Since Scott Coker took over Bellator previous year , the promotion has seemed to have gone in a new and somewhat exciting direction by signing some big stars, and former UFC vets like Ortiz, and former UFC light heavyweight Phil Davis, who also made his Bellator debut last night. The card will also showcase a one-night, four-man tournament to determine the no. 1 contender in the light heavyweight division between Phil Davis, Emanuel Newton, Linton Vassel and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
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There is a chance “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” will steal Liam’s title, but Newton doesn’t care one way or the other. Another minor win was not only getting a win against a notable fighter in Ortiz, but being the final fight of a broadcast that likely did close to record numbers for Bellator MMA. The first round was a dominant performance from King Mo, and a few times it looked as if the fight would be stopped, but Vassell would rally.
Liam McGeary to win by decision.
“I was going to court trying to get custody of my children”, the former champion says candidly. None of that is why he’s taking on champion McGeary, however. The Bellator light heavyweight champion is lethal off his back, as he proved by finishing Ortiz in the blink of an eye. However, McGeary, once he weathered Ortiz’ first round attempts to ground and submit the champ, appeared to have no problem waiting for the aged, slowed Ortiz to leave a window open for which McGeary could capitalize, just as he did. He throws a left and right and then backs away. I never had to do all these pre-fight interviews and all that. He’s put a great card on, we’ve got a ring instead of the cage and me and Tito are headlining.
In his second fight at bantamweight after dropping down from 145, Caldwell will face Shawn Bunch (4-1) on the preliminary undercard of Bellator 143: Warren vs. Davis from State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, on September 25. That reverse triangle – we defended that over and over. “He was the better man”. The best way for Davis to come back from being released was by shedding any of the negatives that he would carry over from his UFC departure. “I am just happy that I was able to go out there and throw shots. I rarely did just one sparring session”, the 34-year-old recently told MMAWeekly.com. I missed out on the summer.
“I felt this was the way to do it”, said Coker.
Ortiz is 40 years old now. I’ve been through some major surgeries – back surgery, neck surgeries, knee surgeries. “I didn’t have the belt, but I knew what I was going for, so I didn’t mind one bit”. I still love training. They see how hard their dad is working and they want to do push-ups and sit-ups before they go to bed.
Sounds like a wonderful plan, Tito. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.About GLORY: Founded in 2012, GLORY is owned and operated by GLORY Sports worldwide (GSI), a professional martial arts organization and television content provider that maintains offices in New York, Denver, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore.
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Fedor is going to end up fighting Randy Couture or Kimbo Slice or Bobby Lashley – a marquee name with marginal skills – and it will do big business on Spike, but it won’t be anything of substance.
