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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
BELLATOR 88
FEBRUARY 7, 2012
LIVE FROM DULUTH, GEORGIA
Rich is out of commission tonight, so I've got you covered for tonight's Featherweight Quarterfinals and the Middleweight Title bout between Alexander Shlemenko and Maiquel Falcao. Join me at the top of the hour!
-We move right to fights tonight on the broadcast, with Jimmy Smith and Sean Wheelock sending right to Genair Da Silva vs. Popo Bezzera.
FIGHT ONE: GENAIR DA SILVA VS. POPO BEZERRA (FEATHERWEIGHT QUARTERFINAL)
ROUND ONE: After some early exchanges, Bezerra landed a big strike that hurt Da Silva. He used it to pounce on his back, but Da Silva got to his feet and tried to hold him off. Da Silva escaped and wound up on top. Bezerra attacked for an arm, but ate a few hammerfists. He went for the arm again, this time flipping him over and securing the armbar. Da Silva was forced to tap.
WINNER: Bezerra via submission (armbar) at 1:40 of the first round
STAR RATING: (***) That was slick as all hell from Bezerra. He hurt Da Silva with that jab early, and though he lost position on the ground, he turned it right back in his favor with a nice attack from his back.
FIGHT TWO: MIKE RICHMAN VS. MITCH JACKSON (FEATHERWEIGHT QUARTERFINAL)
-Richman and Jackson are both from my neck of the woods, and they don't like each other very much, adding a little more to this one for MMA fans in Minnesota.
ROUND ONE: Richman moved forward early, with Jackson throwing a few short hooks. Jackson shot in and Richman stuffed it. He landed a knee and got separation. Jackson landed a hard right and a kick to the leg. Richman rocked Jackson with a hook but Jackson popped back up. He landed the hook again. He threw an uppercut and Jackson shot in. Richman was cut under his right eye. He landed a hard knee to the body. He dropped Jackson again with a straight left. Jackson stood again. Richman scored a third knockdown and closed guard as Richman dropped down on him. Richman threw a few strikes. Jackson tried to throw some from his back. They were finally stood up and Richman moved back ahead. He landed another nice combo and stuffed a takedown attempt. He landed a straight right. He blocked a head kick. He landed the jab. Jackson landed a jab. Richman then dropped him with a head kick and landed a few strikes. It should have been done there, but Dan Miragliotta made him land a bunch more strikes before he finally stepped in. That was the fourth knockdown of the round. It needed to be stopped much, much sooner.
WINNER: Richman via TKO at 4:57 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**+) Great performance from Richman against a rival in the state of Minnesota whom he had little respect for. He absolutely destroyed him, and Dan Miragliotta was terrible tonight. That stoppage came far too late, just unbelievably late. It wasn't as if the head kick was the first damaging blow. He knocked him down three times before that. The referee needs to protect fighters in situations like that, and he absolutely failed to do so.
-TNA's Dixie Carter is brought on to announce new dates for TNA's Impact Wrestling as they hit the road.
FIGHT THREE: MARLON SANDRO VS. AKOP STEPANYAN (FEATHERWEIGHT QUARTERFINAL)
ROUND ONE: Sandro threw a leg kick early as Stepanyan tried to press him back. Sandro half-heartedly shot in but missed the leg. Stepanyan threw a spinning head kick that Sandro barely ducked under. Sandro caught a kick. Stepanyan held off the takedown attempt even as Sandro lifted him up. He used the cage briefly to hold off another attempt and got separation. Sandro caught another kick but let the leg go. Stepanyan landed a hard spinning kick to the body. Sandro landed a hard straight right. Stepanyan again threw a spinning kick that was partially blocked. He jumped up with a knee. He landed a kick to the body. Sandro missed a couple punches as he tried to shoot in again. Stepanyan again threw a spinning kick but it missed. He landed a hard kick and a punch right after it. Sandro shot in late and scored a slam with ten seconds left in the round. Stepanyan held him in guard to the end of the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Stepanyan. Sandro had the takedown, but Stepanyan had more offense in that round overall.
