Join Jon Kirschner at 9pm EST for live coverage from Bellator 49. The televised portion of the card will feature the first round of the welterweight tournament which is scheduled to take place throughout the fifth season. Bellator 49 will air live in standard definition on MTV2 and in high definition on EPIX. Tonight’s card will feature these bouts:
Welterweight Quarterfinal Fight: Steve Carl (171 lbs) vs. Douglas Lima (171.4 lbs)
Welterweight Quarterfinal Fight: Luis Santos (171 lbs) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (170.5 lbs)
Welterweight Quarterfinal Fight: Ben Saunders (171 lbs) vs. Chris Cisneros (171 lbs)
Welterweight Quarterfinal Fight: Chris Lozano (170.5 lbs) vs. Brent Weedman (170 lbs)
UPDATE: We are LIVE! I’ve been tuned in for only five minutes and I’m already annoyed by MTV’s ads targeting a specific demographic. Regardless, the card should be good enough to keep me tuned in. The main card is underway so stay tuned for up to the minute results.
MTV2 Weight Loss Commercial Count: 12
MTV2 Energy Drink Commercial Count: 3
Steve Carl (171 lbs) vs. Douglas Lima (171.4 lbs)
Round One
They touch gloves and we are underway. They circle each other and they are just feeling each other out. First strike is from Lima as he connects with a leg kick. Carl connects with a HUGE right hook and Lima falls back. Lima connects with an upkick and almost locks Carl in a heel hook but Carl escapes and is now on the bottom. Lima is in Carl’s closed guard. Lima is back on his feet, lets Carl up and the fight is back standing where things could get lethal. Lima connects with a nice right hook. Carl throws a left straight and Lima connects with a counter. Carl swings and whiffs with a spinning back kick. Lima is now a lot more careful with his striking and is backing away. Carl throws a high kick but Lima trips him, Lima gets in side control. Carl shrimps, gets his guard back and is now in half butterfly guard. Lima tries to scoot out and is successful, he passed to side control. Lima stands back up, Carl eventually gets back to his feet. Carl tries to connect with a punch, but Lima counters with a body kick. Leg kick from Lima. Carl shoots, but Lima blocks it and they are locked up in an under over to close the round. Carl rocked Lima, but Lima intelligently recovered and had the upperhand in the ground game. Lima 10-9.
Round Two
Steve Carl catches a body kick, takes Lima down, grabs his leg and has him in a possible leg lock again. Lima escapes and is again on top of Carl with an open guard. He passes to half guard. Carl gets back to closed guard. Carl has Lima in a possible triangle, Lima gets his head out and then escapes the armbar attempt. Both men are standing again. Lima and Carl’s mouths are wide open, hands are low and they are throwing looping punches you could see from Grandma’s house. Lima lands a nice right uppercut/left hook combo. Steve Carl shoots again, Lima sprawls and ends up in Carl’s guard. Lima gets to half guard but Carl has Lima’s arm and he has a kimura attempt. It fails. Lima dives into side control. Carl is on his back, Lima is standing. Lima throws Carl’s leg aside and hits a diving punch and lands in half guard. Carl goes again for the kimura and it’s not doing him any favors as he is already out of energy; this is just wasting more. Lima holds top position until the bell, round over. Lima 10-9.
Round Three
Lima connects with a nice leg kick, left hook and Carl ducks under the final shot of the combo. Both men’s arms are low and they are tired; they are noticeably less active than they were a mere two minutes ago. Lima connects with a hook. Lima presses the action a bit, Carl’s back is against the cage and gets a clinch going. Carl pulls Lima on top of him and Lima is already in half guard. Carl is looking for the kimura AGAIN and it’s the hardest submission to get from half-guard; he’s essentially wasting his engergy. Lima prevents the submission and escapes. Lima locks his arms around Carl and just presses down; he’s trying to tire him out. Lima uses his momentum and leverage to pass from half guard to side control. Lima drags his leg on Carl’s belly, closes the distance between their chests and he’s in full mount. Carl spins around, Lima takes his back but doesn’t get anything as Carl spins again and is in Lima’s guard. Carl stands up and is going all out trying to finish Lima as he knows that he needs to finish the fight to win it. Carl is in half guard but isn’t landing any significant strikes. Carl won a tiny scramble to close the round, but Lima dominated early on and in the middle of the round. Lima 10-9.
