Bellator’s 4th season enters the home stretch as the first of their tournament finales takes places tonight as Jay Hieron and Rick Hawn will battle in the welterweight finals. The winner will advance to face current kingpin Ben Askren. Join us live tonight at 9pm EST as we will be bringing you all the action live!
Main Card
Jay Hieron (170.8) vs. Rick Hawn (170.8)
Bryan Baker (184) vs. Joe Riggs (184.6)
Chase Beebe (136.4) vs. Jose Vega (135.8)
Vince Lucero (263.3) vs. Ron Sparks (255.2)
Hello, Chris Roberts here and for the next two hours I will be covering Bellator 43 as their season 4 welterweight tournament comes to a conclusion. The event can be seen live on MTV2 and is being broadcast from Newkirk, Oklahoma.
Heavyweight Bout
Vince Lucero (20-18) vs. Ron Sparks (6-0)
Round 1– They both swipe at each other to start. Sparks moves in, slugfest, Sparks winning it. They break, wisely for Lucero. Big outside leg kick from Sparks. Superman punch from Sparks, grabs Lucero in the clinch and lands a few knees. Leg kick from Sparks knocks Lucero over. Sparks quickly moves into side control. He seems to be going for an Americana. Lucero seems to be in immense pain but he won’t quit. Finally enough is enough and Lucero taps out. Quick work from Sparks to stay undefeated.
Ron Sparks def. Vince Lucero via Submission (Key Lock), Round 1 (2:18)
Bantamweight Bout
Jose Vega (9-4) vs. Chase Beebe (17-7)
Round 1- This is being billed as a qualifier for next season’s bantamweight tournament, just FYI. Jabs from Vega early on. Leg kick from Vega, still feeling each other out. Hook from Vega. Tie up, knee from Beebe. Beebe grabs a standing guillotine and takes it to the ground with a trip. Vega pops out of it right away. They stand up and Beebe goes for another guillotine. They remain standing. The hold is broken. Beebe lands a knee. Leg kick from Vega. Tie up and Vega lands a solid uppercut. 1-2 combo from Beebe. Beebe continues to move forward and lands a few more shots. Beebe gets a slick looking takedown. He tries to work the elbows but to little effect. Once again he goes for the guillotine, Vega tries to counter it by scoring a takedown but Beebe will not let go of the hold. This time it is deep and this time Vega taps out. Chase Beebe will be partaking in the season 5 bantamweight tournament.
Chase Beebe def. Jose Vega via Submission (Guillotine choke), Round 1 (4:06)
To kill time Bellator takes a page out of the UFC’s book and treats us to a preliminary card fight. The fight they show is David Rickels 2nd round triangle submission of Richard Bouphanouvong. The win moves Rickels record up to an impressive 7-0.
Middleweight Bout
Joe Riggs (34-12) vs. Bryan Baker (14-2)
Round 1– Baker charges hard against Riggs and lands a kick. Baker fakes another kick but decides against it. Not much action as we enter the 2 minute mark and the crowd is getting a little upset. And with that Baker lands a kick square on Riggs’ cup. Ref Jason Herzog calls a timeout. After that more stalling. Baker is throwing kicks but nothing that really comes close to doing damage. Kick exchange, Riggs is throwing punches while Baker seems intent on going with the kicks. Flying knee from Baker. Baker’s girlfriend in the crowd is relentless in her cheering and really rather annoying. Head kick from Baker. Another kick from Baker. Body shot lands on Riggs’ midsection. Baker grabs Riggs in the clinch and lands some nice knees. Riggs acts as though maybe he landed another low blow. They break and Baker hits another flying knee. 10-9 Baker no questions asked.
