Bellator General Discussion and Info

[Cammo101]

Hopefully they make Michel vs. Woodard next round. That has fireworks written all over it.

[Bernman]

They set up the matches right after last night's event. They are Hawn-Woodard and Michel-Weedman. They'll be going down at Bellator 66. On paper that's the organization's best card ever:

Aoki vs. Alvarez
Woodard vs. Hawn
Falcao vs. Vasilevsky
Rogers vs. Santos
Michel vs. Weedman
Attila Vegh vs Dan Spohn
Donny Walker vs Frank Carabello
Aisling Daly vs. Jessica Eye
...and more match-ups yet to be announced

[Cammo101]

So Bellator is still putting on female fights. They have been MIA for a while now. Jessica Eye is an up and comer.

[Bernman]

Sounds like Ivanov will likely die, or if he doesn't, will never walk again and be in poor neurological condition. His body is shriveled, muscles atrophied, and kidneys stopped. He's on hemodialysis. At this point it's probably better for him if he does not make it. Doctors should pull the plug.

[REDDzone]

Just watched the Friday fights now. Very good event. No poor fights imo on the main card.

Hawn is a beast, I thought that fight was essentially a toss-up. 55-45 Hawn, I think he took the cut well, good for him. Woodard is a beast, rooting for him throughout now I think. I've met Carey Vanier a few times, he's a cool guy. Was disappointed when he was defeated relatively easily by Woodard, but LLoyd has since show that he is a really formidable opponent. Knockin' fools out, submitting black belts, what's not to like?

[REDDzone]

I mentioned in the past that another guy I used to follow in the Minnesota mma scene and have had a few interactions with in the past will be fighting in bellator this season, just found out that he will be fighting Chris Horodecki on April 6th (Bellator 66 - the Askren card).

His name is Mike Richman. Hoping he does well. Has been successful in regional events for a long time. Almost made the last LW tuf, but lost a UD to the British guy who ended up being submitted by McKenzie at the finale. He is a finisher, and is a good submission guy as well as striker. That said, its hard to really gauge where he is because of his competition. Horodecki will be a pretty huge step up for him.

[Bernman]

what's not to like?

His dreadful Rocky impression? That would be about it.

While I didn't think he'd win this fight, because of his proclivity for banging (which almost did cost him), I've always thought of him as an underrated fighter. Some Bellator haters and Michael Chandler slaters tried to use Cupcake fighting him tough as an indictment of Chandler's cred. The reality is though, Woodard has a lot of skill. He's Cerrone with much more power. Both are well-rounded, but fight more to please the fans, however Woodard has the power to compensate somewhat for that tendency. That's what got the fight to the ground in this fight, with him in top position, and Patricky dazed, which eventually led to getting kimura'ed.

His name is Mike Richman. Hoping he does well. Has been successful in regional events for a long time. Almost made the last LW tuf, but lost a UD to the British guy who ended up being submitted by McKenzie at the finale. He is a finisher, and is a good submission guy as well as striker. That said, its hard to really gauge where he is because of his competition. Horodecki will be a pretty huge step up for him.

I'm picking Richman to win similar to how Corey should have against Horodecki. He's very physical on TD's and has good gnp. I might even bet on Richman if he's +150 or better (which I figure he will be).

BTW, Richman will be fighting at Bellator 64, but you got the date right.

[REDDzone]

Oops, lil rusty on the old roman numeral reading skills, apparently.

[Bernman]

Oops, lil rusty on the old roman numeral reading skills, apparently.

If the ones are at the end you add, if they're in the middle you subtract.

Anyways, my schedule in the OP isn't in Roman Numerals, and probably from here on out will be more up to date than where you're receiving your info. I forgot to update the last couple of cards with full prelims.

RZ, if they hold Bellator 69 in Minnesota, centered around Prindle-Konrad, and the organization's other fighters with Land of 10,000 Lake ties, will you go?

-----

This coming event features the welterweight tournament. IMO, it was the weakest group to begin with, and it just got declined even more after Foster was replaced. Although Jordan Smith ain't bad, but prone to being KO'ed. The fights do project to be entertaining, if not world class as they had been the first 3 weeks.

