NEW BELLATOR CHAMPION
Lyman Good took out the overmatched Omar De La Cruz by TKO in the first round to become the first Bellator welterweight champion. Coming up this Friday, Bellator will crown their middleweight champion.
Eddie Alvarez will take on Toby Imada in the main event for the lightweight title.
STRIKEFORCE NEWS
The Gina Carano vs. Cyborg Santos superfight coming in August has been confirmed for five minute rounds.
There has been a significant call for women to fight five minute rounds as there was no good reason that they were forced to fight three minute rounds besides the fact that they were women. I applaud Strikeforce for letting the women duke it out like the men.
This is also significant from more than just an equality stand point.
Grapplers were at a significant disadvantage in shorter rounds. I’m not saying anyone would’ve stood a better chance against Carano or Santos, but I think it does level the playing field a bit.
Another good sign that this isn’t a one-off deal: Strikeforce has also confirmed that on the card this Friday, another women’s match will also go to five minute rounds. I hope that Strikeforce makes this the standard for all their female matches and that other organizations follow suit.
In conjunction with this comes the news that Randy Couture will be cornering Gina Carano in her fight against Cyborg. You have to wonder if having him in her corner gives her any sort of advantage with the wealth of knowledge he posses about the fight game. While Cyborg will have a veteran Chute Boxe team in her corner, none of them can match the in ring experience of Couture.
COUTURE AND NOG CONFIRMED
Speaking of Randy Couture: it was finally confirmed this week that he will take on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102 in Portland, Orgeon in August. Both of these men are coming off losses for the heavyweight title. Whoever wins this fight probably gets one more run at a title while the other one may not get another shot with up and comers like Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez hot on their heels.
IS TIM SYLVIA’S CAREER OVER?
Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia’s career could legitimately be over.
Sylvia was flattened by Ray Mercer this past weekend within ten seconds of the opening bell. Sylvia lost to the guy who was crushed by Kimbo Slice, who in turn was crushed by a light heavyweight journeyman in Seth Petruzelli.
Sylvia, while never a fan favorite, was a legitimate champion and threat in the UFC. In his five years with the company he went 10-3, winning six of those by TKO, fighting in nine title fights, winning the championship twice, and defending it three times.
His loss was particularly telling for two reasons. The first was that originally this was supposed to be a boxing match, which was the first clue that after two tough loses he was ready to move on from MMA. Also, he came in at well over 300lbs for this fight, which is at least 20lbs more than he would weigh on fight night in the UFC.
The loss was followed with more bad news for Sylvia. He was supposed to fight Paul Buentello at Affliction’s next show, but was taken off the card by Tom Atencio. Atencio claims that it is too soon for Sylvia to fight again. However, most believe it is due to the fact that he was never a draw and now having been demolished by a no name (at least in MMA circles) he has little respectability left.
