Bellator Welterweight Quarterfinals and World Championship Discussion

Opening-round fights for Bellator's Season 8 welterweight tournament are now set.

The promotion today announced matchups for the eight-man competition, which kicks off later this month at Bellator 86.

The matchups include Marius Zaromskis (19-7 MMA, 3-1 BFC) vs. Brent Weedman (20-8-1 MMA, 6-3 BFC), Douglas Lima (22-5 MMA, 4-1 BFC) vs. Michail Tsarev (24-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC), Jose Gomes (32-8 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Raul Amaya (10-1 MMA, 1-1 BFC), and Koffi Adzisto (18-9 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Ben Saunders (14-5-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC).

Bellator 86 takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. The event's main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. A welterweight title fight between champion Ben Askren and Season 6 tourney winner Karl Amoussou headlines the card. Additionally, ex-Strikeforce champ Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal meets Przemyslaw Mysiala in the opening round of the Season 8 light-heavyweight tournament.

Zaromskis, Weedman, Lima, Tsarev, Amaya and Saunders all bring tournament experience to the eight-man field. However, conspicuously absent from the tourney field is Paul Daley, whose visa problems precluded him from the competition, and War Machine (formerly Jon Koppenhaver), who suffered a torn ACL that forced him to withdraw.

Zaromskis appeared in the Season 7 competition, where he made it to the semifinals before Andrey Koreshkov stopped him. The loss snapped a five-fight win streak for the Strikeforce vet and former DREAM champion, whose move to American Kickboxing Academy reinvigorated his career after a rough patch three years ago.

Weedman tries a fourth time to bank the six-figure payout given to tourney winners. Jay Hieron outpointed the Whole Foods employee in Season 4, and Chris Lozano did the same in Season 5. An appearance in the finals of Season 6 went south with a decision loss to Rick Hawn. Weedman racked up 10 straight wins, including four under the Bellator banner, before first running into trouble.

Season 5 tournament winner Lima is looking for a rematch with Askren after losing to the champ this past April. In a five-round snoozer, Askren took him down at will and dominated him to win on points. Lima rebounded six months later with a third-round TKO win over the surprisingly tough Jacob Ortiz.

Tsarev returns to the tournament format after making it to the semifinals in Season 7, where ex-Bellator champ Lyman Good stopped him. The loss snapped an 11-fight win streak for the Russian, who's earned most of his wins in his home country.

Gomes makes his promotional debut on the strength of a three-fight win streak earned in his native Brazil, where he has fought the bulk of his career. His notable career opponents – Erick Silva and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza – both added losses to his resume.

Amaya took UFC and Bellator tourney vet Ben Saunders the distance in the opening round of the Season 6 competition but was unanimously outpointed. This past July, he returned to the win column in a catchweight bout against Kenny Moss, which ended in a second-round TKO.

Adzisto makes his Bellator debut with a recent win over Chris Cisneros in July. The Utah resident has faced several UFC vets, including Josh Burkman, Brandon Melendez and Kevin Burns, whom he knocked out in less than two minutes.

Saunders makes his third tournament appearance after Lima knocked him out in the Season 5 finals and Bryan Baker outpointed him in the Season 6 semifinals. The UFC vet has hopscotched between wins and losses in his past four appearances, and this past July, he returned to top form with a 22-second TKO win over Brian Warren.

The latest Bellator 86 card includes:

Champ Ben Askren vs. Karl Amoussou - for welterweight title
Muhammed Lawal vs. Przemyslaw Mysiala - light-heavyweight-tournament opening round
Ben Saunders vs. Koffi Adzitso - welterweight-tournament opening round
Douglas Lima vs. Michail Tsarev - welterweight-tournament opening round
Brent Weedman vs. Marius Zaromskis - welterweight-tournament opening round
Raul Amaya vs. Jose Gomes - welterweight-tournament opening round

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/01/welterweight-tourney-opening-round-set-for-bellator-86-lima-and-saunders-return

For this Welterweight Tournament who is the Most Well rounded?
How will Gomes and Adzitso fair against their Opponents in The tournament?
Who has the most dangerous match up?
Will Lima and Saunders cross paths again?
Is this Zaromskis last chance at Bellator glory?
Which bout looks like it will be fight of the night?
Who may take the whole tourney?

