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Bellator MMA * General News Thread


Egg Shen

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That kind of chat is doing him no favours. He can be really talented in the cage, but fans identify with emotion and personality. This guy seems to go out of his way to be as ridiculously dull as possible. It's blatantly obvious that he doesn't want to be there.

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There is a bluntness and honesty to him that a lot of people find endearing. I personally find him refreshing in an era where some fighters try to be knock-offs of McGregor and Sonnen.

I do agree that his lack of motivation has sometimes held him back. He freely admits that he doesn't enjoy fighting. He only does it for "retirement money" and to supplement the cash he makes from renting out property to students. He's not arsed about his legacy in fighting. 

At least he prepares properly and makes the most out of his talent these days. When he was younger, he hated travelling, and thus didn't train with elite level fighters. His excuse was that Fedor did the same. This was before it became fully clear that Fedor was on the decline.

 

Edited by jimufctna24
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Apologies if this was already posted but tomorrow’s Bellator; 

10pm - Channel 5 

Gegard Mousasi vs Rafael Lovato Jr

Melvin Manhoef vs Kent Kauppinen

Aaron Chalmers vs Fred Freeman

 

9pm - Sky Sports Arena

Paul Daley vs Erick Silva 

James Gallagher vs Jeremiah Labiano

 

Fucking Manhoef is on this card and no-one told me? 

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Edited by wandshogun09
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few thoughts going into tonight...

* Wouldnt be surprised if Rafael Lovato arrives in a big way tonight. I think most will see it as an easy Mousasi victory but Lovato could be the real deal. Hes one of these uber-jiu jitsu types but brings in a solid wrestling and striking game to back it up. I'll never forget Justin Wren talking about him on the Joe Rogan podcast either, saying something along the lines of 'Its like having a house on top you' when he has top control, Wren basically acted like it was a foregone conclusion that he would win the belt. Some suspect Mousasi may be on the slide, if he his or comes in abit disinterested im taking Lovato.

* Daley/Silva should be insane. You have to know Daley is coming in pissed and wanting to prove a point after the MVP debacle. Silva is known for going to war. Semtex by vicious KO.

* Dont know a lot about James Gallahers opponent but hes a BJJ blackbelt and is a decent step up by all accounts.

* Fabien Edwards on the prelims is a bit tragic here, Bellator should have squeezed him onto either TV broadcast, ill try and get the live stream up for that.

Speaking of which...i cant make any sense of this...

According to that the Edwards, Shipman and Ward fights aren't being shown in the UK at all. The US have some weird split pre-tape deal. What a mess.

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Mousasi is difficult to hold down these days and even harder to submit. Weidman, who is a top-line wrestler, was able to take him down but couldn't control him for very long. There is always a chance that Lovato stifles him and cruises to a decision. Lovato is clearly a great grappler and is massive for a middleweight. But he's also dropped rounds in previous bouts, and has never gone 25 minutes before. He's also never fought a fighter as well-rounded and experienced as Moose. 

There is thus an excellent chance that Mousasi will at some point find a breakthrough, pour on the pressure, and secure a stoppage victory. At least I hope he does. 

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10 hours ago, jimufctna24 said:

There is thus an excellent chance that Mousasi will at some point find a breakthrough, pour on the pressure, and secure a stoppage victory. At least I hope he does. 

Well I was right in a way. But aye, no excuses there. I had Lovato winning. Round 5 made the difference. 

Boo to the world. 

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Lovato Jr. is a bad man. I thought he was doomed after that 3rd and 4th round, he managed to rally and drag the fight back to where he needed it. Lovato is great to watch on the ground, lots of unusual sweeps and little tricks that you usually dont see in MMA. Really captivating main event, enjoyed it.

Good show. Not into that channel switching nonsence though.

Edited by Egg Shen
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The people saying Mousasi won are absolutely fucking crazy.

Lovato dominated rounds 1, 2 and 5.

I know grapplers are never in the 10-8 conversations because the domination isn’t as visual as when a striker dominates, but fuck me... if Moose won either of rounds 3/4 by a 10-8, then Lovato won all 3 of his rounds 10-8.

