Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Rich Hale vs Thiago Santos
Worst Fight: None
1) Ryan Ford d. Kyle Baker by UD: Round 1 looked like a live murder as
Ford was destroying Baker. I gave Ford a 10-8 round for how he
dominated the entire five minutes of the round. Baker came back
surprisingly in the second around and I even gave him the round by just
a hair. Ford looked impressive, but he blew his gas tank in Round 1,
but regained his some air and was able to use his promising skills to
win Round 3. Baker was tough as nails and I loved his 1890's bare
knuckle fighter look. He might never be a contender and 1-3 in his
last four fights, but he probably would be good to keep around for
always putting on a tough fight. Ford has a lot of potential in
Bellator's Welterweight division.
2) Douglas Lima d. Kobe Ortiz via TKO in RD3: When the bell rang a
first time fighter could see Ortiz was just not in Lima's league. Lima
is one of the top young welterweights in the world and this was clever
booking by Bellator matchmaker Sam Caplan to book Lima against a Ortiz
for a nice easy defeat going into the next Welterweight tournament
beginning next year on Spike. Ortiz had no clue as he left his hands
by his waste the entire fight and Lima would tag him with hard shots at
will. Lima really seemed focus on picking his opponent apart in this
fight instead of going to for the quick kill. At no point did you
ever feel Ortiz had a chance. I was going to be disappointed if this
was going to go to a 30-27 decision win for Lima, but at the last ten
seconds he connected with a nice head kick and punches to get the TKO
victory.
3) Shahbulat Shamhalaev d. Mike Richman via KO in RD1: After a feeling
out process to open Round 1, it was then BAM! KO by Richman. Shamalaev
is now in the finals of the Bellator Featherweight Tournament. Russian
fighters have really been impressive this season.
4) Rich Hale d. Thiago Santos via TKO in RD1: What a wild fight.
Santos made Hale see stars early connecting some very hard punches.
During that exchange Hale knocked Santos's tooth out. This really
bothered him and threw him off his game. Hale recovered and hit a
solid jab on Santos's mouth and Santos turtled up. Hale was all over
Santos with punches and it was stopped. Hale is now a finalist in the
Bellator Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final. Hale has
superstar potential with his charisma and promo ability. He really
comes off like a cocky heel in his promos, but I can see him becoming a
babyface if he finishes his fights. Bellator has a star on their hands
with him, but this is not a work so his job is to keep winning. With
his charisma and promo skills, I am rooting for him to win the
championship.
Overal Analysis: Bellator continues to put on good solid shows. I am
really pumped for their debut on Spike TV and rooting for them to be a
success. Season 7 has been stellar and they should wrap up on MTV2
strong.
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Anthony Johnson vs DJ Linderman (simply for the awesome KO)
Worst Fight: Tyrone Spong vs. Travis Bartlett
1) Tyrone Spong d. Travis Barlett via KO in RD1: I gave this worst
fight because once I saw Bartlett, I knew this would be a slaughter. I
knew right away that Spong will be too quick with his strikes.
Bartlett looked like they found a guy off the street and threw him in
there. This guy hasn't fought since 2010 and it looked like he just
got off the coach. Spong was impressive, but we should know more about
his MMA skills when he faces some really good wrestlers. Speed of his
strikes was very impressive.
2) Marlon Moraes d. Miguel Torres via SD: I loved the opening round
action. Moraes is impressive with his strikes and I was also impressed
with his scrambles to get out of trouble on the ground. Torres was
looking like his old self in Round 1, but Moraes did more damage with
his strikes. Round 2 I gave it to Torres who seemed to connect more.
Both men started to get in counter punch mode so a lot of circling.
Moraes did a sweet jumping round house kick that nearly caught Torres.
Funny, WOSF did a feature on Miguel and not of Marlon, and after the
fight it was Moraes who came out the star. I would keep Miguel Torres
on the roster because he is a recognizable name.
Big time production botch when Mike Straka the in ring interviewer
announced that Moraes next opponent on WOSF 2. They camera man missed
his opponent and never showed him on TV. Heck, it was announced so
fast I don't even remember the guys name.
3) Anthony Johnson d. DJ Linderman via KO: This KO is a high candidate
for KO of the Year. Johnson looked great at 205. He still was bigger
then Linderman. DJ Linderman many Bellator fans will remember as a
Season 4 Light Heavyweight Tournament semifinalist. DJ pulled off a
major upset in the tournament by defeating Raphael Davis who was a
favorite to win the tournament. No magic here for DJ. That was one
nasty KO.
4) Andre Arlovski d. Devin Cole via TKO: Arlovski gets a win, but I am
not sold on his comeback. He can defeat tough journeymen like Devin
Cole, but he was really here just for some name value.
John LaRocca
BELLATOR 79
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