Bellator 85 Predictions

Sam's Picks
Main Card

Michael Chandler vs. Rick Hawn: When looking at Bellator’s lightweight roster, there aren’t many fighters who pose too much of a threat to Chandler’s belt, minus one fighter. That one man is Rick Hawn. Being one of the best judo guys at 155, his strength is rarely outmatched and that always plays a big part in grappling matches, which is inevitably what this is going to be. With Chandler’s wrestling and Hawn’s judo being right on the same level, how much of the grappling department be cancelled out? That is the biggest question heading into this main event. When looking at their standup, they’re both growing and neither are particularly fantastic but the fighter who is growing the fastest is Chandler. He is the more technical and possibly the more powerful striker. That is what it is going to come down to = Chandler via unanimous decision.

Pat Curran vs. Patricio Freire: The fireworks that this fight is going to display are going to be amazing. With two extremely dynamic strikers coming together for a title is almost always incredible. When looking at both of these guys, it’s hard to tell who will look better. They both haven’t fought for quite some time and that is always a big factor in the performance of the fighter. What I personally find the most important, though, is their pair of matchups with Joe Warren. Freire lost a very close decision to Warren while Curran put him in a coma (not really, at least I don’t think so) = Curran via 4^th round TKO.

Renato Sobral vs. Mikhail Zayats = Sobral via 1^st round submission (choke).

Prelims

Jacob Noe vs. Seth Petruzelli =  Petruzelli via unanimous decision.

Jason Lambert vs. Hector Ramirez = Lambert via split decision.

Atanas Djambazov vs. Emanuel Newton = Newton via 3^rd round TKO.

J.J. Ambrose vs. Brian Warren = Ambrose via 3^rd round decision.

Mike Guymon vs. Savant Young = Guymon via 2^nd round submission.

Joe Williams vs. Jamie Yager = Yager via unanimous decision.

Joe Camacho vs. Aaron Miller = Miller via unanimous decision.

Cleber Luciano vs. Mario Navarro = Navarro via split decision.

Dave's Picks
Main Card

Michael Chandler vs. Rick Hawn: This fight will be a close one. Hawn just finds ways to aggravate and confuse his opponents. Hawn gets his opponents to fight his fight. Chandler is a different breed and by far the hardest guy Hawn has ever faced. What Chandler needs to do is fight his fight which is to go into berserker mode and try and dirty box against the cage and take Hawn down to the ground and pound him out. Hawn will likely be a bit bigger than Chandler but Chandler is going to be much faster. This fight will be close and I wouldn’t be shocked if it went to a decision but I’m going with who I truly think has the best chance to win. = Chandler by submission in round 5.

Pat Curran vs. Patricio Freire: This fight is so hard for me to pick. Two major factors is 1) Curran hasn’t fought in over 10 months. 2) Curran will be much larger than Pitbull. Curran seems to have really perfected his craft as of late. But Pitbull has always been amazing from the get-go. I think Curran needs to keep Pitbull at bay with his reach advantage and then attack the openings; just like his fight against Joe Warren. Pitbull needs to get inside and hope to land bombs. I’m going with the guy who practically murdered Joe Warren. = Curran by split decision.

Renato Sobral vs. Mikhail Zayats = Sobral by submission in round 2.

Prelims

Jacob Noe vs. Seth Petruzelli = Petruzelli by unanimous decision.

Jason Lambert vs. Hector Ramirez = Lambert by split decision.

Atanas Djambazov vs. Emanuel Newton: Newton by TKO in round 2.

J.J. Ambrose vs. Brian Warren = Ambrose by submission in round 1.

Mike Guymon vs. Savant Young = Guymon by unanimous decision.

Joe Williams vs. Jamie Yager = Yager by unanimous decision.

Joe Camacho vs. Aaron Mille = Miller by split decision.

Cleber Luciano vs. Mario Navarro = Luciano by unanimous decision.

CR Exclusive Interview with Ricardo Tirloni

Ricardo Tirloni (photo by Bellator.com)

Ricardo Tirloni is one of the most underappreciated fighters in the world. He is one of the top lightweights in Bellator, and the world, and yet has gone unknown to casual fans. Holding one of the best ground games at 155 and powerful standup, Tirloni has all the makings to be a champion.

