As with every major show, Bloody Elbow will be here to bring you live results, play by play and commentary for Bellator 60. Our live coverage will start with MTV 2 broadcast (8 p.m. ET) so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event. We will not be doing play-by-play of the undercard, but you can discuss those fights in the comments as well. That undercard stream runs on Bellator.com and Spike.com and begins at 7 p.m ET.
Due to the strange cancellation of the re-match between Thiago Santos and Eric Prindle, tonight’s main event is a middleweight tournament quarterfinal bout between Maiquel Falcao and Norman Paraisy. The rest of the main card has the other middleweight quarterfinal bouts. Giva Santana will open up the television bout as he takes on Bruno Santos, the #5 ranked middleweight prospect from the 2011 Bloody Elbow Scouting Report. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, the #4 ranked middleweight prospect from the same 2011 report, will fight Victor O’Donnell, the #9 ranked middleweight prospect from that awesome 2011 report. The now-shorn-of-his-amazing-dreadlocks Brian Rogers will battle Vitor Vianna, the Season 5 MW tournament finalist and #3 ranked prospect from the 2011 report in the third main card bout.
Hit the jump for the live play-by-play and results. Have a fun time in the comments as we settle down for this night of fights.
Annnd we are liiiiiiive with Jimmy and Sam – the best announcing team out there right now – hyping up what should be a very fun night for us dedicated Bellator fans. Bellator seems to have upped their production levels and I’m actually digging this more than the ones for the organization that Mark Pavelich likes to call the DW Show.
A little shuffle gives us Rogers/Vianna first up. I can roll with that. We can build on this!
Vitor Vianna vs. Brian Rogers
Season 6 Middleweight Quarterfinal
Round 1: Referee Jason Herzog starts off the fight. A quick tap of the gloves followed by a light leg kick for Rogers. Some circling, headweaving from Vianna. Rogers feinting and looking to trade punches early. Rogers lands a couple lefts and Vianna fends him off. Vianna looking to test the range and toosses out a high snap kick. Rogers fires back with punches but doesn’t really land much. A combination lightly lands for Rogers and Vianna changes levels for a takedown. Vianna has Rogers against the cage and almost gets a takedown before they work back to the cage. Now in the clinch with Vianna getting one underhook and they separate. Back to the circling for Vianna, he retreats in a straight line from Rogers’ attacks. Rogers lands an inside left leg kick and changes up his head hunting to a couple body punches. Rogers catches a leg kick and dumps Vianna down. No follow through and they return to the feet. Vianna drops down again for a takedown and Rogers reverses it with a nice trip into top control. Rogers goes for a quick hammerfist and then goes back to the feet. Vitor follows and they resume the cat and mouse game standing. Vitor again retreating straight back and Rogers looks really comfortable within striking range. More leg kicks from Rogers to nothing from Vitor. A couple punches land for Rogers and Vitor looks wobbled. WOOOOW – a very nicely timed flying knee from Brian Rogers lands square on the jaw of Vitor Vianna and knocks him cleanly out at the close of the first round. That is a career maker right there!
Brian Rogers wins by KO at 4:14 of Round 1 (flying knee placed exactamundo on the chin of Vianna).
In the post-fight speech, Rogers said something along the lines of “That’s my third flying knee knockout. Google it. I’m going to throw it and you’re not going to stop it. Google it.” That’s some verbal viciousness right there.
Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos
Season 6 Middleweight Quarterfinal
Round 1: Jason Herzog again starting this fight off. Quick tap and they square off. Santos shuffling a bit more and Santana looking more deliberate in his movements. Overhand right for Santana is blocked and they square off again. Leg kick for Santana lands on the outside of Santos’s lead leg. Another leg kick, but misses. Santos rushes in and Santana drops down for a single leg. They are clinched against the cage and Santos looking to hammerfist Santana’s exposed head. A flip leaves them in the same position and another flip again with no positional change. Santana now up in the clinch and pushing Santos back into the cage. Bruno nails Giva in the cup and time is called for Giva to recover.
