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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
BELLATOR 107
NOVEMBER 8, 2013
LIVE FROM THACKERVILLE, OKLAHOMA
- Straight to the first fight. Can't complain about the pacing. At least, not yet...
FIGHT ONE: DEREK CAMPOS VS. MARTIN STAPLETON (157 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)
- Both lightweights missed weight. I hate when that happens. Stapleton has a two inch reach advantage on Campos.
ROUND ONE: Jason Herzog will referee this fight. Campos comes out throwing a couple very tight crisp left hooks. Campos' left hook is landing early. Campos gets a body lock takedown right in the middle of the Miller Lite logo. Straight to side control. Campos isn't doing anything with it yet. Stapleton decides to stand back up, and presses Campos into the fence. Stapleton lands a knee and they separate. Campos lands a leaping left hook. And another. Stapleton better keep his right hand higher. Capos lands a nice outside leg kick, and then just misses with another crisp left hook. Stapleton with a nice jab and outside leg kick. Stapleton lands a right uppercut, but slips while throwing it. Campos lands a hard right and comes in behind it. Campos gets Stapleton down and takes his back. He's looking for the rear naked choke with about a minute left to find it. Transitioning to an armbar before Stapleton can scoot out the backdoor. Campos is throwing elbows form the bottom. Stapleton gets his arm free and we're back to standing. Spinning backfist from Stapleton. 10-9 Campos
ROUND TWO: Campos lands a left hook and shoots a double right behind it. Stapleton is on his butt with his back on the fence. Stapleton gets back up, and they separate. Campos lands a nice counter left hook. Stapleton really needs to start circling, as he's a statue tonight. Campos lands a left hook to the body. It's so dead in the building that I think I can hear when the central air fans kick in. And I know I can hear individual conversations. From the upper deck. Half way through the round. Lots of missed punches. Campos comes in behind a missed uppercut and pushes Stapleton into the cage. Stapleton pushes Campos off of him. This fight is so dull that I have to tell you when they push each other now. Nice overhand right from Campos. Campos drops Stapleton with a counter right. He caught Stapleton coming in. Stapleton is on his back with Campos in his guard. Make that half-guard. No action. Stapleton is doing a good job keeping Campos chest to chest. Short elbow from Campos. Stapleton is trying to sit up and find a sweet. Nice left and right elbow from Campos to end the round of this dreadful fight. 20-18 Campos
ROUND THREE: Campos lands a left hook to start the round. Stapleton really has no footwork or head movement. It's not like Campos is doing anything complex to confuse Stapleton tonight. Stapleton is able to land his jab whenever he wants, but he's not throwing it often. Campos gets the takedown along the cage. Stapleton sits up. And stands up. Campos wriggles his way down to a single leg and forces Stapleton onto his butt. Somewhere along the way Campos got cut over his left eye. Campos turns STapleton off the fence and is in Stapleton's closed guard. Stapleton trying hard to twist and get free, but Campos isn't giving him any space. Nor is he giving even one perosn one reason to ever want to see him fight again. Campos is decent, but this fight is so boring and forever taking (#Archer). Stapleton gives up his back and Campos looks for the choke. Stapleton continues to turn and now he's mounted. And Campos still can't find any offense. A couple elbow from Campos make Stapleton try to roll, but Campos forces Stapleton back to his back. Stapleton rolls and Campos is on his back. Campos is finally punching away with ten seconds left. Proving there is a God, this fight is over. Proving there is a devil, this fight happened. 30-27 Campos
WINNER: Derek Campos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (*) The less said the better.
FIGHT TWO: MIKKEL PARLO VS. BRENNAN WARD (MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT FINALS)
- Ward has a two inch reach advantage and will be the bigger man in the cage, as Parlo curs very little weight to make 185 pounds. Keryr Hatley will be the referee.
ROUND ONE: Both guys come to the middle and trade combinations immediately. Ward shoots and gets stuffed, but lands a wild uppercut as Parlo gets back to his feet. Hatley warns Ward to keep his fingers in his fists. Parlo stuffs a takedown and puts Ward on the cage. Oh, goodie. Ward attempts a throw even with his back on the cage, but Parlo regains his position immediately. Trade of elbows from both fighters. Parlo has double underhooks and briefly gets Ward down with an upper body throw. War gets right back up, but is still stuck on the fence. Ward is trying to turn, and gets warned by Hatley to watch the eyes. Uppercut form Parlo and then they push apart. Back to the middle. Ward keeps pumping the jab, looing to set up something bigger. Mice left lead hook from Parlo. Parlo stuffs a shot and presses Ward into the cage. Somewhere in Russia, Alexander Shlemenko is unafraid. Knee to the body fro Ward. Ward lands a nice little flurry which forces Parlo to back off. Nice jab from Ward. Ward shoots from a mile out and, wait for it, gets put along the cage. Seriously, he shot from like five feet away. Ward's got a bloody nose. 10-9 Parlo This is so much worse than the first fight. Ward probably outlanded Parlo in that round, but they had no effect.
ROUND TWO: Ward ducks under a head kick which would have left a mark. Ward with a jab to the body. Ward catches Parlo coming in and drops him with a straight left. As Parlo gets up Ward lands about a dozen huge punches to the body. Those were brutal. Parlo gets out of there and puts his back on the cage. Ward unloads with half a dozen right hooks to the face and Hatley stops the fight. It's notable that Kerry Hatley stopped the fight even though Parlo was on his feet. It was a good stoppage, Parlo was done.
WINNER: Brennan Ward by TKO
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) As horribly dull as that first round was, the onslaught Ward unleashed in round two made up for it. Those right hands to the body were unreal. And the hooks that ended the fight were total kill shots. Parlo might not have liked the stoppage, but it was the right call. Now, that said, when Shlemenko opens at -450, it's a safe bet.
FIGHT THREE: JOE WARREN VS. TRAVIS MARX (BANTAMWEIGHT TOURNAMENT FINALS)
- If Joe Warren wins this Bantamweight half-tournament, he will be the second man to win a tournament in two different weight classes.
ROUND ONE: Jason Herzog will referee this bantamweight half-tournament fight. Warren eats a left hand in order to get a body lock, which leads to the takedown. Marx backs up to the fence, but Warren puts his weight on him and throws Marx back down to the canvas. Nice reversal from Marx and he gets up, landing a couple knees in the process. Back to the middle of the cage. Warren gets inside, picks Marx up, and throws him straight down. Marx scoots towards the cage and tries to sit up. Warren explodes and forces Marx back down. Half-guard, looking for side control. Warren is doign a masterful job of forcing Marx onto his back anytime he gets seated. Marx gets a warning from Herzog about grabbing the cage. Warren is in half-guard again. Marx is going with palm strikes to Warren's ear. Marx is sitting up again, but Warren goes heavy hips and forces Marx back down again. Knee to the body from Warren. Marx gets back to standing, but is still stuck on the fence. Marx fights off one trip, but not the second. Greco for the win! 10-9 Warren
ROUND TWO: Leaping left hook from Warren surprised Marx. Nice body kick by Warren on a retreating Marx. Body lock from Warren, and inevitable takedown. Warren sits up and drives with his head to keep Marx in his place. Marx gets to standing, but has Warren draped all over his back now. Marx is hunched over, can't get upright. Warren gets in front of Marx and lands a gigantic standing knee to the face of Marx. A couple more shots on the ground, and this fight is over.
WINNER: Joe Warren by TKO at 1:56 of round two.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) That was a beautiful knee. There's no bantamweight in the world who would've eaten that knee and not crumpled like Marx did. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Warren's performance.
FIGHT FOUR: CHEICK KONGO VS. PETER GRAHAM (HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT FINALS)
- Kongo comes in with a nine inch reach advantage. Graham took this fight on two week's notice, and only trained one full week for Kongo.
- NINE INCHES, MAN!
ROUND ONE: Kerry Hately has drawn the assignment for tonight's main event bout. Kongo staying on the outside, circling towards Graham's power side. good kick from Graham that Kongo tried to catch. Graham more aggressive in the early going. Kongo flicking out several jabs, trying to keep Graham away. Kongo comes in for a clinch and lands a knee before they break apart. Graham trying his best to walk down Kongo. Those jabs are getting home, but there's no power on them. He's showing a lot of respect for Graham's offensive abilities. Kongo lands a knee from the Thai plumb. Body kick from Kongo. Graham with a kick that Kongo says hit the cup. Hatley stops the fight, but we're back at it almost immediately. Kongo is turning it on upon the restart, ending a flurry with a good right hand... and a clinch. Graham reverses and puts Kongo on the fence. A couple of knees to the legs from Graham. Kongo pushes off the fence and Graham backs off. 10-9 Kongo That was kind of a nothing round, other than the flurry from Kongo after the restart.
ROUND TWO: Kongo gets inside on Graham and lands a series of right hands before getting a clinch in the middle of the cage. Graham's face is very red now, and is cut above the left eye. Kongo lands a big right and clinches. Graham turns and gets Kongo on the fence. Kongo with a knee to the body, and another. Graham lands a short elbow to separate. Nice jab from Kongo. And a right hook. And a clinch. nothing comes from the clinch. Kongo steps forward but eats a knee that had Kongo off balance. Hard right hand from Graham. And again Graham doesn't pursue Kongo. Graham looks tired. Kongo's coming forward much more this round, whereas in the first he was circling, trying to find range. Kongo grabs a plumb and lands a big knee to the body. Graham throws a punch as they separate, but there wasn't anything on it. Body lock from Kongo. Graham tried to take him down but failed to do so. Graham grabs the fence to avoid a takedown, and they push apart. Graham is wobbly. He looks like a stereotypical drunk guy in a cartoon. Kongo with a couple knees and pushes Graham onto the cage. Graham is totally gassed. Kongo gets the takedown. Then again, had he just walked away, Graham might have fallen down out of exhaustion. Graham looking to hang on, and there's the bell. 20-18 Kongo
ROUND THREE: Graham needs to fight coming forward, because he can't do anything against Kongo while going backwards. Kongo almost slips while throwing a leg kick. Kongo comes forward with a right to the body. Jab to the chest from Kongo. Push kick from Kongo. A couple of jabs. Graham is too tired to do much more than circle, but Kongo is being very patient lest he make a stoopid mistake. Triple jab. More like 8 jabs. All of which found a home. Graham lands a counter right. Graham comes forward and lands a stiff left and right, but Kongo gets Graham down and gets mount. Graham is in trouble. Big elbow to the cut of Graham. That cut is grotesque. Kongo has his back, which is probably for the best. Kongo can't get the figure four, and Graham turns to get on top. That was pathetic by Kongo. Big elbows from Graham, and a legal knee as Kongo gets to his feet. Graham looks like Steve Corino with olive oil in his hair. Kongo drops down for a double leg, and he gets it. Oh god, that cut is something out of Saw 4. Kongo's not doing much from half-guard. Thirty seconds left. Kongo with hard elbows to the ribs. It's over. Mercy killing.
WINNER: Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) That was an ugly fight.
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