We were excited for the great mma action that Bellator is known to deliver, but we were particularly excited to watch some of or favorite local guys get there chance on the "Big Stage"!! Matt The Mangler Bessette, Ruben Rukus Rey, Sloppy Joe Lamoureux, and Brennan The Irish Bad Boy Ward all had match ups on the under card. We left town around 3:35, hoping to make the 6pm start. Unfortunately, we met some pretty thick traffic in a couple areas, and missed the entire under card...Sorry Ruben, we heard you looked really good, and controlled most of the fight with a great reach and jab, big win against a tough Robbie Leroux.
However, thanks to my *Android phone, we were able to watch the entire Matt Bessette vs Paul Barrow fight on Spike.com. We both felt that Matt's striking looked great throughout the fight. He mixed punch combos, and punch kick combos very well, scoring repeatedly. He controlled allot of the action against the cage, where he mixed some dangerous knees to the body and head doing damage, while trying to secure the take down. Matt bloodied and bruised his opponent, on his way to a unanimous decision victory!! Great fight Mangler!! Way to represent, yourself, your training partners, and your fellow fighters and fans from New England!! Keep doing what you are doing, you look good on the big show!!
Next up was Brennan Ward vs Sam McCoy. The men enter the cage, Sam is in good shape, and well muscled, and Brennan looks like his usual beastly self.. They circle, Sam shoots, Brennan sprawls, and .....my phone freezes, no more 3G ( I can hear CityBoy now,,,) We did find out that that's mainly what continued to happen, Sam shooting, and getting stuffed by Brennan, only to end up getting KO'd trying yet another time. Brennan looks like a real contender...kid has tons of skill as a wrestler, now he's proving he's a real mma fighter as well!! Look out for big things from The Irish Bad Boy!!!!
We also missed the next 3 fights, the third being the Joe Lamoureux fight. Joe is one of our favorite fighters out of SSSF. He's got a great charachter about him, real funny nice guy, but he likes to get "sloppy" in the cage!! Kid brings the fight every time...This night however, Dan Cramer proved too much, as he KO'd Joe in the first. He hurt Joe with a few big knee's, then 3 overhand rights, each one harder than the last, to seal the deal. I'm sure Joe will be back to his winning ways real soon, hope you are ok!
At this point, we finally made it to the show, got our great media section seat, and The Artist went to his cage side perch for some sik pictures. Our good friend, and in my opinion the best mma photog around, Zak Lynch from MMAPHOTOGRAPHY.com has shown us some great helpful tips, and I think you will all agree The Artist captured some amazing mma moments tonight!!
Next up was Andrew Callandrlli from Ultimate MMA in CTvs Eric Brown from Ca at 155lbs. Rd1 the fighters circle and engage, Eric looks more relaxed on the feet, and Andrew is a bit boxy and unsettled. He starts to push for the take down, and begins to work his BJJ from the top position. later in the rd, Andrew catches Sam in a deep head and arm choke, but Sam holds out, and escapes before the round end.
In round 2 Andrew gets another take down, into mount. He looks for some ground and pound, as Sam trys to cover, Andrew takes his arm, rips it away, and gets the arm bar submission tap!! Winner Rd 2 Andrew Calandrelli submission, arm bar. I'd like to note, that Calandrelli had The man himself, Notorious Nick Newell in his corner!!
The next fight pitted German fighter Jonas Billstien vs Filthy Perry Filkins out of NH at 185lbs. Rd 1 sees both fighters looking to establish themselves with some boxing. Perry is looking for the big shots, as he's really loading up! Jonas settles in, and starts to throw some kicks in his combos. Jonas trys for the take down but is stuffed, and Perry is on top to end the round.
Rd 2 both fighters take the center of the cage trading. The crowd is enjoying this one as am I!! They clinch up, and both are looking for take downs. They split, Jonas throws a nice faint, Perry covers up, and Jonas shoots in to score the take down before the round ends.
Rd 3 Once again they take the center of the cage and trade blows. Jonas is showing more damage however, as Perry has landed some good ones. Jonas throws a A. Silva esque front kick that pops Perry in the face. This seems to excite Fillkins as he begins to posture to Jonas as he comes forward eating punches, and delivering some big ones of his own!!Jonas trys for the take down, but Perry reverses, takes mount and rains down some vicious punches and elbows to Jonas's head and face as the round ends. Winner unanimous decision, Perry Fillkins.
Next up we had Dustin Neace from IN vs Marlon Sandro out of Rio de Janerio Brazil at 145lbs. In his corner, were none other than UFC fighters Glover Texieria and the 145lb Champ Jose' Aldo!! Rd 1 They engage, and Sandro is throwing HARD!!! Sandro pushes against the cage, gets the take down to top position. Neace spins and trys for a heel hook, but Sandro is patient. He escapes, a scramble ensues, Sandro takes the back, and sinks in the Rear Naked Choke for the victory!! Winner Marlon Sandro rd 1 submission, rear naked choke.
In the light weight tournement semi final we had Ricardo Tirlini from Brazil vs Dave Jansen from OR. Rd 1 starts and both men seem hungry to advance in the tourny! They are exchanging hard, back and forth and again the crowd seems to love it.. ;) At one point Jansen gets the back of Tirloni he gets position, and gets a suplex. Ricardo rolls and is back to his feet, only to be suplexed again. Back to the feet, and they trade hard as the round ends.
Rd 2 they take the center of the cage and trade with nice combos and each fighter is connecting. The round is close as both fighters mix punches with kicks to score on their opponent. Ricardo looks to do a bit more damage, as Jansen is bleeding from a few cuts on his face.
Rd 3 is more of the same. Both men show great cardio and heart as they press the action. They are very busy and each continue to connect with nice crisp shots. Both fighters are now bleeding from small cuts. Ricardo trys for the take down, but is stuffed. In the scramble Jansen takes his back. He picks him up for another suplex and the round ends the fight. Winner rd 3 by split decision, Dave Jansen.
In the final fight of the evening, we saw the other light weight 155lb tournement semifinal match up between Marcin Held from Poland vs Rich Clementi from LA. Rd 1 They circle and trade punches. Held looks to clinch up quick and drops for a leg lock, which is his specialty!! He grabs Rich's foot in a deep and painful looking toe hold. Rich defends after a bit of a fight, and they remain on the ground playing the leg lock game. Rich is in Held's world, but defends very well. They scramble, and Rich grabs Held's neck for a guillotine attempt. Held defends as the round ends.
Rd 2 Rich comes out swinging, knowing that's his best shot.They clinch again and Rich gets a nice hip toss into half guard. Held pulls deep half guard, and instantly starts to look for another leg lock. He quickly grabs the foot again for another deep toe hold, and this time Rich has to tap. Winner rd 2 Marcin Held submission, toe hold.
After the submission, Held was elated...he got up and in his excitement, like many other fighters, threw his mouth piece into the crowd. Every time I see that, I think, " gross...who wants to catch a mouth piece...???" Well, this time, I actually saw where it went. It landed about 10 feet from me in the hands of another guy in the media section. Dude proceeds to hold mouth piece showing it off to his buddies, then proceeds to PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH!!!!!
Even though we missed many of the fights we really wanted to cover, we had a great time. Bellator is a well run show, with allot of great production, and great top talent fighters. They provided a great media section very close to the cage, and The Artist had a sweet cage side perch to get some awesome pics. He was sad that he couldn't get some of our local guys fighting however... Hope you enjoyed my review, let me know what you think in the comment section below.
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