Bellator 13
Bellator Fighting Championships
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
April 8, 2010
Fox Sports South
Tonight is the debut of Season Two of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Tonight we will see fights from both the Featherweight and Lightweight divisions. Bellator is an interesting promotion as they are running 8-fighter tournaments in 4 different weight divisions (featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight) this year. The biggest names tonight are former UFC fighter Roger Huerta and up and coming Featherweight Joe Warren. These tournaments will run from April 8-June 24. The tournament champions will win $100,000 and the right to fight for the Bellator World Championship in their weight division. Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith are the announcers for the show. The Bellator fights will be three five minute rounds with no elbows to the head and no kicking or kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
Featherweight Quarterfinal Fight- Georgi Karakhanyan (12-1-1) vs. Bao Quach (17-9-1)
R1- Quach got Georgi down early with a push and jumped on top of him but Georgi got back to his feet. Georgi tried to unload on Quach but didn't look like he hit anything too damaging. Both guys really going after it. Georgi landed a flying knee but Quach pulled guard with a guillotine attempt and then dropped that and attempted to take Georgi's back. Georgi hit a devastating knee on Quach and Quach just slumped to the mat and this one is finished. Great opening fight for Bellator!
Winner: Georgi Karakhanyan by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:05
Featherweight Quarterfinal Fight- Joe Warren (2-1) vs. Eric Marriott (17-2)
Marriott has won 9 consecutive fights. Warren only has 3 fights but one was a victory over Kid Yamamoto and his only loss was to current DREAM champion Bibiano Fernandes.
R1- Warren immediately went for and completed a take down and held Marriott down for the first two minutes of the fight. Warren got a take down slam with about two minutes left in the round. Marriott tried to get an arm bar but Warren picked him up and slammed him onto his back to break the hold. Marriott tried for a triangle and clamped it in pretty good but he couldn't finish as time ran out and the hold became unhooked. Really close round. Even though Warren dominated, Marriott came closer to finish the fight so I've got him 10-9.
R2- Warren got a take down in the first thirty seconds of the round. Warren stayed on top and briefly went for a choke with two minutes left in the round but quickly abandoned the submission. Warren easily took this round as he controlled the entire round. I've got it 19-19 going into the final frame.
R3- Warren again quickly started the round with a take down. Marriott tried another arm bar half way through the round and Warren slammed him down quickly again. Warren just grinded out a win in this fight. Warren wins on my score card 29-28.
Judges score cards: 30-27 on all three score cards
Winner: Joe Warren by Decision (Unanimous)
Mickey Rourke and Jeremy Shockey are in the audience and are being interviewed next to a bunch of empty seats. Jeremy looks like he's loaded.
Lightweight Quarterfinal Fight- Roger Huerta (20-3-1) vs. Chad Hinton (6-0)
Hinton is a 38 year old fighter who first fought at the age of 35.
R1- Lots of clinching against the cage early in the fight. Hinton missed a kick and Huerta hit a push kick and jumped on top of Hinton but couldn’t do anything with him. Hinton caught Huerta in a clinch and landed some knees. Huerta hit some good solid punches to escape the clinch and Hinton looked momentarily stunned. Hinton shot in and got a take down but didn’t do anything with hit and Huerta quickly got back to his feet. Huerta landed a couple of good shots and Hinton got another take down. Hinton tried to take Huerta’s back and went for a choke but didn’t have good position and Huerta flipped him over and started landing some Ground and Pound. Good and surprisingly even first round.
R2- Hinton tried a leg kick and hit it but without anything behind it. Then both guys slugged it out wildly. Huerta landed and got a take down. Huerta landed some good strikes from the top. Hinton looks like he’s gassed out and Huerta is landing shots and controlling this round. Huerta clearly won this round and he be able to finish Hinton in the final round.
R3- Huerta grabbed Hinton’s leg and then landed a couple punches. Hinton grabbed Huerta’s back and Huerta did a crazy somersault to the ground to escape and take top position. Huerta grabbed a knee bar and Hinton tapped out.
