Bellator General Discussion and Info

Bernman · Post #161 » by **Bernman** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:40 am

Yeah, Makovsky may get some takedowns with his quickness, but shouldn't be able to keep Dantas down because of his hips, sweep techniques, and cardio. Dantas and Pettis remind me a lot of each other. Pettis could have gotten up against Guida, he just chose to go for subs off his back instead. I doubt Dantas will have the same illusion, although both of Makovky's losses came by sub (from dominant positions).

SDM · Post #162 » by **SDM** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:07 am

Going Dantas and West as well for the same reasons mentioned.

Bernman · Post #163 » by **Bernman** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:23 am

Epic performance by Dantas. He showed great patience and diversity in his striking. And when he actually did get taken down he reacted quickly and showed fluid hips to get up or regain control. Once he got top position it was a clinic. Makovsky did a good job of turning continually, and thought he was in less trouble when he got Dantas into half guard and even side control, but Dudu snapped that arm triangle on quick. Dudu showed why he was the #1 rated Bloody Elbow prospect. He's an elite bantamweight worldwide.

I should have bet equally on Dantas as West. Then I would have made a smallish profit instead of a -38 loss. I was worried about West coming through as soon as I saw him sporting that blond die job. He was douching it up before and during the fight. Entertaining match though. Brooks-Malyutin would have also saved me a loss, but they never posted the line for that fight.

Bounceback week to some extent for Bellator, although Straus-Corey was only solid, and Vila-Nogueira left plenty to be desired. Vila was always somewhat overrated and he's getting old unless he's on some of that Hendo fountain of youth liquid.

cowboyronnie · Post #164 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:47 pm

Bah. I skipped through a lot of fights these past few events. Dantas, though, wow!!! That is world class talent. So exciting and skilled at everything - sweeps and TDs, not just boxing and bjj. But I've been skipping through fights of the Straus-Corey level. There's just nothing compelling about either fighter - they're two pretty good, even fighters, with typical skill-sets. Vila-Nog should have been compelling but got pretty stalled-out. Both fighters are guys I do definitely want to see again - I'll tune-in.

Is West the guy with the weirdo movement and the newly peroxided hair? I do not believe in that guy at all. But I also ffwded through that fight.

I did not mind the Askren fight. There was a huge amount of scrambling and little to no guard-play. He was fighting a much bigger guy with good submissions. He had a pretty exciting grappling match considering. I'd heard about the fight in advance - that it was an LnP - and maybe it was, there was little effort to strike on the ground - but it was nothing like a Rashad-Silva or a Thomson-that guy. It's fine. You have single-minded wrestlers in the sport, it's just the reality of it.

edit: Oh yeah, Askren is definitely the most unlikeable guy in the entire sport. God, what a douche bag. I'd love to see him go the way of Joe Warren and get humbled repeatedly, can't help it.

Cammo101 · Post #165 » by **Cammo101** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:50 pm

Dantas looked amazing. He showed why he has long been considered an elite prospect at 135. Also, it was nice to see him get a finish. It seemed like the first time in like a month that a main card fight in the Bellator (Point) Fighting Championship didn't go to a decision.

REDDzone · Post #166 » by **REDDzone** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:56 pm

The Ultimate Wrestling Championship would defeat the Bellator Point Fighting Championship by UD 29-28 imo.

Bernman · Post #167 » by **Bernman** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 6:51 pm

Cammo101 wrote:Dantas looked amazing. He showed why he has long been considered an elite prospect at 135. Also, it was nice to see him get a finish. It seemed like the first time in like a month that a main card fight in the Bellator (Point) Fighting Championship didn't go to a decision.

All two events which involved the little guy's tournaments.

Bernman · Post #168 » by **Bernman** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:36 am

This is a reminder, in case it was required. This week Bellator is putting on one of their best, if not their best, most anticipated card ever....

Main:

Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki II
Rick Hawn vs. Lloyd Woodard
Maiquel Falcao vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky
Brian Rogers vs. Bruno Santos
Thiago Michel vs. Brent Weedman

Prelims:

Attila Vegh vs. Dan Spohn
Marcus Vanttinen vs. John Hawk
Jessica Eye vs. Anita Rodriguez
Donny Walker vs. Frank Carabello
Jason Dent vs. Tyler Combs

Can't wait! Should be another stacked weekend of MMA action between this standout Bellator card and UFC 145: Bad Blood.

