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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
BELLATOR 85
JANUARY 17, 2013
LIVE FROM IRVINE, CALIFORNIA
Tonight's card will be Bellator MMA's debut on Spike TV, the erstwhile home of the UFC. The first Bellator fight on Spike will be a potential barnburner as Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran defends his title against Patricio "Pitbull" Friere.
But that's not the only title fight on this card. The main event pits Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler versus challenger Rick Hawn. This will be Chandler's first defense of his title since winning it from Eddie Alvarez in November 2011 (How very Bellator).
And the Light Heavyweight tournament kicks off on Spike as well. Babalu Sobral faces Mikhail Zayats, and Seth Petruzelli faces Jacob Noe, although that fight might wind up being flexed off of Spike depending on time and (wait for it) pacing issues.
FIGHT ONE: PAT CURRAN VS. PATRICIO "PITBULL" FRIERE (FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
- Curran enters the fight with a 5 inch height advantage, and a whopping 8 inch reach advantage. And a well-groomed beard, ladies. Pitbull comes into the fight with a 17-1 record, losing only a split decision to Joe Warren.
ROUND ONE: Jason Herzog is the referee for this fight. Soft touch of gloves, the bell rings, and it's go time. Pitbull has written his name on his back, so I'll be able to tell them apart. That was mighty courteous of him. 30 seconds, no strikes thrown. Front kick from Curran, 2 leg kicks by Pitbull. And that's the first minute. Pitbull comes in with two hooks and a leg kick, no damage. High kick from Pitbull. Curran evades, but loses his balance. Pitbull stayed back and didn't charge in. Two minutes in now. Trade of leg kicks. Smith and Wheelock on commentary have run out of things to say already. Another leg kick by Pitbull. Curran with a nice right hand that got Pitbull's attention. Three minutes in. Curran starting to let his hands go a little bit now. Working the jab ic Curran says Rich in Goldbergian fashion. Four minutes in now. Shouldn't be surprising they're so tentative. Pitbull hasn't fought in 20 months, and Curran has been injured himself. Pitbull is having some success with leg kicks. Impossible round to score. But... 10-9 Pitbull
ROUND TWO: Curran lands a nice straight left which found it's home on Pitbull's nose. Curran's throwing more strikes this round, but he's not landing solidly too often. Curran took a thumb to the eye, Pitbull backed off, and Herzog didn't need to stop the action. Good sportsmanship by Pitbull. Nice knee from Curran, and a smiling Pitbull felt it. Another leg kick from Pitbull. Pitbull with a four punch flurry, all blocked by Pitbull's forearms. Curran lands a snap right headkick. Pitbull ate it, which drew a big smile. Another leg kick by Pitbull. Curran needs to stop checking them. Jab from Curran, and Pitbull's bleeding form the nose pretty heavily. Curran's really pumping the jab. Curran comes in after a leg kick, clinch in the middle. Pitbull gets thrown on his butt, but pops back up immediately. Curran's starting to initiate the action more this round, coming in behind his jab. 10-9 Curran. 19-19
ROUND THREE: Both fighters throw high kicks to start, both were blocked more or less. Curran's initiating the action, and Pitbull is having some success countering off of that. Weird. Curran's been following the jab with straight right hands. They aren't getting all the way through but they're setting a tone. Pitbull staggered Curran with a head kick. Charged in with a flying knee that missed by five feet, and that gave Curran more than enough time to regroup. Curran with a nice left to the body. Pitbull follows up with a one-two of his own. Accidental headbutt from Curran, but Herzog kept the clock rolling. Big right from Pitbull. Curran lands a couple jabs, and Pitbull got cut under his right eye as a result. Curran's starting to drop his left hand, which until now had been held extremely high. Pitbull with a right to the body. Follows with a nice left. Good round. 10-9 Pitbull. 29-28 Pitbull Could go either way.
ROUND FOUR: Curran's got a really nice jab tonight, but he needs to start working it more because Pitbull is getting inside too often. Curran starts the round with a lead left hook. Pitbull lands a left hand, then follows up with a combination of punches and a leg kick that found a home. Curran switches stances for a moment. Curran with a left head kick, partially blocked by Pitbull. Curran lands a big right hand to the nose that stunned Pitbull for a few seconds. Curran was unable to capitalize. Curran is picking up the pace a little now, sensing an opportunity. Pitbull tries a jump knee, but Curran evaded it easily. Curran's been more aggressive this round, you can hear his corner telling him to pick up the pace. Another headbutt from Curran, and this time Pitbull stops the clock. 20 seconds later, we're back. Curran picks up the pace with a flurry of punches and a couple of kicks. Nice right by Curran, and Pitbull lands a straight right of his own. Curran goes body body head, and Pitbull follows up with a spinning kick. Pitbull clinches and tries to get the takedown, but Curran stuffed it. Curran to the body again. Pitbull is noticeably slower in the 4th round. Curran with another left hand to the ribs. Pitbull with consecutive right head kicks, neither of which found a home. Double jabs by Curran sent Pitbull backpedalling. 10-9 Curran. 38-38
ROUND FIVE: A tentative touch of gloves to start the round. The pace from both fighters has picked up in the first minute, highlighted by a nice three punch combo and leg kick from Pitbull. Pitbull shoots and gets stuffed easily. Curran walks in with a standing knee and lands a right hand as well. Curran lands a right hook to the ribs. Curran has pretty well abandoned the jab in the fifth. Nice stiff right hand by Curran. Curran's switched stances half a dozen times this round, and he's starting to pick Pitbull apart. Curran trying to bait Pitbull into a mistake by dropping his left hand all the way down. Pitbull's face is a mess, his right eye is shut. Pitbull lands a heavy left, and is coming forward. double jab from Curran. Curran goes right left left to Pitbull's face, all jabs, all hit hard. Pitbull's given up the leg kicks which were working so well earlier. Curran with a nice left jab and right elbow combo. 20 seconds left. Pitbull throwing wildly and hits hard with 10 seconds left. The fight ends with both guys throwing. 10-9 Curran. 48-47 Curran Could go either way.
