Bellator Season 4 - Weekly Recap #5

The Bellator Fighting Championships put on a wrestling clinic on Saturday from the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma.
Well, that’s what it seemed was going on. It was actually the main card of Bellator 40, which featured the highly anticipated matchup between Bellator season 2 welterweight tournament winner, and current champion Ben “Funky” Askren and former UFC and MMA veteran Nick “The Goat” Thompson.
First was a battle to remain undefeated in Michael Chandler versus Lloyd “Cupcake” Woodard. In the lightweight semi-final bout, Chandler, a former University of Missouri wrestling standout, put the Cupcake in the blender early. Using his dominant wrestling background, he was able to tire Woodard quickly. Maybe becoming a little too confident was Chandler, as he was almost finished in the closing seconds of the second round. The third round was much the same as the first as Chandler put Woodard through the mat with wrestling slam after slam and grinded out the unanimous decision. Chandler will move on to the final against Patricky “Pitbull” Friere, with the winner moving on to face current champion and one of the best lightweights in the world, Eddie Alvarez.
In the second tournament fight of the night, Jay Heiron took on Brent Weedman and came away with a unanimous decision victory. The only fight of the night to feature a lot of stand up striking, it was a true fight of the night. The first round was close as Heiron played it safe. In the second, Hieron came out of the gate swinging, and landed combinations from the clinch. Weedman stayed aggressive, but to his demise, Hieron showed off his impressive counter striking as the second round drew to a close. The final round was similar to the first, with both fighters putting up a solid round, but the dominant performance in the second combined with just being able to eke out a win in the first and last rounds, earned Herion the win. The win puts him one step closer to facing Bellator Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren. First, Heiron must get past Rick Hawn in the season 4 welterweight final.
With Heiron undoubtedly watching carefully, Askren put on an impressive performance to solidify himself as a tough obstacle for any would-be challengers. The fight, Askren versus Thompson, was a non-title Superfight. Askren talked before the fight about how he would take Thompson to the ground with ease, and he backed up his talk superbly. Adding to his already illustrious list of accolades, Askren won by unanimous decision to improve his record to 8-0.
That list, comprised of four All-American nominations and two national championships at the University of Missouri, a 2008 Olympic berth and his current standing as Bellator Welterweight Champion show only one side of Mixed Martial Arts. Askren is an incredible wrestler, who moved with ease all around on top of The Goat. His offense from those positions was suspect, and his stand up striking game was non-existent.
As Askren manhandled Thompson on the ground, Thompson was frustrated and unable to do anything to stop him. Askren passed his guard, and when Thompson would manage to get Askren back in guard, Askren would easily pass yet again. The frustrations culminated in The Goat announcing his wish to end his eight-year, 53-fight career and retire to his law firm in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The fight was a perfect instruction on flawless wrestling, but not so much on Mixed Martial Arts. Askren has a long road to go before he can take a step up in competition, which would ultimately lead him out of the Bellator Fighting Championships.