Upon the resume, Santos gets the advantage int he clinch and after a bit, they separate. Santana misses with a high head kick. A quick jab combination misses. Santos looking a bit nimble here. Giva comes in with a flurry and Santos clinches him against the cage. Bruno tosses some knees to the thigh and Giva looks content to chill out. Still in the clinch and Santana turns it around before they separate. Giva looking a bit touched up on the left cheek.Bruno lands a nice left hook and smacks Giva again in the face with a right. A leg kick to the outside of the thigh lands for Santos. Giva backing off a bit now and Santos edging in before landing another chopping leg kick. Santana flurries with a nice punch and leg kick combination and looks rather good landing shots on Santos as the round ends. I’d say 10-9 Santos for controlling the clinch, but very close round.
Round 2: Quick tap. Giva lands a couple light shots and both fighters look fully engaged in this. Santos catches a leg kick, but Giva works free and looks to strike some more. Bruno nearly takes advantage of a stumble by Giva for a takedown and now they are clinched against the cage. Santos looks to land a big punch before separating, but it is partly deflected. Giva tries a lead right straight to the body, but misses. Bruno lands a leg kick and the two throw punches simultaneously before Bruno clinches and sends Giva to the fence. No luck for either guy in takedowns tonight thus far. Bruno fires a knee to the thigh and then tosses Giva away to the center of the cage. Giva being more aggressive and Santos takes advantage of that to toss him to the ground. No follow through to the ground and Bruno looks content to fire leg kicks away. Giva dives in for a leg and goes for a strange arm clinch – probably some submission in mind – and Bruno gets away as fast as possible. They return to the feet and neither guy is throwing or landing much. Trading leg kicks. Santana lands a nice two punch combo and comes back in for more. Santos clinches and forces Giva to the fence again. Giva tries a crane kick and misses. Wow. Santos lands a couple of punches and the round ends. Bruno’s mother looks like Gabi Garcia. Whoo… 10-9 Santos again.
Round 3: They circle once more and Santos comes in with a punch combination. Giva backs him off with a front kick and now takes the offensive. Santos lands a nice counter right and Santana clinches to fend off the power strikes. They break and Santana looks to come in a bit more. Bruno landing leg kicks. Giva ducks down for a single as Bruno swings a wide, sloppy left hook. Up against the cage and Giva wants to do one of those back rolls again. Bruno balances his way out of that and hammerfists his way to a break. Giva looks tired, but fires a blocked head kick. Bruno lands a nice left uppercut and a good leg kick. This has kind of become a kickboxing battle, which is fairly standard for two good grapplers facing each other, and Santos dumps Santana down with a double leg. Giva looking to isolate the right arm of Bruno, but Bruno is clamped down very firmly. Bruno works the smash pass into half guard and Giva fends him off. Bruno now standing and firing leg kicks. Giva dives in for a leg and Bruno sprawls. Hammerfists convince Giva to fall back and then return to the feet as Bruno backs off. Giva lands a body kick, some body punches. Santos lands a single leg and postures up in the half guard to fire punches. No dice and Giva on his back and looking to dive in. Giva rolls for a leglock! Santos spins to a better position and looks to stifle the leglock. Giva rolls again to try for a toehold and time runs out on him. 10-9 Santos, and thus I call the 30-27 decision for Bruno Santos.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Santana take a round on the cards though. Jimmy gave Giva the first round. Not an indefensible scorecard there.
Bruno Santos takes the unanimous decision, 30-27 and 2 x 29-28.
As a bonus, Bellator televises a rather entertaining preliminary card brawl between Jeremiah Riggs and Trey Houston. The match might not be the most technical, but it is a fun back and forth affair that ends in the first round. So glad we’re not getting a gigantic dose of commercials too.
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O’Donnell
Season 6 Middleweight Quarterfinal
Round 1: Herzog once more. Touch of gloves and we’re off. Vasa looks to land a left hook, but O’Donnell fends him off. Some blows traded, but nothing really landing big for either fighter. Jabs scoring for each. Vasa getting the left jab working. O’Donnell looking to come from different angles here. Leg kicks landing for him. Already we’re at a high pace and both fighters are landing with blows here and there. O’Donnell utilizing lots of head movement and leg kicks in combination with overhands from odd angles. Vasa staying patient and fends off a takedown attempt. O’Donnell lands a couple punches and looks for the double. After some grinding, he gets it and Vasa sticks him in the open guard. O’Donnell tight on Vasa’s legs and looking to bypass the guard into side control, but Vasa scoots bak to the cage. O’Donnel stands and looks to control Vasa while delivering punches. Vasa fights back to the fight and comes in blazing punches. O’Donnel gets another double and controls the legs well. Vasa looks to clinch and stall. O’Donnell not being very active and Herzog warns him to show motion. O’Donnell gets some posture and lands a few blows, but Vasily doing a good job of breaking the posture down and preventing damage. O’Donnell is smothered and the fight is stood back up. Vasily gets after Victor with a few left straights and drives in for the double leg after a trip attempt. Vasily on top and looking to pass. Victor has butterfly hooks in and is controlling the wrists. In the clinch, both trade knees and then break to fire punches at each other. Going out on a limb here and calling that a 10-10.
