Bellator - Season 7 onwards

[Jayden]

...

http://i47.tinypic.com/nbqe0l.jpg

 

BELLATOR SEASON 8 PREVIEW – PART 2

 

REPLACEMENTS

 

Disappointment for Jeff Lentz has led to the strengthening of Bellator’s season 8 Featherweight tournament. Lentz is out of the tournament with a hand injury and Bellator have moved quickly to position one of their most recent signings in the tournament,

“Lion” Takeshi Inoue

(21-6).

 

The former Shooto Lightweight Champion (143lbs) has long been considered one of the World’s best at 145lbs. He had been slated for a Bellator debut in open competition in season 8 however the injury to Lentz means he has been fast tracked into the tournament quarter finals where he will face Britain’s Ronnie Mann.

 

THE TOURNAMENTS

 

http://i50.tinypic.com/wgx0lu.jpg

 

Bellator’s season 8 Light-Heavyweight Tournament can be summed up in two exciting words, King Mo. Fresh off a TNA Wrestling stint during time away from the sport serving a nine month suspension after testing positive for Drostanolone, Lawal brings some much needed quality to one of Bellator’s weaker divisions.

 

The man who embarrassed current Champion Christian M’Pumbu in October 2011 is back.

Travis Wiuff

(68-15-1) will open up his tournament run against

“Big” John Hawk

(8-4). Hawk beat Anthony Gomez in season 7 to earn his spot in the tournament.

 

“King” Mo Lawal

(8-1-1) will go straight into tournament action in his first fight back. The former Strikeforce Champion’s opponent, slimmed-down Heavyweight

Josh Burns

(7-5) looked impressive in earning a first round season 7 victory over Marcus Vanttinen last time out.

 

Another former Strikeforce fighter will make his Bellator debut in the tournament.

Ovince St. Preux

(12-6) will be hoping to benefit from being in the weaker side of the draw when he faces American Top Team fighter

Lew Polley

(12-4).

 

The remaining quarter-final has Season 4 and 2012 Summer Series semi-finalist

Tim Carpenter

(10-2) squaring off against Grudge Training Center fighter

Cody Donovan

(7-2).

 

http://i50.tinypic.com/21nqueb.jpg

 

What a difference a year makes. After the retirement of former Champion Cole Konrad, and the season 7 Heavyweight tournament, Heavyweight has gone from being Bellator’s weakest division to one of its most competitive. Not only is it hard to pick a winner from their season 8 tournament lineup but it looks to be their most talent-rich Heavyweight tournament to date.

 

Bulgarian Heavyweight

Blagoi Ivanov

(6-0-1) looked impressive in his return to the cage in season 7 following a knife attack in early 2012, beating Mark Holata in the first round. He enters the tournament to face Little Rock, Arkansas’

Mike Wessel

(13-5) who earned a less spectacular season 7 win over Azunna Anyanwu.

 

Brazilian

Thiago Santos

(12-2-1) is a former tournament finalist and competed in the season 7 tournament, losing to eventual winner Brett Rogers in the semi-finals. Santos opens his campaign here against

Abe Wagner

(11-6). Wagner got a season 7 win over highly-touted Justin Wren to earn his spot.

 

Undefeated DEEP Megaton Champion

Levan Razmadze

(6-0) made his Bellator debut in season 7, beating Kevin Asplund. He steps into the tournament to face Bridgwater, England’s

Mark Godbeer

(8-1).

 

Ryan Martinez

(9-2) won his season 7 quarter-final but was forced to withdraw from the competition through injury. He’ll be hoping to get off to a similar start in season 8 when he faces

Alexei Kudin

(12-4). Kudin’s one previous Bellator appearance was a win over “Big Sexy” Sean McCorkle in season 7.

 

THE SCHEDULE

 

Thus far Bellator have scheduled the first three events of season 8 as follows:-

 

Bellator 83

– 04/26/13, Florida

Bellator 84

– 05/03/13, New Hampshire

Bellator 85

– 05/10/13, Arizona

 

At this time the main cards are all tournament bouts. The Welterweights kick things off on April 26th. It’s the turn of the Light-Heavyweight including King Mo’s Bellator debut on May 3rd. The big boys are out to play on May 10th as the Heavyweight Quarter Finals take place.

 

 

[Jayden]

...

http://i47.tinypic.com/nbqe0l.jpg

 

BELLATOR 83 PREVIEW, SEASON 8 PREMIERE

 

After an almost two month hiatus Bellator Fighting Championships return in Floriday this Friday night with their season premiere.

 

Season 7 provided us with exciting title fights, new champions, and some interesting tournament winners. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney must be hoping for more of the same. Season 8 will showcase five tournaments and it all kicks off with the Welterweights on Friday night.

 

Ryan Ford (18-4) Vs War Machine (12-4)

 

THE BREAKDOWN:

The season’s first main event offering pits two fighters who were once highly touted prospects looking to get their careers back on track.

 

Edmonton, Alberta’s Ryan Ford is a former MFC Champion and was considered to have serious contender potential at 170lbs. Two defeats to Pat Healy that saw him lose, and fail to regain, his MFC title set his career back. Of course, we now know that since those fights Healy is a much better fighter than people believed at that point.

 

Still at 31-years-old Ford, who fights out of the Fit Plus Camp, Ford should be in his prime and has developed a well-rounded fight game to compliment his athletic physical skills.