Winner: Roger Huerta by Submission (Knee Bar) R3 0:56
Lightweight Quarterfinal Final- Joe Duarte (5-1) vs. Carey Vanier (7-2)
Duarte found out last week that he was taking this fight so he’s taking it on 5 days notice. They also mention he cut 15 pounds in 48 hours.
R1- Vanier got a take down about two minutes into the round. Duarte got up but was taken down again with a minute and a half left in the round. Vanier 10-9, not much damage done by either fighter in the first round.
R2- Not a lot of action in the beginning of this round. Duarte briefly got a take down but Vanier immediately got back up. Vanier landed some punches to the gut against the cage and Duarte answered with a knee. Vanier got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Duarte went for a kimura from the bottom but let it go right before the bell as he couldn’t get leverage on it. That round was a lot closer but I’ve got Vanier 20-18.
R3- Vanier landed a good combination to start the round and then quickly got a take down. Vanier landing some good shots from the top. Vanier landing good shots to the head of Duarte. Duarte tried to grab a guillotine but couldn’t hold it as Vanier slipped out. Vanier had position on Duarte’s back and landed a bunch of punches to the side of Duarte’s head and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Carey Vanier by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:14
Fight of the Night: Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Bao Quach
Showing posts with label Bao Quach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bao Quach. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Strikeforce Challengers Series 5/15/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce Challengers Series 5/15/09
Fresno, California
This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime but the first in the “Strikeforce Challengers” series. This show will feature more up and coming fighters (sprinkled with some experienced fighters) who are looking to move up to the bigger Strikeforce shows. Mauro Ranallo is joined by Stephen Quadros. The third member of the broadcast crew is Pat Miletich. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Featherweight Fight- Bao Quach (15-9-1) vs. Tito Jones (6-2)
Quach is 9-1 in his last 10 fights. Quach is a Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu fighter. Quach has fought a high level of competition such as Waggney Fabiano and has a draw against Sengoku Featherweight Hiroki Hatsu. Tito is a wrestler and boxer and is working with Urijah Faber (Faber is in his corner for the fight). Tito is 4-0 as a Featherweight. Jones has a 3” height advantage but everything else is virtually identical. This should be a good opener.
R1- Not much action in the first half of the round as both guys are really feeling each other out and being very tentative. Tito hit 3 good hooks but couldn’t follow it up with anything. They clinched and exchanged knees. Not a lot of action, Bao hit some good leg kicks so probably took the first round just based on landing more strikes. Quadros also says that he gave round one to Bao.
R2- This round is a continuation of round one with slow action and Bao landing leg kicks. Bao just kept landing leg kicks as he circled Tito. Another blah round that had some boo birds from the fans. I’ve got Bao up 20-18 so far in this fight. The leg kicks from Bao look like they are taking their toll on Tito.
R3- Tito needs to finish the fight before this round ends if he wants to get a win. Tito hit a good right hand and then came in and hit another right hand and he jumped on top of Bao but they got back to the feet. Tito is giving Bao too much time to gather his senses. Tito hits a strong right and floors Bao and draws blood but Bao gets back to his feet and there is not much action over the next several minutes. Tito put up a great first half of the round but didn’t finish with authority. Bao won the first two rounds, Tito won round three by a wide margin. The only question is whether Tito can get enough 10-8’s to make this a draw. I think Bao wins this one by decision. This was unfortunate because Tito looks like he has some talent he just didn’t put it together tonight.
Judges score cards say: all score cards 29-28 in favor of Bao Quach
Winner: Bao Quach by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Anthony Ruiz (21-12) vs. Aaron Rosa (11-2)
Rosa is a 25 year old Muay Thai and BJJ fighter. Pete Spratt is in Rosa’s corner for the fight. Anthony Ruiz is a 31 year old wrestler and Muay Thai fighter. Rosa has a 3” height advantage but Ruiz has a 3” reach advantage. I’ve seen 3 Ruiz fights. Two were really boring fights and the other was a pretty boring ref stoppage due to a cut (of course Bobby Southworth was in two of these fights so it could have been his fault). I’m expecting this to go to the time limit.