ROUND TWO: Stepanyan continued moving forward and tried to throw spinning attacks. He held off a takedown. He connected on the spinning kick to Sandro's head and had him hurt. He landed some strikes and had Sandro wobbly and swinging wildly before clinching. Stepanyan wound up on top in a nice throw. He stood up after a short time. He landed a body kick as they got back to action. He avoided a left from Sandro. Stepanyan went back up top with a kick. Stepanyan landed a hard kick to the body. Stepanyan threw the kick high a little while later but it was blocked. He landed another spinning kick to the body. Sandro tried to shoot a couple of times but Stepanyan just side stepped. He landed a body kick. Stepanyan connected on a nice right. Sandro grabbed a single leg again and got a body lock. He rolled for a leg as the round came to an end and the horn sounded.
Penick's Scorecard: 9-9. He had Sandro hurt pretty badly there, but Sandro survived. Still, it was clearly his round. Edit: A point was deducted from Stepanyan at the beginning of the next round.
ROUND THREE: Stepanyan was given a point deduction at the start of the round. Sandro scored a takedown. Stepanyan held onto a head lock with Sandro in his half guard. Still shocked by the point deduction in that spot. They were stood up. Stepanyan missed the spinning kick and got taken down again. Sandro landed a few punches as Stepanyan tried to just hold control of him. Sandro tried to stay busy as Stepanyan held onto him. Sandro lifted him up and slammed him on his back a few times. Sandro drove him to the cage and rode out the round on top. Apparently there is an overtime round in case of a draw.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Sandro. Stepanyan allowed himself to be stuck on the ground for most of that round, and with the point deduction could either lose this fight or force a fourth round.
WINNER: Sandro via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27)
STAR RATING: (**) I'm not a fan of that decision. It should have gone to a fourth round even with the point deduction, because Sandro didn't do much in the first round save for the takedown with 20 seconds left. I don't have any issue with the point deduction, though (and it wouldn't have affected the decision anyway), but the timing was certainly off on it from the ref.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: ALEXANDER SHLEMENKO VS. MAIQUEL FALCAO (MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
ROUND ONE: Falcao came straight out and they wasted no time engaging. Shlemenko broke free from a clinch. He landed a kick and then a nice body strike. He got in another one. Falcao tried to clinch and got in a knee. Shlemenko missed a spinning backlist and Falcao got a body lock. He briefly took Shlemenko down, then landed a knee to the thigh against the cage. He landed another with a few strikes before Shlemenko turned himself around. Shlemenko landed a couple of strikes and they each swung wildly. Shlemenko scored a trip and wound up on top hallway through the round. They were stood up quick as Falcao held tight guard. Shlemenko pressed in and landed a spinning back kick to the body. Shlemenko landed a couple of punches. Falcao landed a body kick. Shlemenko missed a few strikes. Falcao drove in with a clinch again and got a body lock. He tried to throw Shlemenko but was put on his back before popping right up. Shlemenko landed a knee to the gut. Falcao landed a couple of short strikes. They traded knees. Shlemenko got free. He pressed in with a spinning strike that missed and got the clinch. He landed an elbow and a knee against the cage before backing out.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Falcao. Was more aggressive, landed more offensively there.
ROUND TWO: Shlemenko landed a few strikes in the opening seconds of the round. Falcao got in with a short combo. Shlemenko landed a hard left, and Falcao fired a combo. Shlemenko landed a body punch. He missed a spinning kick and got his back put to the cage in a clinch. Shlemenko landed a knee. He got separation. Falcao landed a kick. Falcao landed a nice right. He landed a flurry of strikes but Shlemenko countered. He got a clinch and landed some nice knees. He landed a brutal body shot on the cage and connected on a few more. Falcao went down from a body shot. He landed another shot to the body and Falcao grimaced, leaving his face unprotected as Shlemenko landed two strikes to knock him out cold. Brutal finish.
WINNER: Shlemenko via KO at 2:18 of the second round
STAR RATING: (**+) It was sloppy as hell until the last minute, when Shlemenko started scoring with well placed strikes to the body. He had Falcao hurting and wanting out, Falcao dropped, and when he took another shot to the body he was done. His eyes closed and he never saw the finishing punch coming. That was brutal, and Shlemenko now has gold around his waist with Hector Lombard out of the organization.
-Shlemenko essentially cut a barely sensible, broken English promo, that was nevertheless awesome.
-The final quarterfinal bout in the featherweight tournament, won by Frodo Khasbulaev on the prelims which streamed on MMATorch, makes the broadcast to close out the show.
Thanks for joining me tonight, we'll be back with live coverage next week for Bellator 89, as well as UFC on Fuel TV 7 in London.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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