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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 18
MAY 13, 2010
LIVE FROM MONROE, LOUISIANA
-It's Thursday night, and that means another edition of Bellator Fighting Championships on Fox Sports Net. For the first time here in the Twin Cities the broadcast is live on FSN North, after five straight weeks of pre-emptions, so it will be nice to catch the show before 10 PM local time this week.
-The opening highlight video breaks down the set up for tonight's featherweight semifinal matchups along with a highlight package for Hector Lombard, who is facing late replacement Jay Silva tonight.
-Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith open up the broadcast by breaking down the featherweight division and the fighters in tonight's semifinal bouts. Then they show Jay Silva and Hector Lombard warming up in the back.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT ONE: GEORGI KARAKHANYAN VS. JOE WARREN (FEATHERWEIGHT SEMIFINAL)
ROUND ONE: Warren engages first with a right, grabs a body lock and gets a nice slam right into side control. He stands and tries to get up and Karakhanyan wraps his leg up and goes for a knee bar. He then goes for a heel hook as Warren lands punches to the body. Warren got out and stepped over into Karakhanyan's guard. Karakhanyan went for an armbar and Warren circled and got out up to his feet. Karakhanyan got up but Warren shot and got another takedown and moved to half guard. Karakhanyan got him back to guard. Warren landed a couple of punches as Karakhanyan tried to control his posture from the bottom. He landed a couple of punches from the bottom and Warren responded with a few of his own. Warren landed more punches. Karakhanyan threw his legs up looking to set up a triangle but Warren did a nice job to get out of it. Warren steps up and Karakhanyan gets to his feet. He lands a kick to the body as Warren shoots in but Warren grabbed a leg and got anotehr takedown. Warren stepped back up. He ate an upkick and was blocked when he tried to drop for a punch. Karakhanyan threw his legs up again as Warren held him off and threw some punches. Warren continued to land punches from the top as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Warren. Karakhanyan's staying active on his back, but he can't stay in that position all fight and win. Warren's submission defense looks a lot better than in his quarterfinal bout, but it's early yet.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Warren lands an early right and pushes Karakhanyan to the cage in the clinch. He lands some knees to the body. Karakhanyan threw some knees himself and got separation. Karakhanyan tried to shoot but Warren held it off. Karakhanyan jumped up and went for a guillotine as Warren was going to try a slam but Warren popped his head out. He stayed on him, got his back standing and suplexed Karakhanyan. Beautiful suplex. He rolled with Karakhanyan and stayed on his back and landed some knees. Karakhanyan somersaulted through and got Warren into his guard. He went for an armbar and had it tight. Warren had a serious look of pain on his face, but held out and got free and right back onto Karakhanyan. He landed some knees to the body while on his back. He stayed on Karakhanyan against the cage. He landed another knee to the body and then added some more to the thighs. Karakhanyan rolled through again and got back to guard. Warren stayed active, throwing punches to the body and mixing it up with some shots to the head. He postured up and landed some more punches. He dropped back down and landed a few more before the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Warren. Karakhanyan had a near submission there and Warren looked to be in trouble, but he was positionally dominant the remainder of the round and landed some vicious knees to the legs and body throughout the round.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: Karakhanyan lands a leg kick to start the round. He comes forward, Warren picks him up and slams him hard. Karakhanyan threw his legs up but couldn't get anything and Warren broke right back into his guard. Karakhanyan moved to the cage and Warren stayed on him. He landed a few knees to the thigh and body. Karakhanyan moved to his feet and ate a knee. He got separation and held off a takedown attempt. Karakhanyan landed a big knee as Warren came in, but Warren was able to complete the takedown. Warren is cut from that knee. Karakhanyan works up the cage back to his feet. Warren stays on him with a body lock and he lands knees to the thighs and gets another takedown into half guard. Karakhanyan rolls and Warren takes his back. Karakhanyan tries to get up but Warren keeps the body lock and lands more knees against the cage. Karakhanyan gets up the cage again, but Warren never gives up his grip. Warren tries to shoot and Karakhanyan grabs a tight guillotine with a minute left. Blood is dripping from his head as he holds off and Karakhanyan just can't hold it tight enough and Warren pops out. Karakhanyan gets to his feet and he pushes forward with a big knee and then a flying knee as he falls to the ground at the end of the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Warren. It was a lot closer than the score will suggest, but Karakhanyan's offense just wasn't enough to steal that round because of the takedowns and knees from Warren.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Warren via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
POST FIGHT: Warren said "at least I got out of the submissions this time." He said he's here to stay and he's a finalist. He called himself the baddest man on the planet. He said he's happy to fight either Patricio Pitbull or Wilson Reis and he's looking forward to the next fight.
