Bellator 120 Retrospective

Bellator 120 Retrospective

May 30, 2014

By Ryan Porzl

So Bellator 120 is in the books and was Bellator's first attempt into the world of Pay-Per-View. Being a big Bellator fan, it was suggested to me to do a retrospective on the event. What/Who impressed me? What/Who didn't? What surprised me? What didn't?

Impressed-

Will Brooks- Brooks was easily the star of the show. Going into the show, he was supposed to have a “showcase” fight against newcomer Nate Jolly. The fight was winnable and to display this prospect who will be a top star in the future. However, everything changed when Lightweight champion Eddie Alverez pulled out due to a concussion. After being moved to the co-main event, Brooks was given the chance to compete for the Interim Lightweight championship. While most thought he would get destroyed by Michael Chandler. After losing the first two rounds, Brooks would shock everyone watching by not only bouncing back but given Chandler a run for his money. While the win was controversial, it's a still a win and a great performance for Brooks. He's now finding himself as a top Bellator lightweight and even a top 10 fighter.

Goiti Yamauchi- Despite his recent loss to Will Martinez back in February, Yamauchi is still one of Bellator and MMA's brightest prospects. He put on a very good performance against a former Bellator featherweight tournament runner up in Mike Richman. The fight also looked like Yamauchi didn't let his previous loss affect him and seemed to learn from it. Outside of the third round, Yamauchi looked very good and picked up the biggest win of his career. The win should also allow him to get another chance at a future featherweight tournament.

Michael Page- No doubt, everyone in Bellator sees dollar signs in Michael Page. His performance was like a young Anderson Silva (though I'm not saying he's going to be like Anderson Silva). Very fast, very precise, and packs a lot of power. Ricky Rainey is a talented fighter but had nothing for Page as he couldn't keep up and was picked apart until being brutally finished with a good punch. All in all, if Page can continue to evolve then he can become one of Bellator's elite fighters and a future champion.

Eric Smith- Smith will likely never be a Bellator champion or tournament winner but you have to give credit where it's due and Smith deserves credit. Pretty much everyone thought Kongo would destroy him. However, Smith made Kongo earn that win by taking him down and frustrating him on the ground. Like I said, Smith didn't win but he deserves to be mentioned given he did give Kongo a fight.

Ben Brewer- Brewer is a fighter who fought on the Spike.com prelims and he also deserves some credit. Going into this fight, he was an inexperienced rookie at 4-0 taking on the more experienced Andy Ulrich who was 8-4. Despite coming in an underdog and losing the first round due to Ulrich's grappling, he rebounded in round 2 and scored a knockout win.

Alexander Shlemenko- Shlemenko is like Smith where he lost at the event but I'm still impressed. It's extremely rare these days to see a fighter move up in a weight class if it isn't their natural weight. Shlemenko had nothing to gain and a lot to lose by going up to fight Ortiz. While he gambled and lost, he still deserves credit for guts by doing something most fighters wouldn't even consider doing.

Alexander Volkov- I can't say enough of Volkov. If Brooks had the most impressive performance then Volkov is a close second. For a while, I've thought of Volkov as the most underrated heavyweight on the Bellator roster. Despite being a former heavyweight champion, he seemed to fly under the radar but that may not be the case anymore. After scoring two good knockouts in season ten, Volkov faced former sambo world champion Blagoi Ivanov. Not only did he emerge victorious but he submitted the world class grappler. Despite being his 22^nd win, this was only the second time Volkov won a fight by submission.

Production- Bellator really went the extra mile to have the show look more professional than usual. Bellator is good with production but is very “bare bones” type stuff. This show looked like a PPV and not another TV show. The weigh-ins really showcased it with multiple camera angles to graphics. Outside of the building being smaller, the show looked like something the UFC would do.

 

Not Impressed-

Michael Chandler- Chandler losing was something most thought wouldn't happen. After all, he was a top ten lightweight and former champion taking on some up and coming but unknown prospect. But that's exactly what happened. Sure the first two rounds went as most expected but those last three saw the fight slip between Chandler's fingers. Overall, this fight has to be one of the more disappointing performances in Chandler's career. Not only did he lose a fight most thought he would win and probably win easily but he was winning the first two rounds. He dominated those first two rounds and then all of a sudden, he fell apart. The last three rounds saw Chandler tired, outstruck, and not having much answers. Simply put, he pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. While the decision is considered controversial, it'll still go down as a loss. Now with two straight losses (to be fair both are controversial), Chandler finds himself in a tough position. It's probably take a long time for him to possibly become champion. Unfortunately, his run to the top may become extremely difficult. Alverez is still an elite fighter and champion. Will Brooks has now shot to the top and will probably be an elite fighter for a long time to come. Marcin Held is looking more and more impressive and it shouldn't be too much longer before he breaks out. After a tough two years, Patricky Pitbull has looked great this year and seems revitalized. Dave Jensen is returning from a long injury and will be getting a title shot in the near future. Alexander Sarnavskiy is still a threat in the lightweight division and is still one of the favorites in any lightweight tournament he's in. David Rickels is a former tournament winner and a threat despite losing to Chandler. Then there's great prospects like Derek Anderson, Derek Compos, and Rodrigo Cavalheiro trying to make a name for themselves. Finally there's vets like Paul Sass, Terry Etim, and Shamil Zavurov.