R1- They threw some punches early before Ruiz clinched and went for a take down. Ruiz hit a couple of good shots out of the clinch but Rosa responded with a couple of his own until Ruiz clinched again. Rosa got a double leg and got a slam into full guard. Ruiz rolled to his back. Rosa went for the Rear Naked Choke as he also had him locked in a body triangle and it looked like Ruiz passed out and the ref stopped the fight. Good showing by Rosa and by far the best fight I’ve seen Ruiz in.
Winner: Aaron Rosa by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:29
Heavyweight Fight- Lavar Johnson (11-3) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (4-2)
Carl is a 25 year old wrestler/fighter. The only time I’ve seen Carl fight was on the ShoXC Elite Challengers show from 9/26/08 where he fell to Shane Del Rosario by TKO early in the second round. Carl has scored a KO in all of his victories. Lavar is a 31 year old Muay Thai fighter. Lavar has a 3” height and 2.5” reach advantage. Lavar has scored a KO in all of his victories but one. I think we are going to see this fight finished before the time limit.
R1- Wow, this was a shocking fight. Carl went in low for a take down and got caught by an uppercut and KTFO. That was unreal. This one was over before it started.
Winner: Lavar Johnson by KO R1 0:18
A commercial is shown for the next Strikeforce show on June 6th featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields. They also hype Rafael Feijao. They cut to Mauro Ranallo who has Scott Smith by his side. Smith will fight Nick Diaz on this show. Lawler/Shields and Smith/Diaz makes for a good night of fights in my book.
“Train hard, I’m ready” – Scott Smith
Women’s Bantamweight Fight- 135 lbs- Sarah Kaufman (8-0) vs. Miesha Tate (6-1)
This fight will be three, three minute rounds. Miesha is a 22 year old submission wrestler. Sarah is a 23 year old Muay Thai and BJJ fighter. Sarah took this fight on short notice due to Kim Couture dropping out. Sarah has finished all of her fights, she is 8-0 with 8 KOs. Miesha Tate had Brian Caraway (her boyfriend) in her corner (he’s a Strikeforce fighter that scored a win on the under card of the Thomson/Melendez fight from last year).
R1- Both women land some good shots early. Tate looks like she got in a good shot or two on Sarah’s eye but Sarah seems to be getting in the better shots overall. Tate got a take down with 20 seconds left in the round so she can rest. Sarah takes the first round.
R2- Tate was able to get an early take down in this round. Somebody is cut and it looks like its Tate. Tate takes this round 10-9 and evens the score 19-19 even though she busted her nose open in that round.
R3- Tate kept going for take downs but Sarah kept denying her. Kaufman landed some Ground and Pound from a weird tradition and took this round. Kaufman wins 29-28 on my score card.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards in favor of Kaufman
Winner: Sarah Kaufman by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Billy Evangelista (9-0) vs. Mike Aina (11-6-1)
Both guys came in a couple of pounds overweight and have agreed to the fight at a catchweight of 157 pounds. Boo! Aina is a 28 year old Kick Boxer and Jiu Jitsu fighter. Aina lost a controversial split decision to Nick Diaz in Elite XC. On the flip side Evanglista won a controversial decision over Nam Phan in Strikeforce last year. Evangelista is a 28 year old Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu fighter who is fighting in his hometown tonight. Aina has a 3” reach advantage in this fight. Aina has 6 losses but has never been knocked out or submitted. Aina trains under BJ Penn in Hawaii.
R1- Pretty even fight for the first several minutes. Evangelista got a take down with around a minute and a half left in the round but Aina popped right back up. This was a close round, they ended in a clinch where Evangelista was more active. I think Evangelista probably took this 10-9. Quadros says he gave the round to Aina due to a combo he threw in the middle of the round.
R2- Evangelista got a take down about mid-way through the round and got some shots in on Aina. Evangelista hit Aina with a knee to what looked like the shoulder as Aina had one knee on the ground. On the re-play it clearly shows that the knee hit Aina in the shoulder and Aina is pointing to his jaw. Maybe the knee knocked his jaw out of place but it definitely didn’t land on his jaw. Aina cannot continue so he is going to be awarded the victory by DQ. This is a shame for Evangelista as he looked like he was on his way to a victory but you can’t throw a knee in Strikeforce (or a lot of companies) when your opponent is downed.
