...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist
BELLATOR 83
DECEMBER 7
LIVE FROM ATLANTIC CITY, NJ
FIGHT ONE: ZOILA GURGEL VS. JESSICA EYE
- I'm looking forward to this fight, because Eye is so much easier to type than Shamhalaev. Can you say "Control-V" anyone? I'm also looking forward to seeing Zoila Gurgel fight, because it'll be about 3 years until she fights for Bellator again...
ROUND ONE: William Bookwalter is the referee for this fight. Gurgel is the 115 lb. champion, but this fight happens at 125 lbs. Gurgel and Eye come out swinging like crazy from the first second, and Gurgel gets dropped almost immediately. Gurgel gets back up but Eye has her back. Eye pushes her into the fence and spins around to a head and arm choke. Gurgel is out. Jimmy Smith called it fifteen seconds before the ref saw it. Man, that was wicked.
WINNER: Jessica Eye by technical submission (standing head and arm choke) at 0:58 of round one
FINAL THOUGHTS AND STAR RATING: (***) That was memorable. Gurgel got worked like old leather.
FIGHT TWO: ZACH MAKOVSKY VS. ANTHONY LEONE
ROUND ONE: Greg Franklin is the third man in the cage. Makovsky is two inches shorter than Leone, who normally fights at 145 lbs. The southpaw Makovsky landed a good head kick about 30 seconds in. Makovsky ducks under a wild hook, gets the single leg, but Leone manages to scramble back to his feet. Makovsky shoots in and grabs a leg, but is unable to get Leone down and lets it go. Leone lands a nice left hook. Leone grabs a body lock and pushes Makovsky into the fence. Leone is working the ribs, but nothing hard here. Makovsky powers out, and back to the middle. Leone is starting to throw bigger shots now, and backs Makovsky into the cage. Nice uppercut. Leone has a single leg, but isn't able to get it. Makovsky goes for a standing guillotine, which forces Leone to give it up. 10-9 Leone Very even round, but Leone was more aggressive.
ROUND TWO: Leone backs Makovsky into the fence and has double underhooks, but Makovsky has him tied up. This is a struggle for position here. No action whatsoever. Mokovsky with a nice turn, but Leone turned him right back. Makovsky powers forward and gets the takedown. Leone back to his feet, and both fighters are working body locks. This is fun. Wheeeeeeeeeee. Echange of knees to the thighs. Wheeeeeeeeee. Makovsky gets space, turns, and pushes away. Back to standing with 2:30 left. Makovsky lands a glancing superman punch. Leone shoots a double and gets it, but Makovsky is working him on the ground and has scrambled to a dominant position looking for a guillotine near the cage. Leone manages to avoid and is on top near the cage now. Makovsky is working an active guard from the bottom, and almost got a triangle. Leone passed and avoided any damage. Makovsky works his way back up and drives Leone down immediately. Leone gets his leg caught for a moment, but pulls out and back to standing. Makovsky lands a left hook near the end of the round. This fight isn't entertaining, not even slightly. 10-9 Makovsky, I guess. 19-19, why not.
ROUND THREE: Makovsky gets stuffed working a takedown, and Leone winds up on top looking for a guillotine from half0guard. That's not going to happen, but he's keeping the position at least. Leone gave up the guillotine, Makovsky grabbed a leg, and winds up on top in side control. Leone scrambles and winds up pressing Makovsky into the cage and gets on top. Nice scrambling there. The first 90 seconds of this round are better than the first 2 rounds combined. Makovsky is very active from the bottom, forcing Leone to work. Leone passes guard into side control, which induces the ref to tell both fighters to work. Apparently he doesn't know what work looks like. Makovsky grabs a guillotine, but Leone pops his head out and is on top in half-guard. Very little damage done by either fighter, but the action has been fast and furious. Leone passes to half0guard. Makovsky rolls to his stomach and Leone grabs a body lock on the mat. Makovsky gets back to his back, and Leone is stuck in half0guard. Very active round, except to Greg Franklin who is stuck in Herb Dean mode. Leone ends the fight on top. 10-9 Leone. 29-28 Leone.
WINNER: Anthony Leone by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
FINAL THOUGHTS AND STAR RATING: (**-) The third round saved this fight, but there was zero damage done by either fighter. If you're a wrestling geek, you'll enjoy the third round. If you like fighting and damage, not so much.
- After the fight MTV2 cut to a shot of Shahbulat Shamhalaev throwing a total fit in his locker room. Yelling and kicking chairs. Then they cut to a shot of Bjorn Rebney talking to Rad Martinez. From there they abruptly went to commercial. Weird things afoot in Bellator-ville.
- Back from commercial. The main event has been canceled. Shahbulat Shamhalaev has food poisoning and has been vomiting all day. The commission has canceled the fight. Bjorn Rebney has announced that it will be rescheduled for Bellator 84, one week from tonight.
- Finally, Bellator doesn't run long.
- Bjorn Rebney has just announced that Paul Daley vs. War Machine was the winning fight for the Season Eight debut fight. However, War Machine has a broken leg and blown out ACL, so that fight won't happen after all. Rebney promises that the fight will happen eventually, but it won't be the first fight on Spike after all.
- And to everyone who voted for ANY combination other than Daley vs. Lima, Screw You!
- Good night everybody!
Follow me on Twitter @MMATorchRich. Or don't. I'm just throwing it out there, and you can do whatever you want. But for reals, just do it, OK? I mean, no one likes a troublemaker.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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