The prelims will feature new Bellator acquisition Efrain Escudero (17-3). The Arizona based lightweight wrestler won season eight of The Ultimate Fighter with a decision over Phillipe Nover. Escudero went on to alternate wins and losses against his next four UFC opponents: Cole Miller (TKO win), Evan Dunham (submission loss), Dan Lauzon (decision win) and Charles Oliveira (submission loss).
He's won four of his five fights since, his sole defeat dealt by another former UFC lightweight in Fabricio Camoes, who outworked him to a decision at Tachi Palace Fights 9. Escudero draws Ceasar Avila (6-1), another Bellator newcomer fighting out of Team United in California. Avila is a young fighter who's finished five of his six wins and is getting his first taste of top competition against Escudero.
Another noteworthy undercard competitor is Richard Hale (17-4), last season's light-heavyweight tournament finalist. Hale latched an inverted triangle on Nik Fekete and eked out a split decision over D.J. Linderman but, in the battle to crown Bellator's first 205-pound champion, was clipped by a Christian M'Pumbu combination in the third round. In a qualifier bout for the next light-heavyweight tournament, Hale squares off with Carlos Flores (5-0).
Captained by the duplex of bantamweight tournament bouts, the MTV2 broadcast shakes out like this:
Ed West vs. Eduardo Dantas
Alexis Vila vs. Marcos Galvao
Christian M'Pumbu vs. Travis Wiuff
Steve Gable vs. Ricardo Tirloni
http://forums.wrestlingsmarks.../mma/fight/1287/bellator-55-steve-gable-vs-ricardo-tirloniAlexis Vila vs. Marcos Galvao
Christian M'Pumbu vs. Travis Wiuff
Steve Gable vs. Ricardo Tirloni
Match up analysis for the main card awaits in the full entry.
SBN coverage of Bellator 55
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In one of the promotion's most memorable debut performances, former Cuban Olympic wrestler Alexis Vila (10-0) maintained his perfect record and dashed featherweight champion Joe Warren's hopes of holding gold in two weight classes with a first round knockout in the quarterfinals.
It's creepy to see a natural flyweight with a background in wrestling swinging that boat anchor of a left hook.
Vila's last six wins were all crippling knockouts and he's only allowed one opponent (Tyler Weathers) to survive to a decision.
Vila was laying into Warren before delivering the final dagger as well.
Preying on his tendency for straight-line retreats, you can see Vila measure the range with his left hand before winging a huge overhand right in this sequence.
The two left hooks he pounces with afterward signify his killer instincts, accuracy and power. This is a top-of-the-food-chain fighter with elite grappling accolades and dynamite in both hands.
The only downside for Vila is that he's surging a bit late at age forty.
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Marcos Galvao (7-4-1) gets my vote for the most under-rated bantamweight around.
He's pretty tall and gangly for the weight class, his guard and scrambling game are ravenous, his clinch is deceivingly strong and he's tough as nails in general.
His stand up is a little awkward but rapidly improving, as the animation to the right against Chase Beebe shows.
"Louro" fought to a draw with tenth-ranked bantamweight Masakatsu Ueda, has wins over former WEC fighter Fredson Paixao and Jacob Kirwan (the lightweight that just beat Rene Nazare) and got jobbed by the judges in his fight with Warren.
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What killed his reputation was the consecutive TKO losses in the WEC to sluggers Damacio Page and Brian Bowles.
Unfortunately, that slice of history does not bode well for Galvao against Vila's heavy artillery.
He tends to drop his hands and leave his chin exposed when committing to combinations, and doesn't necessarily compensate for the flaw with dedicated head movement.
Historically, even though his chin isn't fragile and he's only been caught by acclaimed knockout artists, he absorbs way too many punches.
I am interested to see him tangle with Vila in the clinch and on the mat. Galvao was a handful in tie-ups with Warren and, even though he hails from the creditable American Top Team, Vila hasn't really proven himself against top-notch submission fighters. All signs point to Vila by TKO but I wouldn't rule out Galvao surprising him with his wiry strength and feisty ground acumen.
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The second bantamweight semifinal pits Ed West (17-5) vs. Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas (11-2).
Dantas and Galvao are both Nova Uniao fighters under Andre Pederneiras; a team whose presence continues to loom heavily over MMA's lighter weight classes.
