Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney has a simple motto when it comes to his tournament based product : Win, and move on. Lose, and go home.
Coming to us from Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut Saturday Night, Eddie Alvarez clearly knew what he needed to do. Win, and retain his title. Using crisp boxing technique and incredible cardio and takedowns, he simply imposed his will on season 2 winner Pat Curran. Curran, while a game competitor who got a few heavy shots in on the champ, was overwhelmed and Alvarez cruised to a unanimous decision, scores of 50-45 (twice) and 49-46. Afterward, he told interviewer Jimmy Smith that what the 23 year old Curran lacked in experience, he certainly made up for in heart.
"I wish I had the heart he has at his age," Alvarez said. "Pat's going to be a champion someday, and my hat's off to him tonight."
For mainstays Lyman Good and Toby Imada, they also knew what they needed to do. Win, and move within a victory of a title shot. However, neither did so Saturday night, and they are both coming home.
Good showed great stand up skills in his first round against Rick Hawn. By counter punching and using the clinch effectively, he was able to grind out the first round 10-9. The second round was dominated by Hawn, who used an outside trip to gain top position, and while he never had the former 170 lb. kingpin Good in trouble from that position, was able to grind out the middle stanza. The 3rd saw Good counterpunching and circling away with Hawn frustrated going forward. While he was able to score a late takedown, an upkick at the sound of the bell by Good was enough, in my mind, for Cyborg to move on. However, 2 judges saw the fight differently, and awarded the former US Olympian Judoka his 11th consecutive win as a professional. With the loss, Good has lost 2 of 3 since winning 11 straight.
As for Imada, the man who's best known for being on Bellator highlight reels due to his first season inverted triangle against Jorge Masvidal, he now knows what its like to be on the other end of the highlight package. Facing Brazilian Patricky "Pitbull" Friere and a 3rd straight trip to the finals on the line, Imada and Friere started out slow, each throwing a few punches and exchanging. A huge flying knee by Friere changed things, however, and while Imada was still standing after, it was clear he was out. Pitbull knew it too, and he swarmed right after, flooring the veteran and securing the victory at just under the 3 minute mark of round number two. .
The opening fight of the night featured Ben Saunders against Matt Sung Lee. In a bloody 3 round affair, the American Top Team product "Killa B" improved to 9-4-2, with 2 straight wins since his UFC release. He was domnant in the clinch and overwhlemed the Korean, leading to a ref stoppage at 1:24 of the final frame.
Honorable Mention : I'm all for the Bjorn Rebney backing of Alvarez as the best 155'er in the world, but seriously where did his confidence come from? There was more than one instance where he turned his back to Curran, and in the 5th he simply jumped in front of his opponent while keeping his hands down. Whether it was cockiness, confidence or his best Anderson Silva impression I'm still not sure, but he had better not do anything of the sort against Friere, should Patricky Pitbull advance to a title shot. Alvarez mentioned in his post fight interview that he'll be cheering for the brother of featherweight Patricio "Pitbull" in the finals.
Lyman Good was clearly the veteran I referred to in my preview about getting "robbed" by the judges. I could see the fight going 29-28 for Hawn, but 30-27 is a bit ridiculous. As well as the fight being given on a takedown at the end of the fight, when Hawn did nothing with it in the final 10 seconds.
Tune in next week for the other 2 semi-finals as well as Welterweight champion Ben Askren in a non-title bout.
Until next time, fight fans.
-Alvarez turned his back against Curran in the later rounds to show that Curran was no longer engaging, allowing Eddie to just nonchalantly stroll around the cage with his arms down. I would describe it more as "confident in pending victory" more than cockiness.
ReplyDelete-I dont think anyone could replace the "cockiness" Silva showed against Meia and Leites. Even Muhammed Ali was jealous.
-Lyman was a disappointment. With a physic like his, he should have been throwing Hawn around the cage. Instead, Hawn seemed to be the stronger guy. Was a close fight though.
-Pitbulls' flying knee is one of the best ever......but Aldo's scissor knee, and Silva's knee against Newton were better. Heck, Sandman's against Tery Martin was pretty nasty too.
-Saunders was probably let go form the UFC prematurely.
-Imada's a tough sob!!!
Still thought Good did enough to win. In the end, the takedown in the last 10 seconds mattered. I've always said that a takedown should not mean a thing if you can't do anything with it. Good was clearly more active with the up kick and several shots despite the takedown.
ReplyDeletePitbulls flying knee was awesome. If it is not nominated for KO of the year at least it will be highway robbery. Especially after Imada was still standing on Dream Street right after. If not nominated, wouldn't be the first time a KO from Bellator wasn't nominated : Yahir Reyes' spinning backfist on Estaban Payan had over 1 million hits on youtube, but no mention at the World MMA Awards.