Round 2– Baker comes forward with a kick but Riggs grabs it. He lets it go without incident. Riggs lands his first big shot of the fight, a straight left. Baker begins to swarm, hits a few nice body blows. Riggs counters with some striking of his own. Left hook from Riggs lands. Another flying knee from Baker. Riggs hits a jab of his own on the approach. Tie up along the cage. Knee from Baker which causes Herzog to caution him. Another knee to the body from Baker, followed by some elbows. Straight right from Riggs. Baker gets him up against the cage, wails on Riggs and a less than devastating shot drops Riggs. He seems to be quitting more than getting knocked out. Both Baker and Herzog delay in their action. Finally Baker goes in for another shot and at that point Herzog calls off the fight. Bryan Baker is your winner here tonight.
Bryan Baker def. Joe Riggs via TKO (Strikes), Round 2 (3:53)
Post fight Baker proposes to his girlfriend. She says yes, obviously. You have to wonder how all that would have played out had he lost the fight…
Welterweight Tournament Final
Jay Hieron (21-4) vs. Rick Hawn (11-0)
Round 1– Probably my favorite of the four season 4 finals though I would find it tough to bet against Hieron. That said Hawn has looked superb thus far this season and my expectations for this clash are sky high. Jason Herzog is once again in charge of the action. Hieron works the leg kicks early. Hawn charges forward but eats a few shots. Missed head kick from Hieron. Left hand from Hieron. SPinning back kick from Hieron only glances off his opponent. Hieron hits below the belt, the action is stopped for a second or so and the fight continues. Leg kick from Hieron. Hawn comes with a big hook but it misses. Hieron goes for a leg kick then follows immediately with a 1-2 combo. Hawn has been very very tentative thus far. Hieron lands another outside leg kick, he’s having lots of success with that move. Hawn is trying harder to penetrate Hieron’s defense but having no luck. Hawn gets a shot in but Hieron counters nicely. More leg kicks from Hieron and move of hawn charging in swinging only to land nothing. The round comes to a close. 10-9 Hieron as Hawn’s performance was very lackluster.
Round 2– Chest kick from Hieron is mostly blocked. Hieron misses a spinning back fist. The fighters exchange leg kicks. Hawn’s defense is looking good this round. Hieron is leaning heavily on his leg kicks but Hawn has no real answer for them. Hawn charges hard and hits a punch that staggers Hieron for a split second. Leg kick from Hawn this time. Hieron is not getting in on Hawn like he was in Round 1. Hawn clips Hieron on the chin with a left. Leg kick from Hawn. Uppercut from Hawn. Hawn is doing some damage late in the 2nd round. The fighters come together and Hieron gets a surprise takedown with a trip. The round then comes to a close. 10-9 Hawn. The takedown at the end makes it closer than it was before but Hawn was on control for 80% of the round.
Round 3– Hieron seems ready to roll early on, his leg kicks have a little extra oomph on them. Nice spinning back kick from Hieron. Hieron lands a combo and follows it up with a leg kick. Hieron is starting to show signs of exhaustion. Leg kick from Hieron lands soundly. Hawn catches Hieron with two jabs right on the nose then he hits a right hook. Leg kick from Hawn. Momentum seems to be favoring the judo master. Another combo from Hawn. Hieron’s face is starting to show damage, a mouse, some blood, etc. Leg kick from Hawn. Hawn is way more aggressive right now. 90 seconds left. Hieron misses a spinning back kick. Hieron hits a nice right. Big right from Hawn. Inside leg kick from Hieron. Hawn tries a spinning back fist with a few seconds left, it misses, and the round, fight and tournament come to a close. 10-9 Hawn. That means that on the Inside Fights scorecard we have it scored 29-28 for Rick Hawn.
Jay Hieron def. Rick Hawn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Well, sorry to say but the judges got it wrong there. And that makes two questionable decision W’s in a row for Mr. Hieron but no matter we can now look forward to Ben Askren vs. Jay Hieron sometime in the near future. We are reminded by Sean Wheelock that for his trouble Hieron has also pocketed $100,000.
Thanks for joining me here tonight.
