- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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there's mma this weekend, though no ufc
 B league preview, but christ, this card is dire edition
Bellator 293 - Friday, March 31
Main Card - 10 PM ET, Showtime
Heavyweight - Marcelo Golm vs Daniel “The American Predator” James
Golm is 10-3, with 7 TKO and 3 submission wins. He went 1-3 in UFC from 2017 to 2019. He’s currently 2-0 in Bellator, both fights ending inside the distance.
James is 14-6, with 9 TKO and 4 submission wins. He’s 2-0 in Bellator, but his first bout there was his pro debut in 2014, and he didn’t return to the world famous Circlegon until 2022.
Somehow, both guys are ranked in the Heavyweight Top Ten, which shows how bereft Bellator’s Big Boi division is. This being a main event is actively making me angry. What the gently caress even are these two men.
Featherweight - “Alpha” Cat Zingano vs Leah “The Curse” McCourt
Zingano is 13-4, bringing 5 TKO and 4 submission wins to the table. She went 3-4 in UFC, finishing her Octagon career by getting kicked in her eyeball by Megan Anderson. She’s currently 3-0 in Bellator.
McCourt is 7-2 with 1 TKO and 2 submission wins. She’s 6-1 in Bellator, having lost in February of 2022, but rebounding with a win in September.
McCourt is 10 years younger and two inches taller, but she’s giving up an inch of reach. I’ve long had a soft spot in my heart for Zingano, and I really hope she wins.
Middleweight - John Salter vs Aaron Jeffery
Salter is 18-6 with 7 TKO and 10 submission wins. He had a 1-2 cup of coffee in the UFC back in 2010. Since 2015 he’s been a Bellator Boi, going 8-3. His last bout was a decision loss to current Middleweight champ, Johnny Eblen, and prior to that, he lost to then-champ Gegard Mousasi.
Jeffery is 13-3 with 9 TKO and 1 sub win. He had two bites at the Contender Series apple, losing to Brendan Allen in 2019 and Caio Borralho in 2021. He’s currently 2-0 in Bellator, both wins coming by TKO.
Salter is a seasoned submission specialist. Jeffery is a punching man who has lost to the handful of names you might have heard of on his record. However, Salter is old and has shown he can get his lights punched out.
Welterweight - Jaleel “The Realest” Willis vs Rustam “Tiger” Khabilov
Willis is 16-4, with 5 TKO wins in his career. He had one fight in Bellator in 2016, a win, but didn’t return to the Circlegon until 2020. He’s 3-2 on this new Bellator run, winning his most recent bout in December after previously dropping a pair by first round submission.
Khabilov is 24-4, with 4 TKO and 5 submission wins. He went 10-3 in UFC, but has not fought since his final UFC bout in 2019.
Khabilov is good and has faced better competition, but he’s also been out of action for a long time.
Light Heavyweight - Sullivan “Sully” Cauley vs Luke “The Gent” Trainer
Cauley is 5-0, all wins in Bellator, all wins by TKO.
Trainer is 6-1 with 3 TKO and 3 submission wins. He’s 3-1 in Bellator, rebounding from his only pro loss last May with a win in October.
Trainer has 3 inches of height and a foot-and-a-half of reach on Cauley. Cauley’s also gotten slightly better matchmaking, so this looks to be his first major test.
Prelim Card - 7 PM ET, YouTube
Lightweight - Adam “The Bomb” Piccolotti vs Mandel “Rat Garbage” Nallo
Piccolotti is 13-5 with 2 TKO and 6 submission wins. He’s 9-5 in Bellator with an additional 9 bouts that have been canceled. He’s on a one-fight losing streak, getting submitted by Mansour Barnaoui in October.
Nallo is 9-2 with 5 TKO and 4 submission wins. He’s 4-2 in Bellator, most recently winning by first round TKO in June of 2022.
I am just glad the original matchup, Nallo vs Jay Jay Wilson fell apart, because I like both of those guys too much to see them whomp upon each other. Anyway, let’s go Rat Garbage, you delightful weirdo.
Lightweight - Archie “King” Colgan vs Justin “Kid Marvelous” Montalvo
Colgan is 6-0 with 4 TKO and 1 submission win. He’s 3-0 in Bellator, most recently winning by sub-minute TKO in November.
Montalvo is 5-0 with 4 TKO victories. He is 2-0 in Bellator, his last win coming in February 2022 by first round TKO.
Two hot prospects smashing headlong into each other on barely watched prelims. Such matchmaking is the sign of a genius brain.
Welterweight - Joey “Black Ice” Davis vs “Jazzy” Jeff Creighton
Davis is 8-0 with 5 TKO wins, and every single professional bout has taken place in Bellator. However, he hasn’t fought since November 2020, a decision win over Bobby Lee.
Creighton is 6-2 with 1 TKO and 5 submission wins. He’s on a two-fight win streak, so long as you don’t count the draw that happened betwixt those bouts.
