BloodyElbow.com will be reporting live from tonight's Bellator Fighting Championships show at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Bellator's second event features the final opening round match-ups in their featherweight and lightweight tournaments, plus the first three welterweight bracket bouts. Former EliteXC bantamweight champ Wilson Reis, lightweight vet Thomas Schulte and the undefeated Lyman Good will be all in action.
SPOILER WARNING: Since the show won't air on ESPN Deportes until Saturday night, all results are hidden after the jump.
Quick Results
Jimmie Rivera (2-1) def. Willie Gates (0-2) via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 3:17 of Round 3
Matt Makowski (5-1) def. Aaron Tregear (6-4) via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x 3)
Jesse Juarez (8-5) def. Mikey Gomez (9-6) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:23 of Round 1
Omar De La Cruz (4-1) def. Victor Meza (9-1) via Unanimous Decision (30-24, 30-25 x 2)
Eric Reynolds (11-1) def. Thomas Schulte (18-7) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:18 of Round 1
Jorge Ortiz (16-4) def. Aaron Romero (5-3) via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Lyman Good (8-0) def. Hector Urbina (12-5) via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:22 of Round 2
Wilson Reis (7-0) def. Henry Martinez (5-2) via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Josh LaBerge (4-3) def. Chris Simmons (6-2) via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3)
BW: Willie Gates (0-1) vs. Jimmie Rivera (1-1)
Fighting out of New Jersey, Tiger Schulmann's Rivera has a cheering section here tonight. Less so for the Cali boy Gates.
Round 1: Left high kick from Gates. Rivera pushes forward wih combos, nothing solid connecting. They clinch against the cage, Rivera pressing with inside knees but Gates sending some back with his back to the fence. Big Dan restarts them. Nice left hook from Gates, followed by some jabs, but Rivera switches levels and takes him down with a double. Rivera in open guard, both fighters looking for offense. Now half guard for Rivera. Gates keeping active from the bottom, but Rivera takes his back as he tries to stand. Hooks in, Rivera looking for a rear naked choke as Gates ably defends. Rivera flips to mount, lightning quick. Gates bucks him off, but Rivera tries a guillotine, then regains his back. High mount but Rivera pounds away, Gates is unable to shake him. Rivera finally sinks in he RNC with 10 seconds left in the frame. Gates wards it off and will fight on.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Rivera.
Round 2: Rivera shoots, but Gates sprawls nicely and now they clinch against the cage. They stall out and Miragliotta restarts them. Gates flicking low kicks but both fighters are still tentative. Huge takedown from Rivera makes the crowd pop. Side control for Rivera. He works to full mount, but gates is at the base of the cage once again and doing a good job tying him up. Gates flips over but can't escape mount. Rivera on top sending shots to the body. 50 seconds left. Rivera finally breaks loose and begins to rain down shots just as the round is about to end.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Rivera.
Round 3: Rivera shoots immediately this time and quickly moves from half guard to side control. Gates ties him up but Rivera gains the mount again. Good posture this time from Rivera as he rains down shots and uses his chest to slam Gates into the mat. More shots from Rivera and now Gates begins to turtle. Rivera in total control, but Gates somehow reverses... and promptly gets locked in a tight triangle. Game over.
Jimmie Rivera def. Willie Gates via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 3:17 of Round 3
Up next, Matt Makowski, owner of one of my favorite Fight Finder victory descriptions ("refused to get up from butt scoot") against Nicky Serra.