All Roads lead to Bellator Welterweight Champ Ben Askren
Or Karl Amoussou

Going with Weedman (although I want Zaromskis to win), Lima, Killa Bee, and Gomes.

i really dont think Zaromskis will lose to weedman. if my meory serves me correct, Zaromskis is very good at getting back to his feet. he was taken down a few time against spiritwolf the first time they fought in bellator, but he probably was expecting a 99% standup fight with spiritwolf.

dont remember much on tsarev, but if he has good wrestling he can beat lima who i think is just a tad bit overrated(although still a great fighter)

also dont know enough about the others to make a prediction yet.

goodnightirene wrote:i really dont think Zaromskis will lose to weedman. if my meory serves me correct, Zaromskis is very good at getting back to his feet. he was taken down a few time against spiritwolf the first time they fought in bellator, but he probably was expecting a 99% standup fight with spiritwolf.

dont remember much on tsarev, but if he has good wrestling he can beat lima who i think is just a tad bit overrated(although still a great fighter)

also dont know enough about the others to make a prediction yet.

I'd like to see Zaromskis take him out. Zaromskis head kick KO is about due.

The fight card for next week's "Bellator 86: Askren vs. Amoussou" event is now official with the addition of four preliminary-card bouts.

While most of the matchups feature prospects, onetime Strikeforce fighter Cortez Coleman is among the mix.

Bellator 86 takes place Jan. 24 at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. The event's main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

In addition to five tournaments bouts in the light-heavyweight and welterweight divisions, the event's headliner features welterweight champion Ben Askren vs. challenger Karl Amoussou.

On the prelims, Coleman (8-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who defeated Lucas Lopes at a 2010 Strikeforce event, meets fellow middleweight and promotional newcomer Matt Jones (4-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who's on a 4-1 run.

Other bouts include featherweights Hunter Tucker (4-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Javier Obregon (4-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC), featherweights Mike Maldonado (3-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Joseph Salas (2-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC), and lightweights Zach Church (1-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Damon Jackson (3-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC).

The full Bellator 86 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 10 p.m. ET)
Ben Askren vs. Karl Amoussou - for welterweight title
Muhammed Lawal vs. Przemyslaw Mysiala - light-heavyweight-tournament opening round
Douglas Lima vs. Michail Tsarev - welterweight-tournament opening round
Ben Saunders vs. Koffi Adzitso - welterweight-tournament opening round
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 8 p.m. ET)
Brent Weedman vs. Marius Zaromskis - welterweight-tournament opening round
Raul Amaya vs. Jose Gomes - welterweight-tournament opening round
Javier Obregon vs. Hunter Tucker
Mike Maldonado vs. Joseph Salas
Zach Church vs. Damon Jackson
Cortez Coleman vs. Matt Jones



http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/01/bellator-86-card-finalized-with-four-prelims-including-cortez-coleman

cortez coleman is a nice prospect, who trains with robbie lawler, strikeforce veteran also a nice addition to the prelim card...

hunter tucker another good prospect....hit the link...


http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Hunter-Tucker-54564

THANK YOU WILLIE

Marius Zaromskis on the prelims!!! wtf lol

I wish bellator somehow made all quarter finals on the live tv show so people can follow the tournament

bump

no offense but i've hardly seen majority of these guys fight!

lol

Zaromskis, Lima, Saunders, Gomes.

There is no show called Bellator 86. This is a fictional designation by the Zuffa shill web sites to confuse the fans. If you look at the Bellator web site, their press releases, or the TV listings, you will not find any Bellator 86. Now that it is clear that Bellator and Spike have dropped the numbering of shows, the only reason these web sites continue to number them is to confuse people.

Yeah, the card is billed as " Bellator MMA: Welterweight World Championship" on the website.

The Jan. 31 card is billed as "Bellator MMA: Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals", etc.

http://www.bellator.com/Schedule.dbml

The #86 had ought to be dropped from the thread title.

only 3 days away....good looking event.....stu3ufc i agree with you, they should have tv all the gp fights and i would have prefer to watch zaromskis on tv than saunders but what we can do about it....

still nice looking event, ill be watching...

So glad I can watch this on spike now, heres to hoping production starts to improve over time, thanks for keeping us updated willie.

PRIDE NEVER DIE wrote:So glad I can watch this on spike now, heres to hoping production starts to improve over time, thanks for keeping us updated willie.

no worries my friend....i agree nice that we can watch it on spike....they avg a hair under a million viewers last time...i bet zuffa is not happy with bellator's numbers.....

I really hope Amoussou can catch Askren on the chin and put him out. Not real likely but it could happen. Not a fan of Askren's style.

