Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 101, plus Quick Hits
Oct 2, 2013 - 12:10:01 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 101, plus Quick Hits

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

On Spike TV last Friday night, Bellator 101 brought the quarterfinals in the lightweight tournament for season nine. Let's get to it.

GOOD: Saad Awad submits Martin Stapleton

Awad worked for, and got, the rear-naked choke to get the finish. He was just the better fighter here. Stapleton was very game, but Awad got the advantage early and didn't relinquish it as he got the submission late in the first round.

BAD: Will Brooks cuts up John Alessio

First, this gets a literal BAD because Alessio got two cuts during this fight, and both were bad ones. The first one he got early turned really bad in the third round. The fight itself was pretty dull, especially considering the blood. Brooks was just all over Alessio on his way to the decision win. Brooks will face Awad in the semifinals.

BAD: Ricardo Tirloni decisions Rich Clementi

It's probably unfair to label this fight BAD, but it sure as hell wasn't GOOD. This was just one of those frustrating to watch fights. You basically knew what was going to happen. Another dull fight.

GOOD: Alexander Sarnavskiy submits Marcus Davis

I only give this a GOOD because it was short. It wasn't competitive, but it was short. Sarnavskiy will face Tirloni in the semifinals.

UGLY: Joe Warren submits Nick Kirk

This gets a bigtime UGLY because the referee allowed Warren to hit Kirk in the back of the head about 27 times and still didn't deduct a point or anything. That was just horrible officiating. I don't think it would have made a huge difference, but still, you want to at least try to be fair.

*************

QUICK HITS

-Glover Teixeira will get the next title shot against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones. I disagree with this, and it seems as though the UFC had already planned for Glover to get the next shot even before Jones fought Alexander Gustafsson. This is where I'd make a joke about the UFC already printing the posters for Jones vs. Teixeira if it wasn't 2013. The reason I'd give Gustafsson the immediate rematch against Jones rather than Teixiera is that Glover hasn't beaten anyone in my eyes. I don't blame him, he can only fight who the UFC books, but he also almost got knocked out by Ryan Bader.

-Michael Bisping suffered an eye injury and had to withdraw from his bout with Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night 30. Lyoto Machida will replace Bisping against Munoz. Fight Night 30 takes place in Manchester, England. I feel bad for the fans who bought tickets to see their home country boy (Bisping) fight. It's unfortunate when these things happen. Munoz vs. Machida is an interesting fight, and I'm hoping for a good one.

-Yushin Okami was released by the UFC. I know he's boring, but it's still surprising that he'd be released given his ranking in the middleweight division. I don't think he'll be out of work long, though, as I would expect him to get snatched up pretty quickly by a competing organization.

-UFC on FOX 9 is this December and it's the greatest card on paper I've ever seen. Here's the rundown of the fights on the card:

Anthony Pettis defends his UFC Lightweight title vs. Josh Thomson
Urijah Faber vs. Michael McDonald
Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown
Chad Mendes vs. Nik Lentz
Scott Jorgensen vs. Ian McCall
Darren Uyenoyama vs. John Moraga
Edson Barboza vs. Danny Castillo
Joe Lauzon vs. Mac Danzig
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Court McGee

Now that's a card right there. The top four of Pettis-Thomson, Faber-McDonald, Condit-Brown, and Mendes-Lentz is spectacular. It's going to be an exciting night of fights.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank