By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 282 and UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot were this past
weekend. We saw a new champion crowned in Bellator. What happened?
Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 282
GOOD- Brennan Ward stops Kassius Kayne
They exchange some strikes before Ward gets a takedown. Nothing much
happens but after they return to their feet Ward staggers Kayne with a
big left hand and takes him down again. Kayne survives the first
round. The second round sees them exchange strikes again, including
some nice body kicks by Kayne. However, Kayne gets hurt by a big right
hand by Ward, who swarms him with strikes to force the referee to step
in to stop the fight. Ward improves to 16-6 while Kayne falls to 12-8.
Good win for Ward.
GOOD- Magomed Magomedov submits Enrique Barzola
This was a quarterfinal fight in the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand
Prix and is thus five rounds. I’m not a big fan of non-title five
round fights but I suppose it makes sense here. Anyway, they exchange
strikes early, including a spinning back fist by Magomedov. Barzola
gets a takedown but Magomedov fights back to his feet and lands a slam
of his own. A few more striking exchanges end with Barzola getting
staggered but he recovers and gets another takedown to end the first
round. They trade more strikes to open the second round. It seems
pretty even until Barzola gets a slam. Magomedov fights back to his
feet but gets taken down again. Magomedov lands a nice spinning back
kick. Barzola lands a good left hand but gets caught with a spinning
back fist and they exchange strikes until the end of the second round.
Magomedov opens the third round with some nice striking and ends up
hurting Barzola with his jab. Leg kick and jumping knee for Magomedov
as Barzola gasses. He fires back with some big uppercuts, though, but
has to absorb another jumping knee as the third round ends. The fourth
round sees them exchange strikes before Barzola comes in for a
takedown but gets caught in a guillotine and gets submitted almost a
minute and a half into the fourth round. Magomedov improves to 19-2
while Barzola falls to 18-6-2. Good win for Magomedov.
GOOD/BAD- Leandro Higo vs. Danny Sabatello
This was another quarterfinal fight in the Bellator Bantamweight World
Grand Prix. This one unfortunately went all five rounds as Sabatello
controlled nearly the entire fight. Sabatello would get a takedown and
work some ground-and-pound. Most of it was lighter but he did land
some nice elbows in the third round. Other than that it was just
Sabatello getting a takedown and Higo unable to do anything after
that. It was a smart and effective strategy from Sabatello, it just
wasn’t entertaining to watch. As expected Sabatello won the decision
and moved on, his record improving to 13-1 as he records his 7th
straight win while Higo falls to 21-6. Good win for Sabatello.
GOOD- Johnny Eblen vs. Gegard Mousasi
Mousasi was trying to defend his Bellator Middleweight Championship
here. Eblen comes out firing and they trade takedowns without a lot of
damage before Eblen gets another takedown to close the first round.
The second round sees Mousasi come out firing and he stings Eblen, who
gets a takedown. Eblen works his ground-and-pound and takes Mousasi
down again after he fights back to his feet. They trade kicks to open
the third round before Eblen hurts Mousasi with a big combination.
Eblen moving forward with big strikes. Barring a miracle, Mousasi is
done. He looks beaten. The fourth round sees Eblen get another
takedown. He’s trying but he can’t get a submission. Mousasi gets back
to his feet but gets taken down again to close the round. The fifth
round opens with Eblen trying some more strikes before getting another
takedown and he gets the decision win to become the new Bellator
Middleweight Champion. Eblen remains undefeated at 12-0 while Mousasi
falls to 49-8-2 and has his 4 fight winning streak snapped. Good win
for Eblen.
UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot
GOOD- Chris Curtis vs. Rodolfo Vieira
Both guys work the body hard in the first round. One of the stories
for me was that Vieira just couldn’t land a takedown. He kept trying
and trying but his labor bore no fruit. Both guys were accurate with
their strikes, Curtis was just a little more on target. He also landed
some damaging combinations and that earned him the decision victory.
Curtis improves to 29-8 and has won 8 fights in a row while Vieira
falls to 8-2. Good win for Curtis.
GOOD- Nate Maness vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Nurmagomedov gets a takedown and controls Maness. That was basically
the formula for each round of the fight. Nurmagomedov worked his
ground-and-pound and Maness couldn’t stop him. Nurmagomedov was very
active and constantly trying to improve his position. Nurmagomedov
gets the decision win and remains undefeated at 15-0 while Maness
falls to 14-2 and has his 4 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for
Nurmagomedov.
GOOD- Thiago Moises submits Christos Giagos
After a little bit of fighting on the fence Moises gets Giagos down.
He works for and locks in a rear-naked choke to get the submission
victory a little over three minutes into the first round. Moises
improves to 16-6 while Giagos falls to 19-10. Good win for Moises.
GOOD- Josh Parisian stops Alan Baudot
They’re trading a lot of strikes early. Parisian’s eye is looking
gross towards the end of the first round. Both men are landing heavy
shots, with Parisian getting a takedown and working his
ground-and-pound. Eventually it’s too much and the referee jumps in to
stop the fight a little over three minutes into the second round.
Parisian improves to 15-5 while Baudot falls to 8-4 with 1 No Contest.
Good win for Parisian.
GOOD- Shavkat Rakhmonov submits Neil Magny
They start with kicks before Rakhmonov catches one and takes Magny
down. Rakhmonov peppers Magny with strikes and a nice elbow as the
first round ends. The second round sees Rakhmonov get another takedown
and work to try to lock in a few different submissions before locking
in a guillotine choke and getting the tap with just a few seconds to
go before the end of the second round. Rakhmonov remains undefeated at
16-0 while Magny falls to 26-9. Good win for Rakhmonov.
GOOD- Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot
They trade unsuccessful takedown attempts before Tsarukyan gets one.
However, Gamrot gets up and they scramble. Tsarukyan lands a good body
kick at the end of the first round. The second round sees a bunch of
kicks from Tsarukyan. Gamrot finally fights back and attacks the body
himself but Tsarukyan answers with more body kicks. Gamrot tries to
get more active in the third round and he gets a takedown. Tsarukyan
gets back up and attacks Gamrot. The fourth round sees Gamrot land
some huge punches. However, he gets knocked down by a spinning back
fist. These guys are trading big strikes but Gamrot gets another
takedown. The fifth round opens with more kicks by Tsarukyan. Gamrot
returns fire and gets another takedown. He tries for another but can’t
get it and they wallop each other a few more times before Gamrot does
get another takedown before the fight ends. I thought Tsarukyan won
but maybe I’m wrong? Gamrot wins the decision from the judges and
improves to 21-1 with 1 No Contest and has won 4 fights in a row while
Tsarukyan falls to 18-3 and has his 5 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Gamrot.
My fantasy book is now out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: Undeath and
the Dewester Set. It’s a fantasy epic that begins with the Summers
siblings but spreads out to encompass a large number of characters
across multiple stories as the world faces a threat from a vile
necromancer. 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.
Here’s the link to my book- My Book 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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