CDF47 wrote:I really hope Amoussou can catch Askren on the chin and put him out. Not real likely but it could happen. Not a fan of Askren's style.

same here...lol....rooting for psycho

Bulked up Weedman ready for 170 Tourney

Brent Weedman is always keeping busy.

Having participated in three prior tournaments for Bellator, most recently advancing to the finals of the season six lightweight tournament, he decided to bulk back up and try his hand at 170 pounds again.

When War Machine went down with an injury and Paul Daley had some legal troubles which forced him to withdraw from the season eight welterweight tournament, all of a sudden Weedman was a hot commodity as a late replacement entrant into the field.

The proud Kentuckian was more than happy to step up to the plate and now he's preparing for potentially one of the wildest fights of his life as he'll be taking on diverse striker Marius Zaromskis in the quarterfinals this Thursday night (Jan. 24, 2013) at Bellator 86 in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

During a recent appearance on Bloody Elbow Radio, Weedman spoke about making the jump up in weight, facing someone like Zaromskis and much, much more in this exclusive interview.

Check it out:

Matt Bishop: You're drawing Marius Zaramskis in the first round of the Bellator season eight welterweight tournament. What were your thoughts when you found out you were going to be fighting him?

Brent Weedman: Man, I was ecstatic when I found out about that match-up. I wasn't originally in the tournament but with Paul Daley having to drop out and War Machine being injured, they needed somebody to fill in. They called me and asked, "Are you training?" I was at the gym so I was sort of affronted by that, "Well, yeah," and I was planning on fighting in January anyways and they asked if I wanted to be in the tournament. I said, "Who? What? When and Where?" All I hoped was that I would get a name. I wanted someone who is known for being a badass and Marius Zaromskis is well-known for being a badass so I couldn't be happier with the match-up.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You fought at 155 pounds for the last tournament but now you're moving back up. You mentioned previously that the reason you dropped down to lightweight was you weren't having to cut weight when you were fighting at 170. Have you had to work hard to put on extra muscle to your frame and fill it out so you can hang with these guys physically?

Brent Weedman: Yeah, a really long story short. I was working with a dude that's been part of my success in the last tournament, my strength and conditioning coach being the biggest change and we started working together about six months ago mostly on my ability and my strength. I noticed my weight wasn't changing that much, I'm still not a huge 170-er but my strength and athleticism and my speed and endurance were making these huge leaps. I found I had a lot of injuries and immobility issues that had not been addressed throughout my career and in fact they were getting worse and worse. So by addressing them I felt unchained.

One day I stepped on the scale and was 181 pounds and my nutritional team was tracking my body composition and I'd put on about nine pounds of lean muscle mass and lost the rest of it in body fat and I thought, "Wait a second. I can just do this? I can get strong and fast and athletic and not have to cut much weight? Shit, why haven't I been doing this the whole time?"

So I talked to Sam Kaplan at Bellator, didn't want to mess anything up with them. They're the ones who feed me and they were more than happy to let me move back to welterweight. I'm still not cutting that much weight. I haven't seen the other side of 185 in I don't know how long and 185 is where I started my camp before the 155 fight. I went from being one of those guys that cuts a tremendous amount of weight to, when it comes to actually cut, only having to drop about five or six pounds. Despite that, I'm much thicker, have a much more athletic frame and a much different mindset than going into any of my fights.

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/1/20/3898342/bulking-up-interview-with-bellator-season-eight-welterweight

nhbnews wrote:There is no show called Bellator 86. This is a fictional designation by the Zuffa shill web sites to confuse the fans. If you look at the Bellator web site, their press releases, or the TV listings, you will not find any Bellator 86. Now that it is clear that Bellator and Spike have dropped the numbering of shows, the only reason these web sites continue to number them is to confuse people.

I believe they are going by date based upon a highlights video of their last event

Bellator MMA - Jan 17th

I´m even more excited for the LHW tourney. Mo will TKO Mysiala and fight Newton in the semis

Attention!!! Anyone caught numbering Bellator MMA events shall be banned from the forums! This is Bellator not The Ultimate Hand Given Title Shot championships

MAIN CARD:

Bellator Welterweight Championship Fight: Ben Askren (10-0) vs. Karl Amoussou (16-4-2)

Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Przemyslaw Mysiala (16-7) vs. King Mo (8-1)

Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Douglas Lima (22-5) vs. Michail Tsarev (24-3)

Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Koffie Adzitso (18-9) vs. Ben Saunders (13-5-2)

Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Marius Zaromskis (19-7) vs. Brent Weedman (20-8)



