Preview: Bellator Fighting Championships II

After nearly three weeks of bout changes, injuries, and substitutions, Bellator Fighting Championships’ debut event on Friday, April 3 went quite well for the upstart promotion, which aired its premier event via one-day tap delay on ESPN Deportes.

In a fight card brimming with 11 bouts, just one of them made it to the judges’ scorecards, and even that one was a contested and competitive Split Decision between Estevan Payan and Luis Palomino in the featherweight tournament. The other fights were similarly split between submissions and (T)KO’s, with seven of the former and three of the latter.

ProFighting-fans.com didn’t do half bad in the realm of predictions, picking seven of the ten originally announced bouts correctly.

The main attractions of the card were without a doubt the opening rounds of the lightweight and featherweight tournaments, and both Jorge Masvidal (17-3 MMA) and Eddie Alvarez (16-2 MMA)—the prospective tournament favorites—did not disappoint with matching first round victories, Masvidal with a TKO and Alvarez with a Guillotine Choke.

While an upset over either highly-ranked lightweight would have made a name out of their relatively unknown opponents, Mavidal’s and Alvarez’s dominating first round performances bodes well for the future of the upstart promotion. As anyone can guess judging by the success on the UFC, a brand is not built on the quality of its fights, but rather on the quality of its stars.

Week 2 of Bellator’s 12-week tournament season is set to kick off Friday, April 10 and—as with all of its first 12 events—will air on ESPN Deportes via one day tape delay. The second even will carry the final bouts of the opening round for the lightweight and featherweight tournaments and will also feature the first three bouts of the organizations welterweight tournament.

BFC II - Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal:

Wilson Reis vs. Henry Martinez

While Martinez (2-0 MMA) is coming into this fight fresh off of a training camp with world renowned MMA trainer Greg Jackson, look for Reis (6-0 MMA) to overcome some early adversity to put the less experienced of the two undefeated prospects on the mat for the tap in the first round.

BFC II – Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal:

Ivan Iberico vs. Thomas Schulte

Iberico (7-1 MMA) recently avenged his only career loss, but Shulte (18-6 MMA) is on a four-fight winning streak, and all 18 of his career wins have come by way of submission. This kid brings it, and Friday night should be no different as Shulte turns Iberico into a pretzel and advances into the Semifinals of the Lightweight bracket.

BFC II – Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals:

Lyman Good vs. Hector Urbina

A difficult fight to pick. Good (7-0 MMA) has demonstrated little in the way of weaknesses during his run in the 170lb division, but he has been unable to put away his last three consecutive opponents, while Urbina (12-4 MMA) holds nine finishes in his professional career. Look for a savvy Urbina to bring this bout into the later rounds where he will grapple and tire out the larger Good en route to an ugly decision victory.

Jorge Ortiz vs. Aaron Romero

This bout should be one of the more one-sided of the evening, as the relatively green Romero (5-2 MMA) has less than half the cage experience as his opponent. Ortiz (15-4 MMA) will find his range early and end the fight with a dominant TKO within the first two rounds.

Omar De La Cruz vs. Victor Meza

Another relative mismatch on paper, Cruz (3-1 MMA) will find himself outgunned in nearly every aspect as he is beaten soundly by the red-hot undefeated prospect in Meza (9-0 MMA). Meza has twice as many submission victories than KO’s, but his opponent’s inexperience will allow him to add another one of the latter to his rapidly expanding resume.

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BFC II - Additional Bouts:

Diego Garijo vs. Israel Giron

Garijo (3-1 MMA) may have started his career off on the right foot, with three stoppage victories in three fights, but his last action was over a year ago in defeat. Giron (9-1 MMA) is on a bit of a tear as of late and should not have too much trouble putting Diego down and submitting him midway into the bout.

Mikey Gomez vs. Jesse Juarez

Gomez (9-5 MMA) tasted defeat in his last bout against the well-respected Andre Galvao, but he defeated fellow BFC Welterweight Lorenzo Borgomio in his second appearance for the now-defunct Elite XC promotion last October. His ground acumen and strength of previous opposition should put him a notch above Juarez (7-5 MMA) come fight night, but this one is likely to go the distance. Mikey Gomez by Unanimous Decision.

Matt Makowski vs. Aaron Tregear

While Makowski (4-1 MMA) has certainly fought on a bigger stage than his Canadian opponent, his biggest victory was an uninspired, if somewhat humorous one over Nick Serra last year. Tregear (6-3 MMA) should be able to pull off what may be considered a minor upset with a second round submission over Makowski.

James Garzillo vs. Andres Jeudi

A professional record is difficult to come by with these two fighters. Nonetheless, Garzillo remains undefeated and is hailed as a fast starter while Jeudi (0-0 MMA) will be making his professional debut. Look for Jeudi to impress in his shot at the big stage when he takes Garzillo out early with some striking tips he picked up from his time at the respected Team Sityodtong in Massachusetts.

Jamie Rivera vs. Matt Smith

A bout shrouded in even greater mystery than Garzillo vs. Tregear, a record for Jamie Rivera and Matt Smith is a difficult thing to come by. ProFighting-fans.com will not be making a pick for this one unless something surfaces within the next few days.

Look for previews of all of Bellator’s events to be up in the future on ProFighting-fans.com.

By Steven T. Kelliher
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer