Bellator is back TONIGHT (Oct. 18, 2013) LIVE from US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire Bellator 104 card this evening, starting with the "Prelims," which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET online, and then main card action, which is slated to begin at 9 p.m. ET on Spike TV.
In the main event, former Olympic judoka Rick Hawn takes on Brent Weedman in the semifinals of the season nine welterweight tournament. After falling short in a title shot against 155-pound champion Michael Chandler at Bellator 85 back in January, Hawn has moved back up to his natural weight class of 170 pounds in hopes of making another run at Bellator gold.
To put himself in the finals of the tournament and just one win away from a crack at the welterweight belt, Hawn will need to defeat Brent Weedman. Considering he's already done so once, at Bellator 70 back in early 2012, Hawn's confidence must be high coming into tonight's bout.
Weedman, besides bearing a surname that surely makes him Nick Diaz's favorite fighter, is riding a two-fight win streak into tonight's main event, including a first round armbar victory over Justin Baesman last month at Bellator 100. The Louisville, KY native is surely looking to gain a measure of revenge against Hawn tonight.
On the other side of the tournament brackets, controversial welterweight and ex-con War Machine squares off against Ron Keslar. War Machine has been on a roll in his post penal MMA career, notching up quick wins over Roger Huerta, Blas Avena, and Vaughn Anderson after paying his debt to society for what he, in a show of truly touching contrition, once referred to as "some old bullshit."
Standing across from the Artist Formerly Known as Jon Koppenhaver (TAFKAJK), will be American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product Ron Keslar. Although Keslar comes into tonight's bout with TAFKAJK boasting a five fight undefeated streak, his last effort in the Bellator cage -- a win over Luis Sergio Teotonio da Fonseca Melo Jr. -- was a lackluster affair that saw Keslar win a decision after riding Sergio Jr's back and fruitlessly searching for a rear naked choke for the better part of ten minutes. IN TAFKAJK, however, Keslar faces an opponent who probably won't let him get away with grinding out a "W" in a boring fight.
Elsewhere on the card, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters Kendall Grove and Joe Vedepo meet in a non-tournament middleweight bout. Neither man has been on a tear as of late, to put it mildly, so expect both of them to be fighting with a sense of urgency tonight, as the loser of this fight will likely have to once again scratch and claw his way up the ranks if he wants to get another shot on a nationally televised promotion like Bellator.
Stick around for the latest Bellator 104 results posted round-by-round. Please note the card is listed below in reverse chronological order, thus results will start at the bottom of the page. Got it? Okay, let's do this!
BELLATOR 104 QUICK RESULTS:
Main Card (Spike TV)
Welterweight Tournament Semifinal: Rick Hawn vs. Brent Weedman -- Hawn defeats Weedman via unanimous decision (30-27) (30-27) (30-27)
Welterweight Tournament Semifinal: War Machine vs. Ron Keslar -- Keslar defeats War Machine via rear naked choke technical submission at 3:31 of the first round
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Eric Prindle vs. Peter Graham -- Graham defeats Prindle via unanimous decision (30-27) (30-27) (30-26)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Kendall Grove vs. Joe Vedepo -- Grove defeats Vedepo via unanimous decision (29-28) (30-27) (30-27)"Prelims" Under Card (Spike.com)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Paul Bradley vs. Karl Amoussou -- Bradley defeats Amoussou via unanimous decision (29-28) (29-28) (29-28)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Rod Montoya vs. Paul Sass -- Sass defeats Montoya via toe hold submission at 2:01 of the first round
150 lb. Catchweight Feature Fight: Rob Emerson vs. Jared Downing -- Emerson defeats Downing via heel hook submission at 1:44 of the first round
160 lb. Catchweight Feature Fight: Mike Estus vs. Brandon Girtz -- Girtz defeats Estus via armbar submission at 4:25 of the first round
160 lb. Catchweight Feature Fight: Derek Loffer vs. Cliff Wright -- Wright defeats Loffer via armbar submission at 4:28 of the second round
Featherweight Feature Fight: Andre Tieva vs. Chris Lane - Tieva defeats Lane via TKO at 2:14 of the first round
BELLATOR 104 LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY RESULTS:
Steve Borchardt here, locked and loaded with live results all night!
Rick Hawn vs. Brent Weedman
Round one: Super impressed the ring announcer knows how to pronounce "Louisville" correctly. Weedman clinches at the start of round one but Hawn tosses him to the mat. Hawn wants to stand. Weedman with a low kick. Big left hand from Hawn knocks Weedman down. Hawn in Weedman's guard landing punches now. Weedman goes for rubber guard and Hawn stands back up. Hawn throws a few punching combos. Kick and a high knee answers for the Louisville native. Weedman clinches, but Hawn lands a few uppercuts at the bell.
(Hawn 10-9)
Round two: Hawn lands some punches early and a leg kick. Weedman goes for a single leg against the cage but can't get Hawn down. Maybe not the best strategy against a high level judoka. Short left lands for Hawn. Weedman lands a punch that fazes Hawn. Hawn getting the better of standing exchanges, but it's far from an eventful round. Push kick from Weedman. Overhand right finds its mark from Hawn. Nice combo lands for Hawn.