LW: Matt Makowski (4-1) vs. Aaron Tregear (6-3)
Round 1: Makowski with a right straight and high kick which stuns Tregear enough for Matt to tie him up against the cage. Powerful kick to the body of Tregear. Left thigh kick from Matt but Tregear answers with a straight that backs Makowski up. Steady diet of low kicks and body shots from Makowski now. Strong left high kick from Tregear, but it's blocked. They box the round out but Tregear is visibly defensive.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Makowski
Round 2: Makowski looking confident now, countering any offense from Tregear with knees and punches. Tregear floors Makowski with a straight left hand, but Matt recovers, gets to his feet and avoids the clinch. He seems to have shaken the cobwebs when Tregear catches him with another tough shot that drops him. Credit to Makowski, he pops right back up. Makowski's back with it, but Tregear hits him with a pair of hard lefts with 2:30 left in the round. Makowski doesn't crumble this time but his face is getting marked up. Stinging leg kicks from Makowski. Tregear pushes forward, but Makowski backs him up with feints and jabs, then another snapping leg kick. And another. Decent sized mouse forming under the left eye of Makowski; the left side of Tregear's ribcage is equally marked up.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Tregear
Round 3: Matt comes out swinging, Tregear partially catches a leg kick and backs him up with a combination. More leg kicks from Makowski, then a teep kick and a combo. Matt slips on a right high kick attempt but recovers. Tregear catches Matt with a left behind the ear but "Weapon X" stays standing and puts Tregear down with a kick to the body. Leg kicks and combinations from Makowski and he slowly pulls the round and the bout away from Tregear. One minute left. Makowski chops away with leg kicks and a few final shots to the body as the bout ends.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Makowski
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 29-28 Makowski
Matt Makowski def. Aaron Tregear via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x 3)
WW: Mikey Gomez (9-5) vs. Jesse Juarez (7-5)
"Babalu" Sobral is in the corner of Gomez. In fact, he's got the latex gloves on, so I guess he's his second. L.C. Davis in the corner of Juarez.
Round 1: Juarez with a quick takedown, working from Gomez' full guard. Gomez appears to have a piece of tape flapping off his foot. Juarez muscling Gomez against the cage. (Someone starts a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" What?) Gomez looking for a triangle from the bottom now, then rubber guard, possibly a gogoplata attempt, but he can't get his left foot past Juarez' shoulder. Juarez cracks Gomez with some stiff shots from the top and Gomez rolls out, only to have Juarez take his back. Gomez flattens out with Juarez pounding away on his back, and Kevin Mulhall steps in to halt the match. It's a good stoppage - Gomez is immediately looked after by the doctor for a cut on the left side of his forehead.
Jesse Juarez def. Mikey Gomez via TKO (Strikes) at 4:23 of Round 1
WW: Omar De La Cruz (3-1) vs. Victor Meza (9-0)
Round 1: Omar quickly takes Meza down and moves to mount, then back mount. This looks to be over quickly, but Meza escapes and now rains down shots from full mount. De La Cruz forces Meza to relent when he looks on an arm triangle, then an armbar which Meza slams his way out of. Omar reverses, now in half guard, quickly passing to mount. Meza turtles and Omar takes his back, looking for the rear naked choke. Meza defends perfectly and reverses, now in Omar's closed guard. De La Cruz ties him up, flips his legs up for a triangle, but Meza stands, backs up and comes hurtling down with a big shot. Omar rolls out and gains side control, where he pins Meza down until the round ends. Close round, but De La Cruz takes it on the sub attempts.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 De La Cruz
Round 2: Knees from the clinch by Omar, then a blocked trip attempt by Meza and Meza goes down instead. De La Cruz takes his back and sinks both hooks in, gets his right arm under Meza's chin momentarily but is forced to relent and try again. Another choke attempt but Meza escapes a second time and gets to his knees, still with De La Cruz on his back. There are shouts to stand the fighters up, but De La Cruz is clearly in a dominant position, though he's offering minor offense. Meza tries to roll out but Omar just sinks the hooks in deeper. De La Cruz sneaking shots in under the arm of Meza but can't quite lock the choke up.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 De La Cruz
Round 3: Meza lands what I think is a knee to the head of a downed De La Cruz but Miragliotta indicates it hit Omar's shoulder. 10 seconds later, Meza does knee the downed De La Cruz, and the doctor comes in to check on the downed fighter. Omar takes a minute to compose himself and the fight restarts. Meza dropped with a straight right, but recovers and looks for a leglock. De La Cruz powers out and into half guard. Omar is smothering, not throwing any shots, and Meza throws his arms up from the bottom in frustration. The crowd jeers as De La Cruz passes to side control. Miragliotta restarts them with 90 second left in the frame. Right high kick from Meza blocked, countered with a right by De La Cruz which connects. Omar back in half guard. Meza reverses and mounts some offense as the round ends, but it's too late.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-8 De La Cruz
CORRECTION: this should have been 10-7, as Meza was docked a point for the illegal strike
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 30-26 De La Cruz
Omar De La Cruz def. Victor Meza via Unanimous Decision (30-24 x 2, 30-25)
LW: Thomas Schulte (18-6) vs. Eric Reynolds (10-1)
Round 1: Reynolds with low kicks and straight rights early; one punch gives Schulte pause for thought. As Reynolds begins to unload with punches, Schulte switches levels and gains mount with a smooth double leg. Schulte riding high in mount as Reynolds tries to buck him off. Schulte with an armbar attempt but Reynolds stands and powers out. Reynolds with a takedown, in side control, framing up a kimura but quickly abates the hold. Schulte with another armbar attempt, but again Reynolds slams himself out of trouble and begins raining down shots. Yet another armbar from Schulte, and this one looks tight. Reynolds shows incredible defense, steps over and escapes. Back to the feet. Reynolds floors Schulte with a left high kick and right straight, then follows up with g'n'p until the ref pulls him away.