Round 2: Victor lands some early lefts and legkicks to take the offensive, while circling away from Vasily. Vasily lands a nice left straight that knocks Victor down. Swarming punches from guard, hammerfists and Victor trying to survive. Vasily has control from the turtle and still looking to finish. Victor rolls and looks for an armbar and gets a leglock attempt!. Vasily grabs the cage while getting up and Herzog pries his fingers off. O’Donnell isn’t doing anything with the leglock, but Vasily can’t hit him so they chill out for a bit. Victor wants the armbar, but isn’t anywhere near actually getting it. Vasily still doing some damage, but no real big blows. Vasily working from the top of closed guard and looking to land something. O’Donnell doing a good job of wrist control and stalling. O’Donnell swivels into the set-up for an armbar, but Vasily rips free and continues punching from guard. Victor clamping down and Vasily cannot rip free long enough to do real damage. A nice right stright between the arms lands for Vasily and Victor’s legs are open, but no pass is forthcoming. more punches from top control for Vasily. More are landing now and a back take is threatened before Victor rolls back to guard. Punches landing in bunches for Vasily, but Victor is still defending and covering up. Victo’s entire face is red and Vasily finally passes to half guard with a knee shield in place for Victor. More short punches landing for the Russian and he seems to be figuring out better avenues for the punches as we go on. Victor rolls to his knees and barely survives the round. 10-8, Vasily.
Round 3: Vasily clearly the fresher fighter here. Landing unopposed to Victor’s head. Another knockdown and Vasily working from top of open guard. Victor uses the cage to push off a bit, but cannot work free. More lockdown wrist control attempts and Vasily working his hands free to land punches here and there. Closed guard now and the Russianis alternating body punches with head strikes with the right hand. Now the left gets free as the right is trapped. Victor tries a bump sweep/kimura attempt, but Vasily pushes him back down and maintains position. Victor is now turned over in a weird half guard and covering up. The Russian is steadily delivering punch after punch to Victor’s ear. Victor works his way to the feet, while covering up and amazingly avoids the stoppage. Back to the feet for a striking battle again. Victor comes forwards but is taking punch after punch. Vasily lands another nice right and looks for a trip, but the two separate again. A left lands after slow attmpts to land a right by O’Donnell. More lefts land as O’Donnell stumbles away. Victor looking for the left hook, but nothing is landing or even coming close. Vasily landing anything he wants and choosing to batter O’Donnel from range. Blood pouring out of Victor’s nose and mouth. Every attempt at offense by Victor is seeing him take four or five punches straight to the face in return. Vasily dancing on the outside and setting up combinations, while easily slipping all the punches lumbered out by O’Donnell. The Russian has turned this into a sparring session and looks as fresh as ever to seal the round and the decision. 10-8, Vasily for a 30-26 decision as I call it.
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky wins a unanimous decision. (Scores not shown Edit: 3 x 29-28 decisions – whoa, that’s not good.)
Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy
Season 6 Middleweight Quarterfinal
Round 1: No glove tap. Falcao backing up and looking to counter here. Paraisy gets clinched and tripped. Falcao looks for the mount, but settles back in half guard to relaunch his mount attack. After getting there, Stormin’ Norman fights back to the feet and Falcao pushes him up against the fench. Falcao has one underhook and they break. A legkick from Paraisy gets deflected. A push kick from Paraisy fends off two hard punch attempts from Falcao. Paraisy doing a decent job of clinching or keeping Falcao at range, but two solid punches land for Maiquel. In the clinch against the cage, Maiquel settles for a while before firing off knees to the thigh. Still kneeing away and Paraisy looking to circle out. Falcao fires a barrage of punches and a couple land. paraisy working the left jab and gets a leg kick caught by Falcao. The Brazilian is slowly stalking paraisy around for a bit, then shifting into counter-mode. Hard left kick lands for Falcao as Paraisy is lunging jabs at the head of the Brazilian. A combination misses, until a legkick snaps into the thigh of Paraisy and Falcao looks to clinch some more. Both look at the referee for a moment and then resume clinching. Falcao works a single leg to no avail and Paraisy hammerfists him some skull. Falcao working short punches and knees in the clinch. Norman is sprawling well and staying out of trouble. Wow! In some kind of weird fireman’s carry/crucifix position, Falcao dumps Paraisy to the ground just as the round ends. 10-9, Maiquel Falcao.
Round 2: Norman got a mean look this time out. Falcao looking for the counter, but misses everything as Paraisy lands a couple swinging punches. More circling and Paraisy landing lightly as he comes in. Falcao tries to catch a legkick and nearly takes a backfist for his trouble. A dose of solid legkicks for Falcao here. Ouch. More leg kicks, now a flurry of punches and a legkick again for Falcao. Another leg kick. Paraisy tries a double leg, only to be met by the affirmative sprawl of Maiquel. In the clinch, Falcao fires knees to the left leg that took the recent legkicks while working a few short punches here and there. More knees, more punches and some chopping uppercuts before they break. Falcao has gone full Muay Thai on us and is hunting leg kick after leg kick. Another combination of punches followed by a right legkick and clinch. Paraisy fires back some, but he’s not coming out the better in these exchanges. More legkicks for Falcao and Paraisy has really slowed down. Paraisy starting to hop a bit as the legkicks land. Norman is coming ofrwards, but not landing anything or generating any real offense. Paraisy lands a glancing kick to the cup of Falcao and the referee reminds the fighters of the “No Hit Groin” rule. Falcao backs Paraisy up and lands heavily. Paraisy motions him to bring it and Falcao starts showboating in return. More heavy strikes landing for Falcao – punches, knees, kicks – it’s all there. Paraisy is backing up and landing nothing. A hard right hand knocks Paraisy down, but Falcao saunters up and looks to trash talk a bit. Paraisy looking mean and tough, but getting battered here. 10-9, Maiquel Falcao.
Round 3: Glove tap to open! Falcao lands a lunghing left and then another leg kick to the left leg of Paraisy. A clinch and a sweet trip gets Falcao top half guard on Paraisy. Norman is stifled on the ground with a head and arm trapped, but looks to use the cage to work free somehow. Falcao is in S-mount (not quite full mount) and now punches away at the head of Norman. Paraisy works free and Falcao punishes him some more before they break. Paraisy tries a lazy left and takes a strong right that sends him turning away. Every strike Paraisy tries is getting him a hard, hard counter in return. A shot from Norman is met with a sprawl, a quick turn to the back and as Paraisy tries to roll out, Falcao moves again into half guard with head and arm control. Falcao still in half guard with a whizzer/brabo set up. Norman looks to go deep half guard and escape, takes a few hard hammerfists and gets out! He ends up on top of Falcao’s half guard and Maiquel is looking very passive from his back. Closed guard for Falcao and Paraisy is super-tired. Falcao not taking much damage or looking to really escape. He motions to Herzog for a stand-up briefly and that spurs Norman into a flurry of action. Falcao hammerfistin’ away and Paraisy looking ot pass guard or clamp down from the top. Norman landing nothing and Falcao motioning oddly to the referee for a stand-up while punching away. Herzog stands them up and Falcao is trash talking again. A flurry from both fighters closes out the round, with Falcao getting the better of it. They hug as the round ends and Falcao looks really happy. 10-9, Maiquel Falcao for a 30-27 decision as I score it.
As the official Deaf Guy/Sign Language Translator of Bloody Elbow, I can tell you that Maiquel Falcao just said that he loves a baby in rather decent sign language. Not sure who the baby is, but maybe he’ll tell us in the victory speech.
Maiquel Falcao wins a unanimous decision.
Alright, that’s it for me tonight. Farewell and thanks for all the good times, BE Community. You rock!
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