PRELIMINARY CARD:

Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Raul Amaya (10-1) vs. Jose Gomes (32-8)

Middleweight Feature Fight: Matt Jones (4-3) vs. Cortez Coleman (8-3)

Bantamweight Feature Fight: Chris Pham (2-0) vs. Jason Sampson (9-1)

Lightweight Feature Fight: Zach Church (1-1) vs. Damon Jackson (3-0)

Featherweight Feature Fight: Mike Maldonado (3-0) vs. Joseph Salas (2-3)

Featherweight Feature Fight: Hunter Tucker (4-0) vs. Javier Obregon (4-3)

Third tourney is the charm for Saunders

Ben Saunders is rested, relaxed and ready for his third Bellator tournament.

After advancing to the finals in his first effort (losing via TKO to Douglas Lima), he was upset by Bryan Baker in the semifinals of the Bellator season six welterweight tournament. He knows he'll have to step up his game this third time or risk it being his last.

With several Bellator standout welterweights like Andrey Koreshkov, Baker, Paul Daley, War Machine and Lyman Good absent from the field, Saunders is one of the favorites to at least make it to the finals of the upcoming eighth tournament, which debuts this Thursday night (Jan. 24, 2013) at Bellator 86 when he faces unheralded striker Koffi Adzitso in the opening bout of the main card.

Saunders spoke to MMAmania.com during a recent appearance on The Verbal Submission about the importance of keeping your body rested, his mental focus entering his third tournament and what he expects against Adzitso in this exclusive interview.

Check it out:

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): It seems like every time I talk to you before a fight, you mention that you've got a massage coming up. Is that part of your weekly routine or even something you only do before each fight?

Ben Saunders: Yeah man, I train my ass off and I try to make sure I get one right before I fly out so I try to get my muscles relaxed and get any lactic acid build-up massaged out. Obviously, we're dealing with a weight cut as well so it's just overall very beneficial for any fighter really.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): There was a fighter who fought at UFC on FX 7 where it was his 11th fight in 10 months and his third fight in just over a month. Do you think that's safe considering most fighters average three or four fights a year?

Ben Saunders: I would say one, it really definitely depends on how much weight he's cutting. If he's not having to cut much weight, it's not having to take too much toll at all on his body in that sense and then obviously it would determine how his fights go. Did he get minor concussions, bumps or bruises along the way? How was his training? That's a lot of fights in a short period of time but hell, I fought seven times in 13 months during my initial stint in Bellator before this last six month layoff before the tournament so I definitely am one to know how it feels to be fighting so often in such a short timespan. It's definitely circumstantial depending on training camps, the fights and the weight cut.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): That's a good segue to transition back to you. By the end of that seven fight stretch in 13 months, were you feeling it physically that you needed a break?

Ben Saunders: I definitely felt that I did [need a break]. I'm just getting older now. I'm 29. I'll tell you, when I was 24 I'd be all for it. All day, every day. "Let's fight every month! Let's do it!" But when you're fighting literally that consistently and it depends on what level you're fighting at. If you're fighting at local shows, it's completely different. Ideally, you might be able to go in there, even old school gladiator challenge stuff where you're opponents are like dudes from Toughman contests and there's only like one or two real fighters that can go in there and knock out three fights in one night no problem.

Or look at Jeremy Horn, man. That guy has like 100 fights and he would do all kinds of one-night tournaments. I don't necessarily think you can fight to the best of your ability when you're fighting at an extremely high level. Look at the UFC. Josh Koscheck was one of the only ones who would do it. When he fought Paulo Thiago and lost, that was like his fifth fight in a year or something like that. At world class level, the top tier level, you're definitely not going to maintain top performance if you fight that often.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): How does that affect you in the Bellator tournaments? You made it to the finals once. What did you feel like in your third fight in three months?

Ben Saunders: Yeah, I don't believe any of the guys in these Bellator tournaments are going to be able to fight at the best of their abilities going into rounds two and three but there's so many factors. Whether it's your personal life, your training camp, having bumps and bruises and then there's the mental aspect. It's 98 percent mental and on the physical level, it's adaptation. That is the best way to describe it. You need to have a very strong ability to adapt and a very, very strong mind. That is definitely what Bellator is out there proving. Who can survive? Who can be the strongest-willed and adapt to whatever circumstances and situations come about throughout the tournaments.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): This is your third tournament now. Is there anything experience-wise that you can take from your prior two tournaments that you think will help you out here?

