The Fight Report for a Thin Bellator 105
Friday’s Bellator 105 will be the promotions last event before their first PPV. The Lightweights will be brought in to finish out the tournament semi-finals, but will do so on a paper-thin fight card. With all the talent on the PPV card, feast your eyes on some slim pickings below.
Tiger Sarnavskiy vs. Ricardo Tirloni: Another of the Russian maulers brought into the Bellator fold, Sarnavskiy will continue his march towards a Lightweight title, with sights set on Ricardo Tirloni. Sarnavskiy is a viper in the cage, with a surety with his strikes and takedowns that make him a nightmare to deal with. Tirloni has been in the game for some time, with a set of heavy hands and smooth BJJ, but is starting to show some wear in the cage in terms of reaction speed and desire to gut out a win. Sarnavskiy is an awful match for someone who isn’t going to go balls to the wall in a fight, as allowing him to set up his attacks is a surefire way to get knocked out. Look for Tiger to make this a quick one, landing his straight shots as Tirloni tries to slap box him, and sending the Brazilian to the canvas early.
Saad Awad vs. Will Brooks: A rematch from the last lightweight tournament, Awad put the first smudge on Brooks record, and will look to repeat the feat here. A murderous striker with a developing mat game, Awad looked much improved in the tournament opener, while surprisingly; Brooks looked to have stagnated already in his young career. Natural talent will get you pretty far, but Brooks lack of striking defense and fundamental grappling leaves too many holes to ever be consistent at this level. It’s a close one, but Awad’s one-punch power and strength on the mat should work in tandem to set up another finish, this time late in the fight.
Mighty Mo vs. Ron Sparks: Well…….it’s Bellator’s heavyweight division. Mighty Mo made a show of his debut bout with a gritty and fruitful effort, taking out Dan Charles with a late KO, but faces a larger foe in Sparks. I’m not going to pretend Sparks is much more than a big puncher, but he’s a huge fighter with a vicious hook and in a slugfest, I have to take the larger man. It’s a coin flip, but my money is on Sparks for an early connect that drops Mo.
There you have it, Bellator 105….. Ok here is the complete fight card.
Main Card:
155 lbs. Tournament Semi-Finals: Saad Awad vs. Will Brooks
155 lbs. Tournament Semi-Finals: Alexander Sarnavskiy vs. Ricardo Tirloni
Siala-Mou Siliga vs. Ron Sparks
Eugene Fadiora vs. Andreas Spang
Preliminary Card:
Shawn Bunch vs. Steve Garcia
Eddie Larrea vs. Rocky Ramirez
Jesse Brock vs. Adrian Cruz
Frank Baca vs. Luis Nogueira
Josh Lanier vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Raphael Butler vs. Joseph Bryant
Desmond Green vs. Angelo Sanchez
About the Author (Author Profile)
I'm a 20+ year veteran of martial arts and a fan of MMA since UFC 1, when my world was thrown on its head by the budding sport. I'm obsessive in the pursuit of martial abilities and have competed across the country in everything from Vale Tudo to archery to Scottish broadsword. Once my body broke down, I picked up a pen and went in the direction of writing. I specialize in betting advice, predictions, and I'm a walking encyclopedia of MMA trivia. I own a cafe in Exeter, NH called Hammersmith Sandwich Company and write out of my office between customers.Subscribe
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