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By: Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist
BELLATOR 79
NOVEMBER 2, 2012
LIVE FROM RAMA, ONTARIO
Join us once again tonight for round by round coverage of another Bellator Fighting Championships event on MTV2. Tonight's card brings one half of the semifinals in both the heavyweight and featherweight tournaments for season seven, along with a couple of entertaining fights to round out the televised card. Tune in here as the event begins on MTV2 at 8PM ET!
FIGHT ONE: RYAN FORD VS. KYLE BAKER (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Yves Lavigne is the referee for the first fight on the main card. Ford steps in and lands a flurry of punches, grabs a clinch and lands a few knees. Ford changes level and drops Baker on his backside against the fence. Ford lands a couple of elbows and a big left. Ford jumps down to half-guard. Baker does a good job of getting Ford back into his full guard, but it is wide open so Ford stands up. Baker is working the upkicks, but gets hit by two huge punches as Ford dives back into the guard. Baker is trying to work the rubber guard. Baker’s right eye is bleeding and is swollen badly. Ford stands back up, and dives back in with another huge right. Baker turtles, and Ford unloads with some big rights as Baker gets back to his feet. As baker gets on his bike, For lands a couple of big knees. Baker is getting slaughtered here. Baker holds on as Ford takes it back down, and Baker does a nice job of gaining top position, side control. Ford escapes without taking any punishment. Standing elbow by Ford. Head kick by Ford, and a push kick. And another head kick. Baker is throwing, but he’s dizzy. 10-8 Ford
ROUND TWO: Before the round begins, Lavigne has the cageside doctor check out Baker’s eye. He’s okay, and round 2 is about to begin. Ford throws a straight head kick that glances off of Baker’s wrist. Ford with a left hook, right uppercut, snap kick combo. Baker’s right eye is in bad shape, but he’s still coming forward. Ford lands a nice jab. Baker presses in behind his own jab and gets Ford into the fence. Ford has Baker’s wrists under control. Both fighters trading knees in a bit of a stalemate here. Lavigne breaks them up. Ford with another crisp jab. Baker is still pressing straight forward, but he’s eating lots of stuff here. Superman punch and knee by Ford. Baker grabs Ford’s head and lands a knee before pressing Ford into the cage again. Baker is trying for an inside trip, and he gets Ford down. Ford’s back is against the cage, and Baker is spinning, trying to get his back. He’s on Ford’s back, looking for a rear naked choke. He’s got one hook in, and is trying to flatten Ford out with 75 seconds left. He’s got his arm under Ford’s chin, but no choke yet. Ford explodes out, and is on top now in half-guard. That was a real power escape there. 10-9 Baker. 19-18 Ford
ROUND THREE: Baker presses forward, gets taken down, tolls through, and gets back to his feet immediately. Baker dodges an uppercut and lands a 1-2 to the body. Baker coming forward, but Ford grabs a single and pushes Baker back into the fence. Ford lets it go and lands a knee to the gut. Backer still coming forward , but charges into a strong double leg takedown, and he’s on his back in the middle of the cage. Ford’s in full guard, working to get Baker into the cage. Well, working is overstating things. Coasting, that’s more like it. Ford raises up and presses his chest into Baker’s really hard until Lavigne stands them up dye to the pure savagery of Ford’s chesting. Back to standing, another takedown almost immediately for Ford. Ford’s trying to get Baker’s back, and he might grab a D’Arce here. Nope, Baker reversed and has full mount. Ford rolls, and Baker has his back. Baker rolls, and he’s trying to get the choke from the bottom now. Baker has the body scissors, so as long as he keeps his legs strong Ford won’t be able to roll out. Baker loosens up, and Ford rolls. Ford on top now, in guard, and that was Baker’s last chance. Ford is stacking Baker, but Baker is still swinging away from the bottom. Ford stands, and dives back in but misses with a big punch. Ford is unloading as the bell sounds. 10-9 Ford. 29-27 Ford.
WINNER: Ryan Ford by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) Nothing special, but both of these guys are, to borrow from Sean Wheelock, really rugged. There’s no doubting there toughness. But Ben Askren isn’t shaking in his boots.
- Bellator hyped up their Season 8 Welterweight Tournament by showing jail footage of War Machine. Where Brett Rogers stops, War Machine begins. Stay classy, Bellator!
FIGHT TWO: DOUGLAS LIMA VS. KOBE ORTIZ (180 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)
- Ben Saunders joins Wheelock and Jimmy Smith on commentary. Apparently Bellator is doing some form of fan vote to organize the opening round of the Season 8 Welterweight Tournament.
- Lima is a natural welterweight, having won the Season 5 Welterweight Tournament.
