UFC gets all the print, but Bellator and DREAM put on two fucking fantastic shows over the weekend, and I got all inspired to browsercrash the shit out of them.

 

Bellator 51

Clint Musser vs. Joey Holt

Holt with the flying knee KO action from the prelims. 

 

Dane Bonnigson vs. Dan Spohn

Another awesome knee KO from the prelims.  Gotta love Mazzagatti Jr. swooping in with the save. 

 

~~more giffiness after the jump~~

 

Eduardo Dantas vs. Wilson Reis

Dantas knocks Reis out of the BW tournament with a flying knee.  The 22 year-old Nova União disciple tore through Reis with sharp muay thai striking.   This kid is one to keep an eye on.  Excellent use of range, striking defense, and killer instinct.  Didn’t get to see him on the ground but I’m sure he’s awesome there too.  Oh and that wasn’t the only jump knee he landed in the fight.

Dantas kicks | Real time finish

 

 

Marcos Galvão vs. Chase Beebe

This was basically a dogfight with flashes of brilliance on the ground.  Galvão also comes from Nova União, but you wouldn’t know it by his striking game, which basically consists of winging overhands.  Fortunately for him, those were more than enough to secure a victory over Beebe.  Not pretty, but effective against this particular opponent.  I can see this shit causing him a little trouble against ANY of the other semi-finalists.   Beebe’s only real effective offense came in the form of two pretty nasty guillotine attempts.

1st guillotine | Trip TD | Armbar attempt | Beebe upkick | Galvao combo

 

 

Ed West vs. Luis Nogueira

I think Patricky Pitbull inspired all these guys to throw jumping knees.  West flashily decisions his way into the semi-finals.

Nogueira TD-West Kimura Sweep | West Trip TD | West head kick

 

Joe Warren vs. Alexis Vila

It wouldn’t be a Bellator without at least two ref tackles.  Warren got lamped in epic fashion, but he got lamped pretty epically a few moments before the KO as well.  Vila is a much better striker as well as a better wrestler… I don’t know why the fuck I didn’t pick him to win this fight.

KO real time | KO alt angle

 

 

 

 

–DREAM 17–

 

Caol Uno vs. Lion Takeshi 

fuckin ouch.

 

 

Bibiano Fernandes vs. Takafumi Otsuka

Fernandes puts him out without throwing a strike.

 

 

Gerald Harris vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

Not a particularly exciting fight, but it was surprisingly even.  Favorite moment is Naka getting in his judo throw.

 

 

Minowaman vs. Baru Harn

Scarf Hold Shoulder Lock for the emeff’ing WIN.  But Harn is a big fat Mongolian can, you say?  DON’T CARE.

 

Rodolpho Marques vs. Yusup Saadulaev

This fight is grappling porn.  I’ve never seen anybody do that particular move before, but Saadulaev did it TWICE in the same fight.  Here he uses it to sweep Marques.  That’s pretty awesome.  And how about this sweet trip/lateral drop thingamajig?  Marques won the decision, but Saadulaev won my heart.

Marques neck crank | Marques Omoplata | Saadulaev sweep alt angle

 

 

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yan Cabral

Saku is my favorite fighter so I don’t want to highlight him getting pwned   Click the links below for that.

Saku cracked | Saku finished

 

 

Hideo Tokoro vs. Antonio Banuelos

Took a while to get going, but these two always deliver.

Trading | Tokoro jump knee | Banuelos knockdown

Tokoro head kick | Banuelos takedown

Tokoro Kimura\Kneebar Attempt

 

 

Masakazu Imanari vs. Abel Cullum

 When you get within hugging distance of Imanari, he’s going to pull you into his guard of death and methodically set up ways to snap your ligaments.   He has exactly two strikes in his arsenal; leaping hooks from his waist, and jumping front kicks.  You know all this, but you can’t stop it.  He’s a jiu-jitsu robot.  He has the exact same facial expression when he’s getting punched in the face as when they’re calling his name in victory.  Fuck well-roundedness.  Sometimes being entertaining is enough.  This was my favorite fight of the night and I gif’d the shit out of it.  I had to speed most of them up since they’re long as hell.  This one is a favorite.  Look at how he grabs hold of Cullum’s neck and then lets loose of the omoplata, hooking Cullum’s bicep with his left hand so Abel basically pulls him into back control.  He didn’t hold it long but it was nice.  And soo many gogoplatas!

 triangle rodeo | gogo/omo/cruci/back 2

Imanari punches |  Finish | Finish

 

 

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen

Pretty badass fight, highlighted by Hansen’s sweeps and strikes, and Crusher’s Saku-like kimura throw. 

Hellboy kick and jump knee | Hellboy combo | Hellboy sweep | Sweep 2

 

Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough

Yeah so they fed him a guy with no ground game… You could say the same thing about Nagashima.   What really shone through in this fight was how fucking MEAN Aoki is.  Hirota knows this well, but Aoki has really stepped up his viciousness.  He was pulling out every shady-but-still-legal move in the book.  And I love him for it.    Look at Rob’s face after the fight.   Ear cuffing, palm strikes to the nose, cross-facing, mouth-covering, chinning…  nearly all of that in one gif!  He could have submitted Rob at any point in the fight, but he wanted to torture the poor guy first.   Click the links below for more Aoki assholishness.

wrist bone/glove seam in eye | chinning/cross-face/mouth-cover

palm strikes to nose | knees to head | Aoki takedown