Bellator Season 4 - Weekly Recap #4

n Bellator’s most exciting card of the year, former UFC welterweight, and Ultimate Fighter season six winner, Ben Saunders looked to resurrect his career and arguably the best lightweight to not fight under the UFC banner, Eddie Alvarez attempted to defend his title.
Fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut saw one of the bloodiest beatings this year when Ben Saunders took on 39-year-old Matt Lee. Lee, who had lost his last fight in the Bellator Fighting Championships, was pummeled into a bloody mess by the UFC reject. Saunders wanted to use the fight as the beginning of his road back to the UFC, and he definitely made a statement on Saturday.
The fight opened and Saunders connected with two left high kicks early. Saunders picked when and where to strike, and landed with ease. Eventually, Saunders clinched up with Lee and landed massive knees to the body and legs. At the close of the first round, Lee’s face was bruised badly and there was a cut open under his right eye.
In the second, Saunders threw everything in his arsenal at Lee, tiring in the process. Lee ate knee after knee and punch after punch and somehow just didn’t go down. After almost two rounds of being a human heavy bag, the round ended and the doctor was forced to take a look at his face. The fight was allowed to continue and in the third round, Saunders opened another cut under Lee’s left eye with deadly elbow strikes. In the opening minutes of the final round, the doctor finally deemed Lee unable to continue.
Saunders improves to 10-3-2 overall in his second fight outside the octagon since being released from the UFC in August of 2010.
In the first of Bellator’s traditional tournament fights, submission specialist Toby Imada squared off against Patricky “Pitbull” Freire.
The fight surprisingly began with a lot of standup fighting, and technical footwork. Imada circled and dodged, while the Pitbull stalked his opponent. Not many knockout strikes were traded until middle way through the first round, when Imada ducked and put his hands low to defend the body. Imada was crushed with a big knee that sent him wobbling across the cage. Friere followed up with a punch on the mat to finish the fight. With the win, Friere moves on to the lightweight final to face the winner of Chandler versus Lloyd.
In the welterweight semifinal, Lyman Good and Rick Hawn waged a war in the clinch. The two clinched up early, and Good landed a lot of knees. Hawn escaped and got caught with a right uppercut that rocked him and almost sent him to the mat. In desperation, Hawn clinched and attempted a takedown, but was stuffed.
In the second, the fighters clinch yet again, and Hawn, a black belt Judoka, managed to trip Good and land a few shots from the top. Working to advance his position, and striking from the top, Hawn clearly won the second round.
With both fighters having won a round, the third was a decisive one. Good looked worried about the takedown, so he avoided the clinch. Hawn finally managed to stalk Good and gain the clinch. Good quickly escaped and later caught Hawn’s leg on a kick and landed a few punches. Good clearly won the standup battle, and pretty much any battle that was had in the third round, but Hawn earned a takedown with seconds left in the round. That was enough for the judges to award Rick Hawn the split decision. Hawn now awaits the winner of Weedman versus Heiron.
In the most anticipated matchup of the night, Eddie Alvarez carefully defended his lightweight title against Pat Curran with a unanimous decision victory to retain his title.
Alvarez is considered the best lightweight not fighting in a promotion owned by Zuffa. Gilbert Melendez formerly held that title, but with Zuffa’s recent purchase of Strikeforce, Alvarez is the best lightweight to not fight in any of Zuffa’s promotions.
Alvarez defended his title winning it in a safe fashion with the decision, but he did anything but play it safe. Alvarez dominated the fight with scores of 50-45, 50-45, and 49-46. Alvarez simply out worked and out hustled Curran for 25 minutes. Landing brutal punches to the body that left Curran gassed heading into each round worked heavily in Alvarez’s favor, as he was able to strike to the head at will.
Alvarez was able to secure a few takedowns as well, demonstrating his well roundedness. A true mixed martial artist, Alvarez landed strikes to the body, legs and head with precision. In the fourth and fifth rounds, Alvarez picked up the pace and unloaded, bloodying Curran’s nose in the process. Curran was able to counter somewhat effectively when he chose to, but the awesome power of Alvarez was just too much.
Alvarez will take on the winner of this season’s lightweight tournament, and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney hopes to see him back in the cage in August.