In the quarterfinals, Dantas took flight and gored staunch BJJ black belt Wilson Reis with a crippling knee.
Reis is another tough customer who holds a submission win over Bellator champ Zach Makovsky and, prior to Dantas casting his Spell of Levitation, had only been finished by Patricio Freire.
Reis was a pertinent litmus test for Dantas, who'd spent the majority of his career overseas, mostly as a staple in Shooto.
One of the two losses on Dantas' record is a DQ, leaving a decision to the aforementioned Ueda as his only legit defeat. In that bout, Dantas laid into Ueda with a storm of strikes but was penalized one point for grabbing the ropes. Were it not for the point deduction the match would have resulted in a majority draw.
Still in his early twenties, "Dudu" could prove to be another flourishing prospect on the Bellator roster.
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Ed West similarly combined flying knees and stiff punches to score a decision over Luis Alberto Nogueira to advance in the brackets.
West's record is plagued by a three-fight skid in the IFL where he dropped decisions to Chris Horodecki, Erik Owings and Savant Young back in 2006-2007.
His two remaining defeats are to Harris Sarmiento -- a deceivingly reputable opponent despite his 33-22 rap sheet -- and Makovsky at Bellator 32.
Though his stand up is highly effective, West has never won via TKO (9 submissions, 8 decisions).
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His wrist control is excellent from all positions, enabling him to constantly threaten to torque a limb anytime he's connected.
To the left, West holds the kimura throughout the takedown and craftily uses it to sweep Nogueira.
This should be a pure dogfight between two diverse fighters who like to push the pace aggressively.
Like his teammate Galvao, Dantas is considerably tall for a 135-pounder at 5'10" and fundamentally sound in the clinch or on the mat, but doesn't seem to suffer from the technical deficiencies Galvao does and has much more power.
I expect this to be a crowd-pleaser with Dantas' fierce striking and relentless pace being just a little too much for West to overcome.
Bellator light-heavyweight champ Christian M'Pumbu returns for the first time since snaring the strap, but the belt will not be up for grabs against veteran Travis Wiuff and I can understand why.
Typifying the problem that most champions and top-ranked fighters in Bellator are facing, Wiuff represents a lose-lose opportunity. His experience, wrestling and general toughness give him a great chance to smother M'Pumbu or finish him with ground-and-pound. While his record may not be pretty, each defeat is to upper-echelon fighters and M'Pumbu will probably have to finish him to win.
M'Pumbu definitely has the submission and striking blend to expose the holes in Wiuff's game, but it's a risky opponent and my instincts lean toward Wiuff souring the 205-pound division's legitimacy by beating the newly crowned champ in this non-title affair.
The final pairing on the main card is Steve Gable (5-1) vs. Ricardo Tirloni (13-1); a curious choice considering the name recognition and entertaining style of Escudero, who's relegated to the prelims. I believe the intention is to showcase Tirloni, a training partner of Thiago Tavares with a penchant for first round stoppages whose only loss is to Ben Henderson.
All gifs via FightLinker.com
Main Card (MTV2 and Epix at 9 p.m. ET)
Eduardo Dantas vs. Ed West
Alexis Vila vs. Marcos Galvao
Christian M'Pumbu vs. Travis Wiuff
Steve Gable vs. Ricardo Tirloni
Eduardo Dantas vs. Ed West
Alexis Vila vs. Marcos Galvao
Christian M'Pumbu vs. Travis Wiuff
Steve Gable vs. Ricardo Tirloni
Preliminary Card (Spike.com at 7 p.m. ET)
Richard Hale vs. Carlos Flores
Efrain Escudero vs. Ceasar Avila
Jacob Ortiz vs. Edgar Garcia
Steve Steinbeiss vs. Dano Moore
Nick Piedmont vs. Jade Porter
Erin Beach vs. Roscoe Jackson
Poll The bantamweight tournament finalists?Richard Hale vs. Carlos Flores
Efrain Escudero vs. Ceasar Avila
Jacob Ortiz vs. Edgar Garcia
Steve Steinbeiss vs. Dano Moore
Nick Piedmont vs. Jade Porter
Erin Beach vs. Roscoe Jackson
- Vila and Dantas
- Galvao and Dantas
- Vila and West
- Galvao and West