Bellator 56

[rayallen0]

Okay, so tonight should probably be a big deal for Bellator.  We’ll see Ben Askren defend his Welterweight Title and the semifinals of the injury riddled heavyweight tournament will take place.  Unfortunately, I’m worried that this is all leading to a big disappointment for Bellator.

Ben Askren puts on fights that are far less than exciting and I’m not sure that Jay Hieron will be able to stop Askren from making this a 25 minute wrestling contest.  The heavyweight talent in Bellator is also quite lacking and we’re likely going to see four fat boys gas out and put on some very sloppy fights.

Bellator 56 airs live on MTV2 at 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST with a replay shown at 1:00 AM EST/12:00 AM EST.  I certainly hope I’m wrong with my predictions about this event and Bellator generally delivers some very fun fights, but we’ll have to see what happens tonight.

Welterweight Title: (c) Ben Askren (8-0) vs. Jay Hieron (22-4)

This is definitely the biggest challenge in Ben Askren’s young career.  A victory here for the champ will answer a lot of questions about his legitimacy as a top welterweight.  Hieron is in the midst of a ten fight winning streak which includes three successful fights in Bellator’s last welterweight tournament.

I think this fight is going to be pretty tight and I see one of two things happening: Askren is dominant with his wrestling and takes a unanimous decision or Hieron catches Askren and wins by TKO.  Frankly, I just think Askren is such a dominant wrestler that he’ll be able to retain his title in this contest.


Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals: Thiago Santos (9-1) vs. Neil Grove (11-4-1)

So this fight was originally going to be Mike Hayes vs. Blagoi Ivanov.  Hayes was replaced by Santos due to injury and then the already eliminated Grove replaced the injured Ivanov.  The result?  A fight I could care less about!  I think we’ll see Grove take the victory here.

Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals: Eric Prindle (8-1) vs. Ron Sparks (8-0)

Oh look, another fight I don’t care about!  I’m going to go out on a limb and say this fight is going to be a miserable fucking train wreck.  I’m sorry if that sounds negative, but honestly, this is going to be a fat boy collision for the ages.  I’ll take Sparks by TKO, but really, what does it matter?

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

My pics...Jay Hieron, Thiago Santos, Ron Sparks

[rayallen0]

Welterweight Title: (c) Ben Askren d. Jay Hieron (Split Decision)

This ended up being a really fun, competitive fight that went about as expected.  Askren’s wrestling and grappling were fantastic and his striking seems to have improved, though Hieron was doing better work on the feet.  Askren took a very close split decision that easily could have gone to Hieron, and honestly, probably should have gone to Hieron.  Still, Askren’s win is far from the worst decision I’ve ever seen.

I would normally predict Hieron back in the tournament field and Askren to take on the winner of Saunders vs. Vianna, but who on earth knows what’s going to change with Viacom’s purchase of Bellator?  I’m sure the winners of this season’s tournaments will get their shots, but will the format continue?  Will Bellator adopt a more standard fight format?  Are we going to see a whole new influx of talent into Bellator with their new found resources?

I’m pretty excited to see how things go for Bellator under new ownership just because things could stand to get a lot better from here, especially at the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions.  Now it’s just a matter of the new men in charge making the right decisions.

Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals: Thiago Santos d. Neil Grove (Submission – Round 1, 0:38)

Fast fat boy submission!


Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals: Eric Prindle d. Ron Sparks (KO – Round 1, 0:40)

Fast fat boy knockout!

I put the over under on Santos vs. Prindle at 30 seconds.  Then the winner will get pulverized by Cole Konrad.