Friday's Bellator event should be one of the better ones in recent history. Eddie Alvarez, coming off his title loss to Mike Chandler, rematches Shinya Aoki, who beat him by heel hook in 2008. Coincidentally those are Alvarez's only two losses between 2008 and today. Aoki's stateside debut went pear-shaped in 2010 when he was controlled and thoroughly beaten by Gilbert Melendez at Strikeforce: Nashville. However, Aoki has won seven straight since that defeat, including two defenses of his DREAM lightweight title. The other great fight features rising middleweight stars Vyacheslav Vasilevsky and Maiquel Falcao competing in the middleweight semi-finals. The Crushin' Russian, formerly the M-1 light heavyweight champion, has fifteen straight victories, while Falcao is 11-1 in his last 12. Bellator 66 airs live from the IX Center in Cleveland, Ohio, on MTV2.
Re: Bellator 66: Alvarez vs. Aoki 2 [tonight!] Aoki was able to trip up and submit Alvarez almost immediately in their first match. Think Alvarez has been watching tape of Melendez for weeks?
Re: Bellator 66: Alvarez vs. Aoki 2 [tonight!] [video=youtube;q8YiM19H4A4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8YiM19H4A4[/video]
Results MAIN CARD RESULTS Eddie Alvarez def. Shinya Aoki via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:14 Andreas Spang def. Brian Rogers via knockout (punches) - Round 2, 3:34 - middleweight tourney semifinal Maiquel Falcao def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29) - middleweight tourney semifinal Rick Hawn def. Lloyd Woodard via KO (punch) - Round 2, 0:10 - lightweight tourney semifinal Brent Weedman def. Thiago Michel via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) - lightweight tourney semifinal PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS Jessica Eye def. Anita Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) John Hawk def. Marcus Vanttinen via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Attila Vegh def. Dan Spohn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) Frank Carabello def. Donny Walker via knockout (flying knee) - Round 4, 2:25 Julian Lane def. Joe Heiland via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 2:49
Re: Bellator 66: Alvarez vs. Aoki 2 [tonight!] Spang & Falcao got into it when they were squared-off after their fights, customary for a title or tournament finals fight. Spang pushed first, Falcao flew off the handle, and we almost had a full-scale Mayhem/CGJJ brawl. Welcome to the show, Bellator.
Re: Bellator 66: Alvarez vs. Aoki 2 [tonight!] Hard to argue that Aoki is relevant, now. Looked like crap and got KTFO tonight. Even worse, his corner was ready to quit for him--I don't think they have much faith in his chin after he's been hit. His knockout to Sakurai in 2008 was pretty brutal so maybe they were trying to avoid another incident like that.
