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Bellator MMA * General News Thread


Egg Shen

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Yeh maybe McCartey suffers for having Goldberg next to him. Maybe Goldbergs voice is recognisable enough for old UFC fans that it makes his position justified but hes just the definition of phoning it in now.

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A few more notes:

- Barnett will not compete on the Japan card.

- In addition to Benson/Chandler and Fedor/Rampage, the main card of the Japan show will feature 3 Rizin vs Bellator bouts.

- Lima is expected to make his first title defence against Larkin. That should be a cracking fight. 

- Coker is confident that Horiguchi will fight for the promotion in early 2020. Rizin apparently isn't running any shows between December and April, which frees up Horiguchi's schedule.

- Coker intends to begin negotiations with CBS in December. That's a bold move from Coker and could well end in disaster. I can't see Bellator drawing well on network TV. 

- Tyrell Fortune will fight Azunna Anyanwu on the November 8th card. Fortune is one of the promotion's best prospects. 

Edited by jimufctna24
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This weekend's main card:

Quote

185 lbs.: John Salter (16-4) vs. Costello van Steenis (12-1)
195 lbs.: Muhammed Lawal (21-9) vs. Andrew Kapel (14-6)
145 lbs.: Leslie Smith (11-7-1) vs. Arlene Blencowe (12-7)
170 lbs.: Logan Storley (10-0) vs. E.J. Brooks (13-5)
265 lbs.: Tyrell Fortune (7-0) vs. Azunna Anyanwu (15-5)

I have little interest in Lawal and Smith's bouts. Nevertheless, I am very interested in the other three main card bouts. Fortune, Storley and van Steenis are three of Bellator's best prospects.

I am particularly keen on seeing how van Steenis gets on against Salter. As he is Mousasi's protege, I am naturally a fan of van Steenis. Mousasi claims that van Steenis is better now than he was when he fought under the Strikeforce banner. That is quite the compliment, given that Mousasi ran through the likes of Sobral, OSP and others during his Strikeforce run. 

Storley hails from the same town as Brock Lesnar and used to train alongside him as a teen. It should thus comes as little surprise that he is a great wrestler, with formidable ground and pound. Storley is also massive for his weightclass. He cuts over 20lbs to make the welterweight limit. Meanwhile, Fortune has fought every one of his 7 professional bouts with Bellator and is the promotion's great heavyweight hope. He looked the business last time out against the previously unbeaten Rudy Schaffroth. 

The card will be shown on Sky Sports Action at 2am on Saturday morning. 

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And he's possibly going to be going out on another one here. In his interviews after he retired he pretty much said his body is shot to bits, especially his hips and knees. Hopefully he has enough left to finish up here on a positive note. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some cliff notes: 

- Horiguchi has withdrawn from Rizin's NYE show with an ACL injury. He will be out of action for 10 months. So much for Coker's plan to have him return to Bellator early next year. 

- John Salter edged out Costello van Steenis via decision. Ironically, van Steenis' primary weakness is the exact opposite of his mentor' main weakness. Whereas Mousasi can be a little too relaxed in fights, something Mousasi refers to himself as "sleeping mode", van Steenis exhibits a little bit too much gusto, which leads to him making the wrong decisions. He gave Salter fits on the feet, but got a little too carried away and put himself in positions where he was vulnerable to Salter's grapping. It was these mistakes that lost him the fight. 

- Fortune continues to impress. He stopped Azunna Anyanwu on the undercard of Salter vs Van Steenis. 

- Linton Vassell took apart Super Sergei on the Isreal card. Sergei injured his knee early in the fight. Nevertheless, Sergei's career renaissance was always on borrowed time. He would have eventually lost to Bader, Fortune, Minakov or someone else. 

- There was a lot of speculation that an undercard fight on the Israel card was fixed. Here is a video for anyone interested -  https://streamable.com/7kew4

- Bader and Rizin couldn't come to terms for a fight on NYE. Bader will now return in February at Light-Heavyweight. I assume Phil Davis and Nemkov will be in the frame to fight him. 

- Mousasi vs Lovato Jnr 2 is rumoured to be happening in January. 

 

Edited by jimufctna24
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i was well up for a Kharitanov title shot down the line, fuck sake.

Anyone catch Bellator in London last Saturday on 5?

Soren Bak's debut was extremely underwhelming. Guys got something about him but pinning someone down for 3 rounds without doing much damage doesnt really fly these days.

Edwards/Shipman didnt live upto the hype but was decent. I thought Shipman pipped it 29-28 but im glad Edwards got the nod. Hes the guy Bellator needed to win.

MVP did his thing again. Gutted it was last minute replacement but MVP got another highlight reel KO and its sets up a no brainer rematch with Douglas Lima...or Semtex, just cause it cant be as bad as the first one.

Quite enjoy Bellator's UK exclusive presentation these days. Paul Daley is good at desk.

Edited by Egg Shen
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I flicked through it on Sunday morning. It was nothing to write home about really.

Larkin is booked to fight on the Bellator/Rizin card in December. If he wins,I assume he will be next in line for Lima. I guess they could do MVP vs Daley 2 in the meantime, with an eye on doing the Lima vs MVP rematch in late 2020 if results pan out. 

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