[REDDzone]

Haha, I know about roman numerals, but I didn't even know that you have a schedule in the OP. Very helpful, thanks for that. The bellator website doesn't even have their full cards up.

I would have normally went to the event, but I actually moved back to Milwaukee/Wisconsin in January. Do you ever hit up any mma events in the area? Any good promotions? I know mma has only recently been sanctioned in Wisconsin, so I don't expect too much. I've been fairly busy on weekends since I moved back, so I haven't gotten a chance to go to any yet. Do you know of any websites with statewide MMA news at all? Last I heard actually I think mma was up to potentially be banned in WI. I wonder what the status is on that.

I know I haven't seen any advertising or heard of too many events in the Milwaukee area, which is disappointing. Seems like all the events I stumble upon are somewhere up north or otherwise in small towns quite a distance away. I know KOTC is coming here soon, but again don't think its in Milwaukee or Madison or anything.

[Bernman]

Yea, Bellator has been really bad about updating their upcoming cards this season. You have to look for articles throughout the net. I use Twitter as a search tool because Tweeters are constantly linking articles and some of the Tweeters of course are the fighters themselves.

I remember you talking about coming back to Wisconsin, but didn't know that it was set in stone, let alone already happened. Welcome back to paradise.

I can answer most of your questions.

Do you ever hit up any mma events in the area?

I've only went to the major organization events that traveled here the last couple years. UFC last year and Bellator year before. UFC was a MUCH better time, but that's because it was one of UFC's best cards ever entertainment-wise, and Bellator's worst. Bellator was at Eagles' Ballroom. I'm not attracted to regional shows very much because they feature more guys who've taken too much damage over their careers and/or are cans than prospects.

Any good promotions?

Combat USA is probably the best regional organization who holds shows in Wisconsin. If there was a regional show I'd go to, that would be the one. They feature a high percentage of prospects or guys on the cusp of re-entry into major organizations. However, more often their events are held up north in GB area, but sometimes they do come to the southern portion of the state. However, they haven't had an event since the middle of last year.

NAFC is the other main regional organization. Duke helps run it. Many Roufusport fighters are featured, some who are prospects, but it's pretty can oriented overall. The primary objective of NAFC seems to be to pad the record of Roufusport's fighters and showcase them at the same time.

Do you know of any websites with statewide MMA news at all?

US Combat Sports

Last I heard actually I think mma was up to potentially be banned in WI. I wonder what the status is with that?

The bill just died. Anyways, it's intention was never to ban MMA statewide, but to give the power to local municipalities to not allow events to be held within their jurisdictions.

[cowboyronnie]

Thiago Michel, man, what beautiful stuff. But gah, he almost got shafted by a single TD. Bellator has some amazing talent in the lower weights. I am not a believer in their MWs division, but they have discovered some world-class talent in their 170 and below divisions.

[REDDzone]

I remember you talking about coming back to Wisconsin, but didn't know that it was set in stone, let alone already happened. Welcome back to paradise.

Yes. It was a really, really quick process. It went from "possible" to full-fledged plan in less than a month. Got a job within two weeks of getting back, so pretty content right now. No knock on Minnesota, but happy to be home.

I'm not attracted to regional shows very much because they feature more guys who've taken too much damage over their careers and/or are cans than prospects.

Oh, that's too bad. I haven't had that experience. Or at least not that I'm aware of, but it could just be my perception. I'm kind of the guy who goes and watches fights and then researches the guys who I thought looked good, as opposed to checking out a lot of stuff beforehand. So I possibly wouldn't notice if guys were being fed cans.

One thing I can't take away from MN is their mma scene. Lots of MN/Iowa/NE guys fighting in those shows. A lot of guys with strong wrestling bases so a lot of raw talent there usually. I've seen a lot of potential future talent at really small shows: Jeremy Lang, Dakota Cochrane, Marcus Levesseur, Mike Richman, etc.

I'll have to check out the two promotions that you brought up, thanks.

US Combat Sports

Yea, that's the one I use currently.

[cowboyronnie]

Woah, never would have picked Woodard to win. He's gangley and relatively unathletic. Sways his head around in exchanges instead of being sharp. Just awkward.

I don't see where his power comes from, though evidently he has some.

