Bellator 61: Middleweight tournament Quarterfinals

[rayallen0]

Friday 03.16.2012 at 05:00 PM

[rayallen0]

well bad news. Eric Prindle is unable to fight because of the flu, the fight is rescheduled for next week at bellator 62.

Mike Hayes   vs.   Damian Grabowski  was also supposed to happen but that match just never got scheduled i guess.

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

Fucking Prindle. He knows he's going to lose so he's just delaying it. I'm going with Falcao and Rogers, though I like Vianna's chances as well.

[rayallen0]

the contestants.

Givanildo Santana: One of the favorites in the tournament. he is 17-1 (13 of his wins from arm bar 15 overall by submission) and on a 6 fight win streak. He Choked out former WEC LHW champion Doug Marshall in 30 seconds. He Knocked out UFC vet Lodune Sincaid & He Arm barred current UFC fighter Matt Lucas. Trains with Team Oyama.

Bruno Santos: Undefeated at 13-0 (10 of which come by decision) He beat UFC vet Edilberto de Oliveira and Pride vet Daniel Acacio

Vyacheslav Vasilevsky: 15-1 on a 14 fight win streak. He choked out UFC vet Xavier Foupa-Pokam.

Victor O'Donnell: 11-3 (9 from submissions). Choked out UFC Vet Forrest Petz. and TKO'd current ufc rising star Rafael Natal. Trains with Team Vision.

Brian Rogers: 8-3 (7 of which come from KO/TKO) Trains out of Strong Style Fight System.

Vitor Vianna: 13-2-1 Odd's on favorite to win the tournament. He defeated UFC fighter Francis Carmont. knocked out UFC vet Aaron Brink. He knocked out last years bellator tournametn favorite Bryan Baker in less than a minute. Trains under Wanderlei Silva.

Maiquel Falcao: Another one of the favorites. He has fought in the UFC before beating Gerald Harris. He is from the Chute Boxe Academy. 28-4 (23 coming by KO/TKO)

Norman Paraisy: Ranked as one of the top 10 french fighters in the world. 10-1-1 (5 by submission) He choked out UFC vet Paulo Santos in the first round. He defeated Grappling legend and Former WEC middleweight champion/Pride vet Paulo Filho.

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

who do you got?

[rayallen0]

my brain tells me Vianna but i feel like its gonna be Givanildo Santana.

It's def gonna be a great tournament all Santana, Vianna & Falcao  all have a good shot.

and all these guys have great training camps

Falcao has Cyborg Santos & Thiago Silva

Santana has Ian Mcall, Shane Del Rosario & Carla Esparza

Vianna with Wanderlei Silva...and hot ass female fighter Michelle Gutierrez 

[rayallen0]

Falcao came in Overweight at 186.6 pounds.

he will have two hours to cut an additional 0.6 pounds in order to make the middleweight limit with a one-pound allowance.

[rayallen0]

1st fight: Brian Rogers vs. Vitor Vianna
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! huge upset!!!holy shit!!!!!!! fucking epic.



def sticking with my Givanildo Santana pick.

[rayallen0]

2nd fight: Givanildo Santana vs. Bruno Santos

close 1st round. painful ass nutshot. ill go Santana 10-9

Damn thought he was about to get another arm. nice throw/slam before that, Think i give it to Santos. 19-19

well fuck...i got it Santos 29-28

judges agree....well new favorite = Maiquel Falcao. He has the easiest 1st round fight anyways.

[rayallen0]

3rd fight: Vyacheslav Vasilevsky   vs.   Victor O'Donnell going with Vasilevsky.

1st to Vasilevsky 10-9

oh shit hes rocked. some ground and pound. he has his back. oh reversed into a knee bar, Vasilevsky gets out. more ground and pound from Vasilevsky. back into the full guard looks like O'Donnell will recover. Damn dominant round. 20-17 Vasilevsky.

He's rocked again. more ground & pound!!!! O'Donnell got back up somehow...wow... 30-25. great heart shown by O'Donnell

Vasilevsky is the dark horse of the tournament.

29-28? seriously? that last round was a 10-8 no matter how much heart O'Donnell showed.

[rayallen0]

main event: Maiquel Falcao   vs.   Norman Paraisy   
most lopsided fight on the card. going with Falcao by KI

1st round 10-9 Falcao
shit Falcao was just playing with him. 20-18 Falcao.
damng crazy Falcao is a beast like i thought. 30-27 Falcao.  great technical striking.

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

1st fight: Brian Rogers vs. Vitor Vianna
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! huge upset!!!holy shit!!!!!!! fucking epic.

Upset? Rogers is a beast, you didn't know? Google him bitch, he knocks people out. The guy was outstriking Shlemenko until he gassed.

[rayallen0]

in the 1st round sure? he has never won a fight that went after. his gas tank is shit. his ground game is suspect. I have no idea why Vianna didn't go to the ground, i guess it was because he thought he could wait for him to tire out, but brian rogers is a great striker. Vianna was a hyped up Wanderlei student. Kimob Slice knocks people out as well, Rogers is much better than Kimbo but having 1st round KO's doesnt make you a great fighter. Maiquel Falcao is a much better striker on a technical level and obviously knows the ground game as well. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky was also impressive.
i rank it as
1. Falcao
2. Rogers
3. Vasilevsky
4. Santos (this dude can't finish anybody, Brazilian Jon Fitch)

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

in the 1st round sure? he has never won a fight that went after. his gas tank is shit. his ground game is suspect. I have no idea why Vianna didn't go to the ground, i guess it was because he thought he could wait for him to tire out, but brian rogers is a great striker. Vianna was a hyped up Wanderlei student. Kimob Slice knocks people out as well, Rogers is much better than Kimbo but having 1st round KO's doesnt make you a great fighter. Maiquel Falcao is a much better striker on a technical level and obviously knows the ground game as well. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky was also impressive.
i rank it as
1. Falcao
2. Rogers
3. Vasilevsky
4. Santos (this dude can't finish anybody, Brazilian Jon Fitch)

Vitor Vianna isn't a wrestler. He has to get the fight to the ground before he can submit someone. And its not like he didn't try. And lol at bringing up Kimbo. That's a retarded comparison. No decent fighter should ever be compared to Kimbo. The guy sucked at every aspect of the game except one and was average at his one specialty. And its a bit too early to be calling Roger's gas tank shit based off of one fight. I knew going in Vianna was going to have problems. It'll be interesting to see how Rogers looks against Falcao.

[rayallen0]

Kimbo looked great striking against scrubs and most of Rogers wins were against scrubs but obviously Rogers striking isn't just random hay makers, How about a more fair comparison in Gilbert Yvel, before this he didn't look like much more than a striker, still looks that way but def put himself on the map with this win. I only saw his wins against Victor O'Donnell  & Ian Rammel. Rammel is a scrub but i will give him credit against O'Donnell who had a solid record up to then but obviously Vianna is on another level than either of those guys.

Now i know i seem totally negative on dude but i just haven't seen enough of him to say he is a beast, he is great on the feet but i don't see him on Falcaos level. i do hope that is the finals though. Would be a great striking battle.

I def see it between those 2 now. Rogers has easily put himself into the top of the middleweight ranks for Bellator.