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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
BELLATOR 101
SEPTEMBER 27, 2013
LIVE FROM PORTLAND, OREGON
- Tonight is the opening round of the lightweight tournament. The winner is rewarded with $100,000, but will also be punished by Michael Chandler. All in all, I'd rather lose the 100-grand and keep my brain cells.
- Tonight's main event will feature Joe Warren winning a decision over Nick Kirk.
FIGHT ONE: SAAD AWAD VS. MARTIN STAPLETON (LIGHTWEIGHT QUARTERFINALS)
- Awad enters the cage with a three inch reach advantage and a two inch height advantage. Now that I think about it, he'll leave the cage with those same height and reach advantages.
- Jason Herzog is the referee.
ROUND ONE: Stapleton briefly gets dropped early with a short right hand, but kept his wits and managed to push Awad into the cage. Stapleton drops down for a single leg and gets Awad down. Awad held a front facelock for a few seconds, but Stapleton wriggled out. Awad managed to get Stapleton into his full guard. Stapleton postures up, and Awad explodes and gets on top. Not much going on here as Stapleton has a body lock from the bottom. And as I say that Awad gets mount. Stapleton gives up his back. Stapleton is defending as well as can be expected, but after a minute or so in this position Awad is starting to land some hammerfists to the ear. Awad keeps trying to get an arm under the chin. Awad is cranking and torquing Stapleton's upper body, and Stapleton taps.
WINNER: Saad Awad by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:46 of round one.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) Nice performance by Awad. Not much else to say.
FIGHT TWO: JOHN ALESSIO VS. WILL BROOKS (LIGHTWEIGHT QUARTERFINALS)
- John Alessio is trying to avoid being the first person to ever go 0-5 in the UFC and then 0-1 in Bellator.
- John Alessio is the only person to go 0-5 in the UFC. #Bellator.
- Jason Herzog is the referee for this fight as well.
ROUND ONE: Brooks knocks Alessio off balance with a leg kick thrown after changing stances. He lands the same kick thirty seconds later. Nice head kick by Brooks. Alessio catches a stop in knee and takes brooks down, straight to side mount. Alessio lets Brooks get up. That's the type of mistake that leads one to go 0-5 in the UFC and get a prime Bellator spot. Back to the middle, Brooks lands a weird side kick. Brooks lands a right uppercut. Brooks cut Alessio with that one, his eye is going to be a mess in ten minutes time. Brooks puts Alessio into the cage. Alessio grabs a guillotine and tries to pull guard. Brooks pops out immediately. Brokks is on top, in full guard. He's doing very little with it. Alessio almost catches an omaplata, which leads to Brooks circling out of there. Brooks sheets a double and gets Alessio down. The round ends with Brooks in half-guard, doing nothing. 10-9 Brooks
ROUND TWO: Alessio eats a big kick to the ribs. Alessio shoots a double but gets rebuffed. He did manage to get Brooks to back straight backwards, however. Brooks is pressed into the cage.Brooks powers off the cage but keeps the clinch. Brooks throws Alessio down and scrambles to a good position. Alessio is on his back near the fence, with Brooks in half guard. Alessio wriggles free and we're back to the middle. Brooks tries for a lateral drop. Alessio again pulls guard with a guillotine that goes nowhere. Herzog stands them up. Alessio catches Brooks with a right hand, but it doesn't keep Brooks off of him, and Alessio gets taken down again. Brooks works to get mount, and he's there with about forty seconds remaining. Alessio gives up his back. Brooks won't have enough time to get the choke. 20-18 Brooks This is terrible. Alessio is very unlikely to get his first UFC win here.