Eric Reynolds def. Thomas Schulte via TKO (Strikes) at 4:18 of Round 1
WW: Jorge Ortiz (15-4) vs. Aaron Romero (5-2)
Round 1: Romero with a nice right hand, backing Ortiz up against the cage. The Naked Man works out quickly, but Romero is relentless, pushing forward with haymakers, head down. Ortiz reverses Romero against the cage and trips him down, taking full mount in the blink of an eye. Romero sits up against the cage, escaping mount. Ortiz shoots some quick knees and flailing but hard strikes from the Thai plum as Romero stands and walks away. Two minutes left and Romero with a wild flying knee, followed with some solid combinations but Ortiz looks unfazed, still walking Romero down. Both men keeping busy, but Ortiz is just a tick quicker on the punches and Romero is on his horse with 20 seconds remaining.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Ortiz
Round 2: Romero pressing the action as the second frame opens, getting the better of a couple close-up exchanges with Ortiz. Someone in the stands encourages Romero to "beat him like he stole your chalupa." Classy crowd tonight. Ortiz keeping his range now, tagging Romero with jabs that cause Romero to lunge forward with overextended straights. Flurries from both fighters end with Ortiz landing flush knees to Romero's face from the plum, followed with some solid punches that have Romero's right eye looking rough. Ortiz tries a left hook but eats a right straight back from Romero.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Ortiz
Round 3: More wild flurries to open the last round. 20 seconds in, Romero catches Ortiz with a kick straight to the pills. Ortiz takes a minute to recover and Romero rubs him on the head before they resume. Ortiz frustrating Romero, who bumrushes him into the cage but backs away just as suddenly. Ortiz is ducking most all of Romero's offense and picking him apart with counters and jabs. At the 10 second mark, Romero makes a last ditch attempt with arms and knees swinging. After the bell sounds, both men kneel to one another and Romero raises Ortiz' hand.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Ortiz
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 30-27 Ortiz
Jorge Ortiz def. Aaron Romero via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
WW: Lyman Good (7-0) vs. Hector Urbina (12-4)
The Harlem native Good emerges to the biggest ovation of the night. Tiger Schulmann's definitely in the house.
Round 1: Good kicks the leg out from under Urbina early and presses him against the fence. Urbina pulls guard but both men are quickly back to their feet. Good catches Urbina with a low knee and Miragliotta halts the action, but Urbina quickly recovers. Lyman clinches and unloads with some brutal dirty boxing, chasing the escaping Urbina counter-clockwise around the cage. Urbina pulls guard again. Good works for mount but stalls out in half guard. Back in full guard, Good is scooting Urbina around the cage. Urbina escapes and looks visibly faded, breathing heavy with his mouth open. He shoots for a single leg which Good stuffs as the frame ends.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Good
Round 2: The crowd erupts as Good drops Urbina at the top of the round, but Hector recovers nicely. Urbina wings a right-left combo that misses and gets stunned with a right to the grill from Good. Lyman with a takedown, working from guard, now stacking Urbina against the fence. Urbina scrambles and mounts Good, then takes his back! But Good soon finds his own reversal and takes control of the man from Muncie's back. Hooks in, Good trying to force his right arm under the chin of Urbina. The choke looks deep but Urbina won't tap. Miragliotta raises the arm of Urbina and drops it. Urbina is out, but thankfully comes to soon after the bout is stopped.
