(Contributor: Nolan Howell)
- In the main event, “Frodo” Khasbulaev emerged as another one of Bellator’s talented Russian prospects. However, that came at the cost of a Marlon Sandro loss, who was one a guy the company wanted to build around it seemed. For as impressive “Frodo” looked, Sandro really showed his age and is now starting that slow Josh Grispi/Mark Hominick slide into retirement. A talent was made at the cost of putting out the old veteran. The torch has been passed and I feel that Sandro should hang up his gloves with these kind of perfomances.
- The co-main event was as one-sided as can be. Sultan Aliev grounded Doug Marshall at will and accumulated little shots to score points. Marshall just wanted to bang, bro, and Aliev wouldn’t let him. No matter though, as the judges saw fit to award Marshall a win because they want to see him bang, bro. While Aliev clearly won, many won’t complain. Nor will I. Marshall is as one-dimensional as it gets, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t fun to watch him windmill people into oblivion.
- Dan Cramer was beating Brett Cooper from pillar to post. Takedowns, strikes, the whole nine yards. Cooper was a glorified punching bag for two and a half rounds. Then Cooper landed an uppercut and poured it on for a beautiful come from behind TKO. While Cooper is known for his grinding pace, his toughness is just fascinating to watch and tonight showed how true grit is the deciding factor. Him vs. Marshall will be some violence that needs to be seen.
- Mike Richman and Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra had a fantastic fight that showed each man exploiting the other’s weakness. Richman had his back taken by Bezerra in the first and spent half the round trying to defend a rear naked choke. The second round showed Richman’s beautiful boxing, popping Bezerra with whatever he wanted. Bezerra didn’t get the memo about not being able to outstrike Richman until the third round, where he dragged it back to the mat briefly. The time before and after the grappling was more of Richman landing at will, giving him the split decision. Richman is a treat to watch and him vs. “Frodo” will be a coin flip fight that at least guarantees excitement.
-Nolan can be reached at [email protected].
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