Douglas Lima defeats Steve Carl by way of unanimous decision. (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Luis Santos (171 lbs) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (170.5 lbs)
Round One:
Hornbuckle is rocking purple trucks which is boss. Santos connects with a leg kick. Santos throws a switch high kick and barely connects, but Hornbuckle keeps his composure. Santos is very aggressive and throwing strong kicks. Hornbuckle doesn’t like it one bit and shoots in for a takedown but Santos escapes. Hornbuckle looks like he can’t figure Santos’ game out. Lots of flurries from both men but nobody is connecting convincingly. Santos throws another switch kick but doesn’t connect. Hornbuckle seems to have found his distance and is pressing the action a bit more. Santos’ kicks are so intimidating that Hornbuckle is checking them when they’re not even being thrown. Santos throws a jumping straight kick and connects, and Santos takes Hornbuckle down but gets right back up. They’re both back standing. Santos is the aggressor and is really taking control of this fight early on. Hornbuckle approaches with a combo, but Santos sidesteps and just throws him off. Santos lands another devastating leg kick and the bell sounds. Santos 10-9
Round Two
Hornbuckle is hopping around and trying to keep both legs active and blood throwing. Hornbuckle throws a high kick that sails over Santos’ head. They are both a bit more careful this round. Santos throws the first leg kick, which backs Hornbuckle off and Santos shoots for a takedown. Hornbuckle is on his back and has Santos in his closed guard. Referee stands them both back up. Santos is playing it safe and it looks like he knows that he dominated that first round good. Hornbuckle blocks a head kick. Hornbuckle throws a weak leg kick which looks like it was used just to set up a combo, but Santos throws a leg kick that doesn’t even let Hornbuckle get close. Hornbuckle is blocking strikes nicely this time around, blocking high kicks and ducking under hooks from Santos. Hornbuckle has Santos’ back against the cage and is trying to press the action now, but Santos catches Hornbuckle’s leg, spins him around and now Hornbuckle’s back is against the cage. Santos clinches and is in full control until the bell sounds. Santos 10-9.
Round Three
Hornbuckle is pressing and is more aggressive. Santos throws a spinning kick, whiffs and he ends up on his back with Hornbuckle standing over him. Santos props himself up on his arm, kicks Hornbuckle’s armpit which buys him a bit of time. Santos stands back up, gets in the clinch and uses his judo to land Hornbuckle on his back. Every time they go to the ground, Santos just closes the distance and doesn’t try to pass. He knows he’s winning the fight and isn’t going to take any risks in getting submitted. Hornbuckle is starting to get impatient and is waiting for the referee to stand them up and he does. Santos lands another chopping leg kick. Hornbuckle isn’t being as active as he should be; he’s still throwing strategic combos instead of heavy kicks or punches like he should be. He keeps trying to set something up with weak strikes instead of making something happen. Santos is back peddling and Hornbuckle doesn’t really make him pay for it. Santos lands a HUGE leg kick and Hornbuckle is wobbling. Santos goes for a clinch after a failed Hornbuckle takedown and they’re locked up until the end of the round. I think Santos just stole the round. Santos 10-9
Luis Santos defeats Dan Hornbuckle by way of unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ben Saunders (171 lbs) vs. Chris Cisneros (171 lbs)
Round One
They touch gloves and we are underway. Saunders pushes Cisneros into the cage and he’s throwing knees. Saunders is trying to hook Cisneros and he takes him down right into side control. Saunders could lock in a side choke if he wants to and he realizes it, he’s trying to slide his knee across and he lands in full mount but the submission chance is gone. Saunders traps Cisneros arm down with his knee and it looks like he’s trying to take his back; he has one hook in. Saunders now has his back still with only one hook in. Cisneros is trying to cage walk up, but Saunders is connecting with plodding punches. He loses the hook, Cisneros gets back to his knees and lands a takedown, but Saunders spins right out of it, gets on top and has a straight armbar attempt. He loses it and Cisneros sweeps as he is now on top. Cisneros throws a short hook, loses his positioning after a scramble and he is in Saunders’ guard. Saunders is on his back and Cisneros is standing over him and he dives into Saunders’ guard. Saunders almost has a triangle locked in but the bell sounds and it’s the end of round one. Saunders 10-9
Round Two
Cisneros quickly gets to the back of Saunders and tries to force him to the ground but Saunders rolls through it and ends up on top after a scramble. Saunders almost has a kimura or a straight armbar but Cisneros stays active, rolls around and escapes. Saunders is passing at will and is now in side control. He has another straight armbar but lets go. Saunders lands big knees on the belly of Cisneros. Saunders passes to north south and then back to side control. Saunders is pressing his forearm on Cisneros chin and lands a few nice strikes. Saunders is looking to transition again and he traps Cisneros’ arm; he’s missed a couple crucifix attempts and just missed another one. The only thing Cisneros is really doing well is escaping submissions. Saunders rains punches on Cisneros, Cisneros shrimps out and Saunders stands up. The bell sounds. I’d almost put Cisneros two points under, but he wasn’t in any serious danger. Saunders 10-9
Round Three
They touch gloves again and we are under way for the third and final round. Cisneros is trying to make up for lost time, gets in the clinch but Saunders makes the most of it. Saunders lands brutal knees, Cisneros falls down and falls in the fetal position. Saunders stands over Cisneros and connects with a series of punches until the referee pulls them apart; Saunders has won the bout.