ROUND THREE: Alessio reaches for a single leg, but gets tripped onto his back. Whoops! Brooks on top, in guard. Brooks stacks Alessio up and passes to side control. So easy. Alessio scrambles but can't get to his feet. Alessio did manage to turn to a butterfly guard, though. Brooks is climbing over the butterfly in an attempt to get to full mount. Alessio turtles up, and Brooks gets his back with one hook. Brooks rolls over to his back and has both hooks in. Alessio turns and gets back to his feet. Well done. Alessio has Brooks along the fence with two minutes left. Nice short knee to Alessio's head by Brooks. Two more knees from Brooks and Alessio drops to all fours. That cut is wide open now. He's a mess. It might be a new cut, but it's the same eye. Brooks is manhandling Alessio. Brooks is landing some heavy knees to the thigh with a minute left. Brooks takes the back of Alessio who is still on all fours. Brooks is content to smother his way to the end of the fight. I'm just content for this fight to be done. 10-8 Brooks. 30-26 For what it's worth, it was a second cut, on Alessio's left cheekbone. He's got two cuts, and both are ugly. John Alessio is a tough s.o.b.
WINNER: (*+) Will Brooks by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-25)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: Brooks managed to destroy Alessio without having any finishing skills whatsoever. When he becomes more instinctive, he'll be able to go for up to 4 minutes with Michael Chandler.
- Brooks vs. Awad will fight in the semifinals.
FIGHT THREE: RICH CLEMENTI VS. RICARDO TIrLONI (LIGHTWEIGHT QUARTERFINALS)
- Jason Herzog is back. Apparently Oregon only has one referee license in their budget
ROUND ONE: Tirloni lands a head kick but slips. Clementi is unable to take advantage. Clementi with a kick ot the ankle. Tirloni lands a short left hand over Clementi's right eye, and he's open. Clementi is dabbing at it and smiling at Tirloni. It's high enough on the forehead where it shouldn't be a problem, unless it gets bigger. tirloni is throwing left hooks now, aiming for the cut. Lots of blood on Clementi's face now. There hasn't been a ton of action, as both fighters are feeling each other out. Tirloni lands a left hook. Clementi is keeping his hands really low and is jawing a bit. That's... interesting. Clementi lands an awe kick to the top of the shoulder of Tirloni. Clementi's fighting cagy, but not landing with much so far. One minute left. 10-9 Tirloni
ROUND TWO: Clementi's corner did a good job with that cut in between rounds. Clementi throws several of those low ankle kicks. Clementi continues to circle with his hands low, and Tirloni catches him with a left. There's another, and the second one re-opened the cut. Clementi misses a spinning backfist by about a yard. Tirloni misses with a right head kick, but as Clementi came in behind it he ate another left hook. Clementi telegraphs a side kick, and missed by a mile. Clementi tries to clinch, but Tirloni got out of there in a hurry. And the same sequence yet again. Clementi is very active, but not landing very much. Tirloni to the body. Nice. Clementi is really baiting Tirloni by keeping his hands so low. He's leaving his chin out there as well. Tirloni loads up on an uppercut that barely missed. Clementi with a right hook. Nice straight left there as well. 20-18 Tirloni
ROUND THREE: Clementi lands a couple of low kicks early on. Tirloni continuing t come straight forward like a Terminator no matter what Clementi does with angles and circling. Spinning back fist by Clementi lands flush. Follows up with a side kick to the body. tirloni rushes forward with a straight kick into the clinch on the cage. Clementi turns and has Tirloni on the fence. Tirloni with an outside trip and he lands in full guard. Lots of right hands to the ribs of Clementi. 2:30 left in the fight. Clementi has mission control. Tirloni pops out and lands a couple big rights before getting back into full guard again. Hammerfists from Tirloni. Clementi has a hold of Tirloni's right hand, as if he's trying to get a stalemate standup. Clementi needs a hail mary submission. 1:15 remains. Tirloi gets his right leg caught while posturing up and has to dive back in. Clementi reverses and gets the fight back to the feet. Clementi drops down for a single leg, because that will win the fight. Good call. Tirloni retreats and we're back to the middle. Apparently thinks being cagy and wily is enough to win a fight. It isn't. 30-27 Tirloni
WINNER: Ricardo Tirloni by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) I didn't see a 10-8 there, but whatever. The fight was not entertaining in the least, but I've seen far, far worse.