REDDzone · Post #169 » by **REDDzone** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:41 am

You had me at Alavarez, but if that wasn't there you would have had me at Aoki, Woodard, or Vasilevsky.

Awesome.

Bernman · Post #170 » by **Bernman** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:57 am

REDDzone wrote:You had me at Alavarez, but if that wasn't there you would have had me at Aoki, Woodard, or Vasilevsky.

Awesome.

What, no love for the explosiveness of Brian Rogers, elite stand-up technique of Michel, unpredictability of Falcao, savageness of Rick Hawn, and slick ground game and quips from Weedman? Everybody on this main card but Bruno Praynard Santos is pretty dynamic and hunts for finishes.

Bellator loaded up this card after Alvarez-Aoki II, because they knew that fight in and of itself would draw plenty of first time viewers of their product.

REDDzone · Post #171 » by **REDDzone** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:05 am

I have love for all that (minus anything to do with the cheater Falcao). However I would watch a whole card just based on the presence of any individual fighter I listed in my post (don't know that much about Vasilevsky, but super excited to see him again after his last fight).

Bernman · Post #172 » by **Bernman** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:04 pm

Well, the bad news is that Bellator lost a fighter from their signature, anticipated main card.

The good news is the fighter they lost was the one guy who I/we weren't particularly looking forward to seeing....and that was Bruno Santos. He will be replaced by the "Sweet Swede" Andreas Spang.

I don't know why they didn't look in house, with Trey Houston, Giva Santana, Jonas Billstein, and Mikkel Parlo at their disposal. Maybe they view Rogers as too dangerous of an opponent for their younger, greener MW prospects.

Spang is a good striker, and has some BJJ, but his TDD is terrible from what I've seen. Thankfully B-Rog isn't the type to lay and pray to take full strategic advantage of that weakness at the expense of an exciting match. He might get a takedown and utilize some gnp however. Spang could be a more dangerous opponent than Santos if Rogers insists on keeping the fight standing. Spang is a good striker going forward or backward from what I've seen, and probably a little longer.

REDDzone · Post #173 » by **REDDzone** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:14 pm

I would have offered it to Santana, personally. But who knows if they did, maybe he couldn't make weight on such short notice?

Cammo101 · Post #174 » by **Cammo101** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:36 pm

Randomly adding a fighter who has never fought in Bellator to the middle of a tourney is bush league. Sounds like something Strikeforce would do. Why not put Trey Houston into the fight, at least he fought would you could consider an alternate fight.

SDM · Post #175 » by **SDM** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:19 pm

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Bellat ... sses-41889

Vila/Ueda both cut from Bellator. I think UFC will snap up Vila for the flyweight division, he's too small for 135.

REDDzone · Post #176 » by **REDDzone** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:25 pm

Vila/Dodson in the battle of the slightly psychotic/heavy handed little people.

SDM · Post #177 » by **SDM** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:24 pm

Lombard has a contract offer with UFC, Rebney to decide if he wants to match.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Bellat ... Come-41965

Post #178 » by **CPT** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:33 pm

Would love to see Lombard in the UFC.

Vila too.

SDM · Post #179 » by **SDM** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:39 pm

Makes you wonder if UFC can steal Bellator guys by offering huge signing bonuses with lower purses. I don't think Bellator has the kind of liquidity to compete under those circumstances, though they'd be stupid to not make Lombard a reasonable offer.

Bernman · Post #180 » by **Bernman** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 12:18 am

SDM wrote:Makes you wonder if UFC can steal Bellator guys by offering huge signing bonuses with lower purses. I don't think Bellator has the kind of liquidity to compete under those circumstances, though they'd be stupid to not make Lombard a reasonable offer.

They're Viacom. They are far more rich than Zuffa. I don't think front-loading the contract would matter much to them. Although some businesses just won't spend money before they are generating it in revenue.

FRB said he thought Bellator wouldn't match, and it's more a matter of an immense amount of terms over a 50-60 page document, than necessarily a monetary issue. Like what if the UFC, say, guarantees Lombard 3 fights per year under their banner barring injuries to his opponents or disinterest on his part? Could Bellator match those terms when they are dependent on tourneys to produce challengers for him? I don't know.

I think losing both Hector and Eddie due indirectly to their tourney format has to make them reconsider at least creating a supplementary option for title challengers.

On a brighter note for those who enjoy Bellator, like myself, I'm getting progressively more pumped for their great card this weekend. Spang got into it with Rogers at the weigh-ins to add to the hype. What are y'all guy's opinions on the matches tomorrow night?