ROUND ONE: Marc-Andre Cote is the third man in the cage. As referee, not a three way dance. Ortiz has a three inch reach advantage here. Lima has the middle of the cage, and Ortiz is circling. Ortiz catches a leg kick and tries to get the takedown. Lima stuffed it, and landed a couple of punches as Ortiz backed off. Ortiz is keeping his hands below waist level. Not a good idea. Lima landed a huge right to the jaw of Ortiz, and Ortiz is on his back hard. Lima on top in mount. Ortiz is holding on to Lima’s torso, knowing he’s in trouble as soon as he lets go. Ortiz lets go and rolls to his stomach. Lima has his back, and is working for the choke. He gives it up, flattens Ortiz out, and has full back mount. After landing several strikes Ortiz manages to go from flattened out to turtled. Lima grabs the rear naked choke, loses it, rolls and tries for it again. He’s across the jaw at this moment. He didn’t like it and let it go. Ortiz scrambles and gets himself to top position with 90 seconds left oin the first. He’s inside Lima’s full guard. Ortiz is landing to the body with his right hand. Ortiz stands out of it, and eats a hard upkick to the jaw. Ortiz is still keeping his hands lower than a November political ad. Lima presses in, and avoids a couple of slow punches with head movement alone. 10-9 Lima
ROUND TWO: Ortiz is keeping his hands low again. His punches are really slow, and his defense is weak. Lima is landing power hooks at will, without having to jab. Lima lands a big right body kick that staggered Ortiz into the cage. Leg kick by Lima spins Ortiz around. Lima lands a right and a huge left hook, and follows with a head kick. Lima lands a huge straight left hand to the cheek of Ortiz. Ortiz looks completely clueless and amateurish in the standup game. His footwork is atrocious, as his back foot crosses behind his front foot when he circles. Lima lands a leg kick that fells Ortiz. Ortiz holding onto Lima’s leg. Lima spins and grabs a front face lock on the turtling Ortiz. Working for an anaconda choke, but lets it go pretty quick. Ortiz works his way up and pushes Lima into the fance. He holds Lima there for almost a minute, but as they disengage he eats a huge knee and a series of punches on the ground until he’s saved by the bell. Lima fought through the bell because the referee didn’t step in to stop them. This is a VERY quiet bell. Ontario needs to do something about that bell. Ortiz’ face is a bloody mess, and the ref or doctor might stop the fight before the third begins. 10-9 Lima
ROUND THREE: I hate this fight. This is a mismatch, and is really ugly. Ortiz looks like some guy they found off the street compared to Lima. Ortiz keeps his left hand down by his knee, and throws a hook from down there. Lima avoided it, of course. Lima lands a sharp jab. Ortiz is trying to stay ten feet outside, and then expects to land wild hooks from that distance. That might work against me, not against Lima. Overhand right by Lima, who is being very conservative here. A huge leg kick almost drops Ortiz. Huge jab. And a left hook by Lima. I don’t know why I bother to say who is landing, because Ortiz isn’t landing anything, nor do I think he can. I take that back; Ortiz just punched Lima in the forearm. Huge uppercut by Lima. And a snapping jab. Ortiz’ right eye is bloody as hell. Wild hook by Ortiz missed, and he’s spinning like David Axelrod after the first debate. Huge jab, and just missed with a head kick. Ortiz’ nose is broken. Lima lands six unanswered strikes, and then backs off. Lima hasn’t even broken a sweat. Giant right hook from Lima. Bog jab. And a leg kick. Lima dropped his hands, ate a hook, and didn’t even feel it. Of course, the hook took about 2 seconds to get there, so go figure. Huge right hand by Lima, and a head kick. Flying knee, Ortiz is down, and Lima finished him off on the ground with four or five left hands.
WINNER: Douglas Lima by TKO at 4:50 of round three
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (NA) This wasn’t a fight, it was an execution. Ortiz didn’t deserve to be in the audience, much less int eh cage with a fighter the caliber of Douglas Lima. This was the biggest mismatch of the year, and it’s not like Lima is a top-10 fighter or anything. I really like Bellator, but when they do fights like this, it makes me shake my head.
FIGHT THREE: MIKE RICHMAN VS. SHAHBULAT SHAMHALAEV (FEATHERWEIGHT SEMIFINAL)
- If this goes to decision, I’ll make sure Rob Joyner eats his hat.
ROUND ONE: Yves Lavigne is back to referee this fight and to make sure it doesn’t stay on the mat for more than a nanosecond. Triple jab feint by Richman to start the fight. I like that, not enough feints in MMA. Both guys staying in the pocket here. Richman gets his kick caught, gets tripped, pops back up. Man, they are toe to toe, even while feeling out. Richman is throwing first, but nothing big has landed yet. Shamhalaev to the body with a right hand. Nice right to the head by Richman. Shamhalaev is really looking for the counters here. Richman missed with a body shot, ate an overhand right, Richman is down, and Shamhalaev lands one or two on the ground before Lavigne can stop the fight. It’s all over. The stoppage was very fast, but it was also a good stoppage. No controversy there.
\WINNER: Shahbulat Shamhalaev by KO at 1:45 of round one
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**+) First big shot wins, that was the thought going in, and it happened. Shamhalaev’s counter was faster than Richamn’s ability to defend after going to the body, and that was it.
FIGHT FOUR: THIAGO SANTOS VS. RICH HALE (HEAVYWEIGHT SEMIFINAL)
ROUND ONE: Big Dan is in Canada! Be careful, Pat Barry! E careful testicles, because it’s a Thiago Santos fight. Mo touch of gloves, as both fighters have gotten underneath each others’ skin. Hale working angles early. Big left and overhand by right by Santos that staggers Hale. He grabs Hale’s neck standing and is working a standing guillotine. 30 seconds later Hale pulls out, but he’s still hurt. Santos is manhandling Hale. Takedown and side control for Santos. Hale is parallel to the cage, which will affect his ability to escape. Huge right by Santos as Hale gets to his feet. Santos has Hale against the cage. Santos dropping down for a single leg, but can’t get the smaller man down. Santos back to the same position, with over-inders now. Big Dan telling both fighters to work, and breaks them up shortly thereafter. Back to the middle with 2 minutes left. Santos’ lip is cut open a little. Hale seems to have his legs back now. Santos presses forward, but eats a right to the ear, and he’s down on all fours. Hale is on Santos’ back and lands about 25 punches to the ears of Santos before Big Dan stops the fight. That wasn’t a late stoppage. Even though Santos wasn’t moving, his head was well protected. But eventually you have to do something while being punched repeatedly.
WINNER: Rich Hale by TKO
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) It wasn’t, you know, good. But I enjoyed it. I really have nothing else to say, other than it’s time to go to my RFA 4 write-up. The first fight features Sergio Pettis!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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