Bellator 201 was this past weekend, and two of the big names from the early days of The Ultimate Fighter have retired. Let’s start with the Bellator event.
Bellator 201
GOOD- Juan Archuleta stops Robbie Peralta
The first two rounds were close, but Archuleta was probably ahead on the scorecards as he was a bit more effective. There were some bigtime shots exchanged. Then, at the beginning of the third round, Archuleta dropped Peralta with a huge right hand and finished him off with some hammerfists. Nice win for Archuleta.
GOOD- Valerie Letourneau vs. Kristina Williams
This was a close fight, with Letourneau getting the decision victory. They both fought hard, but Letourneau did just a bit more. Nice win for Letourneau.
GOOD- Saad Awad stops Ryan Couture
Awad started landing more shots as the first round wore on. He ended up hurting Couture with a big right hand and followed up with more shots to force the referee to step in and end the fight about four and a half minutes into the first round. Good win for Awad.
GOOD- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane submits Alejandra Lara
Macfarlane was just too good for Lara here. Lara fought well and had her moments, but Macfarlane was impressive with her calmness and ability. In the third round Macfarlane locked in the submission and got the win to retain her Bellator Women’s Flyweight Championship. Good win for Macfarlane as she continues her dominance as she remains undefeated at 8-0.
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Rashad Evans and Josh Koscheck retire
Rashad Evans announced his retirement this past week, as did Josh Koscheck. Evans lost his last five fights and Koscheck lost his last six, including one in Bellator, but this happens a lot with top fighters at the end of their careers. Both guys were influential in the early days of The Ultimate Fighter, with Koscheck competing on the first season at middleweight and Evans competing in the second season at heavyweight. Evans won and Koscheck lost in the finals.
They both enjoyed success, with Evans winning the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 92 over Forrest Griffin and also holding victories over Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Phil Davis, and Dan Henderson. Koscheck won victories over Frank Trigg, Anthony Johnson, Paul Daley, and Matt Hughes.
Evans and Koscheck were two of the names that helped make TUF as popular as it was. It got a little hard to watch them towards the end, because you were used to seeing them looking good in the cage, but Father Time catches up to everyone. I hope both guys enjoy retirement and are able to head into the next phase of their lives doing what they want.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank
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