...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
BELLATOR 68
MAY 11, 2012
LIVE FROM ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
-Bellator's sixth season featherweight tournament comes to a close tonight, as Marlon Sandro takes on Daniel Straus for the right to face Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran later this year. Join us for all the action on MTV2 tonight as it airs with our round by round event report!
-After a quick rundown of what's on tap for tonight, Jimmy Smith and Sean Wheelock send us to the video package for the first fight, a rematch of a Strikeforce bout between Waachiim Spiritwolf and Marius Zaromskis that ended quickly due to an eye poke.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT ONE: WAACHIIM SPIRITWOLF VS. MARIUS ZAROMSKIS (172 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Zaromskis took the center and drove Spiritwolf to the cage. He landed a few strikes and Spiritwolf popped away. He came in for a clinch and they jockeyed for position on the cage. Spiritwolf landed a couple of good knees to the body. They were separated and Dan Miragliotta had some stern words for Spiritwolf on the break. Zaromskis landed a couple of nice strikes and opened a cut over Spiritwolf's eye. Zaromskis went for the head kick, but Spiritwolf ducked under it and got a hold of Zaromski. He picked him up and slammed him, but Zaromskis got to his feet. Spiritwolf took his back standing, but Zaromskis grabbed his leg and tripped him up for a quick takedown. They got to their feet and Zaromskis landed a hard elbow. Spiritwolf dropped for another takedown. He scored it briefly, but Zaromskis got back to his feet. Spiritwolf stayed on him against the cage. They traded knees to the legs. Spiritwolf got one in to the body after a slowed section of action. Zaromskis turned him around and scored a brief takedown. They were separated with 10 seconds left. Spiritwolf landed a right at the bell.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Zaromskis. He did a lot more damage, and was just as effective in the clinch as Spiritwolf was.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Spiritwolf rushed in early with a short combo. They traded strikes. Zaromskis landed a big knee that rocked Spiritwolf after an exchange. Zaromskis missed the spinning back fist. He connected on a hard right. Spiritwolf landed a left. Zaromskis landed a solid left. Zaromskis connected on a couple more. He threw a head kick that went to high and Spiritwolf briefly got him down, but Zaromskis popped back up into the clinch. Spiritwolf landed a knee. Zaromskis landed a couple of hard knees. He connected to the head. He landed the head kick and tried to go in for the kill. Spiritwolf hurt him with a big counter. He tried to get out of trouble but Spiritwolf kept on him and dropped him. Zaromskis covered up and regained his bearings and tried to defend in guard. Zaromskis landed strikes from his back and Spiritwolf began bleeding profusely. Zaromskis fully recovered from a bad spot earlier in the round and defended well through the end of the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Spiritwolf. Zaromskis was well ahead through the first half of the round, but then he got overzealous in his attack and got cracked. Spiritwolf knocking him down and spending a couple minutes in his guard will give him that round overtime.
[Commercial Break]
-There was some confusion as they came back from break. Smith and Wheelock said the ringside doctor called a stop to the fight due to the cut. It didn't appear to be much at first, but when they got in close the cut on the inside of his eye was disgusting. Zaromskis is going to win after another disappointing finish to a fight between these two.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Zaromskis via TKO (doctor's stoppage due to cut) at 5:00 of the second round
-Spiritwolf was pissed, and perhaps rightfully so, as he was ready to keep going, but that cut was pretty nasty even if it wasn't bleeding at the moment.
STAR RATING: (n/a) Not even going to score that one. The second round was a sloppy, yet very fun round, with Zaromskis doing a lot of damage early before Spiritwolf rocked him and did damage on the ground. The stoppage is disappointing, but I can't argue with it too much. "King Mo" Lawal, who is cageside tonight, said on Twitter you could see Spiritwolf's skull. That type of cut will stop a fight every time.
[Commercial Break]
-Seth Petruzelli tweeted that he has not been cleared to fight tonight as scheduled. He said he's been ill the last week but hadn't said anything, and two doctors would not give him the go ahead, so his fight with fellow UFC vet Carmello Marrero is off.
