It wouldn't be a typical Saturday without a "Bellator Moment" to share from the mixed martial arts (MMA) event that took place last night (April 20, 2012) at the IX Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Andreas Spang, who was making his promotional debut on short notice after Bruno Santos was forced out of the season six Middleweight tournament because of an injury, had the daunting task of upending hard-hitting hometown favorite Brian Rogers. "The Predator" has a proven history of ending his fights early and violently; however, Spang demonstrated early that he was not an easy out.
It was a back-and-forth battle for 1.5 rounds with both men uncorking "a barrage of wild punches, flying knees and kicks that had the crowd at the I-X Center on their feet." Rogers appeared to be getting the better of the exchanges, but then perhaps his confidence got the best of him and Spang drilled him with a short left hook that instantly turned out his lights. Just for good measure, "Sweet Swede" followed up with a Dan Henderson-esque flying hammer fist, which forced the referee to intervene and stop the fight.
With the knockout victory, Spang will move to the finals of the Bellator Season 6 Middleweight Tournament to take on Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) castoff Maiquel Falcao at a later date. Falcao actually came inside the cage after Spang's win and a brawl nearly erupted when Spang pushed the aggressive Brazilian.
For a detailed play-by-play results of the fight between Andreas Spang vs. Brian Rogers be sure to check out our complete Bellator 66 results post right here. And to check out our complete recap of the main card action on MTV2 click here.