Boasting a 15-2 record, with his only two losses being to two of the best lightweights in the world, Benson Henderson and Rick Hawn, Tirloni is a world class fighter. Being a participant in the tournament in Bellator's most stacked division is certainly no easy task and Tirloni has made it look easy thus far. He blasted through Rene Nazare with a second round brabo choke, which was extremely impressive.

In the semi-finals, he will face off with 17-2 David Jansen, who also looked mighty impressive himself with a third round submission win over Magomed Saadulaev. Ricardo was gracious enough to sit down with us before his fight with Jansen.

Check it out:

Championship Rounds: Hey Ricardo, thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview. We can’t wait until your fight with David Jansen. So, talk about your fight with Jansen. How has training camp been going?

Ricardo Tirloni: Training camp was very good, we have been training for a long time to be ready for the tournament, and I am very ready for this fight.

CR: What are your initial impressions of Jansen?
 

RT: He is a good athlete with good conditioning and wrestling and with a BJJ background. He always comes  in good shape.

CR: How do you predict your fight going?
 

RT: I always come out aggressive and try to finish the fight and with this fight I think will take place on the ground.

CR:  How do you predict the Marcin Held vs. Rich Clementi fight will go?
 

RT: I don’t know. Held is young and hungry and Clementi has all the skills that you need, so let’s see what happens.

CR: What is your message to the champion Michael Chandler?
 

RT: I have no messages for Chandler because I think and want Hawn to become the champ, but first I will win the tournament.

CR: Are there any fighters we should look out for fighting from Ataque Duplo that we might not know of?
 

RT: Yes, we have a lot of fighters there, make sure to watch Santiago Ponzinibio, Ivan Batman and Kevin Souza.

CR: Thanks again Ricardo. Best of luck in your upcoming fight. We’ll be cheering for you!

RT: Thanks guys!

Thanks again to Ricardo Tirloni. Make sure you guys follow him @TirloniMMA and wish him luck this Friday.

MMA Lightweight Rankings: September Edition

As we at CR continue our rankings, we now head into the most stacked division in MMA, and possibly combat sports, history: lightweight.

There are so many fighters that you could argue to be top-10 guys like Joe Lauzon, Eddie Alvarez, or even guys like Rick Hawn. The division is so unbelievably stacked that there are UFC cards that have 3 or even more fights that either feature lightweights, or former lightweight fighters. Fortunately, they are also extremely entertaining so there is no shortage of Fight of the Night performances.

Let’s try and sort out the standings of this chaotic division:

10. Michael Chandler – Many people wouldn’t exactly consider Chandler a prospect considering he is the champion in the 3^rd largest MMA promotion, but Michael arguably has the promising future out of everyone on this list. At only 26 years old, he already has wins over some of Bellator’s biggest names like Lloyd Woodard, Patricky Freire, Akihiro Gono, and Eddie Alvarez. The biggest fight of note is the win over Alvarez. That fight was a back-and-forth brawl that ended with a Chandler win via 4^th round RNC. With powerful wrestling and striking, the sky is the limit.

9. Jim Miller – Jim Miller is, in a nutshell, a tough SOB. “Jimmy Redbeard” is the type of fighter that I love. He always puts on a good fight and always figures out a way to win. His ground game is very solid, one of the best at 155, and it shows in his wins over Charles Oliveira, Melvin Guillard, and Duane Ludwig. His only “glaring” weakness is his standup. It’s good, but not good enough to hang with guys like Nate Diaz and Ben Henderson. If he can get his standup up to par with his ground game, or at least closely up to par, then he can be right back in there in the title picture.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

8. Anthony Pettis – Anthony Pettis is one of the most dynamic strikers in the UFC today. His kicks are absolutely nuts. And I’m not just talking about his wild crazy spinning kicks, I’m talking about simply his technique. Watch his wins over Danny Castillo and Joe Lauzon. He is a master at the KO (head kick and punches) finish. The main reason that he is this low though is because his loss to Guida and lackluster win over Jeremy Stephens didn’t do him any favors. But if he can beat Cerrone in his next fight, he will undeniably be top-5.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

7. Clay Guida – Say all you want about his last fight with Gray Maynard, but Guida is still one of the most entertaining fighters in UFC history. Go back and watch his fights with Benson Henderson, Rafael dos Anjos, Diego Sanchez, and Roger Huerta and tell me he’s not. He even arguably beat Gray Maynard, which most likely would have earned him a title shot. I see his next fight possibly being with Jim Miller.

