Bellator 54

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Bellator will continue their season five welterweight tournament, while we’ll see Bantamweight Champion Zach Makovsky in a non-title match against veteran Ryan Roberts.

Of course, I do have some questions about tonight’s event.  Does this middleweight tournament even matter when the winner will inevitably get beaten by champion Hector Lombard?  Alexander Shlemenko, the best in the current field, has already lost to Lombard and I don’t think the other three middleweights would stand a chance.

And what good does it do to have a champion like Zach Makovsky when he never defends his title?  This might be the last time we see him compete in Bellator this year, where he will only have fought two non-title contests.  Makovsky will surely have a tough title fight when he takes on the winner of the current bantamweight tournament (presumably Alexis Vila), but that seems like a waste for this talented of a fighter to compete so sparingly.

Nonetheless, tonight’s show should be a very good one.  Prospect Rene Nazare, who is now 3-0 in his Bellator career, shouldn’t be forgotten.  Nazare will likely ensure himself a spot in the next lightweight tournament with a win here.  Speaking of that tournament, it’s shaping up to be a good one should it take place in season six.  Nazare, Kurt Pellegrino, Patricky Freire, Phillipe Nover, Marcinb Held, and the loser of Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler seem to be likely participants in what could be a very talented field.

Until then, we have Bellator 54 airing live tonight on MTV2 at 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST with a replay shown at 1:00 AM EST/12:00 AM CST.

Middleweight Tournament Semifinals: Alexander Shlemenko (40-7) vs. Brian Rogers (8-2)

We’re going to see some fireworks in this one with both fighters favoring their strikes.  25 of Shlemenko’s 40 wins have come by some form of knockout, while all but one of Rogers’ eight wins have been by (T)KO.  These things lead me to believe that Shlemenko and Rogers will spend a significant amount of time punching one another.

Both fighters are very tough and rarely ever get knocked out, so I won’t be surprised if this one goes the full 15 minutes.  I give Shlemenko the edge just because he has the experience and he’s a very scary striker.  His only loss in recent memory was the aforementioned defeat to Lombard and Shlemenko has been very good otherwise.  I think we’ll see Shlemenko take a unanimous decision victory.

Middleweight Tournament Semifinals: Bryan Baker (16-2) vs. Vitor Vianna (11-1-1)

Bryan Baker has quietly put together an awesome career in just under four years.  He holds wins over Jared Hess, Joe Riggs, Jeremy Horn, Sean Loeffler, Matt Horwich, Rory Singer, Jesse Forbes, and he’s defeated Eric Schambari twice.  His only two losses have been against fellow tournament competitor Shlemenko and top UFC contender Chael Sonnen.  Meanwhile, Vitor Vianna beat…I don’t know, Sam Alvey?  Francis Carmont?  It just doesn’t sound the same.

I see Baker taking an early TKO victory.  Vianna is a tough opponent and a great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, but Baker’s put together such a stellar resume and I have every expectation of him winning this bout.

Bantamweight: Zach Makovsky (13-2) vs. Ryan Roberts (16-9-1, 1 NC)

Zach Makovsky, awesome known as “Fun Size”, is definitely one of the top two or three fighters in Bellator.  He’s a supremely talented bantamweight and he will win this fight.  Ryan Roberts has been around a while and has some solid wins over guys like Nick Mamalis and Jeff Lentz, but Makovsky is one of the rising bantamweight talents in all of MMA.

Lightweight: Rene Nazare (10-0) vs. Jacob Kirwan (8-3)

Rene Nazare will stay undefeated.  I have no reason to believe that Jacob Kirwan has a chance here.  Nazare is being built as a force at 155 pounds and he’s delivered so far.  He’s actually injured two of his three opponents in Bellator thus far, proving to be a legitimate dangerous fighters.  Look for Nazare to finish this fight.

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Middleweight Tournament Semifinals: Alexander Shlemenko d. Brian Rogers (TKO – Round 2, 2:30)

This ended up being a really fun fight.  After an extremely tight first round, Shlemenko unloaded on Rogers with some crazy offense.  Spinning backfist, punches and kicks, and knees ended up sealing the fate of Brian Rogers.  I don’t know if anyone doubts that Shlemenko is the second best middleweight in Bellator, so him potentially winning this tournament will come as no surprise to anybody.


Middleweight Tournament Semifinals: Vitor Vianna d. Bryan Baker (TKO – Round 1, 0:54)

Vianna caught Baker early with some big punches and landed a number of unanswered shots with Baker pinned up against the cage.  The outcome was extremely surprising and Vianna will now challenge Alexander Shlemenko for a shot at Hector Lombard’s Middleweight Title.  Vianna has put together a pretty impressive resume and adding a ranked fighter like “Storm” in the finals would be a real coup.


Bantamweight: Zach Makovsky d. Ryan Roberts (Submission – Round 1, 4:48)

Makovsky dispatch Roberts with a nice north/south choke in the closing moments of the first round.  As far as I’m concerned, a fight with Alexis Vila can’t come soon enough.  Makovsky is awesome and as I noted yesterday, it’s a shame that he’s relegated to these fights against less than contenders.  Whoever wins the bantamweight tournament should give Makovsky a challenge, while Vila and Marcos Galvao seem to be the likeliest opponents.


Lightweight: Jacob Kirwan d. Rene Nazare (Unanimous Decision)

Nazare bloodied Kirwan in the opening round, but Kirwan did a nice job of holding Nazare down to earn the win.  It was a far from impressive performance, but a win is a win for Kirwan.

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

Brian Rogers with better cardio would be one scary individual. He looked to have Shlemenko all figured out in the first round.