Ben Saunders: Oh, absolutely. Experience is always going to be a defining factor in anything. It's not just the experience of being in the tournament, it's the experience of having six more fights under my belt, six more fights that were somewhat different every time. I learned something from each of them to add to my arsenal, my training, my gameplan, things to work on or progress on or refine.

I think the biggest thing was the back-to-back tournaments. I'm not saying it was the worst thing in the world, but I definitely think back-to-back tournaments might have played a part in me not fighting to the best of my abilities. I definitely am hoping that this time off that I've had, with six months off since my last fight, allowing me to take a break, clear my mind and head and jump into this tournament fresh and clear.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): How good did it feel both mentally and physically to put that loss to Bryan Baker behind you and just crush a dude in 22 seconds?

Ben Saunders: Oh man, I can't describe it (laughs). Anyone that's actually seen the footage, they can actually see how much rage and ambition and testosterone was flowing through me. It ended in 22 seconds and I was still in fight mode. I was like, "That's it? That's it? Bring on another one!" It was definitely huge for me because it did not sit well losing that fight to Baker. It is what is it. You learn from it.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): The mental side of the game is so important. How much better does it feel to enter a tournament coming off a win where you looked really good compared to the last tournament where you just jumped right back into the quarterfinals after the TKO loss to Lima in the finals of your first tournament?

Ben Saunders: I will say the quarterfinals of the second tournament, I was still so mad at myself for having that mental error, that loss of focus for one second trying to go for that big knockout right hook against Lima and getting caught. I just had a lot of anger inside of me to go out there and prove to myself that I'm better than that. I think that's another of the reasons why I had a lot of motivation to go into the first round of the second tournament and put it all on the line.

It definitely helps mentally this time because coming off a win feels so much better. Coming off a loss motivates you differently. I can say it's really nice to know I can finish a guy in 22 seconds or last all three rounds if need be.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): It's extremely rare for a fighter to get an opportunity to compete in a fourth tournament for Bellator unless they change a weight class. Do you feel any extra pressure in that department knowing this could be your last shot?

Ben Saunders: Not at all, actually. I think my fighting style speaks for itself. I feel I'm a very aggressive fighter and I try to be as entertaining and fan-friendly as possible when it comes to my fights. I think that's why people care about me when I step into the cage. If it wasn't for that, or my fans, I wouldn't get these opportunities. I think they respect and see that and Bellator knows that so that's why I believe I get these opportunities.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Any thoughts on a potential final between yourself and Douglas Lima, a rematch between two American Top Team guys? You two are probably the favorites for this tournament at the moment.

Ben Saunders: If it comes down to it, me and Lima in the finals again, that would mean fireworks. I think that would be a great fight, and I'd be trying to get that "W" back and go and live my dream and challenge for the title myself. He's obviously going to try to make a stamp and let it be known that he didn't land a lucky punch.

At the end of the day, we're both ATT. Amoussou is fighting on the card too, fighting Askren for the title and he's with ATT now as well. Who knows, man? I'm rooting for Amoussou to win the title and it might be two ATT guys in the finals to find out who fights the ATT champion. We'd be taking over the world!

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): People might not know your opponent Koffi Adzitso very well but he's the type of fighter that has this "knock them out or be knocked out" mentality. Is that the perfect type of opponent for you?

Ben Saunders: Man, that works out for me and the fans because I'm the same way. I guarantee the fans will be getting a show. They'll be getting two guys trying to kill each other in there and may the best man win! Every time I'm stepping in there, I know that this guy is going to be trying to kill me so I know I need to kill him, put it on him first. I'd like it to be quick

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): How would you like the fight to play out if everything goes perfectly for you on Thursday night?

Ben Saunders: Man, I just want it to be quick. Whether it's a knockout, submission or anything. I am trying to get in and out and preserve my body going into the next round. The best way to preserve your body doesn't mean taking it easy and doing everything you can not to get hurt because I don't see that working out for anyone and that's never been a gameplan of mine. I want to finish you as quickly as possible and that's the best strategy to go into the next round.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Thanks Ben and I hope your tournament and that massage you've got scheduled in about 10 minutes both have a happy ending.

Ben Saunders: (laughs) I hope not man! I've got a dude doing my massage! I'm all straight with that! My girl takes care of me man so I'm good (laughs)

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/1/21/3901374/third-times-charm-bellator-welterweight-ben-saunders-interview-mma

Undercard isn't nearly as good as the last time around but at least most of the tournament bouts are scheduled for the main card this.time around.