Goiti Yamauchi- While I was mostly impressed with Yamauchi, he did one thing that didn't impress me. During the third round against Mike Richman, Yamauchi pulled guard and spent most of the fight trying to get submissions off his back. Yamauchi has done that before and he needs to realize that it's not worth it. With the unified rules of MMA being what they are, Yamauchi risks the possibility of giving up rounds because he's on his back while his opponent is on top. Yamauchi has great jiu-jitsu but he should try to grapple on top and not on the back because working on the back could cost him a big fight down the line.

Michael Page- Similar to Yamauchi, I was mostly impressed with Page but one thing I didn't care for was the showboating. There's some Anderson Silva comparisons with Page but not all are good. I'm all for having fun when competing but showboating comes off as disrespectful and can rub people the wrong way. Worse of all, showboating can be extremely costly. Anderson Silva showboated one time too many and looked foolish when he eventually got knocked out. If Silva can get caught and knocked out, Page can too. Page can be a great fighter if he stays focused. When he eventually loses, he'll likely want to go out on his shield and not by acting like a clown.

The Show's Format- I hate UFC's format and the pace they run their shows but Bellator 120 was worse. I love MMA but I shouldn't need six+ hours to watch twelve fights. It's really disappointing since Bellator TV shows usually need four hours to run a twelve fight show. I'm all for having interviews and hype videos but it was way too much. The show went from 6 pm EST to past 1 am EST lasting seven hours. In the future, Bellator should cut back on the excessive stuff. I should never spend more than a quarter of my day watching one event.

Surprising-

Will Brook's upset win- Will Brooks was one of Bellator's brightest prospects but his time wasn't supposed to be now. If anything, he was a few months to maybe a year away from shooting to the top. However, he proceeded to shock the MMA world by defeating Michael Chandler to win the interim Lightweight Championship. At first, the fight went the way everyone thought with Chandler dominated the first two rounds and it looked like Brooks was in over his head. However, Brooks didn't give up and started to fight back and ultimately won the last three rounds. It's really incredible for him to not only take the fight on a weeks notice and win but to come back two rounds down to win which shows he's not only a strong fighter physically but mentally.

Alexander Volkov submitting Blagoi Ivanov- Going into the Heavyweight tournament final, it somewhat came off as a “Striker vs. Grappler” type fight. Volkov had the best chance of winning by knockout while Ivanov had the best chance of winning by submission. While it wasn't shocking to see Volkov win given his talents, it was shocking how he won. Going into this fight, the thought among many would be if he wins it will be by knockout or decision. Submission seemed out of the question given Volkov wasn't considered a grappler and Ivanov was a world sambo champion. However, Volkov would surprise many by defeating Bagata by submission via rear-naked choke. What's even more shocking is the fact that this was Volkov's 22^nd win but only the second time he won a fight by submission.

Not Surprising-

The Way the Main Event went- While the fight wasn't bad, it didn't surprise me. When fans hear about fighters not liking each other or are in a “grudge” match, they make get excited thinking they're going to see something like Frye/Takayama, Forrest/Bonnar 1, and Chuck/Wanderlei where it's a brutal slugfest with leather being thrown all over the place. I knew we weren't in for that. Rampage was game but Mo obviously wanted to use his wrestling instead of trading punches. Nothing against Mo since that was the better strategy but it didn't come off as a “grudge” match.

Cheick Kongo winning- This was a very obvious one to say the least. Nothing personal to Eric Smith and he was game but Kongo was clearly put into a position where he was given a winnable fight to prepare him for a future tournament. It's not horrible but it's not surprising.

Marcin Held winning- Similar to Kongo, this one wasn't surprising. Nothing against Nate Jolly but everyone that knows about Held knows Jolly wasn't much of a threat. Unlike Kongo/Smith, Held didn't have much trouble and scored another submission win. Jolly was game but no match for Held.