Interesting that they ring announcer specifically said that Evangelista was DQ’d for a knee to the head of a downed opponent when the knee clearly did not hit his head. Post-fight interview Aina said the strike hit him on the jaw. This looks to me like Aina is pulling a Cro Cop (he was getting dominated by Alistair Overeem and bowed out due to an illegal strike and said he couldn’t continue) and looking for a way out of a fight that he didn’t think he was going to win but maybe the strike to the shoulder did affect his jaw.
Dean says he stopped the fight for the knee to the head and the doctor thinks Aina broke his jaw. Disappointing Main Event.
Winner: Mike Aina by DQ (Knee to the head) R2 3:40
Fresno, California
This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime but the first in the “Strikeforce Challengers” series. This show will feature more up and coming fighters (sprinkled with some experienced fighters) who are looking to move up to the bigger Strikeforce shows. Mauro Ranallo is joined by Stephen Quadros. The third member of the broadcast crew is Pat Miletich. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Featherweight Fight- Bao Quach (15-9-1) vs. Tito Jones (6-2)
Quach is 9-1 in his last 10 fights. Quach is a Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu fighter. Quach has fought a high level of competition such as Waggney Fabiano and has a draw against Sengoku Featherweight Hiroki Hatsu. Tito is a wrestler and boxer and is working with Urijah Faber (Faber is in his corner for the fight). Tito is 4-0 as a Featherweight. Jones has a 3” height advantage but everything else is virtually identical. This should be a good opener.
R1- Not much action in the first half of the round as both guys are really feeling each other out and being very tentative. Tito hit 3 good hooks but couldn’t follow it up with anything. They clinched and exchanged knees. Not a lot of action, Bao hit some good leg kicks so probably took the first round just based on landing more strikes. Quadros also says that he gave round one to Bao.
R2- This round is a continuation of round one with slow action and Bao landing leg kicks. Bao just kept landing leg kicks as he circled Tito. Another blah round that had some boo birds from the fans. I’ve got Bao up 20-18 so far in this fight. The leg kicks from Bao look like they are taking their toll on Tito.
R3- Tito needs to finish the fight before this round ends if he wants to get a win. Tito hit a good right hand and then came in and hit another right hand and he jumped on top of Bao but they got back to the feet. Tito is giving Bao too much time to gather his senses. Tito hits a strong right and floors Bao and draws blood but Bao gets back to his feet and there is not much action over the next several minutes. Tito put up a great first half of the round but didn’t finish with authority. Bao won the first two rounds, Tito won round three by a wide margin. The only question is whether Tito can get enough 10-8’s to make this a draw. I think Bao wins this one by decision. This was unfortunate because Tito looks like he has some talent he just didn’t put it together tonight.
Judges score cards say: all score cards 29-28 in favor of Bao Quach
Winner: Bao Quach by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Anthony Ruiz (21-12) vs. Aaron Rosa (11-2)
Rosa is a 25 year old Muay Thai and BJJ fighter. Pete Spratt is in Rosa’s corner for the fight. Anthony Ruiz is a 31 year old wrestler and Muay Thai fighter. Rosa has a 3” height advantage but Ruiz has a 3” reach advantage. I’ve seen 3 Ruiz fights. Two were really boring fights and the other was a pretty boring ref stoppage due to a cut (of course Bobby Southworth was in two of these fights so it could have been his fault). I’m expecting this to go to the time limit.
R1- They threw some punches early before Ruiz clinched and went for a take down. Ruiz hit a couple of good shots out of the clinch but Rosa responded with a couple of his own until Ruiz clinched again. Rosa got a double leg and got a slam into full guard. Ruiz rolled to his back. Rosa went for the Rear Naked Choke as he also had him locked in a body triangle and it looked like Ruiz passed out and the ref stopped the fight. Good showing by Rosa and by far the best fight I’ve seen Ruiz in.
Winner: Aaron Rosa by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:29
Heavyweight Fight- Lavar Johnson (11-3) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (4-2)
Carl is a 25 year old wrestler/fighter. The only time I’ve seen Carl fight was on the ShoXC Elite Challengers show from 9/26/08 where he fell to Shane Del Rosario by TKO early in the second round. Carl has scored a KO in all of his victories. Lavar is a 31 year old Muay Thai fighter. Lavar has a 3” height and 2.5” reach advantage. Lavar has scored a KO in all of his victories but one. I think we are going to see this fight finished before the time limit.