Ben Saunders defeats Chris Cisneros by TKO (knees and punches) :29 into Round 3
Chris Lozano (170.5 lbs) vs. Brent Weedman (170 lbs)
Round One
Lozano comes out swinging but Weedman counters with a right hand! Weedman slams Lozano to the ground and puts him against the fence. Weedman has one hook in and Lozano gets to his feet. Weedman has an under-over and is landing knees to the body of Lozano. Lozano judo-throws Weedman to the ground. They are both back up to their feet and in the middle of the cage. Weedman is controlling where the fight goes, has double unders and slams Lozano down to the ground and has one hook in again. He had his arm around Lozano’s neck but only one hook in so it’s not necessarily done yet. He’s working hard for it and Lozano is playing it safe, being patient and not working too hard. Weedman has a tight body triangle and is STILL working for the rear naked choke. They are right next to the microphone and you can hear them both breathing very hard. This is where the body triangle gives you a little less of an advantage when it comes to looking for the rear naked choke. If he had the hooks in he could control and flatten out Lozano fully; with the body triangle Lozano is free to try and stand up or scoot around. Bell sounds. Weedman 10-9.
Round Two
Lozano connects with a nice knee to the body. They trade weak blows, and Weedman whiffs on a big hook. They are both still exchanging and Lozano presses Weedman against the cage, this is very reminiscent of the first round. Weedman lands a nice leg kick but Lozano tries to counter with a punch and fails. Lozano is throwing nice combos and is landing every couple shot. Lozano sprawls a takedown shot. Lozano lands with a knee, punch, another knee and a weak punch… very nice combo. You can tell Weedman worked himself out with working on the rear naked too hard. Despite that, Weedman lands a heavy punch. Lonzano connects with a right hook and they keep trading shots. Nice right uppercut/left hook from Lozano. Jumping knee from Lozano sends Weedman stepping back. Lozano keeps landing solid uppercuts that makes Weedman drop his guard. They connect with straight shots at the same time but it looks like Lozano got the better of the exchange. Weedman is just wanging punches here while Lozano is a lot more strategic with his strikes. Weedman shoots, doesn’t get the takedown but presses Lozano against the cage as the bell sounds. 10-9 Lozano.
Round Three
Weedman is back to being the aggressor and is controlling where the fight is going. This almost costs him as Lozano lands with another nice combo. Lozano whiffs a spinning back kick, and Lozano shoots for a switch takedown and gets it. He wall walks, and is throwing punches while sitting on his butt. Lozano grabs the fence, gets back up and takes Weedman down. Lozano goes for the D’arse choke but can’t synch it in. Lozano literally flows into full mount and is being very patient; he’s not striking or going for a submission yet. Lozano sees and opening and tries to go for the keylock but abandons it and goes back to ground and pound. Weedman spins around and Lozano is on his back with barely one hook in. Weedman grabs a hold of the leg and with the drive of a wrestler, pushes forward and is going for a takedown. Lozao is using his balance and base to stay on top and traps an arm and is posturing up. Under one minute to go in the fight. Lozano stands up, Weedman drags him down but Lozano gets right back up. The bell sounds and that puts an end to a somewhat exiting, yet mostly lackluster bout. Lozano 10-9
Chris Lozano defeats Brent Weedman by way of unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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