Bellator FC 4/4

[BK NEWS]

Hollywood,Fl. - In South Florida a guaranteed way to draw interest to an MMA fight is to have Latin fighters on your card and Bellator Fighting Championships delievered in spades for their debut event. This card featured a heavy latin influence, as well as a showcase of local and national talent. The promotion staff delivered a solid production, but I think with more shows the sound and the video guys will end up on the same page. Instead of the average show that plays the same old hard rock standards to keep he crowd in the mood, they played varied selection songs in between fights, and the Dark Knight theme was a very nice touch.

Sarafien/Padilla dragged, and Padilla pretty much kept on top the whole time. Originally listed to fight Moses Gavin; Sarafien may have suffered when that changed. Gavin fought Bear's Den fighter Chris Decarlo and won by mounted triangle in the first round. James Brasco a local from Ft. Lauderdale landed yet another submission in just over 2 minutes with an armbar in his match.

Lorenzo Burgomeo controlled his fight with his Thai Clinch which Daniel Morales had no answer for even though Lorenzo was not using his reach early in the fight. Lorenzo won by Rear Naked Choke over a clearly gassed Morales. Jonothan Brookins caught another rear naked choke over Steven Ledbetter in 3 :32 minutes of the first round.

Toby Imada showed great transitions that lead up to yet another Rear Naked Choke victory at 3:26 of the first round. Joe Soto, a very good fighter, good control over his opponent and won the first fight of the night with strikes by a ref stoppage at 3:40 of the first round. The Palomino/ Payan fight was very boring with much of the crowd booing the entire fight. Payan advances by unanimous decision. Yahir Reyes showed an entertaining aggressive style of grappling by immediately grabbing Nick Gonzalez's head and finishing him at 2:08 of the first round.
Tournament favorite, Eddie Alvarez, showed his champion's heart when Irishman, Greg Loughlan, tested his chin early in the fight. Alvarez recovered quickly and secured a guillotine to win. Jorge Masdival showed why he's also expected to make to the finals with his quick TKO of experienced fighter, Nick Agallar. After an exciting first round, we can expect a build of anticipation for the next round of the Lightweight at the fourth Bellator show in Colorado Springs, Colorado April 24th.

- Rodney "Bird" Vazquez

Discuss the Bellator event and check out exclusive photos by Freddy Trajillo here!



Good fights, especially for fans of submissions. It would help get a better feel of the event with an actual press pass than with a ticket. In the stands you are just a spectator. I wasn't the only one, much of the media got the short end of the stick and I was all around them. With a good pool of fighters and tweaking aspects of production and coverage this could be a successful promotion in South Florida.