The site of Bellator 31 was the opulent casino resort, The L'auberge d'Lac. Only the tallest building between Houston and Baton Rouge could contain the rising star of the greatest female fighter on the planet, Megumi Fujii. There was a palpable buzz in the air as the patrons of the show filled the venue and the fights definitely delivered. Only one out of seven fights went to the cards. The night showcased the best MMA has to offer, with brutal ground and pound, technical submissions, and devastating knockouts. After the pre-fight press conference, I could not wait and considered myself lucky to be able to see her fight in person. The capacity crowd was very vocal, but they were not as educated in MMA as the previous show in New Orleans. At a point in the night someone actually yelled out, "Kick his ass, Seabass!" A Dumb and Dumber reference at a cagefighting event....how poetic.
Fight 1
Scott Stapp (2-0) vs Mike Chandler (3-0) (165 lbs)
Rd 1: Stapp in black, Chandler in yellow. Chandler lands big shot off the bat, and he follows Stapp down in guard. The crowd is clearly going for Stapp. Chandler advances to half guard. He then passes guard landing some really good ground and pound. Stapp isn't doing much to defend himself and looks hurt. The ref calls the stoppage. The right side of Stapp's face is a mess with swelling above and below the eye. Stapp wasn't able to show us much other than that he didn't really have any defense off his back. The stop comes at 1:57 Rd 1. Chandler showed a really good ground offense, which is not surprising for the All-American wrestler.
Fight 2
Dave Herman (16-2) vs Michael Kita (10-4) (HW)
When the bells sounds it's clear the crowd is for Herman as they are chanting, "Peewee". It is short
lived as Kita lands a brutal one two combo that drops Peewee. He recovers and stands up. The crowd goes nuts rallying behind Herman. They clinch up. Kita gets the better of the stand up. Then he catches a kick and gets the takedown. Herman goes for a heel, pulls guard, rolls, and stands giving up his back. Kita drags him back down and Herman pulls guard. Herman goes for omoplata, and Kita is immobile as Herman tightens it up with his wrist. Kita taps out. Really nice come from behind win considering how badly he was on the feet. The tap comes at 3:16 rd 1.
After this they showed the Soto/Warren fight. The crowd went nuts after the Warren KO. They are drinking and ready for some fights. With the time to kill before the live broadcast they showed the top ten finishes of Bellator.
Fight 3
Chris Lozano (5-0) vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-5) (170 lbs)
This was undoubtedly the biggest fight of Lozano's career, and he certainly was prepared for it. Yoshida is a very talented judo player, but Chris's strength and wrestling really neutralized any advantages Yoshida may have had on the ground. This allowed Lozano to let his hands go on the feet and on the ground. Yoshida made Lozano work for it, as he continually pushed the pace with takedown attempts. This fight was non-stop action that should earn Fight of the Night honors for both Lozano and Yoshida. The strength of Lozano just proved too much for Yoshida, and Yoshida's face bore the evidence of that strength as his eye was swollen shut by the end of the second prompting a corner stoppage. All I can say about Lozano is watch out for this kid. He has solid wrestling with good striking. He turns almost everything to his advantage. The only negative I saw in his game was that his Bjj was a little sloppy. Twice he went for the anaconda and had his hands wrong, but other than that he showed awesome skill handling Yoshida in every facet of the fight. After the fight I asked him what he thought made the difference in the fight between his powerful striking or his wrestling. He said, "Both. I am really blessed to train with champion wrestlers and strikers." This kid is the real deal. In time look for him to make waves on the biggest stages.
