Bellator News

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Just announced on the Bellator ‘Dynamite’ broadcast, Fedor Emelianenko will return and headline a new years eve event held in Japan. It is not a Bellator event, it’s the new promotion run by the former PRIDE boss and might feature some Bellator fighters on the card.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In basically the only GLORY kickboxing match that actually featured GLORY kickboxers, Saulo Cavalari took on Zack Mwekassa. Cavalari seemed to be the aggressor, landing some nice kicks to start the fight. The real action started in the second round. Cavalari came out with a bunch go heavy kicks to the body and leg. At one point it looked like Zack might have gotten hurt. He also dropped him with a big head kick, but that might have been more of a slip. They continued to scrap. Towards the mid point of the round the referee stopped it and took a point from Cavalari, for holding? That was weird.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson made his Bellator debut in front of his home crowd at Bellator ‘Dynamite’ against Mike Bronzoulis. These guys didn’t waste time getting after it. Both fighters got after it. They exchanged on the feet. Thomson almost landed a big head kick but it was blocked. Mike slipped and Thomson capitalized and got top control. He worked from top with Mike pressed on the cage. Thomson looked to transition to a better position. He made his way to full mount, with his legs triangled over Mike’s legs. From here Thomson couldn’t’ really posture up. Finally he gained normal full mount, but then the round ended. Good round for Thomson.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Paul Daley took on Fernando Gonzalez in a GLORY kickboxing match. Daley came out with some hard kicks, to the leg than the body. The round wasn’t too lopsided. Gonzalez held his own, but it most likely went to Daley. His kicks were hard and he seems to be the more active.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Phil Davis and Emanuel Newton fought in the second tournament fight, with the winner advancing to face ‘King Mo’ in the final. Both fighters came out and went through a feeling out process. Newton looked to land some of his spinning kicks. Davis stayed patient. Davis moved in as Newton threw a spin kick. Davis grabbed him and took him down. Newton was able to get up but Davis dragged him bad down. Right away Davis start working for a kimura. Newton got out and worked to he knees, with Davis on his back. Davis landed some punches on the ground. Newton was able to get to his feet, but not for long. They scrambled and Newton tried to grab a leg for a takedown but Davis got out and once again got his own. He had Newton’s back on the cage and started working for a kimura. Davis pulled guard and cranked it.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the first fight on the main card ‘King Mo’ Lawal took on Linton Vassell in the night’s opening tournament fight. The winner of this would move on to face the winner of Phil Davis and Emanuel Newton. There’s no question Vassell is the massive underdog in this tourney going into it.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

The first round most likely went to Gabe Carrasco. Joe Neal had issues with his footing and slipped on a few occasions. Carrasco stayed busy, and for the most part seemed to be the aggressor. In the second round Carrasco really came out on fire. He landed some nice body kicks early. Neal continued to slip almost every time he threw punch or got hit. He just didn’t seem to have his legs underneath him. Carrasco didn’t really look to take advantage of that though. Carrasco landed a few nice leg kicks. Eventually Neal shot in for a takedown. He pushed him to the cage. Carrasco was warned about grabbing the cage. They broke away. Neal really couldn’t do anything to get Carrasco out of his rhythm.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the first round the story was Adam Piccolotti moving backwards while Salvador Becerra moved in and seemed to land first with his range. In the second Becerra kept landing big strikes. Eventually Piccolotti made the decision to get it to the ground. He got the takedown pretty easily and from there went right to working for a choke. He managed to get to Becerra’s back and went for a rear naked choke. It ended up being more of a neck crank and after trying to hold on, Becerra was force to tap.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the first GLORY kickboxing match of the night we saw Jose Palacios tale on TJ Arcengal. TJ landa a few nice front body kicks early. Both fighters start fast. Jose lands a nice leg kick. These guys really went for it. TJ landed a few teak kicks. Both fighters took turns landing leg kicks. TJ comes in with a sweeping right hand. Both guys landed some nasty leg kicks. TJ landed with a nice one-two combo. Spinning back fist just missed from Jose before the round ended. It was close that round.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the second fight of the night Team Alpha Male’s Mike Malott took on Thomas Diagne. In the first round it was all Malott, who dominated Diagne. The fight went to the ground and Diagne really had no answer for Malott’s grappling game. The fight took place there on the mat for most of the round with Malott in control.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

In the very first fight of the night we saw the four-man, one-night tournament alternate scrap go down. Francis Carmont took on extremely late replacement Anthony Ruiz.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Bellator’s massive cross-promotional event ‘Dynamite’ goes down tonight in San Jose, California and will feature both MMA fights in the cage and GLORY kickboxing matches in the ring, which will be right next to each other. For the most part the fights will take place one after the other, but for a few on the prelims we’ll get to see simultaneous action going in the cage and the ring.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. MMA legends Royce Gracie and Fedor working out together, trying to keep up with their fitness. The two greats were in San Jose, CA as a part of the Bellator ‘Dynamite’s’ Fan Fest. Other guests included Randy Couture, Sakuraba, Frank Shamrock and Cung Le.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

Fedor Emelianenko, the man, the myth, the legend, was in attendance at Bellator MMA’s ‘Dynamite’ media day. ‘The Last Emperor’ was there as a guest and a part of the Fan Fest, along with other legends like Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Frank Shamrock and Sakuraba. Fedor talked to the media, including BJPENN.COM’s Layzie The Savage, who asked Fedor about all the biggest topics in MMA.

BJPENN.COM News - September 19, 2015

MMA legend Tito Ortiz will once again fight for a world title when he steps into the cage tonight at Bellator ‘Dynamite’ and fights undefeated champ Liam McGeary in the main event. Ortiz is currently on a two fight win streak, with wins over Stephan Bonnar and former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko.

BJPENN.COM News - September 18, 2015

What do you expect from a Tito Ortiz fight? Today at the Bellator ‘Dynamite’ weigh-ins all the fighters stepped on the scale and made weight, making tomorrow night official. There were some pretty good staredowns between the fighters, but only one delivered like the main event between light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary and MMA legend Tito Ortiz.

bjpenndotcom - September 18, 2015

Bellator MMA middleweight Kendall Grove won’t be fighting at ‘Dynamite’ this Saturday, but instead will take on Joey Beltran on next week’s Bellator 143 card. Grove did however help Tito Ortiz train for his title fight against Liam McGeary, which will go down in the main event this Saturday.

bjpenndotcom - September 18, 2015

As soon as it was announced that Bellator MMA had signed former UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck the only fight anyone could talk about was a rematch between him and Paul Daley. Their first fight is of course a memorable one, mostly just for what happened after the final bell.