Davis has gotten the classic Bellator Soft Touch matchmaking, but Creighton hasn’t really fought any major guys, either.
Featherweight - Lucas “Skywalker” Brennan vs Josh “The Zoo Keeper” San Diego
Brennan is 7-0, with 1 TKO and 5 sub wins. He’s fought exclusively in Bellator.
San Diego is 9-4, bringing 1 TKO and 3 submission wins to the table. He had a 2-0 run in Bellator back in 2016, drifted off to Tachi Palace and Dragon House, then returned to Bellator in 2018, going 2-1 on this current run. It should be noted that this “current” run saw San Diego last fight in 2019.
Brennan is 16 years younger than San Diego and has been more active. This looks like a squash match to elevate a prospect. Sorry Mr. San Diego.
Lightweight - “Fearless” Lance Gibson Jr vs Vladimir “Vova” Tokov
Gibson is 7-0 with 3 TKO and 2 sub victories. He’s 5-0 in Bellator.
Tokov is 7-2 with a single TKO and a pair of submission wins. He’s 3-2 in Bellator, dropping his most recent bout to Jay Jay Wilson last October.
Tokov has struggled against some of the stronger tests. Gibson is still relatively untested. Let’s see who’s iron is sharper.
Featherweight - Pam “Bam” Sorenson vs Sara Collins
Sorenson is 9-5 with a single TKO and single submission win. She went 3-2 in Invicta’s cage, and is currently 1-2 in Bellator’s fenced enclosure, dropping her last two bouts.
Collins is 3-0, but hasn’t left Australia, and her opponents are a combined 3-6.
Sorenson has fallen to some top level fighters, while Collins has not even faced middling opponents. But hey, she’s 3-0, it’s not expected to be a world beater just yet. Still, feels like weird matchmaking.
Heavyweight - Christian “Pain” Edwards vs Rakim “The Boogeyman” Cleveland
Edwards is 5-2 with 2 TKOs and 1 submission. He’s fought exclusively in Bellator, and is on a two-fight skid.
Cleveland is 22-15, boasting 12 TKO and 8 sub victories. He went 1-4 in PFL and is 0-2 in Bellator.
Z-tier prelim heavyweights? Honk off, Bellator. Nobody wants this slop.
Lightweight - “Magic” Mike Hamel vs Nick “Nyquil” Browne
Hamel is 9-5 with 3 TKO wins. He went 0-3 in LFA and is 2-2 in Bellator. It’s been an interesting run for him, facing Adam Borics and Usman Nurmagomedov, and after dropping both of those, he took on the easier tests of Bryce Logan and Killys Mota. It should be noted that Hamel hasn’t fought since December 2021’s victory over Mota.
Browne is 13-2, with 3 TKO and 6 submission wins. He was 1-0 in WSoF, 3-0 in LFA, and is 2-1 in Bellator, losing only to Islam Mamedov.
Other than his nickname, Browne’s got everything going for him. He’s a better finisher, he’s fought and beat better competition, and he’s been active more recently.
120 lb Catchweight - “Rose City Phoenix” Randi Field vs Ashley “Smashley” Cummins
Field is 3-1, with 1 TKO and 1 sub win. She is 1-1 in Bellator, bouncing back from a loss to Sumiko Inaba with a victory over Maraya Miller last April.
Cummins is 7-6 with 2 submission wins. She went 1-0 in Bellator back in 2016. She has a 4-6 Invicta record, going 1-3 as a Strawweight from 2012 to 2014, then going 3-3 as an Atomweight, including two failed attempts to win the vacant title. She has not fought since 2020, and has not won since 2018.
Cummins hasn’t done much of anything recently, so I don’t expect her to do much of anything here.
Bantamweight - Bryce “Misfit” Meredith vs Brandon Carrillo
Meredith is a 3-0 former college wrestleman with 2 TKO and one submission win, all in LFA.
Carrillo is 1-0, winning his debut by first round TKO.
Both guys are extremely green, but at least Bryce has beat people who have won a MMA fight before.
Strawweight - Maria “Mouse” Henderson vs Mackenzie “Macjudo” Stiller
Henderson is 1-0, winning her debut by submission last July. She is also the wife of retired fighter Benson Henderson.
Stiller is 4-0 as an amateur, all four wins coming by first round submission.
Macjudo is a terrible nickname. Anyway, expect tiny grapple times from the brand new fighters.
Welterweight - Khonry Gracie vs David “Dynamite” Pacheco
Gracie is 2-2, with one sub win. All of his bouts have taken place in Bellator. He lost his most recent outing in 2020, and in true Gracie fashion, he skulked away for a few years to hide his shame.
Pacheco is 1-1, winning his pro debut by first round TKO. Both of his fights have taken place in Bellator, the most recent coming in 2020. He also had some kickboxing bouts since then.
All Gracies deserve nothing but derision and scorn.
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Apr 1, 2023 00:25