Fight 4
Jessica Aguilar (9-3) vs Zoila Frausto (8-1) (115 lbs)
This one looked on paper to be a classic striker vs grappler match, but you would never have guess from the fight. From the opening bell it was clear that Aguilar was looking to test her striking skills against the bigger fighter, and by the look of Frausto's face afterwards it seemed she passed that test. Despite Frausto's reach advantage, Aguilar never stopped coming forward. She was in Frausto's face for three full rounds. The bout started out close, but as it progressed Frausto seemed to show frustration at Aguilar's aggression...like she was a buzzing bee around her face that she just couldn't swat. Not only could she not swat Aguilar, but she couldn't stop her from stinging her repeatedly. By the end of the fight her face was a bloody mess with her upper lip swollen several times over. The crowd was unanimous in who they think won the fight, but the judges were not. I have to confess it is a disturbing thing indeed to hear several thousand drunk people letting two people know that they are super pissed at them. After the brawl in New Orleans I actually started planning exit strategies. At least it's good to know that the UFC isn't the only promotion plagued with questionable judging. It's a shame to see a fighter leave it all out there in the cage and have her heart ripped out by the judges. I asked her afterwards if she could take a positive note from the loss, that she was able to succeed on her feet against such a dangerous striker. "Absolutely, I'm very happy with my performance. I had fun, and the fight made for a great story...I got to show other dimensions. I think I did great." Yes you did.
Fight 5
Megumi Fujii (21-0) vs Lisa Ward (14-5-1) (115 lbs)
This was billed as a legendary match up featuring two of the top pound for pound female fighters, but the fight surely didn't look that way. Fujii was all over her from the opening bell, and the fight quickly went to the ground after landing a staggering left against Ward that left her eye discolored and partially closed. On the ground it was seamless execution as Fujii mounted and took the armbar. Ward knew she was done before the armbar was even attempted. If Fedor is the last emperor of MMA, Fujii is the queen. In her post fight comments Fujii said she was looking to go for the triangle at the end but ended up just taking the arm. That is what I call one hell of a plan B. Josh Barnett was cornering Fujii for the fight, and when I asked him if seeing Frausto's fight made preparing for the final bout any easier, he said, "For sure. Frausto always back peddles when she fights. She's a point fighter."
In an artistic touch, a montage of fight clips set to Johnny Cash singing "Hurt" set to fight clips was really nice. The UFC could take a note.
Fight 6
Mark Holata (4-2) vs Shawn Jordan (8-1) (HW)
Jordan the local boy from Baton Rouge is set to go against Holata from Oklahoma. Jordan comes out looking to bang, showing decent movement. Seeing his previous lay n pray style fights makes one wonder if this is well-advised. They start swinging and....one shot goodnight! Holata catches Jordan in the temple with a crushing punch and he was out when he hit the ground. Mark Holata has heavy hands. Jordan had decent head movement, but when they both unloaded it was Jordan who was caught with a big right which sent him crashing to the canvas out cold. The fight was too short to fully showcase Holata's skill, but one thing for sure is that this kid has power.
Fight 7
Davis is a BJJ guy, and he's looking to take the fight to the ground. The only problem is that Ruberg trains with Rich Clementi, so that is fine with him. A big shot puts Davis down early. He recovers and goes for single leg. After some work Davis gets the takedown. He advances to side control. Then he moves to north-south position and goes for the north-south choke. Ruberg rolls out. Davis goes for another single against the cage. They scramble then separate. Davis clinches against cage again. Davis is doggedly going for the single and taking shots. Rd 1 for Ruberg.
Fight 8
John Harris (2-3) vs Kyle Miers (1-0) (155 lbs)
Miers opens the fight with a quick takedown. Harris stands up. They move against the cage. Miers works for the single leg. Harris shows good defense and ends up on top in guard. They stand up. Miers just wants to go to ground, and he gets another takedown. Harris goes for a kimura. It's tight. Miers spins around and escapes. Miers is in half guard now. Harris tries to escape, and the round ends with Miers taking his back going for the rear naked choke. solid round.
Rd 2: Miers shoots, and Harris takes his back. He goes for the rear naked and gets a quick tap. Miers really had one trick, the shot. Harris looked green but game. He was pretty well rounded and looking to bring the fight wherever it went. Nice job. 1:42.
In closing, what appeared to be a mediocre undercard actually proved to be a pretty solid set of fights. Fujii was superlative in her performance, and several young lions definitely made their mark. This was a show that Bellator should be proud of. Considering how well the show was received by the fans, it was no surprise when Bellator chairman and CEO, Bjorn Rebney, said that they would be back in Lousiana soon. We will all be waiting.