FIGHT TWO: MARCIN HELD VS. DERRICK KENNINGTON (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Kennington knocked Held down early and dropped into his guard. Held got an omoplata, but Kennington smartly spun out and got back to his feet. Held came in and landed a strike. They traded punches. Held dove in for a takedown, then rolled to grab a leg. He moved from the knee to the heel hook and forced a quick tap. Solid win, but Held needs to consider a move down. Larger 155ers would eat him up on the feet. His ground game is impressive, but he's got a long way to go on the striking end of things.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Held via submission (heel hook) at 2:08 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**) He recovered well from the early knockdown, and ended with a slick heel hook. He was quick to get the tap once he got the hold locked on.
[Commercial Break]
-Jimmy Smith interviews Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Bjorn Rebney cageside following Lawal's signing on Wednesday to Bellator and TNA wrestling.
-Prefight video package airs for the season six bantamweight tournament semifinal. That fight is up after the break.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT THREE: TRAVIS MARX VS. MARCOS GALVAO (BANTAMWEIGHT TOURNEY SEMIFINAL)
ROUND ONE: Marx popped in with a quick two punch combo, then landed a nice inside leg kick. Galvao walked him down and jumped in with a knee, but Marx caught it and clinched. He landed a punch as he separated. Galvao briefly dropped Marx with a right, but Marx popped back to his feet. Galvao landed a few hard knees to the body. They separated again and Galvao moved forward. Marx got in with an overhand right. Galvao landed a hard knee to the body and a right as Marx grabbed a clinch. Marx landed some hard knees to the legs of Galvao. They separated again. Galvao missed a right. He connected on a left. He got in a kick that Marx reacted like was a low blow. The fight continued though. Galvao landed a couple of kicks. He landed a hard right. He hurt Marx against the cage with a short combo. Marx landed a nice right. Galvao landed a hard leg kick and walked Marx back. Galvao landed a hard right. He backed Marx up to the cage and again threw a knee, but Marx caught it and turned him around in the clinch. They traded knees in the clinch. Marx landed an inside kick. Galvao landed a hard leg kick. He got in one more to the body as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Galvao. Marx is keeping pace with him, but he's getting cracked with the harder strikes and is on the defensive right now.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Galvao moved forward early. He landed a kick and this time it did go low and Marx was given a moment to recover. Marx came right ahead quick on the restart, landed a few strikes and went for a takedown. Galvao stuffed him. They separated. Galvao landed a hard inside leg kick. Marx landed a low blow this time around. They started up again. Galvao threw a knee in close. He landed an inside leg kick. He slipped on a body kick but got right back up. Galvao landed another strike. They traded strikes. Galvao landed an inside leg kick and a right. Marx connected on a strike. They traded punches. Galvao landed another sequence of leg kicks. He landed a right. He landed a left as Marx jumped in. Galvao again landed the kick. He blocked a knee from Marx. Marx ducked in for a double leg. He took Galvao's back standing. He separated but his punch was blocked. Marx landed a body punch. Galvao landed a hard knee to the body and a leg kick. Marx landed a body punch, Galvao countered with a left. They traded strikes again. Galvao landed a leg kick and they clinched to end the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Galvao. Jimmy Smith's commentary may have you thinking otherwise right now, but Galvao's winning the exchanges and has done a lot more damage to the body and legs of Marx.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: Marx landed a hard strike early. Galvao pressed him to the cage and landed some strikes. After missing a right, Marx ducked down for a single leg. Galvao stuffed it easily. Galvao landed an inside leg kick. Marx threw a couple of his own. Galvao walked him down and landed a hard leg kick. He connected on a couple of punches. Galvao landed a left that had Marx briefly off balance. Galvao pressed in with a few strikes. Marx landed a couple of the body to get his back off the cage. Galvao landed a couple of strikes as Marx connected on a counter punch. They traded leg kicks again. Galvao kept Marx on the cage. Marx ducked under a punch and scored a takedown, but Galvao got right to his feet with Marx on his back, then turned into the clinch. Galvao landed short punches as Marx threw knees to his legs. They continued that for 20 seconds. Galvao landed a two punch combo. Marx landed a knee. Galvao continued moving forward and landed a hard knee and a few punches. Galvao landed another left as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Galvao. He was constantly pressing the pace of the fight. Marx finally scored a takedown, but it was for all of two seconds and he lost position almost immediately once Galvao popped back up. Should be Galvao moving on to the bantamweight final.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Galvao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**-) There just wasn't much to the fight. Neither fighter was ever really in danger, and Marx couldn't get it to the ground, so it was 15 minutes of slightly adequate kickboxing, which doesn't typically make for great viewing.
