him and immediately slapped on a Guillotine for the win.
Yet again, Gonzalez did not leave the first round.
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* Now begins the Middleweight Tournament Semi-final matches.*
7. Damien Stelly vs. Hector Lombard - 185
Notes: Stelly did 3 tours of duty in Afghanistan and is an instructor at the U.S. Army Combatives school. He is a BJJ brown belt, former World FIAS Sambo champion, former AAU Freestyle Wrestling champ, and georgia Golden Gloves Boxing Champion.
Lombard trains with American Top Team, is a 4 time Cuban national Judo champion, and competed in the 2000 Olympics. Lombard has only two blemishes on his pro record, decision loses to Mousasi and Gono.
This match started with an insane back and forth flurry of punches, the likes of which I haven't seen in years. Stelly shot in for the take down but ended up in Lombard's side control. Stelly scrambled to escape the solid GNP. Lombard then mounted and pounded his turtling opponent. The ref finally stopped it after what seemed like forever. Lombard said he though it was a late stoppage but gave all the credit for the win to his team.
Lombard has amazing skills, but at 5'9" one has to wonder if he has the size to make it in the upper echelons of 185.
8. Jared Hess vs. Yosmany Cabezas - 185
Jared Hess is a former All-American wrestler out of Central Oklahoma, and his wrestling was in full effect in what might have been the only slow match on the card.
I will sum up this match very quickly. Cabezas would come out swinging, get taken down and end up in Hess's side control for most of the round. The story of the match for me was Hess's mother who was the loudest and most entertaining voice in the room and happened to be standing right next to me. She assured me that her son was a "very good boy" as we watched him grind his way through what was sure to be a decision but ended up being stopped at 4:26 of the third round via TKO from GNP.
Overall this was an extremely entertaining card with plenty of knock outs and submissions. Bellator should really be commended for getting this card moved and sold out in a matter of two weeks.
I for one am looking forward to seeing what Lombard can do against Hess's smothering wrestling in the next round.