FIGHT FOUR: MARCUS DAVIS VS. ALEXANDER "TIGER" SARNAVSKIY (LIGHTWEIGHT QUARTERFINALS)
- Hey look! It's Jason Herzog again!
ROUND ONE: Davis comes out southpaw and gets dropped with a straight right. Davis is hurt. Sarnasvkiy pounces and takes his back. He's got a body triangle. He's landing power left hands and now big rights. Davis is doomed. Tiger's looking for the choke now. He lets go of the choke and starts throwing punches to the face again. Davis is bleeding from the nose. Tiger has the choke in now, and Davis taps. This fight never should have been made.
WINNER: Alexander Sarnavskiy by submission (rear naked choke) in round one.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (0) Look, it was Marcus Davis. He's been a corpse since UFC 118, and anyone who signs him is doing him and the sport a disservice. What did we learn from Sarnavskiy here? Absolutely nothing. He's still going to be a big favorite over Ricardo Tirloni, but I don't say that because of what he did to Marcus Davis tonight.
- Spike shows highlights of the Travis Marx vs. Brandon Bender fight. Marz won in the second round, and will face the winner of the Joe Warren vs. Nick Kirk fight.
FIGHT FIVE: JOE WARREN VS. NICK KIRK (BANTAMWEIGHT 4-MAN TRAVESHAMOCKERY OF A TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND)
- Nick Kirk is 5'4" and has a 63 inch reach. Gee, I wonder why Sam and Bjorn chose him to fight their posterboy? Not that it matters, as Dantas is going to murder Joe Warren, assuming Warren gets past Travis Marx. This matchmaking is so damned transparent. And in a 4-man? Why I ought to...
- In a major surprise, Jason Herzog is officiating this fight.
ROUND ONE: Kirk is catching Warren with jabs every time Warren comes in. Warren shoots and gets stuffed. Warren grabs Kirk and puts him in the fence. Nice knee from Warren. Kirk circles away, but when he turned his back Warren grabbed him and threw him down. Nice scramble from Kirk and he gets free. Nice jump knee by Warren. Both guys throwing wildly and Warren lands another jump knee. This is really sloppy stuff, but rather entertaining. Kirk lands a left hook as Warren comes in. I don't think Warren has any idea how to fight with a reach advantage. Double leg from Warren and Kirk is down. Half-guard. Kirk is using the cage to get back up. Warren responds by punching the hell out of the back of Kirk's head. THAT WILL TEACH HIM! Herzog tells him to watch the back of the head. He was watching it; how else could he have punched it so frequently? Nice straight left from Kirk. Warren responds by ducking low and shooting a double. Half-guard. Herzog warns Warren yet again about back of the head. Now Herzog tells him, and I QUOTE, "Aim for the ear. Aim for the ear." Then he says EAR six more times. I didn't know Warren was allowed a coach in the cage. Then Herzog warns him AGAIN to not punch the back of the head. This is outrageous. 10-9 Warren
ROUND TWO: Jason Herzog was COACHING Joe Warren DURING THE ROUND. EITHER TAKE THE POINT OR SHUT UP! Anyhow... Warren shoots a single and gets it. Warren gave a nice little knee to Kirk's face when Kirk was down. Coach Herzog conveniently didn't see it. Closed half-guard for Warren. Warren trying to get to full mount, but Kirk's defending well. Warren's doing absolutely nothing but failing to pass. And as I say that... Crucifix. Kirk tries to escape, and Warren's looking for an armbar now. He's got an inverted triangle and an armbar. This is ugly for Nick Kirk, but Kirk turns towards the choke. Warren adjusts and wrenches the arm. It's not straight, but it's twisted at a bad angle. Kirk taps to the armbar.
WINNER: Joe Warren by submission (inverted armbar) at 3:03 of the second round.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**+) Ethical issues aside, that was an entertaining fight. Kirk was winging it, with absolutely no technique, but winging it nonetheless. Warren showed, I don't want to say impreoved standup, but certainly showed some standup techniques. I suppose that's improvement. What is encouraging, other than having everyone who signs his check rooting for him and booking for him is the fact that he learned how to finish a fight.
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