Bellator 62 results: Woodard, Hawn, Weedman, Michel advance to lightweight semis
In a raucous barnburner of a fight, Lloyd Woodard channeled "Rocky" to upset tournament favorite Patricky "Pitbull" Freire in the headliner of Bellator 62, which took place Friday at Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas, and aired live on MTV2.
After a flurry of fists that saw both men hurt, Woodard secured a kimura and rolled through the joint lock until Freire tapped (and his elbow popped) at the 1:46 mark of the second frame.
Woodard joined Rick Hawn, Brent Weedman, and Thiago Michel in the semifinals of Bellator's season-six lightweight tournament.
"Yo, Adrian!" Woodard screamed afterward in an homage to the fictional boxer.
Blowing around the canvas like a dust storm, Woodard and Freire traded punches and knees and tumbled over each other at the outset. But Woodard gave the first hint of upset when he dropped Freire with a lunging jab and moments later dumped him to the cage's edge.
Freire quickly reversed and Woodard responded in kind before the two got back to their feet and winged punches and knees at each other in a frenzied exchange. Freire ended the round on top, but he hadn't gotten there easily.
With so much energy burnt, technique went further out the window as Freire charged with punches and Woodard countercharged. It was Woodard's clinch, though, that set up a knee that rocked Freire before the two tumbled to the mat. That allowed him to advance to side control and secure the kimura on Freire's left arm, which he briefly lost control of before grabbing it again and finishing the hold.
"One down, two to go, give my rematch!" Woodard (12-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC) cried. "Chandler, you know what's up?
Woodard's last setback came against the current Bellator champ in the semifinals of the promotion's season-four tournament. Prior to that, he was unbeaten.
After falling short, as well, to Chandler in the finals of the season-four competition, Freire (10-3 MMA, 3-2 BFC), who had previously knocked out UFC vet Kurt Pellegrino in vicious fashion, is back to the drawing board.
Hawn sparkles in lightweight debut
Looks like lightweight suits season-four tournament vet Rick Hawn just fine.
The Olympic judoka left Ricardo Tirloni in a disoriented heap at the 2:36 mark of the first round with a right hand and flurry of punches.
Tirloni had gone big with flying knees, high kicks and leg kicks early in the fight while Hawn attempted to get inside with his fights.
After initial attempts stalled in the clinch, Hawn capitalized when Tirloni failed to keep his distance circling away and landed the punch that put the Brazilian on the mat.
Tirloni snapped to as Hawn celebrated and nearly kept the fight going with the ref before he was informed of his fate.
"It felt great," Hawn said. "The [155-pound] guys are a lot smaller than the welterweights, and I noticed a big difference."
Hawn said his weight cut went "surprisingly good" despite not getting a test-cut beforehand.
Asked whether he had a message for lightweight champ Michael Chandler, who sat cageside at the commentary table, Hawn said, "Not until I win two more. Then I'll have something to say to him."
Hawn (12-1 MMA, 4-1 BFC) rebounds after a controversial split-decision loss to Jay Hieron in the finals of the season-four welterweight tournament that is his only professional loss.
Tirloni (14-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC) suffers the first setback in four years since a submission loss to now-UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson in 2008 and just his second career loss in seven years.
Weedman sinks Von Flue choke after early mistakes
Making his first appearance at lightweight, Bellator tourney veteran Brent Weedman made a few choices early on against J.J. Ambrose that suggested the weight-cut made him lightheaded.
But he took firm control of the fight in the second round and secured a rarely-seen Von Flue choke to force a tap from Ambrose at the 3:26 mark of the second frame.
Weedman almost had it in the bag 15 seconds into the opening-round fight when he dropped an advancing Ambrose with a punch. But for some reason he declined to pounce on the opportunity to finish, and when Ambrose took him down and secured a D'Arce choke, it looked like he'd made a grave error.
But Weedman escaped, just he did when Ambrose slapped on a guillotine moments later. He then sent Ambrose's mouthpiece flying with an upkick and took the back when Ambrose tried to escape the mount. Ambrose survived, but the tides had certainly turned.
Again, Weedman seemed careless in the second when he threw a lazy kick to open the second and fell on his butt. But when Ambrose banked on another D'Arce, he reversed and found a crucifix.
After giving up dominant position, he placed his legs beside Ambrose's torso and applied shoulder pressure to throat from an arm-triangle position to finish the fight.
"He gave it to me three or four times," Weedman said afterward. "In my gym, guys know that because I catch people with it a lot."
Weedman (19-7 MMA, 5-2 BFC) reverses a two-fight skid in his past two outings as a welterweight while Ambrose (17-4 MMA, 0-1 BFC) sees a seven-fight streak snapped in his promotional debut.
Striking specialist Michel squeaks out semifinal berth
Rene Nazare got one taste of Thiago Michel's power and made takedowns a top priority.
Although Nazare was effective taking Michel on several occasions, judges ultimately gave more value to Michel's striking skills, awarding him a split decision victory in a slim-margin fight.
The score might have been different had Nazare been able to capitalize more on the takedowns he got in each round. But despite getting Michel to the mat at the end of the first and second frames and spending about half of the final frame on top, he never put his opponent in danger.
On the other hand, Michel threatened on several occasions to hurt Nazare. Several well-placed front kicks found Nazare's jaw, and a flurry late in the second round had him scrambling for cover.
Both men's output slowed by the final frame, but Michel retained a slight edge in striking before he found himself pinned on the mat.
Two judges gave him the fight with a score of 29-28 while the third judge dissented, giving Nazare a 29-28 mark.
"My focus now is to train more and improve my MMA game and focus on the second fight," Michel said through a translator. "Fighting in the U.S. is a dream come true, and I promise to do everything much better next time."
In fact, the decision win breaks an 11-fight streak of knockouts and submissions for the Brazilian (nine of which ended in his favor). Still, Michel (10-2 MMA, 1-0 BFC) has won in his past three outings.
Nazare (10-2 MMA, 3-2 BFC) has now dropped back-to-back fights in the Bellator cage after winning in his first three outings.
The official Bellator 62 results included:
MAIN CARD
Lloyd Woodard def. Patricky "Pitbull" Freire via submission (kimura) - Round 2, 1:46 - lightweight-tourney opening round
Rick Hawn def. Ricardo Tirloni via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:36 - lightweight-tourney opening round
Brent Weedman def. J.J. Ambrose via submission (Von Flue choke) - Round 2, 3:26 - lightweight-tourney opening round
Thiago Michel def. Rene Nazare via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) - lightweight-tourney opening round
PRELIMINARY CARD
Luis Vega def. Sonny Luque via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 1, 3:43*
Chris Jones def. Steven Peterson via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)*
Dave Jansen def. Jacob Kirwan via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Rad Martinez def. Douglas Frey via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:08
Sean Spencer def. Joseph Daily via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 1:24
* - Bout took place following main event