WINNER: Pat Curran by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***+) Just fantastic. And the judges scored it perfectly. Pitbull's rounds (1 and 3) on my card were close to toss-ups. I wouldn't mind seeing this fight again, but how pissed would that make Daniel Straus?
ROUND ONE: Big John McCarthy sighting! In the middle of the cage as a referee, no less. Zayats grabs a body lock and puts Babalu onto the fence. Balalu reverses position, and lands a knee. Zayats still has the body lock, though. Bablu is getting warned not to hold the fence. He lets go and Zayats starts working for an outside trip. This is grueling stuff. Neither fighter is willing to take a chance, and McCarthy splits them apart. Zayats comes out swinging at the restart. Flurry of activity from both guys, and Zayats eats a push kick to the cup. Short stoppage, then we're back. nice of Babalu to not hold the illegal action for an extra 5 seconds... Babalu lands a big right hook that hurt Zayats, and Zayats grabs a body lock, hoping to get his head clear. We're back to the cage again. Babalu's trying to drop down, but Zayats has none of it. A couple of knees later, and McCarthy pulls them apart. Again. A lot of people on the east coast have turned off their televisions in the last 4:30. Babalu lands a knee, Zayats goes for the takedown off it but gets stuffed. Zayats lands a knee on the way back up, though. Zayats lands a spinning back fist out of nowhere and takes Babalu's back standing. Zayats pushes Babalu into the fence and is unloading. Babalu crumples and eats half a dozen shots on teh ground before McCarthy ends the fight. Wow!
WINNER: Mikhail Zayats by TKO at 4:49 of round one.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) Bad fight, nice finish. Babalu's shot.
- Spike will not air the Petruzelli - Noe fight, choosing to go straight to the main event. Sorry, Kimbo-haters.
FIGHT THREE: MICHAEL CHANDLER VS. RICK HAWN (LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND ONE: Big John McCarthy is pulling double-duty tonight. Both fighters spend the first minute in a fast-paced feeling out process, throwing lots of feints and circling quickly. Chandler wades inside and barely evades a big uppercut form Hawn. Chandler shoots a single leg and plants Hawn fast. That was impressive. Closed guard from Hawn. Hawn has Chandler's elft arm trapped, but Chandler manages to land a right elbow to the forehead. Chandler with a forearm on the throat of Hawn, and then slams it into Hawn's face. Hawn's doing well to avoid a lot of damage with a really tight guard. Chandler's doing just enough to keep McCarthy at bay. moved to half-guard, and Chandler has Hawn's head into the cage now. Another short elbow. Hawn getting up, so Chandler takes his back and lands a dozen knees to the thigh. Hawn keepping his hand on the mat to avoid a shot to the head, so Chandler keeps throwing knees to the thigh. 30 knees later and Hawn gets his hand off the mat. Chandler has his back, and Hawn almost threw Chandler. Chandler kept his feet as they separate. Hawn missing with a couple of huge punches. Chandler's hands are down to his waist as the round ends. 10-9 Chandler all day.
ROUND TWO: Chandler's hands are way low yet again. Chandler shoots a double against the cage and lifts Hawn over his head and slams him down. Chandler lands in a wide open guard. Hawn was unable to do anything off of his back in the first, let's see how it goes here in the second. Hawn closes the guard. Four consecutive short left elbow from Chandler. Hawn's not doing anything off of his back. Chandler's unloading with the right, and now he has Hawn up against the cage. Hawn trying to roll out, and now he has Chandler on his back with one hook in. Hawn is on one knee with Chandler half-riding him. Chandler goes for a suplex and throws Hawn down. He has his back and works for the rear-naked choke. He's got it. This fight is over!
WINNER: Michael Chandler by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:07 of round 2.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***+) Chandler is a wizard at what he does. It didn't hurt that Hawn was completely impotent off his back. Hawn was an Olympic Judika, and Chandler took him down at will. Folks, Chandler is an elite, elite fighter. As for Hawn... If you can't do anything on your back, you can't succeed in MMA.
- Spike is willing to run a little long, so Petruzelli vs. Noe is coming up next.
FIGHT FOUR: SETH PETRUZELLI VS. JACOB NOE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND
ROUND ONE: Jason Herzog is the third man in the cage for the final fight of the night. Petruzelli grabs a single and puts Noe against the wall. Petruzelli drops levels, committing to the single. Petruzelli gives up on the leg but keeps Noe against the wall. Petruzelli backs off. Back to the middle of the cage now. Petruzelli took a thumb to the eye, but Herzog didn't see it and the fight continues with no pause. Side kick by Petruzelli. Noe's been throwing front kicks so far. Petruzelli shoots a single and gets it, but Noe reverses and takes his back. Noe is throwing bombs from full back mount. Petruzelli is blocking them, but he's not doing anything. Herzog stops the fight. Petruzelli's knee might have blown out, which would explain a lot about that finishing sequence.
WINNER Jacob Noe by TKO at 2:51 of round one.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) So, get ready for Zayats vs. Lawal in about 9 weeks. Petruzelli's knee is fine, by the way, so throw that theory out the window.
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