First, next week's show is at 7pm eastern. I didn't notice them promoting it until during the main event and then with a commercial after the main. If wrestling has taught us anything, it's expect lots of people to be dumb and forget. In any event, it's the featherweights next week on MTV 2 then UFC 128.
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Each of the four lightweight fights were good (in fact, a MUCH better night of fights than last week on the whole) with either explosive knockouts or slick subs.
1. Michael Chandler is a beast of a fighter but it's almost expected out of anyone with a division-I pedigree like he has. Still not sure how well he can take a punch but damn is he powerful on the ground. He's my favorite to win the the whole thing from here.
His nose was busted but not broken so he should be good to go within 6-8 weeks at the max.
Marcin Held is only 19 years old and has a lot of experience in Poland so I'd like to see more of him in Bellator, he had a tough fight here.
2. I liked the pre-fight (taped) backstage interview with Greg Jackson. Maybe it's just listening to him talk up his guy, but these types of interviews are always what I've talked about wanting to see. Strikeforce began doing it a while back with backstage pre-fight interviews and I wish UFC would do it because it adds something to the broadcast (of course, it takes me back to Mene Gene's backstage interviews, but it has a place in MMA)
Carey Vanier is a fun fighter to watch but holy shit did Lloyd Woodard buckle his ass lol. The punch that led to the finish was simply a straight left, it was awesome. Woodard is a wacky dude who cut a fun promo so he's more than just the "Brent Weedman" of this tournament. He's an aggressive fighter with KO power, dangerous.
3. Toby Imada did what most expected him to, he submitted Josh Shockley in under two minutes with an armbar. I assume he's favored by most to make it to the finals again but this is another tough field for him.
4. Patricky Freire may not be as refined an MMA fighter as his brother but damn is he explosive. He wrecked Razor Rob in the first, let him back into it in the second and knocked his ass out in the third. In the first, when he was fighting off his back looking for subs, his hips were dynamic in trying to pull McCullough down into his guard. It was sweet. He took more damage from the leg kicks than he should have, but this was only his 8th pro MMA fight I believe. But for a kickboxing guy, shouldn't he have checked them? He's the guy I believe can beat any other man in this tournament so I wouldn't be shocked to see him win.
Anyone else notice how aloof he was after the fight. Rob wanted to congratulate him but he passed right by him to the post fight promo. Then he dazed off and was walking away during it. Crazy Brazilians.
Thankfully, none of the winners suffered any real damage besides Chandler's bloody nose. That should prevent any delays like there is in the welterweight tournament because of Weedman's cuts.
The semifinal fights I'd book if I were Rebney:
Michael Chandler vs. Lloyd Woodard
Toby Imada vs. Patricky Freire