Bellator XI thoughts and recap

Warren F. Piece of NewYorkFightScene.com joined The Fight Nerd at Bellator XI in Uncasville, CT on June 12. Here are his thoughts on the show as well as results. A full photo gallery of the event as well as post fight presser will be available here in the coming days.

I recently became a Bellator Fighting Championships (“the BFC”) superfan. Like many of you, I was turned on by those few outrageous finishes that rapidly made their way about the net. I instantly wanted to see more and, lucky for me, my $150 a month cable bill provides me with access to ESPN Deportes. I’ve made sure to catch the last few shows and have enjoyed them fully from beginning to end.

This prompted me to trek out to Mohegan Sun last night for Bellator XI (someone actually gave me press credentials…holy shit, right?) where I had the privilege of witnessing a now 10-0 Lyman “It’s All” or “What’s Really” Good (can’t decide which I like better…I honestly have no idea if he already has a nickname) become the original BFC Welterweight Champ after dismantling his opponent, Oscar De La Cruz, via vicious ground and pound just 1 minute and 23 seconds into the first round. Lyman (pictured above with NYFS’ AMG) is a well-spoken and highly marketable fighter who was once very close to signing with Elite XC (and only did not due to their collapse). One has to wonder how long he will stay with this fantastic, but relatively small promotion (I’ve not seen his contract). At the post fight presser, Good stated that he intends to fight again between now and his first title defense.

Team TSMMA further impressed the hell out of me when, earlier in the night, Nick Pace continued the Bellator tradition of providing at least one highlight-reel-finish per event. Scour the internet until you find footage of Pace’s flying knee KO of Collin Tebo (should be up later today/tonight).

Other BFC XI standouts include Uriah Hall (also a TSMMA guy?) and Jake Ellenberger, who provided the crowd with some very exciting TKO victories.

Full Results

185 lbs David Branch Dennis Olsen Branch by submission at 2:27
135 lbs Jimmie Rivera Nick Garcia Rivera by unanimous decision
185 lbs Uriah Hall Edwin Aguilar Hall by TKO at 14:31
135 lbs Nick Pace Collin Tebo Nick Pace by TKO at 1:37
170 lbs Vagner Rocha Igor Gracie Rocha wins by unanimous decision
170 lbs Justin Torrey Matt Makowski Torrey by unanimous decision
170 lbs Jake Ellenberger Marcelo Alfaya Ellenberger by TKO at 0:42
170 lbs Lyman Good Omar De la Cruz Good by TKO at 1:23
Season 1 Recap:

I thought this would be useful (for anyone interested) as the BFC is a pretty confusing promotion to follow for several reasons: (a) Events take place on Fridays, but are not aired until the next evening; (b) When aired Saturdays on ESPN Deportes, the events are broadcast almost completely in Spanish (although they do rebroadcast each show in English the following Wednesday evening here); (c) Bellator conducted 12 shows (the 12th to go down on June 19th) within a 3 month span (April through June) this season ((d) the BFC functions in seasons, unlike most stateside promotions).

Season 1 of the BFC featured 4 tournaments, each with the purpose of crowning first-ever Bellator Champions in the following weight classes: feather, light, welter and middle.

Last week, a BFC Featherweight Champ was established when Joe Soto put a seriously one-sided BEATDOWN on opponent Yahir Reyes…and you already know what went down last night.

The Season 1 finale, set to take place next Friday at the Hard Rock in FL will solidify the final 2 champions of the season, as the BFC’s biggest name, Eddie Alvarez, takes on Toby Imada for the lightweight strap and Hector Lombard (perhaps their second biggest name) faces Jared Hess for the middleweight belt.

Season 2 is rumored to begin September, 2009 and is expected to feature multiple tournaments with the intent of establishing number 1 contenders to face this season’s champs. Also rumored is a Heavyweight tourney.