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Egg Shen

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on the subject of Bellator's title fights, they'll finally (!) be having another title defence this Saturday, the long awaited fight between Ben Askren and Jay Hieron. Its definitly one of the most anticipated fights in Bellator history, both guys dislike each other, both guy are ultra-confident, it's gonna be great. If Ben Askren can do his usual thing against Hieron and dominate him for 5 rounds i think there's gonna be some legit talk about how good Ben Askren really is, Hieron is a big step up in class.

 

Bellator's title situation is a bit of a problem, the concept of the promotion is tremendous and in theory should make the title something that a fighter really must earn...yet this is the promotion's 56'th show and this will be the 3rd title defence in any division, it simply aint good enough. I don't know how they can fix it because if guys can come in and just claim title shots it pretty much defeats the point of the tournament format. The concept is flawed but i believe the only way around it is it basically run Bellator like the UFC/Strikeforce and just hold regular shows. I know that aint what the promotion set out to do, but these champions need to be fighting more. Add in that the 205lb champion lost a non-title fight to Travis Wiuff, it just feels like the Bellator format is unravalling.

 

At least we got the title shot this weekend! which is a fight im looking forward to as much as anything on the UFC card, it's gonna be good...and it does feel like a reward for watching the promotion, it shows the format can work because to me it feels like a legit. title fight, but in the fight game, injuries/delays and stuff means that they are always (and have) ran into problems.

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Bellator have been bought by Viacom, a company worth billions.

 

It has also been confirmed that they will be moving to Spike TV in 2013 (due to the UFC's exclusivity clause that Spike can't air MMA for a year after they leave).

 

Massive news and really can't wait to see how Bellator progress with massive financial backing, can only mean good things for MMA.

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yeh, Bellator don't do bad with these deals do they? fair play to them.

 

Anyone see last week's show? the heavyweight semi's were stupidly short but sweet all the same. I like the looks to Thiago Santos, that guy is unintimidated by anything and he looks fairly well rounded, he destroyed Neil Grove.

 

The main event definitly lived up to billing, very good title fight. It was very close, i think both guys clearly won 2 rounds each with the 1st round being the one left to interpretation. I actually scored it for Askren, he failed on his takedowns so i guess Hieron scores for cage control, but whilst Hieron kept it standing i thought Askren won the standup in that round, it was a very hard round to score.

 

Really good fight though, was great to hear Askren be so humble afterwards too. For a guy so full of confidence to admit he's got a lot of work to do was pretty refreshing to hear, Askren will come back better than ever.

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You took it as humble, i took it as pompous and spoilt. He can be disappointed in himself without coming off like he's in a giant sulk. I scored it to Hieron 48/47 and judging by the outpouring on Twitter, those who i follow and have aired their opinions tend to agree in the whole. Would like to see a rematch but it would be a while in the making because of the system Bellator use. Not a criticism mind, i like the concept a lot.

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Bellator have announced they are getting shot of the non-title fights - which are ultimately a risky showcase - and to combat the problem of lack of title fights they are going to hold more frequent tournaments to get more challengers.

 

Again, it sounds good in theory but i think this opens up even more problems... with injuries you may end up with a queue of guys waiting for their guaranteed shot. I dont see how they'll sort out who fights in what tournament, if theres no structure it'll just feel like 8 random guys getting thrown together, thats a minor gripe though because the if the standard of fighter stays as high as it is now i wont complain.

 

Still, i love the fact that fighters have to go through a punishing 3 fight schedule to earn a title shot. There'll be no gimmies in Bellator.

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tonight...

 

-1.jpg

 

Main Card

 

Welterweight Tournament Finals: Ben Saunders (170.4) vs. Douglas Lima (171)

Middleweight Tournament Finals: Alexander Shlemenko (185.6) vs. Vitor Vianna (184)

John Hawk (205) vs. Roger Hollett (204.8)

Alexandre Bezerra (146.4) vs. Doug Evans (146)

 

Prelims

 

Mike Corey (154) vs. Chris Horodecki (155)

Ashkar Morvari (155.8) vs. Dave Jansen (155.8)

Chuck Mady (134) vs. Denis Puric (135.8)

Eric Moon (155.8) vs. Josh Shockley (156)

Mike Sledzion (155) vs. Taylor Solomon (156)

Shawn Levesque (203) vs. Matt Van Buren (204.6)

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57 was decent.

 

Douglas Lima levelled Ben Saunders in the 170 finale, exactly the same punch he finished Lozano with. Lima is one of the most underrated 170 lbers in the world, without doubt.

 

Shlemenko/Vianna was a poor fight in that the style didn't really mix. Shlemenko kept the fight where he wanted it and he didn't want to take the risks so that it would end up on the ground. Comfortable win for the Russian. Shlemenko might be the most relevant Russian fighter in MMA at the moment.

 

Doug Evans-Bezerra might end up on 'best round of the year' lists, a crazy couple of minutes, track it down.

 

58 this weekend is tremendous...

 

image0011.jpg

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Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alvarez from Bellator 58 last night is on Bellator's YouTube channel and can be found here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HziG9DBfJf0..._embedded#at=13

 

By all accounts, it's a Fight of the Year contender. I'm waiting for it to load.

 

EDIT: Excellent fight, a definite Fight of the Year nominee.

Edited by The Natural
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The fight was a cracker. It's almost a shame the Shogun/Hendo fight was so good because then this fight would have had a lot more attention.

 

Alvarez now back down the pecking order and into a tournament to get a title shot then? Well that should be fun.

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Just watched Alvarez vs Chandler. Fuck me. Excellent fight. Both guys had their moments, back and forth. For Chandler to come back from that assault in round 3 to get the finish in the 4th shows he has something special. Deffo in my top 2 or 3 fights of the year.

 

What a night that was for MMA. Alvarez/Chandler, Shogun/Hendo and Wand/Cung Le on the same night.

 

Think my top 5 fights of 2011 so far now are

 

1 - Dan Henderson vs Shogun Rua (UFC 139)

2 - Eddie Alvarez vs Michael Chandler (Bellator 58)

3 - Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard 2 (UFC 125)

4 - Ben Henderson vs Clay Guida (UFC on FOX 1)

5 - Nick Diaz vs BJ Penn (UFC 137)

 

That's my top 5 at the moment but fuck knows what the next month and a bit is gonna throw up. It's been a fantastic year for MMA. Still gotta watch that Straus vs Malegarie fight from Bellator aswell yet.

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