I love Bellator. Never given it a chance before, really. That's the first time I've seen Woodard fight.

I guess the UFC is on hiatus to make way for March Madness, and they still have TUF to direct counter-program, but their absence might also lead to a lot more people investing time in Bellator.

[cowboyronnie]

Oops, lil rusty on the old roman numeral reading skills, apparently.

If the ones are at the end you add, if they're in the middle you subtract.

[Bernman]

Woah, never would have picked Woodard to win. He's gangley and relatively unathletic. Sways his head around in exchanges instead of being sharp. Just awkward.

I don't see where his power comes from, though evidently he has some.

I love Bellator. Never given it a chance before, really. That's the first time I've seen Woodard fight.

I guess the UFC is on hiatus to make way for March Madness, and they still have TUF to direct counter-program, but their absence might also lead to a lot more people investing time in Bellator.

I think there was a method to Woodard's madness. He kept switching his stance to shorten the distance and gain better angles. That switch-stance leaping left which knocked Patricky Pitbull down was slick. And I think he relied heavily on head movement after striking because like you said he's not that athletic so he couldn't use his footwork as well. He had knee surgery recently, so his athleticism should improve some. He's never been an outstanding athlete though.

Glad to see some coming around. You shouldn't judge Bellator's 170 pound division on the tournament this year. There should be some good fights, but most of their better welterweights were not available for various reasons. Their next ww tournament should be loaded though as a result. If they cut heavyweight and light heavyweight, then their divisions 185 and below would have depth to the point that they could sustain any even extreme attrition. That's what they should do. And they could always bring back their heavier weights after they've established themselves on Spike.

[REDDzone]

Listening to Ariel's podcast now. Awesome stuff from both Bjorn and Alvarez. Bjorn is a really, really sharp guy imo. It reinforces faith in bellator that this guy is at the helm. Bellator really does get underrated imo. Growing their own big names, not trying to emulate the ufc, excited to see these guys get on spike.

Also like Alverez, no excuses for that dude. Tough cat. Said after his loss, fans/family tried to say "maybe this is why you lost, maybe that is why you lost" but his response is "maybe I just lost?" and that's all there is to it. Lots of guys that could take on that attitude who I would gain a lot of respect for, personally.

[Bernman]

Bjorn always comes across well in interviews. He is an eloquent speaker and pretty smart guy. He did go down on a notch in the latter department when Big Monster missed weight badly and re-scheduled the event a week later while trying to obscure that was the real reason that fight was postponed originally. But overall he makes good decisions, especially their philosophy on talent building. Our favorite NBA team could take a page out of Bellator's book, and then it wouldn't be virtually hopeless they could contend some day. Bellator knows full well they can't compete with UFC for established big talents, so they try and acquire them before they prove themselves, and often succeed at that objective thanks to Sam Caplan's eye for talent.

Bjorn is sleazy however. He does lie quite often, like about the real reason behind the Monster-Prindle cancellation, and much worse there was the whole dead dog incident he was alleged to be involved in years ago when he and his boxing pals were getting sued. He's good for MMA though because he runs a smart organization that will compete with UFC long-term and drive up fighter salaries and benefits.

That tidbit about his dad being youtube sensation Winnebago Man was enlightening. Never heard that before. That video is hilarious.

[REDDzone]

I don't know anything about Rebney's past in boxing, wouldn't surprise me at all though if he is somewhat sleazy. In the end though I see him as a shrewd businessman who has set goals and met them, and is pretty much as successful as possible this early in the game. The number of events bellator has put on in such a short amount of time is impressive. I think Ariel was kind of on to something when he said something about bellator not necessarily trying to emulate the ufc. You try to take the ufc on at what they do best and you get destroyed, don't take a bb gun to combat someone with a bazooka. But he has a format that provides a viable alternative, and is distinguishable, and I think that will be the fact that allows survival for bellator.

[Bernman]

Here's the story about Bjorn's alleged involvement in killing an adversary's dog: http://ringtalk.com/the-real-story-behind-sugar-ray-leonard-bjorn-rebney-the-fbi-a-dead-dog

And some highlights of this week's competitors:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bQKVs1UBh0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E23G3lCbQtA[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWSXhIgZ294[/youtube]