Those first 2 rounds were as much as I’ve enjoyed jiu jitsu in years.

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Yeh, i dont think Mousasi was anywhere near close to getting a 10-8 round. 48-47 was the right score for me. Daz is spot on with his assessment above.

The way Lovato does that thing where he pulls half guard and then takes the back is class, it showed him do it to someone else i (think it was John Salter) in the pre-fight packages too.

Great to see Melvin get a win. He's clearly slowed down a ton but when he lets them fly he's still nasty as hell. Kappunen is tough, that knockdown in round 2 was brutal. Wants 1 more fight in Holland before be retires.

Speaking of tough, Erick Silva ate some shit against Semtex. He had a good 1st round but rounds 2 and 3 were vintage Semtex, good fight. Id say fuck it and go with MVP/Daley 2 on the next UK show next, the UK fans are owed that and theres no way we's get a repeat of the 1st fight.

Thought James Gallaher rightfully won 29-28 it was close though. Post fight Gallaher admitted that he quit MMA 2 weeks ago but was talked back into it, bit of a strange one.

Edited by Egg Shen
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Enjoyed this show but yeah, all that channel switching shit was bollocks. One show and it’s spread across Sky Sports, Channel 5 and the Bellator app. The US broadcast sounded even more confusing. I even installed the Bellator app just to see the Fabian Edwards fight only for the stream to end before it happened. A show airing across 3 platforms and they couldn’t show a fight featuring an undefeated UK prospect, in the UK? 

Regardless, what I saw I liked. Echoing everything said about Lovato Jr, he was ace. Top grappler but as mentioned he’s got his own different way of doing things and it’s both effective and fascinating to watch. He’s like the BJJ version of Funky Ben. I thought he’d shot his load already with how he looked in the 3rd and 4th. It was a pretty easy fight to score and I think most would’ve had it 2-2 going into the 5th, but Lovato dug deep and absolutely dominated that round. If any round would’ve been scored a 10-8, for me it was that one. Mousasi got zero done and spent the entire round just surviving. 

Manhoef getting the win is always nice to see. That knockdown punch in the second sounded vile. How Kent got up from that I don’t know. I hope Manhoef does stick to that ‘one more in Holland’ thing and then retires. As nice as it is to see him still winning, he’s suffered some fucking terrible knockouts over the years. 

I’ve been calling for it for years but Manhoef vs Wanderlei? Can we have that in Holland as Manhoef’s farewell? Now Manhoef is at 205 it seems more realistic than ever and surely he deserves to go out on a big name. 

Daley vs Silva was fun. Daley needed a fight like that coming off that MVP fight. Not just the win, he needed an entertaining scrap. He battered Silva here but Silva was trying until the end. It’s the most game I’ve seen Silva in years. 

2 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

Gallaher admitted that he quit MMA 2 weeks ago but was talked back into it, bit of a strange one.

McGregor did the same early in his career so of course Gallagher is going to follow suit. The little ripoff case. 

Edited by wandshogun09
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40 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

 

I’ve been calling for it for years but Manhoef vs Wanderlei? Can we have that in Holland as Manhoef’s farewell? Now Manhoef is at 205 it seems more realistic than ever and surely he deserves to go out on a big name. 

 

that would be great! im not sure if Bellator will be promoting the last fight but id love to see Manheof headline a Bellator show in Amsterdam, Wanderlei would be the perfect sendoff....or Rampage?

Is that the first time Bellator have had an exclusive UK broadcast team too? Thought Dave Farrar (who usually does 5 boxing) did a great job next to Big John and Josh Thomson. I aint a big fan of Big John and Goldie together but last nights team was fun to listen too.

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I had Manhoef pegged as being in his late 30s. I didn't realise he was in his mid-40s. Probably because I only started to hear about him when he fought for K1 Heroes and Dream in the late 2000s. I thus assumed he was in his late-20s during that timeframe, rather than in his early/mid 30s. He actually made his MMA debut in December of 1995 when he was 19, and was kickboxing regularly by 1996. So he has been knocking about for almost 25 years in combat sport. 

How about Manhoef vs Rampage? Or would Rampage not want to drop to 205lbs again. 

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