The result is announced as a knockout, but I'm calling it a technical submission.
Lyman Good def. Hector Urbina via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:22 of Round 2
FW: Wilson Reis (6-0) vs. Henry Martinez (5-1)
The man himself, Greg Jackson, in the corner of Team Jackson fighter Henry Martinez.
Round 1: Henry shoots but it's stuffed by Reis, who jumps guard and wraps his legs around Martinez with his back to the cage. Martinez posts and works his way back to his feet. Knees to the stomach from the clinch from Reis. Martinez shoots again but only eats an elbow for the effort. Two minutes left. Reis moves in for a combo and gets dropped with a pretty double leg. A scramble, and Reis winds up in mount, stands in guard, and takes the back of Martinez. Reis riding high on the back as Henry tries to escape out the backdoor. The black belt does a good job of maintaining position, throwing down shots and even attempting a last second armbar as the round ends.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Reis
Round 2: Great sprawl from Martinez as Reis shoots a double, then rolls to pull guard. Martinez tries to step over and escape but winds up on the bottom himself. Reis moves to side control. Now half guard. Reis tries to whip around and take Martinez' back, but winds up on his back. Reis butt scooting now, and Martinez is eventually baited to the ground, where Reis reverses and mounts the back of a standing Martinez. The Jackson fighter is hunched over with Reis on his back, and eventually shucks the Brazilian off. Reis working from closed guard, flails a leg out looking for a triangle but eats some hard shots from Martinez. Reis wants none of this and sweeps to full mount. Martinez gives up his back again, and Reis closes out the round punching under the armpits of Martinez with hard left hands.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Reis
Round 3: Martinez advancing on Reis, slips on a leg kick but pops back up. Reis still bouncing on his feet, looking fresh; Martinez slightly less so. Reis with a double but Martinez pulls rubber guard. Reis passes to Martinez' right side, then full mount. Martinez rolls to his right and Reis assumes the back but again has no luck on the choke attempt and continues to soften Martinez with strikes. Martinez looks to be flattening out now but still defending, probably waiting for Big Dan to stand them up, but Reis is keeping just active enough prevent it from happening. 30 seconds left and Reis is turning it on, leaving it all in the cage, blasting Martinez and working for a RNC until the final bell.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Reis
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 30-27 Reis
Wilson Reis def. Henry Martinez via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
LW: Chris Simmons (6-1) vs. Josh LaBerge (3-3)
Round 1: Solid knees from the clinch from Laberge. Simmons trips Josh up but winds up on the bottom, and Simmons quickly takes his back. Midway through the round and Simmons is being smothered by the Bostonian, but works back to full guard. Simmons powers out and puts Laberge on his back, but charges straight into a deep looking guillotine. Simmons pops his head out, now sits in Laberge's guard until ref Kevin Mulhall stands them up. The fighters exchange simultaneous leg kicks and Laberge shoots a double as the round ends.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 LaBerge
Round 2: A left hook connects for LaBerge, but he misses with the follow up right and Simmons tags him back. LaBerge shoots and lays in guard, Simmons with a partial triangle but gets flipped over as he tries to swing his left leg up to cinch the hold. Still on his back, Simmons with an armbar attempt from the bottom, but LaBerge slams him against the base of the cage and gets free. LaBerge in side control but he's looking winded; understandable, as I heard he took this fight on a few days' notice. 90 seconds left. Simmons looking for an omoplata but instead sweeps and puts LaBerge's back to the cage. LaBerge regains guard but can't do much with it before the round ends.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Simmons
Round 3: LaBerge ducks a high kick and puts Simmons on his backside as soon as the last round begins. Simmons is admonished for throwing elbows from the bottom (not permitted by tonight's rules) but the action continues. Simmons gets sloppy with a loose guard and is flipped over be LaBerge, who takes his back and sinks in one hook. Simmons escapes and looks for a leg, but LaBerge stands and dives back to guard. 90 seconds left and this is turning into a sloppy BJJ demo with LaBerge getting the better position. The bout ends with LaBerge latched in a north-south choke from Simmons.
BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 LaBerge
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 29-28 LaBerge
Josh LaBerge def. Chris Simmons via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3)