R1- Wow, this was a shocking fight. Carl went in low for a take down and got caught by an uppercut and KTFO. That was unreal. This one was over before it started.
Winner: Lavar Johnson by KO R1 0:18
A commercial is shown for the next Strikeforce show on June 6th featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields. They also hype Rafael Feijao. They cut to Mauro Ranallo who has Scott Smith by his side. Smith will fight Nick Diaz on this show. Lawler/Shields and Smith/Diaz makes for a good night of fights in my book.
“Train hard, I’m ready” – Scott Smith
Women’s Bantamweight Fight- 135 lbs- Sarah Kaufman (8-0) vs. Miesha Tate (6-1)
This fight will be three, three minute rounds. Miesha is a 22 year old submission wrestler. Sarah is a 23 year old Muay Thai and BJJ fighter. Sarah took this fight on short notice due to Kim Couture dropping out. Sarah has finished all of her fights, she is 8-0 with 8 KOs. Miesha Tate had Brian Caraway (her boyfriend) in her corner (he’s a Strikeforce fighter that scored a win on the under card of the Thomson/Melendez fight from last year).
R1- Both women land some good shots early. Tate looks like she got in a good shot or two on Sarah’s eye but Sarah seems to be getting in the better shots overall. Tate got a take down with 20 seconds left in the round so she can rest. Sarah takes the first round.
R2- Tate was able to get an early take down in this round. Somebody is cut and it looks like its Tate. Tate takes this round 10-9 and evens the score 19-19 even though she busted her nose open in that round.
R3- Tate kept going for take downs but Sarah kept denying her. Kaufman landed some Ground and Pound from a weird tradition and took this round. Kaufman wins 29-28 on my score card.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards in favor of Kaufman
Winner: Sarah Kaufman by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Billy Evangelista (9-0) vs. Mike Aina (11-6-1)
Both guys came in a couple of pounds overweight and have agreed to the fight at a catchweight of 157 pounds. Boo! Aina is a 28 year old Kick Boxer and Jiu Jitsu fighter. Aina lost a controversial split decision to Nick Diaz in Elite XC. On the flip side Evanglista won a controversial decision over Nam Phan in Strikeforce last year. Evangelista is a 28 year old Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu fighter who is fighting in his hometown tonight. Aina has a 3” reach advantage in this fight. Aina has 6 losses but has never been knocked out or submitted. Aina trains under BJ Penn in Hawaii.
R1- Pretty even fight for the first several minutes. Evangelista got a take down with around a minute and a half left in the round but Aina popped right back up. This was a close round, they ended in a clinch where Evangelista was more active. I think Evangelista probably took this 10-9. Quadros says he gave the round to Aina due to a combo he threw in the middle of the round.
R2- Evangelista got a take down about mid-way through the round and got some shots in on Aina. Evangelista hit Aina with a knee to what looked like the shoulder as Aina had one knee on the ground. On the re-play it clearly shows that the knee hit Aina in the shoulder and Aina is pointing to his jaw. Maybe the knee knocked his jaw out of place but it definitely didn’t land on his jaw. Aina cannot continue so he is going to be awarded the victory by DQ. This is a shame for Evangelista as he looked like he was on his way to a victory but you can’t throw a knee in Strikeforce (or a lot of companies) when your opponent is downed.
Interesting that they ring announcer specifically said that Evangelista was DQ’d for a knee to the head of a downed opponent when the knee clearly did not hit his head. Post-fight interview Aina said the strike hit him on the jaw. This looks to me like Aina is pulling a Cro Cop (he was getting dominated by Alistair Overeem and bowed out due to an illegal strike and said he couldn’t continue) and looking for a way out of a fight that he didn’t think he was going to win but maybe the strike to the shoulder did affect his jaw.
Dean says he stopped the fight for the knee to the head and the doctor thinks Aina broke his jaw. Disappointing Main Event.
Winner: Mike Aina by DQ (Knee to the head) R2 3:40
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