STAR RATING: (**+) There was a lot of top control wrestling out of Warren that slowed things down a bit, but there were some great near submissions to add drama to the fight along with some huge slams from Warren in that fight to make it really enjoyable despite the inevitable decision victory. Good start to the show.
[Commercial Break]
-They go to a cool segment where Jimmy Smith ran down the techniques behind some common submissions that are seen in MMA. For novice fans or casual fans just checking out the fights on FSN this is a really nice explanation of what's going on with those moves. Much better than anything Showtime and CBS have tried to put together that has been similar.
FIGHT TWO: WILSON REIS VS. PATRICIO "PITBULL" FREIRE (FEATHERWEIGHT SEMIFINAL)
ROUND ONE: Both fighters feel out the range of the other early. Reis misses a couple of leg kicks early and Freire walks him down. He lands a punch and grabs Reis' head in a clinch. Reis drops down and rolls out nicely. He comes forward and lands a kick after getting right back to his feet. Reis avoids a punch and lands a nice counter left. Pitbull lands a leg kick. He misses a big right and Reis takes him down and gets into his guard. Reis tries to pass to half guard but Pitbull holds him off. Reis continues to stay active but is having a real hard time passing the guard. He gets to half guard finally. Pitbull tried to get up and got Reis back to guard, and then he quickly kicked him off and reversed him. He dropped down with a right and Reis scrambled and grabbed a single leg when he got back to his feet. He pushed Pitbull back to the cage with a double leg attempt. Pitbull sprawled and put Reis on his butt and put him on his back. Reis again scrambled out beautifully and went for the double leg. He got a brief takedown and Pitbull popped up. They clinched as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-10. Both fighters were in a stalemate in that round, each scoring reversals and putting the other on their back without much damage done.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Pitbull walked forward and threw a high kick that was blocked. Reis got in close and they clinched in the center of the cage. Reis tried a foot sweep but couldn't get it. Pitbull bucked him off and then followed in with a flying knee that was caught. Reis grabbed for a single leg and pushed Pitbull to the cage. Pitbull landed two flying knees a la Urijah Faber with Reis holding onto the other leg. Reis lets go of the single and backs away. Pitbull walks Reis down and they trade body kicks. Pitbull lands a couple of punches. He lands a body kick and keeps walking Reis down. He lands a combination and Reis again tried for a takedown he could not complete. Reis continued to circle and Pitbull tagged him with a body kick. He lands an uppercut but not flush. He tries another flying knee that grazes Reis. Reis clinches and puts Pitbull's back to the cage but it gets turned around. Pitbull landed a knee up high and a few more to the legs. Reis is cut under his left eye. Reis backs off and Pitbull circles. Reis lands a leg kick and shoots with 30 seconds left. He almost completed it but Pitbull sprawled and pushed Reis to his back. The round ended with Pitbull landing a couple of kicks to the downed Reis.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Freire. He landed a punch of knees and punches in that round and stuffed every takedown attempt. If Reis was given the first we're even going to the third.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: Reis lands an early leg kick. A head butt hits Pitbull and he backs off hoping to get something from the ref. He doesn't and they touch gloves again. Reis gets in close and eats a combo from Pitbull. They clinch and Pitbull pulls off a belly-to-belly suplex into half guard and then he passes to side control. Reis gets it back to half guard and then bucks Pitbull off of him and stands back up. Reis misses a left and eats a counter right. He overshoots a punch and Pitbull takes his back standing briefly. Pitbull lands a body kick and a nice right as Reis comes in. Reis lands a kick to the leg. Pitbull holds off a takedown attempt and Reis rolls out to get back up to his feet. Reis tries to push forward but can't land anything. Pitbull lands a nice knee. He catches a body kick and holds the single leg. He picked Pitbull up and got the takedown with a minute left. He needs to do something quick. Pitbull had different ideas and got back up. Reis pulled guard with thirty seconds left. He lands a few punches, stands up and makes Reis stand. They engage and clinch and Pitbull holds off one more takedown attempt as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Freire. He again held off the takedowns for most of the round, landed more strikes and landed harder strikes. Good win against a very evenly matched opponent.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Freire via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
POST FIGHT: Freire said his plan was to go for the KO, but Reis is a tough fighter. Joe Warren then came in and said Freire's a great fighter and it will be a good win for him. Freire responded through his interpreter that everybody can talk, talk, talk but he wants to see him do it in the cage against him. We'll see if Warren can get out of Pitbull's submission attempts in the finals.
STAR RATING: (**) Not the most exciting fight because both fighters were so evenly matched they canceled each other out for much of the fight, but it was still a good bout of technical action between both guys. It was a good, evenly matched stalemate style of fight.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT THREE: HECTOR LOMBARD VS. JAY SILVA (190 lb. CATCHWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Jay Silva said tonight's going to be a good night for him and he hopes Lombard decides to stand and trade with him in this fight.
ROUND ONE: Lombard comes straight out and lands a huge combination and knocks Silva out cold. Wow. That didn't take long. Silva stands up and has no idea what happened and he's extremely upset. He was out cold and has nothing to complain about. It was a right to the chin and then a left hook to the other side that put him out. That's a six second KO.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Lombard via KO at :06 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Lombard said people need to be respecting him. He watched the replay and said it was beautiful. That it was. He predicted Jared Hess to win the tournament and said he's looking forward to a rematch. He thanked the Louisiana crowd and said he felt like he's from there.
STAR RATING: (***) It was only a six second fight, so it's hard to rate it up higher, but Bellator couldn't have asked for a better performance from their Middleweight Champion in this one. In what will be the biggest exposure he's gotten in the U.S. he destroyed a fighter that just went to decisions with Chris Leben and C.B. Dollaway in the UFC. Not that those two are indicative of top middleweight talent, but it's an apt look at how good Lombard is and should be an eye opening fight for people that haven't seen him before.
-Bjorn Rebney came cageside and said that's the Hector Lombard they want to see on TV here more. He commented on the featherweight semis as well. He talked about Roger Huerta's loss and how it proves the concept of the best moving on. He equated him to the "Butler" of the lightweight tournament.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT FOUR: CHARLIE RADER VS. CHRISTIAN FULGIUM (CATCHWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Rader lands a good right early. Fulgium landed a leg kick. Fulgium tripped but got back to his feet. Fulgium landed a nice right. Rader missed a punch but then took Fulgium down with a body lock and got right into half guard. Fulgium tried to hold control of his body and Rader tried to stay busy with short punches. He got in a few big elbows as he tried to trap an arm. Rader lands another short forearm.Rader lands a few hard punches and Fulgium rolls and gives up his back. Rader stays on him with some hard punches and Fulgium works up to his feet briefly. Rader pushes him back to the ground. Fulgium tried to grab for a kimura and Rader landed some big punches to the body. Fulgium let go and Rader rocked him with a left. He landed a bunch more punches to Fulgium on the ground and he looks out and the ref stops it. Nice win for Rader.
WINNER: Rader via KO at 3:27 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**+) Nice performance out of Rader in a bout between local guys. He had some good control on top and stayed on Fulgium to get him to the ground. The finish was nice and he poured it on once he landed that big left on the ground.
-That's another Bellator event in the books. With the featherweight finals now set, two of the tournaments are to the final round. Hector Lombard really showed that he should be fighting in the UFC. You can plug him in against any one of the UFC's top 10 middleweights at this point and it would be a fight I'd love to see.
We'll be back with live coverage this Saturday for Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery from St. Louis, but check back throughout tomorrow and this weekend for the fallout from this event, previews for Saturday's fights and more before next week's Bellator 19 event with the welterweight tournament semifinals.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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