(Hawn 10-9)
Round three: Weedman throws a spinning back fist then holds a standing guillotine on Hawn, but the judoka lands an inside trip and sends him crashing to the canvas. Hawn in Weedman's guard and not much doing in the way of action. Hawn throws a few hammerfists. Weedman attempts a triangle and gets back to his feet. Hawn lands an overhand right then a jab.
(Hawn 10-9)
Final Result: Rick Hawn defeats Brent Weedman via unanimous decision (30-27) (30-27) (30-27)
-end-
War Machine vs. Ron Keslar
Round one: War Machine lands a leg kick early. Keslar takes War Machine down with an outside trip and ends up looking for a rear naked from the back. Oh man. I'm getting bad flashbacks to Keslar vs. Sergio Jr. here. Cut opened on bridge of WM's nose bleeding profusely. WM stands up but Keslar still has the body triangle locked on. Keslar locks in the rear naked and puts WM to sleep for a technical submission victory.
Final Result: Ron Keslar defeats War Machine via rear naked choke technical submission at 3:31 of the first round
-end-
Round one: Prindle charges in early with punches. Graham lands an outside leg kick. Another charge from Prindle. Graham with another leg kick. Graham throwing lots of leg kicks early. Prindle throws a leg kick and clinches. Prindle lands a hook to the body. Another leg kick from Graham. Prindle unloading with big punches and gets Graham on the mat. He's throwing lots of ground and pound strikes now. Prindle has a big cut on his forehead. Prindle gets up He looks tired, but Graham is fresh. More leg kicks from Graham to finish the round.
(Graham 10-9)
Round two: Prindle coming forward with sloppy shots. He's exhausted. Prindle gets him up against the cage and begins unloading with huge shots. The cut is open again and Prindle is sucking wind. Graham doesn't engage after that. He spent a lot of energy on that flurry. Crowd booing lack of action. Prindle wings a few punches and clinches against the cage, but Graham turns him around. Punches from Graham. Both guys high five for some reason. Overhand right lands for Graham. Prindle goes to the body. Prindle looks for a takedown but gets stuffed. Prindle misses big on a spinning backfist to close the round.
(Graham 10-9)
Round three: Prindle pumps the jab early and throws a sloppy headkick that misses. Graham throwing half hearted leg kicks but Prindle walks through them and clinches against the cage. Overhand right from Graham lands twice. These guys are moving like they're in quicksand right now. Big right hand lands for Graham. Not much of a round so far with 80 seconds to go. Graham lands a head kick. Graham hurts him with a hard right hand. Graham drops Pringle with an Anderson Silva Steven Seagal front kick to end the round. That might have been a TKO had there been another five seconds on the clock.
(Graham 10-9)
Final Result: Peter Graham defeats Eric Prindle via unanimous decision (30-27) (30-27) (30-26)
-end-
Kendall Grove vs. Joe Vedepo
Round one: Before the fight Grove cut a pretty spectacular heel promo, but I don't think it was intentional. Grove has some kind of wacky striped Freddy Krueger shirt-looking mohawk now. Vedepo looking to take Grove down early. They've spent the past minute and half clinching against the cage with Vedepo working for the takedown. Grove gets out and pumps the jab. Front kick lands from Grove. He follows up with a right that rocks Vedepo, but the Iowa-native responds with a charging takedown. Grove locks in a triangle from the bottom. He transitions to the armbar but Vedepo gets out. Grove ends up in full mount after a scramble. Grove goes for another triangle after yet another scramble but he can't lock it in. Vedepo gets out and lands a few shots from the top at the bell.
(Grove 10-9)
Round two: Vedepo gets a takedown early. Grove sub hunting from the bottom. Vedepo gets his back, but Grove escapes and gets back to his feet. Vedepo attempts a sloppy single leg and ends up on the bottom. Grove in triangle mount now and landing hammerfists to the face. Vedepo pulls his head out and goes for a takedown, but Grove sprawls. Grove goes for a power guillotine, but Vedepo gets out. He's landing punches from the top on Grove now. "Let's go Joe" chants from the crowd. Vedepo attempts to pass and Grove gets up and lands a kick to the ribs. Grove lands a nice switch as Vedepo goes for another takedown.
(Grove 10-9)
Round three: Grove throws a headkick to start the round and Vedepo gets stuffed on another takedown attempt. Grove lands some good knees from the clinch. Vedepo cut on the cheek now. Vedepo lands a takedown and lands some punches from inside the guard. Grove gets up after another failed rear naked choke attempt from Vedepo, then he lands a takedown of his own. Vedepo is wearing the proverbial crimson mask right now. Both men on their feet now exchange a few winging punches. Vedepo lands a takedown plus some ground and pound. Grove goes for an armbar to no avail. Good fight.
(Grove 10-9)
Grove boos the crowd after the fight. Vedepo might get another shot in Bellator after this fight considering the heart he showed.
Final Result: Kendall Grove defeats Joe Vedepo via unanimous decision (29-28) (30-27) (30-27)
-end-