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Bellator kicked off its fourth season and debuted on MTV2 with a good showing on Saturday. The event had a number of exciting fights and controversial situations which seem to have come standard in mixed martial arts. The first night of action set the pace for what should be an extremely interesting welterweight tournament.
The winners from the evening who will advance to the next round include former Bellator champion Lyman Good, Jay Hieron, Brent Weedman, and Rick Hawn.
Heiron’s bout was marred in controversy as referee Josh Rosenthal stopped the fight when he believe Anthony Lapsley had succumb to a rear naked choke. Lapsley immediately protested the bout, however the official stood by his reasoning. Both the fighters and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney acknowledged that the stoppage was premature.
Lyman Good stayed behind a stiff jab and superior striking to stifle any offense created by Chris Lozano. Lozano’s left eye was badly battered to the point of closing as the fight progressed. In the third round, Good pushed the pace and even threatened to finish form a variety of positions. The final score on the judge’s card were 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 all for Good.
Tournament favorite Dan Hornbuckle was the first fighter to taste an upset as he was defeated by Brent Weedman. Hornbuckle finished second in last year’s tournament to current Welterweight Champion Ben Askern and was expected to go far this year. However, Weedman was able to edge out a close unanimous decision.
Both fighters found themselves in dangerous positions as they pushed back and forth. At separate points in the fight, they both looked to finish with their own submission opportunities. Even though Hornbuckle had a strong third round, all three judges awarded the fight 29-28 for Weedman.
2004 US Olympic Judo team member Rick Hawn displayed his striking abilities in route to a unanimous decision victory over Jim Wallhead. Wallhead was never able to mount any offense and was left prey to his opponent’s stand up abilities. The final scores were 29-28 twice and 30-27.
Additional fights were featured during the MTV2 premier and none of them let the crowd down. Zoila Frausto, the Bellator 125 pound women’s champion defeated Karina Hallinan in a non-title bout. This was the second meeting of the two but the finish was the same. Frausto punished her opponent with knees, elbows, and a variety of other attacks. Hallinan never stopped pushing forward but was unable to answer any of her opponent’s powerful blows.
Waachiim Spiritwolf and Jamie Jara battled in a 15-minute war that left fans on their feet. Spiritwolf was dropped in the first round and nearly submitted by a tight guillotine choke. However, he was able to fight out and eventually cut his opponent by ground and pound in that same round. By the third round the two fighters were exchanging blows back and forth. Spiritwolf was able to maintain the higher work rate and pull out a unanimous decision.
