Bellator Fighting Championships returns TONIGHT (Sept. 10, 2011) to Caesar's Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The main card will air live on MTV2, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of Bellator 49 below, beginning with the MTV2 telecast at 9 p.m. ET. In addition, we'll deliver up-to-the-minute quick results of all the undercard action much earlier in the evening.
Bellator 49 will be the debut of the promotion's fifth season with an eight-man welterweight tournament. The talented field is headlined by a thrilling bout between season four tournament fighters Brent Weedman and Chris Lozano.
UFC veteran and Muay Thai specialist Ben Saunders will take on kickboxer Chris Cisneros, while recently vacated Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) welterweight champion Douglas Lima battles Steve Carl. Dan Hornbuckle will also return for his third welterweight tournament against the extremely experienced and dynamic Brazilian fighter "Sapo" Luis Santos.
Complete Bellator 49 results and play-by-play are after the jump:
Main Card
170 lbs.: Chris Lozano def. Brent Weedman via unanimous decision
170 lbs.: Ben Saudners def. Chris Cisneros via TKO at 0:29 Round 3
170 lbs.: Luis Santos def. Dan Hornbuckle via unanimous decision
170 lbs.: Douglas Lima def. Steve Carl via unanimous decisionLocal Feature Fights (Spike.com)
145 lbs.: Alexandre Bezerra def. Scott Heckman via TKO at 1:38 Round 2
170 lbs.: Giedrius Karavackas def. LeVon Maynard via TKO at 1:32 Round 3
145 lbs.: Joel Roberts def. Brylan Van Artsdalen via submission (triangle choke) at 1:47 Round 2
149 lbs.: Lester Caslow def. James Jones via TKO at 0:15 Round 2
265 lbs.: Azunna Anyanwu def. J.A. Dudley via TKO at 4:16 Round 2
Hemmi here, I'll be giving you all the updates on the card tonight. You can view the undercard for free through a stream on Spike.com here.
170 lbs.: Chris Lozano vs. Brent Weedman
Round one: Lozano comes out swinging and Weedman drops him with a right hand! Weedman drives forward with a full body lock and slams him to the ground. Weedman takes Lozano's back standing with a body lock and Lozano turns the tides, pushing him into the fence. Lozano throws Weedman to the canvas with a sick hip toss. Terrific start to this fight! Weedman escapes to his feet. They reset and Weedman locks Lozano up and just ragdoll tosses him to the canvas. Weedman puts a hook in and he's got an arm trapped and Lozano tries to wall-walk to safety. Weedman puts in a body triangle and Lozano falls down. Weedman tries to flatten Lozano out and sink in the rear naked choke. Lozano survives to the end of the round. 10-9 Weedman
Round two: Lozano opens with a nice leg kick and pushes forward with a knee. Both men trade big bombs and eat flush strikes to the face. Lozano cracks Weedman with a big right hand and hits him again when they near the fence. Weedman cracks him with a leg kick and both men trade strikes. Weedman drops down for a takedown and Lozano sprawls. Lozano throws a big knee and throws a huge combination but Weedman responds with a right hand of his own. Weedman looks tired but he blasts Lozano and Lozano responds with a huge connection of strikes to Weedman's face! Weedman is walking forward eating Lozano's strikes like a zombie! Jump knee from Lozano and Weedman continues to press forward. Weedman continues backing Lozano up and he's got Lozano on his bicycle now. Big uppercut connects for Lozano and Weedman throws a jab. Weedman clinches and drosp down for a takedown as the round ends and the bell sounds. 10-9 Lozano This fight has been incredible!
Round three: Weedman presses the action, pushing forward. Lozano catches a kick and pushes Weedman away. Weedman drops down for a takedown and Lozano goes down but tries hard to wall-walk back to his feet. Lozano gets to his feet and throws Weedman over his hip, taking top position and it looks like he's going for a D'Arce choke! Lozano releases the choke and drops down some punches. Lozano almost takes mount but Weedman can't slip his leg through half guard. Lozano attempts an Americana but he doesn't have great positioning. Weedman gives up his back but turns into Lozano, driving forward with a takedown attempt but Lozano turns into him and remains on top. Lozano pins down an arm and Weedman drives forward again into a takedown attempt and Weedman puts him in a reverse body lock with 10 seconds remaining. Weedman drags Lozano to the ground as the bell sounds. I've got it 10-9 Lozano
Final Result: Chris Lozano defeats Brent Weedman via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
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170 lbs.: Ben Saunders vs. Chris Cisneros
Round one: Saunders presses forward and immediately clinches with Cisneros. He throws some knees to the body and just ragdoll tosses him to the ground. Saunders is in side control and he's he quickly passes to mount. Saunders postures up and I bet he's missing not being able to use his elbows. Saunders drops some big left hands as Cisneros turns away. Cisneros has nothing right now and Saunders takes his back with one hook in. Cisneros rolls over and after eating some left hands, he turns into Saunders and takes top position. Cisneros gets to his feet and won't let Saunders back up. Saunders throws a huge upkick that just misses and Cisneros whiffs with a huge haymaker which positions himself directly into a triangle choke but the round ends. 10-9 Saunders
Round two: Cisneros presses forward early with a takedown but Saunders reverses him and passes to side control on top. Saunders locks up a Kimura, straightening the arm of Cisneros out but Saunders has an arm trapped in side control. Cisneros turtles and Saunders rolls him over into top position again passing to side control. Saunders again attacks the arm and then throws a pair of huge knees to the side. Another massive set of knees land on Cisneros' arm and shoulder. Cisneros tries to bump and Saunders traps his arm, dropping left hands to his face. Saunders again goes for an attack on the arm but Cisneros slips out. More domination from above by Saunders as the round finishes. 10-9 Saunders
Round three: Ben Saunders opens quickly, clinching with Cisneros and blasting him with knees. Cisneros covers up and goes down. Saunders drops some huge ground and pound and the ref steps in and puts a stop to it.
