After 46 events, Bellator Fighting Championships ventured North of the 49th parallel for the first time with an event coming to us from Casino Rama, in Rama, Ontario airing live on MTV2 and in Canada on The Score. The co-main events featured the semi-finals of the "Summer Series" Featherweight tournament.
The second semi-final, featuring Englishman and Sengoku vet Ronnie "Kid Ninja" Mann and American Pat Curran, was a chess match featuring really good technique and very few but nontheless solid exchanges. In the end, the aggressiveness and overall hustle of "Patyboy" was enough for the judges, as they scored it for him via unanimous decision, via scores of 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.
With the victory, Curran books his second straight finals appearance in a tournament, as he was the winner of Bellator's season 2 155 lb. tournament. With the loss, Mann drops to 4 losses from 25 fights, but he has won 2 out of 3 in Bellator.
As for who Curran will meet in that final, that was decided in a fight between Brazilian (and Jose Aldo training partner) Marlon Sandro, and Argentine-born Brazilian Nazareno Malgarie. Through 15 minutes, we saw Sandro using throws and effective striking to leave Malgarie a mess, complete with a swollen eye and a cut above his hairline, and although Malgarie was competitve, he nonetheless never used his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background until late, and his will wasn't enough to sway the judges, who saw it all by scores of 30-27. Sandro now improves to 2-0 in Bellator Fighting Championships, while Malgarie has dropped 2 of 3 in the promotion.
Other winners included Neil Grove, all 40 years of him, defeat Zak Jensen in a Heavyweight showcase and Canadian Chris Horodecki, who defeated Chris Saunders in a 3 round affair.
Honorable Mention : Curran and Mann was a solid 15 minute affair, depending on whom you asked. I was in the crowd on Saturday, and a fight that wasn't what people wanted got several jeers, including a woman whom screamed "We came to see a fight!", and boos late in the contest. The fight actually wasn't that bad. People like you give the sport a bad name. Also, Horodecki fought Saunders with a heavy heart in front of a hometown crowd. With a packed Casino Rama cheering him on, The man known as "The Polish Hammer"s close friend passed away earlier in the week, and he was dedicating the fight to him. While Saunders was game, Horodecki frustrated him with a vastly improved ground game from his WEC days.
The heavyweight tilt between Grove and Jensen was exciting that got the front row on its feet, as the 2 big boys got locked up in a kneebar position, and spent the next 30 seconds throwing haymakers left and right. That was definitely a Bellator highlight.
The inaugural Summer Series will conclude with Bellator 48, live from the Mohegan Sun Casino August 20th on MTV2.
Until next time, fight fans.
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