Bellator Fighting Championships brought the heat last night (May 25, 2012) with Bellator 70 from the Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, La., and it was a night of solid bouts and powerful finishes.

Despite having a title fight on the card, it was the lightweights who were given main event billing at the last minute as former welterweight standouts Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman, who had dropped down to 155 pounds for the Bellator season six lightweight tournament, duked it out for a shot at $100,000 and current champion Michael Chandler.

Weedman stuck to the gameplan in the first two rounds, aggressively mixing in leg and body kicks while trying to keep utilize his length with his punches, but Hawn countered with a strong left jab and more powerful strikes. It was an extremely even first two rounds which featured primarily stand-up but also brief clinches in which Hawn would showcase his strength while Weedman tries to utilize some knees.

While the first two rounds were up in the air, Hawn seized control of the third, scoring a pair of big takedowns with trips and not being afraid to attack from within Weedman's guard, throwing big elbows and short strikes. A late flurry from Weedman couldn't undo the damage and in the end, the judges unanimously decided in Hawn's favor.

The Olympian will likely challenge for the title early in season seven. The rest of the main card featured a trio of stoppages.

Continue reading this post »

Bellator Fighting Championships returns TONIGHT (May 25, 2012) to the Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a heavyweight title fight, a lightweight tournament final and a bantamweight semifinal.

MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of Bellator 70 below, beginning with the MTV2 telecast at 8 p.m. ET. In addition, we'll deliver up-to-the-minute quick results of all the undercard action much earlier in the evening (beginning at 7 p.m.).

Headlining the main event will be a Bellator heavyweight title fight between champion Cole Konrad and season five tournament winner Eric Prindle. Prindle was handed the shot at the belt after his opponent Thiago Santos, failed to make weight in the finals.

Also on the card is a Bellator season six lightweight tournament final fight between former top welterweights Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman, who have both have tremendous success since making the drop to 155 pounds.

A Bellator season six bantamweight tournament semifinal fight is also on the cards as 135-ers Hiroshi Nakamura and Luis Nogueira are set to square off. Lastly, Louisiana veteran Rich Clementi will battle Derek Campos in a feature lightweight bout to open up the main card.

Check out our complete Bellator 70 results after the jump (beginning at 7 p.m. ET).

Continue reading this post »

Who's ready to watch some fights?

Bellator Fighting Championships will be holding its 70th event tonight (May 25, 2012) from the Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana and we'll be streaming them live right here on MMAmania.com.

The preliminary card action will begin at 7 p.m. ET and it will feature several familiar names to mixed martial arts (MMA) fans. Notable undercard fighters include Tough Enough veteran Jeremiah Riggs, who will be testing 3-0 prospect Kelvin Tiller as well as UFC veteran Kyle Bradley, who battles John Harris in a lightweight tilt.

If the Spike stream works the same as the regular site, the main card will also be included, which begins at 8 p.m. ET and features a Bellator heavyweight title fight between champion Cole Konrad and challenger Eric Prindle as well as a Bellator season six lightweight tournament final which includes Olympian Rick Hawn and scrappy Kentuckian Brent Weedman.

Bellator 70 results and live stream for 'Konrad vs Prindle' prelim bouts after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Brent Weedman realizes how difficult the challenge is ahead of him.

The season six Bellator lightweight tournament finalist had a tougher road than his opponent Rick Hawn, having to work exceptionally hard to get past semifinalist Thiago Michel in a grueling affair while Hawn viciously knocked out both of his opponents in less than two rounds combined.

Weedman will be hoping to utilize his biggest strength, which is his well-roundedness and the diversity of his attack against the former judo Olympian, who he believes is slightly more predictable.

The Louisville-based fighter will have an opportunity to live one of his dreams, winning a giant novelty check, when he battles Hawn for an opportunity to earn a title shot against Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler tomorrow night (May 25, 2012) at Bellator 70 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In part one of our interview taken from his appearance on The Verbal Submission, Weedman discussed being a new daddy and what he respects the most about Hawn as an opponent. Today for part two, he talks about forcing foes to make bad decisions, who inspires him, and what he finds most addicting about fighting in this exclusive interview.

