Bellator Fighting Championships XII Predictions: BFC XII Preview

Following Friday night’s BFC XII event in Hollywood, Florida, the upstart promotion, which airs its events via one-day tape delay on ESPN Deportes on Saturday nights, will have completed a 12-week programming run that has garnered ratings more impressive than many would have thought prior to the launching of tournaments in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight tournaments a few months ago.

Two of those tournaments are now completed, with Joe Soto taking Bellator’s first-ever featherweight belt and undefeated prospect Lyman Good stealing the Bellator welterweight crown in dominant fashion last week with a first round drudging of Omar De La Cruz.

In the final event of Bellator’s first tournament season, the lightweight and middleweight finals are set as lightweight favorite Eddie Alvarez takes on Toby Imada and middleweight favorite Hector Lombard battles Jared Hess. The winner of each bout will not only be crowned the first-ever Bellator champion in their respective weight class, but they will also earn $100,000 for their performance.

Week 12 BFC Predictions:

BFC XII – Lightweight Tournament Finals:

Eddie Alvarez vs. Toby Imada

No matter what most pundits may tell you heading into the lightweight tournament finals, Toby Imada (22-12 MMA) is something of a live underdog against Eddie Alvarez (17-2 MMA) who has shown a tendency in the past to get caught and dropped by less than stellar opposition despite his impressive record. Alvarez manages to rally most of the time, earning highlight reel finishes after recovering from shots that would crumble many fighters, but his head movement and submission defense need to improve, else he may just wind up the victim of another Youtube hit courtesy of a come-from-behind submission from the savvy Imada, a veteran of over 30 professional fights.

The possibility is there for Imada to pull off the upset, but in this case, the sports books are probably right, as Alvarez seems to be in the right place mentally following an early scare at the hands of Greg Loughran in the lightweight quarterfinals. This coupled with the fact that Alvarez is one of the hardest hitting and most aggressive lightweights on the planet facing the oftentimes-tentative style of Imada should provide a recipe for a one-sided match. If Alvarez can hurt Imada early and often, he is guaranteed to win Bellator’s lightweight tournament, but it is absolutely imperative that he keep a level head on his shoulders and keep his energy levels high heading into the latter rounds, as Imada showed his mettle by taking out another tournament favorite in Jorge Masvidal in the semifinals.

Prediction: Eddie Alvarez over Toby Imada by TKO (Punches) Round 2

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Bellator XII – Middleweight Tournament Finals:

Hector Lombard vs. Jared Hess

While Hector Lombard (21-2-1 MMA) is certainly one of the fastest-rising prospects in the middleweight division, and while he is riding a 14-fight unbeaten streak, it is always difficult to size up an unknown, undefeated opponent. Jared Hess (9-0-1 MMA) carries little fanfare into his title match with the heavy tournament favorite, but he has amassed an impressive professional record in only two years of competition. Hess is not only undefeated, he is also highly-motivated for success, as he chose to fight at a Gladiator Challenge event between his fights in Bellator’s middleweight tournament. He has also finished all of his professional fights by knockout or submission.

Viewers should expect Hess to come out aggressive and to even have some early success against Lombard in the opening minutes, but it figures to be only a matter of time before he is handed his first professional loss, as Lombard clobbers him into submission in the second round. The most interesting aspect of this fight will be whether Hess can survive to a decision, not whether he can win, as the cards seem stacked heavily against him in this one.

Prediction: Hector Lombard over Jared Hess by TKO (Strikes) Round 2

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