Final Result: Ben Saunders defeats Chris Cisneros via TKO (knees and punches) at 0:29 of round three
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170 lbs.: Luis Santos vs. Dan Hornbuckle
Round one: Santos opens with a crisp leg kick and Hornbuckle counters with a head kick that is blocked. Santos lands another chopping leg kick and goes high but it's blocked. Hornbuckle wades in but eats a leg kick that buckles him. Both men bouncing around the cage and Santos misses with a flying scissor kick. Another leg kick connects for Santos. Hornbuckle is sitting back, not pressing the action. Santos lansd a flying knee and that angers Hornbuckle. Hornbuckle lunges forward and Santos ducks down and takes him down but pops back to his feet. Another huge leg kick lands for Santos and Hornbuckle responds with hooks wading in. Santos lands consecutive chopping leg kicks and Hornbuckle is buckled again as the round ends. 10-9 Santos
Round two: Hornbuckle having difficulties using his range. He eats another leg kick from Santos. Santos drops down and takes Hornbuckle down easily, landing in his closed guard. Very quick stand-up from the referee and they reset. Hornbuckle can't inside and land anything. Body kick from Santos is checked. Jumping crane kick is blocked by Hornbuckle. Head kick from Hornbuckle easily blocked. Hornbuckle presses forward with 30 seconds left and Santos pushes him into the fence. Ugly round. 10-9 Santos
Round three: Hornbuckle presses the action to open the round and Santos drops to his back. Hornbuckle tries to kick his legs but Santos explodes forwards and takes him down. Santos is stalling in top position, just hanging out in Hornbuckle's guard while Hornbuckle tries to be active and use submissions. The ref stands them up and Santos lands another leg kick. There's 90 seconds left and Hornbuckle needs a finish. Hornbuckle needs a finish and he's just not doing anything here. Boos from the crowd as both men hop around and stare at each other. Big head kick from Santos wobbles Hornbuckle and Santos explodes foreward, pushing him into the fence and looking for the takedown. The final bell sounds and I've got it 10-9 Santos again.
Final Result: Luis Santos defeats Dan Hornbuckle via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
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170 lbs.: Steve Carl vs. Douglas Lima
Round one: Carl opens strong landing a big right hand that hurts Lima and sends him reeling around the cage. Carl drops down with ground and pound but Lima instinctually reverses with a leg lock attempt and gets to his feet. Lima takes top position inside Carl's closed guard and backs out as both men stand. Carl has his hands very low which could be a problem. Carl slips on a head kick but pops back up. Nice leck kick/push kick combination from Lima. Lima scores a takedown and passes but Carl retains his guard. Lima passes into side control slickly and looks for an armbar but Carl rolls to safety as both men stand. Both men trade kicks and Carl gets a takedown stuffed at the end of the round. 10-9 Carl
Round two: Right hand from Carl knocks Lima off balance but Lima immediately shoves him off when he follows him down. Carl latches on a leg lock but Lima is unconcerned and jumps into his guard, passing to half guard. They reset and both throw some winging punches that miss their mark. Lima connects with a nice combination and Carl shoots in with a telegraphed takedown attempt that's stuffed easily. Carl fishes for a Kimura and he almost pulls it out but Lima passes to side control and forces Carl to back out. Lima stacks Carl up and passes his guard. Lima remains in half guard without taking too much risk for the rest of the round. 10-9 Lima
Round three: Carl presses forward and looks a little ginger after throwing a head kick. Lima turns the tides and backs Carl into the fence. Carl shoots for a takedown and pulls guard instead. Lima passes to side control and looks for the mount but Carl sneaks his legs through and retains half guard. Carl looks for the Kimura but gives up on it. Carl is running out of time. He's going to regret pulling guard if he can't do anything here. Lima passes to side control again and then transitions to mount. Lima postures up and takes Carl's back with a body triangle looking for a rear naked choke and Carl rolls him over, stacking him up along the fence. Lima throws an upkick and Carl drops ground and pound with 30 seconds left. Carl finishes the round throwing some punches from on top but I don't think it was enough. 10-9 Lima
Final Result: Douglas Lima defeats Steve Carl via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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