Bellator September 19th Card

Bellator just announced their primary bouts for their September 19th card in San Jose, California.

Main Event:
Liam McGeary (champ) vs. Tito Ortiz for Light Heavyweight Title

4-man Light Heavyweight Tournament (match ups TBD)
King Mo Lawal
Emanuel Newton
Phil Davis
Linton Vassell

Both the semifinals and finals will take part on the same night.

They also will have some kickboxing on the card.

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker

Rich Keefe sits down with Bellator MMA President Scott Coker to talk Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice, Tito Ortiz, and the future of Bellator.

Rich Keefe with Tito Ortiz

I talked with Bellator Light Heavyweight (former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion) Tito Ortiz leading up to Bellator's Unfinished Business (Ken Shamrock - Kimbo Slice). I asked him about that fight, his relationship with Shamrock, his future in Bellator, and what fight would he tell someone to watch who had never seen a Tito Ortiz fight.

My prediction on who Tito will fight next?

1. Fedor (he's in St. Louis, could come out of retirement)
2. Liam McGeary (current Bellator Light Heavyweight Champ)
3. King Mo
4. Phil Davis
Last. Tito vs. Shamrock IV

Bellator 120 Results

Main card:
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson def. King Mo Lawal via unanimous decision
Will Brooks def. Michael Chandler via split decision
Tito Ortiz def. Alexander Shlemenko via submission (arm-triangle choke) (R1, 2:27)
Alexander Volkov def. Blagoi Ivanov via submission (rear-naked choke) (2nd, 1:08) 
Michael Page def. Ricky Rainey via first-round KO (4:29)

Undercard: 
Cheick Kongo def. Eric Smith via second-round TKO (4:35)
Marcin Held def. Nate Jolly via submission (armbar) (R1, 4:20)
Fabricio Guerreiro def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev via submission (kimura) (R1, 3:29)
Goiti Yamauchi def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Austin Lyons def. Zach Underwood via technical unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Mike Wessel def. Justin Fraziervia first-round TKO (4:28) 
Ben Brewer def. Andy Uhrich via second-round KO (2:40)
Codie Shuffield def. Anthony Lemon via submission (rear-naked choke) (2nd, 2:15)
Brian Hall def. Cortez Phelia via third-round KO (0:24)

Thanks to MMA Fighting for the Full Results. 

Your middleweight champ loses in a light heavyweight fight to a guy with 1 other win since 2006... In the 1st round. Probably not ideal.  

No Eddie Alvarez hurt the card and then his replacement defeats Chandler.  Not ideal.  

Dana White, who said he was watching boxing last night, enjoyed the whole thing I'm sure. 

Sports Brief MMA Rankings 5-10-13

Heavyweight:

1.      Cain Velasquez

2.      Junior Dos Santos

3.      Alistair Overeem

4.      Daniel Cormier

5.      Antonio Silva

6.      Fabricio Werdum

7.      Roy Nelson 

8.      Josh Barnett

9.      Frank Mir

10.  Mark Hunt 

Light Heavyweight:

1.      Jon Jones

2.      Lyoto Machida

3.      Dan Henderson

4.      Rashad Evans

5.      Alexander Gustafsson

6.      Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

7.      Glover Texieria

8.      Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

9.      Phil Davis

10.  Gegard Mousasi

Middleweight:

1.      Anderson Silva

2.      Chris Weidman

3.      Vitor Belfort 

4.      Chael Sonnen

5.      Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza

6.      Luke Rockhold

7.      Yushin Okami

8.      Mark Munoz

9.      Michael Bisping

10.  Hector Lombard 

Welterweight:

1.      Georges St. Pierre

2.      Johny Hendricks

3.      Carlos Condit

4.      Jake Ellenberger

5.      Rory MacDonald

6.      Nick Diaz

7.      Martin Kampmann

8.      Demian Maia

9.      Josh Koscheck

10.  Ben Askren 

Lightweight:

1.      Benson Henderson

2.      Gilbert Melendez

3.      Gray Maynard

4.      Anthony Pettis

5.      Michael Chandler

6.      Eddie Alvarez

7.      Josh Thomson

8.      Nate Diaz

9.      Pat Healy

10.  Jim Miller

Featherweight:

1.      Jose Aldo

2.      Frankie Edgar

3.      Pat Curran

4.      Ricardo Lamas

5.      Chad Mendes

6.      Cub Swanson

7.      Dennis Siver

8.      Dustin Poirier

9.      Eric Koch

10.  Chan Sung Jung 

Bantamweight:

1.      Renan Bareo

2.      Urijah Faber

3.      Michael McDonald

4.      Eddie Wineland

5.      Brad Pickett

6.      Bibiano Fernades

7.      Scott Jorgenson

8.      Eduardo Dantas

9.      Erik Perez

10.  Mike Easton

Flyweight:

1.      Demetrious Johnson

2.      Joseph Benevidez

3.      John Dodson

4.      Ian McCall

5.      John Moraga

6.      Jussier Da Silva

7.      Darrell Montague

8.      Louis Gaudinot

9.      Chris Cariaso

10.  John Lineker

Bellator MMA, Tournaments!

Bellator MMA is back for another season and this time it's on Spike TV.  I have always been a huge fan of the tournament style, from early UFC to Pride to DREAM, and now Bellator.  The Light Heavyweight bracket looks like this, and starts tomorrow night...

I would love to see a Babalu vs. King Mo final with the winner taking on the champ Christian M'Pumbu.

Podcast: Eddie Alvarez

Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez spoke with Rich Keefe leading up to his May 6th fight at the Wang Theatre in Boston against Josh Neer. Alvarez had been ranked #3 in the World, but #1 Penn and #2 Aoki both lost recently.

Throwdown Interview: Eddie Alvarez