 

That will certainly be tested by UFC-veteran War Machine. One of MMA’s more controversial personalities, with a backstory that involves work in the pornography industry and some jail time, War Machine is adamant that his problems are behind him and he’s ready to grasp his Bellator opportunity with both hands.

 

With such a long layoff it’s hard to know exactly what shape, both physically and mentally, War Machine will be in. The fact that he has chosen to work his own training schedule rather than associate himself with any particular camp for the bout only serves to amplify the intrigue.

 

THE VERDICT:

With so many open questions regarding War Machine at this point lets just work on the assumption that he comes back as the best possible version of the same fighter we’ve seen in the past. He’ll make things difficult and dirty for his Canadian opponent without question. The problem is that in almost every single aspect of Mixed Martial Arts Ford has the edge and he has the power to really slow War Machine down and bust him up a little bit too. Expect to see Ford win by decision after controlling a violent fight.

 

Ben Saunders (14-5-2) Vs Andrey Koreshkov (12-0)

THE BREAKDOWN:

Ben “Killa B” Saunders knows what it’s like to fight in a Bellator tournament, a finalist in season 5, Saunders was unable to find the same form in season 6 where he struggled through his quarter final before dropping a decision to Bryan Baker in the semi-finals.

 

If you listen to what he says he’ll have you believe that his in-cage style is creative, unique, unorthodox. That he brings diverse strikes and movements from Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do and does things that his opponent won’t expect.

 

Granted, he does throw in the occasional outlandish move for the cameras but for the most part his style is pretty orthodox. A decent striker, dangerous in the clinch, rangey but not entirely comfortable off his back despite having a reasonable level of submission offence.

 

Whether Saunders’ opponent, undefeated Russian prospect Andrey Koreshkov, can put him on his back remains to be seen. Koreshkov’s wrestling and groundwork has looked solid to date but as with all fighters coming over from Russia it’s tough to gauge what will happen when he faces stiffer competition.

 

What we do know is that Koreshkov has serious power in his hands and is capable of taking shots too when he has to. That should be enough to make this one exciting.

 

THE VERDICT:

If the Ben Saunders that we saw in Season 6 shows up on Friday night he will lose. Koreshkov is a dangerous and powerful opponent capable of switching off Saunders’ brain. If Killa B finds a return to better form then his experience alone could guide him through a smart fight, using his longer frame to control Koreshkov in the clinch, and putting him on his back when he gets the opportunity. Expect to see a smarter Saunders do exactly that to earn himself a decision win.

 

Lyman Good (14-2) Vs Alberto Mina (10-0)

 

THE BREAKDOWN:

This has to be the toughest quarter final to call. Former Welterweight Champion Lyman Good is a physically imposing Welterweight capable of muscling most fighters around the cage and using his power to beat them up. The emphasis though is on most. When facing elite level grapplers like Ben Askren and Rick Hawn those skills did not serve him quite so well.

 

His opponent, Brazilian born Alberto Mina who fights out of the London Shootfighters Camp in the UK, might not possess that same level of wrestling or judo, but is no slouch in that department and has other tools that can hurt the former Champion. Mina was dominant in defeating Steve Carl to earn his spot in the tournament, taking a three round decision victory. Powerful and physical himself, Mina should be able to deal with Good’s size and strength and turn this into an ultra-competitive war of attrition.

 

THE VERDICT:

With both fighters so durable you can expect this one to go the decision. Which way that is going to go is another question entirely. Of the two Mina needs to rely on his physical attributes a little bit less, the more skilled of the fighters, he should get the nod after three rounds but it’ll be close.

 

Paul Daley (31-12-2) Vs David Rickels (9-0)

 

THE BREAKDOWN:

Despite his bad-boy image Paul “Semtex” Daley remains one of those fighters that fans just love to see do well. An aggressive striker with brutal knockout power, Daley engages the crowd in exciting fights, at least when he’s allowed to. Daley has shown himself to struggle against some of the better wrestlers that the Welterweight division has to offer.

 

His opponent, David Rickels, is capable in that department and has a decent level of ground control. The difference in class and experience is vast though and unless he can get Daley on his back it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to caught him any sort of problems.

 

THE VERDICT:

If Rickels can put Daley on his back or control him against the cage then he could grind out a decision. The same goes for anyone facing “Semtex” though, and many with far greater skills have failed to do that in the past. Expect Daley’s power to be too much for Rickels, forcing the stoppage before this one gets into the second round.

 

FULL CARD

WW QUARTER-FINAL: Ryan Ford (18-4) Vs War Machine (12-4)

WW QUARTER-FINAL: Ben Saunders (14-5-2) Vs Andrey Koreshkov (12-0)

WW QUARTER-FINAL: Lyman Good (14-2) Vs Alberto Mina (10-0)

WW QUARTER-FINAL: Paul Daley (31-12-2) Vs David Rickels (9-0)

 

PRELIMS

LW: Phillipe Nover (6-5-1) Vs Josh Quayhagen (3-1)

LW: Janne Tlirinta (12-3-1) Vs Ceasar Avila (6-2)

WW: Douglas Lima (21-5) Vs Kris McCray (6-3)

BW: Fabio Mello (9-7) Vs Ryan Roberts (16-11-1-1)

 

 

[RedsRule]

Nice writeups, this isn't against you but I hate how the AI runs promotions.