Bellator 96 - June 19th Results & Discussion

June 19, Oklahoma, United States

Results:

MAIN CARD
Muhammed Lawal def. Seth Petruzelli via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 1:35 - light-heavyweight tournament opening round
Jacob Noe def. Renato Sobral via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 3:32 - light-heavyweight tournament opening round
Vitaly Minakov def. Ron Sparks via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 0:32 - heavyweight-tournament opening round
War Machine def. Blas Avena via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 3:55

PRELIMINARY CARD
Chas Skelly def. Jarrod Card via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Keith Berry def. Cortez Coleman via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Mike Maldonado def. Chavous Smith via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 2:27
Damon Jackson def. Keith Miner via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:00
Raphael Butler def. Jeremiah O'Neal via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:57
Ryan Martinez def. Rich Hale via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 2:19 - heavyweight-tournament opening round
Brandon Halsey def. Joe Yager via split decision (30-28, 28-30, 30-28)
Derek Campos def. Brandon Girtz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Justin McNally def. Steven Artoff via verbal submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 2:44

I'd have the LHW Tournament as followed:

Mo/M'Pumbu x Lins/Vantinnen

Where is Cosmo?

wekka wrote:I'd have the LHW Tournament as followed:

Mo/M'Pumbu x Lins/Vantinnen

That'd be a good setup. I hope they have Vegh vs. Newton for the title in June as well.

Bellator’s first Summer Series event of 2013 will feature the semifinals of the promotion’s four-man light heavyweight tournament, a source close to the event Wednesday told Sherdog.com.

Bellator 96 takes place June 19 at Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and will feature the return of “King” Mo Lawal as part of the 205-pound tournament draw. MMAFighting.com initially brought word of Lawal’s participation in the event, and Sherdog.com has verified that Renato “Babalu” Sobral is also slated to compete in the light heavyweight semis. Opponents have not been revealed for either man.

Bellator has traditionally hosted eight-man tournaments to crown title challengers, but the Viacom-owned promotion recently announced that three four-man brackets will be contested over the course of three Summer Series events this year. As a result, new title challengers in the heavyweight, light heavyweight and bantamweight divisions will be decided prior to the start of Season 9 this fall. Though dates and locations have not been announced for the July and August shows, all three Summer Series events will air live on Spike TV.

Lawal, 32, entered into the Season 8 light heavyweight tournament as the odds-on favorite, only to be knocked out by a slick spinning back fist from Emanuel Newton in the Feb. 21 semifinals. A former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, “King Mo” made his Bellator debut on Jan. 24, knocking out Przemyslaw Mysiala in the first round of their quarterfinal showdown at Bellator 86.

Sobral was ousted from the Season 8 quarterfinals by eventual finalist Mikhail Zayats on Jan. 17, suffering a first-round technical knockout to the Russian at Bellator 85. Another onetime Strikeforce 205-pound king, Sobral has lost three of his last five fights dating back to August 2009, when he relinquished the Strikeforce belt to Gegard Mousasi.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Bellator-96-Set-for-June-19-in-Oklahoma-Light-Heavyweight-Tourney-Features-King-Mo-Babalu-52005

wekka wrote:I'd have the LHW Tournament as followed:

Mo/M'Pumbu x Lins/Vantinnen

good suggestions but they have babalu in the mini gp....dont know why after looking like shit vs zayats

a source close to the company tells me.....

Raphael Butler vs. Karl Etherington and Damon Jackson vs. Brandon Girtz

are official for this event...well see

official:

king mo 9-2 vs..........

babalu sobral 37-10 vs...........

war machine 12-4 vs blas avena 8-6

volkan oezdemir 9-0 vs joe yager 5-1

jason sampson 10-1 vs mike maldonado 4-0

raphael butler 5-0 vs KARL ETHERINGTON 8-0

damon jackson 5-0 vs BRANDON GIRTZ 8-2

Dagwood wrote:

Realidea wrote:Where is Cosmo?

i dont understand?

Realidea wrote:

Dagwood wrote:

Realidea wrote:Where is Cosmo?

i dont understand?

That´s Cosmo Kramer

King Mo will win the LHW title.

war machine 12-4 vs blas avena 8-6 added....

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Welterweights-War-Machine-Blas-Avena-to-Collide-June-19-at-Bellator-96-in-Oklahoma-52073

I forgot Carlos Eduardo was signed by Bellator. I hope he fights Babalu.

