By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 293 was this past weekend and featured some wild finishes and
a crazy comeback and a great sprint of a fight. Who won and who lost?
Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 293
GOOD- Luke Trainer submits Sullivan Cauley
Cauley gets an early takedown. Cauley gets right up but gets taken
down again quickly. Cauley hits some knees to the lower body before
Trainer works his way back to his feet and takes Cauley down. Trainer
locks in a rear-naked choke and Cauley taps not quite three minutes
into the first round. Trainer improves to 7-1 while Cauley drops to
5-1. Good win for Trainer.
GOOD- Archie Colgan stops Justin Montalvo
They start off trading strikes before Colgan lands a big body shot. He
follows up with a big right hand and an elbow. Somehow Montalvo is
still in there. He then gets hit with a big uppercut but just takes
it. Montalvo showing a lot of toughness. Colgan with another uppercut
and then a takedown, though Montalvo gets up. Montalvo is firing off
some nice strikes but he gets dropped by Colgan. Montalvo starts to
get back up but Colgan drops him again with another uppercut and
finishes him with some ground-and-pound. Colgan improves to a perfect
7-0 while Montalvo drops to 5-1. Good win for Colgan.
GOOD/BAD- John Salter vs. Aaron Jeffery
Salter gets an early takedown and stays attached to Jeffery for a long
time until Jeffery is finally able to get up and land a takedown of
his own. The second round is a repeat of the first. They exchange a
few strikes before Salter gets a takedown. However, Jeffery is able to
get up but Salter works for and gets another takedown and rides out
the second round. The third round opens with Salter getting a
takedown, though Jeffery gets up again quickly. However, Salter works
for another takedown and gets it and rides out the fight on top. As a
fight, this was very good strategy. Salter got the win and didn’t take
much damage. As entertainment, this fight sucked. It happens, though.
Salter improves to 19-6 while Jeffery drops to 13-4 and has his 3
fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Salter.
GOOD- John Salter retires
Salter retired after his win. He had a nice career. He fought in the
UFC and Strikeforce before coming to Bellator. He ends with a record
of 19-6, with 17 of those wins coming by knockout or submission. I
wish him well in his retirement.
GOOD- Cat Zingano vs. Leah McCourt
They trade strikes early before Zingano gets a takedown. McCourt is
right back up, though, and they’re fighting against the cage. They’re
nailing each other with knees. McCourt gets a takedown but Zingano
reverses around and starts looking for a rear-naked choke but time
runs out in the first round. The second round opens with Zingano
landing a big kick but McCourt grabs her leg and gets a takedown.
Zingano sneaks out but McCourt takes her down again. McCourt is all
over Zingano here but Zingano reverses and lands a big elbow and is on
top as the second round ends. The third round sees McCourt drop
Zingano with a big left hand and start raining down punches on her.
Referee Frank Trigg halts the action and warns McCourt about punching
the back of Zingano’s head. On the restart McCourt lands a judo throw
and they’re back at it. They’re fighting and scrambling like hell,
great effort by both fighters. McCourt gets busted open by a Zingano
knee and the fight ends so we’re going to the judges. Zingano gets the
decision victory and improves to 14-4 and has won 4 straight fights
while McCourt drops to 7-3. Good win for Zingano.
GOOD- Daniel James stops Marcelo Golm
Golm lands a few leg kicks before James grabs one and slams him to the
mat. Golm is back up and they fight against the cage for the rest of
the first round. The second round opens with them peppering each other
with strikes. Golm lands a big knee to the midsection. Golm gets a
trip and spends the rest of the second round on top of James hitting
him with enough strikes to avoid a standup. The third round starts
with James being very aggressive. It pays off for him as he nails Golm
with a big uppercut and follows that with a right hand. Golm is out
and the referee is forced to jump in to stop the fight. Wow, big
comeback for James there. James improves to 15-6-1 and has won 5
straight fights while Golm drops to 10-4 and has his 4 fight winning
streak snapped. Good win for James.
Gamebred Boxing 4
I don’t know how many will care about this so I’ll just give the
results and some quick thoughts.
-Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens ended in a Majority Draw. Aldo was more
technical while Stephens was more brawling and power. No surprise
there.
-Vitor Belfort won the Unanimous Decision over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
Belfort was on his game early, landing lots of big punches. He even
knocked Jacare down twice in the third round.
-Anthony Pettis won a Majority Decision over 54-year-old Roy Jones Jr.
Some disagreed with the decision but Pettis was making his boxing
debut. I thought Jones should have gotten the decision but that might
just be bias at seeing that Jones looked pretty good for his age.
An anthology book that I’m proud to be a part of has launched its
Kickstarter. The book is from a group called Team Canaveral and is
called Blastoff #1. It has 4 different stories and some incredibly
talented people. There’s superhero stories as well as sci-fi and the
story I’ve written is horror. The other writers and artists are
tremendously talented so I would ask you all to either back or
retweet/share/etc the campaign. Thank you.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teamcanaveral/team-canaveral-blastoff-1
My new fantasy book is now out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: A Fight For
Survival. It’s the third book in my epic fantasy Kingdom of Zarias
series and follows the adventures of the Summers siblings as they
fight to defend the world from an evil villain named Galren. This book
also introduces lots of other characters as the scope of the world
grows. There’s lots of action, magic, and monsters in the Kingdom of
Zarias. It’s like a tabletop game in novel form. It’s on Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, and many other places. If you’re interested, I would
greatly appreciate it if you would check it out and support me. Also,
here’s the link to my new Compendium book about the Kingdom of Zarias
series- KoZ Compendium
Thank you very much, have a good day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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