6. Donald Cerrone – Cowboy is a badass. Seriously, he fought Jeremy Stephens, dominated him, and then came out saying that he had some horrible intestinal issue going into the fight (and during) that felt like he was being stabbed in the gut. My lord. I would be incapacitated and he fights in the UFC against a solid fights and destroyed him for 3 rounds. And he is one of the only people who could win Fight of the Night with a fight that only lasted 76 seconds. His Muay Thai is one of the best in the lightweight division. I cannot wait for his fight with Pettis.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

5. Gilbert Melendez – I have always personally felt that Melendez is overrated. His last two wins over Jorge Masvidal and Josh Thomson are further proving my point. Now how can wins prove something negatively? Watch the fights and think about what I said. They are both guys that he should have not only beaten but finished. Especially Jorge Masvidal, it almost seemed like he wasn’t motivated for the fight. You’re the champion; you should be motivated for every fight. With that being said, I still can’t wait to see him come to the UFC and finally fight the best in the world.

4. Gray Maynard – Gray Maynard was just a few punches away from being a UFC champion, twice. How much more heartbreaking can you get? He had Frankie Edgar down and this close to out. He has been one of the best fighters at 155 for some time now in the UFC and now that there is a new champion in the UFC at lightweight, he may receive another title shot against the winner of Henderson and Diaz if he can beat Joe Lauzon.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

3. Nate Diaz – The younger of the Diaz brothers has become one of my personal favorite fighters lately. His wins over Gomi and Miller really made me realize that he truly has what it takes to become the next champion at 155. His standup is crisp and accurate and his ground game is slick. You can’t get much more well rounded then Nate Diaz. His title fight with Ben Henderson has what it takes to be a Fight of the Century.

2. Frankie Edgar – Despite having lost two in-a-row, Frankie Edgar is still undeniably the second best lightweight in the game in my book. He beat BJ Penn twice when Penn was considered unbeatable. He went to a draw and beat Gray Maynard when he was knocked silly in the 1^st round of both fights. He has more heart than any fighter in MMA. I personally believe that he should be champ still but perhaps a move to featherweight is the best thing for his career.

This picture shows just how apt his nickname is.

1. Ben Henderson – Henderson just absolutely loves to go to war. His last three fights are all stable mates for Fight of the Year. Say all you want about how he shouldn’t be champion and about how Frankie beat him both times. He is the champion of the UFC! He deserves the appreciation, no matter how close the fights were; the fact that he is the champion means that he is the champion. I love Henderson because he fights with all his heart every time. Let’s give him the appreciation he deserves.

So what do you guys think? Let us know in the comments on what you either greed on or disagreed on.

Quick Picks: Bellator 67

Dave here! This is a great main card. I am a huge Ryan Ford fan. I met him last December in Toronto and he was a very cool guy. Ford fights like a shark. Also the fight between Baker and Saunders will be a fun filled battle between two of the biggest welterweights you will ever see. And the heavyweight fight will be a fun one too.

But let’s talk about Michael Chandler. That guy is top 5 in the world not currently in the UFC. He has looked near perfect in his Bellator run. His fight with Eddie Alvarez was one of the best of last year where he ended up finishing Eddie by rnc. Keep your eye out for Chandler. He will be at the top of the heap soon enough.

Sam’s Picks

Michael Chandler vs. Akihiro Gono = Chandler by unanimous decision.
Bryan Baker vs. Ben Saunders = Baker by 3rd round TKO.
Ryan Ford vs. Luis "Sapo" Santos = Ford by split decision.
Damian Grabowski vs. Dave Huckaba = Grabowski by 3rd round submission (choke).

Dave’s Picks

Michael Chandler vs. Akihiro Gono = Chandler by TKO in round 2.
Bryan Baker vs. Ben Saunders = Saunders by unanimous decision.
Ryan Ford vs. Luis "Sapo" Santos = Ford by unanimous decision.
Damian Grabowski vs. Dave Huckaba = Grabowski by unanimous decision.

Make sure you catch the prelims on Spike.com and the main card on MTV2!