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Last Thursday, Bellator Fighting Championship kicked off their second season with their thirteenth event from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The organization is quickly gaining popularity around the world of mixed martial arts and with last week’s exciting show, they will only continue to grow.
Featherweight Tournament Bout: Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Bao Quach
Featherweight Tournament Bout: Eric Marriott vs. Joe Warren
Lightweight Tournament Bout: Chad Hinton vs. Roger Huerta
Lightweight Tournament Bout: Carey Vanier vs. Joe Duarte
Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Georgi Karakhanyan (13-1-1) defeated Bao Quach (17-10-1) 4:05 into Round 1 via. knockout (knee to head).
An excellent way to kick off Bellator Fighting Championship’s second season; this fight was electric. The two started off the fight exchanging blows, but Quach got the upperhand with his superior wrestling skills whenever it went to the ground. Quach stuffed a triangle choke attempt in a very textbook manner, which was extremely impressive. While Quach put on a good display, Karakhanyan did everything right in this fight: he kept his composure while on the ground, he blocked most of Quach’s bombs and found his distance. All of that is the perfect formula to finish a fight, and that’s exactly what Karakhanyan did. Georgi connected with a knee to the stomach, pushed Bao against the cage and knocked him out cold with a brutal knee to the head for the victory.
Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Joe Warren (3-1-0) defeated Eric Marriott (17-4-0) via. Unanimous Decision
This fight was all about Joe Warren showcasing his dominant takedown and wrestling skills. Marriott tried to fend off the takedowns, but was slammed to the canvas at will and got peppered with some solid hammerfists and elbows. Eric Marriott caught Joe Warren in an armbar, but Warren (in unorthodox fashion) picked Marriott up and slammed him in the middle of the cage to break the hold. No more than thirty seconds later, Warren walked right into a triangle choke which was never really synched in, allowing him to tough it out until the round ended. The rest of the fight was pretty much Warren dominating on the ground, giving him the victory by way of unanimous decision.
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Bellator Fighter Highlight: Joe Warren (3 Wins, 1 Loss)
Joe Warren is a greco-roman amateur wrestler turned mixed-martial-artist. Warren’s wrestling accomplishments include winning the 2006 FILA Wrestling World Championship for his division (60 kilograms/130 pounds) as well as once being regarded as a favorite in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He made his transition into MMA in 2008, and since that time he has defeated Chase Beebe (first round doctor stoppage), Norifumi Yamamoto (split decision) and John Eric Marriott (unanimous decision). His only loss is against Bibiano Fernandes after he walked into an armbar. He was brought into the sport on the same team as Dan Henderson and currently trains along with Urijah Faber.
Strengths: Warren’s wrestling skills are among the best in Bellator Fighting Championship, and maybe even among the best in America’s Featherweight Division. Under the tutelage of world-class fighters like Dan Henderson and Urijah Faber, Joe Warren will be molded into a great fighter. His striking has improved noticeably from his fights in DREAM, and he is a powerhouse.
Weaknesses While he has a lot of potential, there are a lot of holes in Warren’s game that needs to be worked on. Although his ground game is good and he executes his transitions fluently, he needs to find and maintain a dominant position where he can land some brutal strikes. He also needs to keep an eye out for giving away submissions, as it cost him against Fernandes and almost cost him the victory against Eric Marriott.
Bottom Line: Joe Warren is a big pile of potential. Whether it’s in Bellator or somewhere else, Joe Warren will be a World Champion somewhere down the line.
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Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Roger Huerta (21-3-1) defeated Chad Hinton (6-1-0) :56 into Round 3 via. Submission (kneebar).
Despite having been under contract with Bellator Fighting Championship for only three weeks prior to this fight, Roger Huerta showed little to no rust during this fight. The first round could have gone either way as both men connected with solid blows, but it was rounds two and three where we saw the old Roger Huerta shine through. Taking advantage of Hinton’s fatigue later in the fight, Huerta became a little more relaxed with his striking and escaped takedown attempts with no problem. Huerta had side-control a couple times in rounds two and three, trapped Hinton’s arm in a crucifix position and put some wear-and-tear on Hinton’s face. It wasn’t long before Huerta locked in a kneebar, forcing Hinton to submit for his 21st victory.
Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Carey Vanier (8-2-0) defeated Joe Duarte (5-2-0) via. TKO 4:14 into Round 3.
A former training partner of Roger Huerta, Carey Vanier took this fight by storm and completely dominated his opponent. It was easy for Vanier to use his wrestling skills to dictate where he wanted the fight in the last two rounds because Duarte took the fight on short notice and was reportedly dehydrated, which lead to poor conditioning for this fight. Joe Duarte landed some good knees to the body while in the clinch, but it just wasn’t enough to give him any advantage. Carey Vanier was on his toes the whole time, calculated his striking carefully and executed a sick ground and pound game to pick up the technical knockout victory.
Come back later this week for results and analysis for Bellator Fighting Championship XIV!
Tags: 13, Bellator, carey vanier, championship, featherweight, fighting, Joe Warren, Lightweight, roger huerta, xiii
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