Check it out:

Continue reading this post »

The official weigh-in event for tomorrow night's (May 25, 2012) Bellator 70 fight card takes place today (May 24, 2012) at 5 p.m. 6 p.m. ET from Masquerade inside Harrah's Casino in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Edit: weigh-ins are pushed to 6 p.m. ET

Of the 18 fighters who stepped on the scales, 16 of them made weight. Main card fighter, veteran Rich Clementi missed his contract 156 pounds by 1.2 and undercard fighter missed his contract 186 pounds by a whooping 4.8, coming in at 190.8. Both have two hours to make weight or they will forfeit a portion of their fight purse.

Headlining the main event will be a Bellator heavyweight title fight between champion Cole Konrad and season five tournament winner Eric Prindle. Prindle was handed the shot at the belt after his opponent Thiago Santos, failed to make weight in the finals.

Also on the card is a Bellator season six lightweight tournament final fight between former top welterweights Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman, who have both have tremendous success since making the drop to 155 pounds.

A Bellator season six bantamweight tournament semifinal fight is also on the cards as 135-ers Hiroshi Nakamura and Luis Nogueira are set to square off. Lastly, Louisiana veteran Rich Clementi will battle Derek Campos in a feature lightweight bout to open up the main card.

Our complete Bellator 70 weigh-in results are posted after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

Bellator Fighting Championships will head to "The Bayou State" this Friday night (May 25, 2012) at the Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The main card will air live on MTV2 and Epix HD on fight night, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Headlining the main event will be a Bellator heavyweight title fight between champion Cole Konrad and season five tournament winner Eric Prindle. Prindle was handed the shot at the belt after his opponent Thiago Santos, failed to make weight in the finals.

Also on the card is a Bellator season six lightweight tournament final fight between former top welterweights Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman, who have both have tremendous success since making the drop to 155 pounds.

A Bellator season six bantamweight tournament semifinal fight is also on the cards as 135-ers Hiroshi Nakamura and Luis Nogueira are set to square off. Lastly, Louisiana veteran Rich Clementi will battle Derek Campos in a feature lightweight bout to open up the main card.

Our complete Bellator 70 preview and predictions are posted after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

Brent Weedman has had a wonderful distraction in the lead-up to his Bellator season six lightweight tournament final.

The Louisville native is a father for the first time.

While he took a little longer to get into the groove of training after his semifinal victory over Thiago Michel, Weedman is more than ready for the biggest fight of his career thus far.

The self-proclaimed "student of the universe" has looked sharp ever since dropping down to 155 pounds, advancing to his first tournament finals and he'll be taking on former judo Olympian Rick Hawn this Friday night (May 25, 2012) at Bellator 70.

Weedman spoke with MMAmania.com during a special guest appearance on The Verbal Submission and he spoke about the debut of his son, his advantages over Rick Hawn and what exactly the judo Olympian has done that has impressed him the most in part one of this exclusive interview.

Check it out:

Continue reading this post »

If you missed the 115-pound match-up between Megumi Fujii and Jessica Aguilar earlier this month at Bellator 69, it was billed as a showdown between the world's number one vs. the world's number two fighter in that weight class.

I guess that makes the reigning champion, Zoila Gurgel, number three?

While it may have been nothing more than promotional hype, it should be noted that Gurgel (11-1) has wins over both Fujii and Aguilar and is currently riding a six-fight win streak.

"The Warrior Princess" vents to The MMA Hour:

"For my own promotion to kind of diss me like that, it's like, wow. It just puts the icing on the cake. I wasn't very happy about it. I kind of knew that they were going to do or say something, whatever they had to do to promote the fight. But to throw me under the bus like that, the way most people have said, it just wasn't very nice, and it wasn't very professional in my eyes. I won. I beat them both. And to not get any sort of recognition, to be pretty much spit on, it was like, wow. I could not believe that. They just keep slapping me in the face, and I'm like, 'How many more times are you guys going to do this to me?' At this point I'm just like, I'm going to fight whoever they're going to have me fight, and hopefully, we'll see if they treat me any better. But I've got a sour taste in my mouth from it and I don't like it at all."

Gurgel is currently riding the pine after blowing out her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last October, but expects to get back into the cage by the latter part of 2012. Will Bellator welcome her back with open arms?

Stay tuned.

To see how all the action unfolded between Fujii and Aguilar at Bellator 69 click here.