Bellator Fighting Championships IX Predictions: BFC IX Preview

Following the explosive and emphatic welterweight tournament semifinals at Bellator VII on May 15, the upstart promotion will be holding its 9th event in close to as many weeks as they travel to the Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, Louisiana on Friday, May 29 for the middleweight tournament semifinals.

Two weeks ago, Dave Menne saw his growing comeback halted by the flying fists of the unheralded Omar De La Cruz, as he was halted in the first round of their welterweight contest by way of TKO. Cruz’s opponent will be fan-favorite and fellow unbeaten Lyman Good, who tore through Jorge Ortiz en route to a second round TKO victory of his own to earn a spot in the welterweight tournament finals.

This week the focus shifts to the middleweight tournament, where tournament favorite and highly ranked middleweight Hector Lombard will look to earn a spot in the finals with a victory over Damien Stelly. The winner of that bout will lock horns with either Jared Hess or Yosmany Cabezas, who will fight just before them.

Bellator IX will air via one-day tape delay on ESPN Deportes on Saturday, May 30, closing out the last of the tournament semifinal rounds.

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Week 9 BFC Predictions:

Bellator IX – Middleweight Tournament Semifinals:

Jared Hess vs. Yosmany Cabezas

• Both Jared Hess (8-0-1 MMA) and Yosmany Cabezas (8-1 MMA) have been fairly busy since making their professional debuts in 2007, but Hess went the extra mile a few weeks ago, taking out Dillon Parach in the first round at a Gladiator Challenge event on May 16 just a month after earning his way into Bellator’s middleweight tournament semifinals with a first round submission of Daniel Tabera. Neither fighter boasts any big names on their respective resumes as of yet, but both are clamoring at the opportunity to fight for the title of first-ever Bellator middleweight champion. Look for Hess to use his aggression and well-rounded skill set to back Cabezas into a corner early and frustrate him with strikes. Cabezas is tough to finish—his only loss thus far was a decision in 2008—but Hess will get the job done with a second round TKO over a game opponent.

Hector Lombard vs. James Damien Stelly

• While Hector Lombard (19-2-1 MMA) will rightfully be considered the heavy favorite going into this middleweight semifinal match up, Stelly (10-2 MMA) boasts an experienced resume and has all the tools to make this a competitive affair. Besides having to deal with Lombard’s powerful and aggressive striking, Stelly’s biggest disadvantage going into this match will be overcoming the fact that his opponent has only been defeated twice in 22 professional appearances, both by decision to well known and respectable opposition in Akihiro Gono and top ten middleweight Gerard Mousasi. Stelly has been knocked out once before, albeit to highly regarded light heavyweight prospect Luiz Cane, but Lombard should be able to do the same. Look for Lombard’s power and accuracy to be too much for a game Stelly to overcome, as the tournament favorite earns a crack at Bellator gold with a resounding first round knockout of Stelly.

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