[Commercial Break]
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: DANIEL STRAUS VS. MARLON SANDRO (FEATHERWEIGHT TOURNEY FINALS)
ROUND ONE: Both fighters circled around each other to kick things off. Sandro landed an early leg kick. He missed a right and landed another leg kick. Straus delivered a vicious kick low and Sandro needed time to recover. That was a powerful kick that went right between Sandro's legs. Ouch. Sandro took the full five minutes to recover, but he's going to be hurting for a while. That was Gabe-Gonzaga-to-Chris-Tuchscherer-like on that low blow. As they restarted, they circled around each other again. Straus shot in and Sandro stuffed it. Sandro tried to get a trip but Straus wound up on top. Sandro worked up to his feet with Straus on his back. Sandro then pulled off a really nice trip. Straus had his back, though. Sandro scrambled back to his feet. Straus popped in with a nice two punch combo. He landed another strike and shot in. Sandro landed a few strikes to the head as he tried to get his foot loose. Straus took Sandro's back standing. He landed knees to the thigh of Sandro. Straus continued and dragged Sandro down briefly. Sandro tried to explode out. He avoided a suplex, but got dragged down as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Straus. The low blow likely helped him out in the round, but he was on the attack throughout and Sandro couldn't answer it.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Straus pressed in and threw an early high kick. Sandro landed a nice straight right. Straus landed a hard body kick. They both feinted with counters and Straus shot in. He almost had Sandro down, but Sandro got back to his feet. Sandro got separation. Straus was the aggressor, but the offense from both slowed way down. They each missed a few strikes. Straus connected on a quick jab. Straus went high with a kick that connected but Sandro took it. Straus landed a nice jab. Sandro shot in and immediately got stuff. They traded strikes in the center. They each missed a couple again. Straus threw a jumping knee. Sandro did the same and Straus ducked under and scored a brief takedown. Sandro popped up and then got separation. Straus landed a left. Sandro loaded up an uppercut but it didn't connect. Sandro tried to fake a jump in but was out of range, then missed a kick as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Straus. Neither did a lot that round, but Sandro did even less than Straus through the frame.
ROUND THREE: Straus was the fresher fighter to start the third. Sandro connected on a couple of strikes a minute in and grabbed a clinch. Sandro backed out. He landed a left as Straus walked him down. He missed a couple of punches. Straus partially landed a head kick, then shot in. Sandro held it off, then went for his own takedown. He took Straus' back standing. Sandro tried to set up a standing arm triangle. Straus did well defending it. Straus stayed calm and defended the hold. Sandro tried to trip Straus up. Straus stayed on his feet and Sandro kept on his back standing. Straus landed some elbows to the head and Sandro backed off. Straus countered a missed punch with a right. Straus got Sandro's back, then suplexed him. He got both hooks in and tried to look for the rear naked choke. He grabbed a chin lock to the bell. Good third round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Straus. Sandro was doing better in that round, but Straus then came back with a fury in the final minute.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Straus via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**) There were some good spots in that final round, but the first two didn't contain a ton of action, and were marred by the low blow. Still, Straus is now in line to fight the winner of the Pat Curran vs. Patricio "Pitbull" Freire.
-Thanks for joining me here tonight. Now on over to The Ultimate Fighter: Live report!
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