Bellator should invest in other fighters than war machine. I´m excited to see who Mo and Sobral will meet.

Bellator will kick off its summer events schedule on Wednesday, June 19 with Bellator 96, which features a title fight and the start of a four-man light-heavyweight tournament.

The event takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and the night's main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

In the headliner, undefeated Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler (11-0 MMA, 8-0 BFC), who's currently ranked No. 3 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA lightweight rankings, meets recent tournament winner Dave Jansen (19-2 MMA, 6-0 BFC), a former WEC fighter who's won six straight fights, all under the Bellator banner.

In the opening round of the 205-pound tournament, former Strikeforce champion Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (9-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC) looks to rebound from an upset loss to Emanuel Newton in a previous tournament when he meets Seth Petruzelli (14-7 MMA, 1-1 BFC), who was bounced from a tourney by Jacob Noe in his most recent outing.

On the other side of the bracket, big-show vet and former Strikeforce champ Renato "Babalu" Sobral (37-10 MMA, 0-1 BFC), whose previous Bellator tourney run ended with a vicious KO loss to Mikhail Zayats, meets Jacob Noe (11-2 MMA, 2-1 BFC), whose nine-fight win streak also came to an end with a tourney defeat to Zayats.

Bellator 96's main card kicks off with a welterweight bout between War Machine (12-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who returns from a 17-month layoff to legal and injury issues, to fight Blas Avena (8-6 MMA, 1-0 BFC), a WEC vet who recently made his Bellator debut and knocked out Lenny Lovato.

Bellator 96's preliminary-card bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.

The latest Bellator 96 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Michael Chandler vs. Dave Jansen - for lightweight title
Muhammed Lawal vs. Seth Petruzelli - light-heavyweight tournament opening round
Jacob Noe vs. Renato Sobral - light-heavyweight tournament opening round
Blas Avena vs. War Machine

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/05/bellator-96-slated-for-june-19-with-chandler-jansen-title-fight-king-mo

Meh, no interest in Petruzelli and Noe.

Should've been M'Pumbu, Lins, or Eduardo.

Chandler vs. Jansen: The LW division is one of Bellator's better divisions. That said, Chandler is a phenom at the moment and handled the Olympic Judoka that is Hawn like he was a nobody. I'm not counting Jansen out by any means, but my prediction is that Chandler outwrestles him for a decision.

Mo vs. Petruzelli: If Mo goes back to his bread and butter and not do impersonations of Mayweather, then he takes this easily. We all know how Petruzelli responds when he's pressured.

Babalu vs. Noe: Noe showed a submission-defensive deficiency against Zayats. If Babalu can drag Noe to the ground, he can take this. If Noe tags Babalu's chin, then it's over for the latter.

I know little of Avena, but War Machine's layoff could be a potential factor.

Good see Chandler fighting again already but was hoping for more with this LHW tournament.

im going to be honest here....this card sucks ass.....

aside from the title fight.....wich is a good one


mo vs seth is complete bull shit....

babalu and noe both coming off losses and war machine coming off jail

jesus christ what a shame.....


put mo vs zayats and if you want babalu put him vs m'pumbu

It would've been better as Lawal/M'Pumbu, that way you could say that Lawal could have a possible victory of Bellator's former champion.

Zayats would probably be better suited for an 8 man tournament.

I'm disappointed that Bellator keeps guys like Lins and Eduardo on the shelf, though.

wekka wrote:It would've been better as Lawal/M'Pumbu, that way you could say that Lawal could have a possible victory of Bellator's former champion.

Zayats would probably be better suited for an 8 man tournament.

I'm disappointed that Bellator keeps guys like Lins and Eduardo on the shelf, though.

yes i agree....either way zayats and m'pumbu are far better opponents than noe and petruzelli and imo babalu is a big name but did not deserve to be in there after mikhail destroyed him

MR.WILLIE wrote:im going to be honest here....this card sucks ass.....

aside from the title fight.....wich is a good one


mo vs seth is complete bull shit....

babalu and noe both coming off losses and war machine coming off jail

jesus christ what a shame.....


put mo vs zayats and if you want babalu put him vs m'pumbu

Yup, LHW tournament is weak.

wekka wrote:I'm disappointed that Bellator keeps guys like Lins and Eduardo on the shelf, though.

same here.

Yeah, when the hell are they going to put Lins, Eduardo or even Godbeer on a card? None of those guys have made appearances yet.