“Man, I just can’t tell you how much stronger I feel since I got my leukocyte count under control, you know?  I feel like I could do this all day!”  PicProps:  Keith Mills for Sherdog

Since we all know that you didn’t watch Bellator last night, how about a recap?  Come on inside for accounts of the event, plus videos of the middleweight tournament bouts, courtesy of Zee2TehPee and ArnForgesArn.com – massive props to those guys.  Boo boo on the crowd in Hollywood, Florida, which seemed just a little too quick to rain down boos on a good night of fights.  Come on inside and I’ll tell you all about it.

Bellator’s “Like Water” promo has been updated. Can you spot the difference?* VidProps: BellatorMMA/YouTube

Bellator’s fifth season middleweight tournament gets underway tomorrow night, with live broadcasts on MTV2 and EPIX covering all the main card action. With some stiff competition from the UFC and the WBC, there may be considerably fewer eyeballs on the bouts in Hollywood, Florida, but don’t tell these guys. There’s going to be some action. Go back and read the preview if you’ve forgotten anyone, and let’s run down the CagePotato picks for the evening.

Remember: *this* is the guy that the middleweights are competing to fight. Hector Lombard knocked Vitale down twice with one punch. VidProps: BellatorMMA/YouTube

So anybody notice that I mentioned Bellator yesterday?  You did?   And you didn’t comment about how splendiferous Bellator is, and how much you like watching the fights, and in general how witty and good looking we are here at CagePotato?
Well that’s just rude.  I’m inclined to not even bother running down the other two tourneys planned for this season.  Really, it’s like you don’t care.

Oh, alright.  Come on in and we’ll have coffee and talk.  But no staying over.

So”heart of a champion” is just a meaningless phrase?     PicProps: Esther Lin

Heart is awesome. Guts are more important to cage fighting than Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Balls sell more tickets than Olympic medals. Heart is an intangible, an ethereal quality that fighters seem to either have in abundance, or sorely lack. And while intangibles may offend the sensibilities of those who would analyze fights like they’re backward engineering a damn nuclear centrifuge, it’s that very quality that motivates fans to buy tickets, buy shirts, buy pay per views, buy hotel rooms.  It isn’t simply some writer’s trope that we use to fill space; this is an attribute that, however hard to pin down, has a demonstrable effect.

There is something about competition in sports that speaks directly to primal emotions in all of us. Ok, apparently not all of us, but still. Fans tend to be emotional people, and not always rational. So a non-tangible quality like “heart” is important, if for nothing but a fighter’s popularity.

Guys like Ox Wheeler or Leonard Garcia or Scott Smith that seem to just go out there and wing it, wind up getting in a war with some guy and they beat the piss out of one another and everybody in the crowd goes bonkers and throws their hotdogs in the air and the collective cry is a noise like the damn building is yelling–that’s why that happens. And everyone goes home horny and it’s generally a good time had by all. It’s a purely emotional response, and base, and uneducated…and it’s totally valid.

“I’ve warned you. I’ll be forced to thrash you.” PicProps: Bellator

Perhaps you remember just a few days ago when MMA judging was held in contempt, publicly flagellated, and crucified for all to see. Fighters and fans alike tore at their garments, lamenting the apparent death of the ability to trust judges to deliver a decision faithful to the efforts expended. The skies darkened and the heavens poured out upon the earth. Dark times, Potato Nation. Miraculously, though, MMA judging has risen, and shall return again. We’re pleased to report that there were no robberies last night in Concho, Oklahoma, or at least, none involving combat sport. In fairness, though, the fighters took matters out of the judges’ hands most of the evening.  Baby steps, people.

Bellator’s fourth season is winding down, with just three shows left, and we’re seeing more and more of the fighters we’ll see next season in tournament action. We were originally slated to see a heavyweight super fight between Bellator’s pound for pound heaviest champ Cole Konrad against Paul Buentello, but that bout was scratched after Buentello wrecked his back. Happily, Bellator just bumped up an undercard fight featuring Ronnie Mann and soldiered on, and we’re just tickled about it. Also scheduled were the two semifinal matches in the light heavyweight brackets, and Bellator’s Brazilian Invasion storyline continues with Luis Nogueira (no relation).

Come in after the jump and we’ll share all the spoilers with you (along with a healthy dose of inappropriate humor) and we’ll regale you with facts about the Toughest MMA Fighter in the business.

(Uh…what? Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

By DL “Remember the Lackland” Richardson

Bellator’s second season is winding down, as we complete another set of semifinals at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas. Even if you’ve been paying attention, though, you still may find it hard to predict what is going to happen when Bellator is on. BFCXX popped off last night, and if you forgot about it or your cable company is a bunch of greedy bastards, allow me to fill you in. Results and full recap after the jump, as well as my secret to wealth and attracting the most attractive sexual partners…

(Rex’s "first draft," courtesy of jimbonics. Click for larger version.)

by CagePotato.com contributor DL "ReX13" Richardson

Middleweight just hasn’t been home to many exciting fights lately. Whether it’s the result of a grinding style that never goes for the finish, or simply because a fighter is apparently out of his goddamn mind, there’s been a noticeable lack of offense at 185. Bellator hoped to bring the sexy back last night, as they visited the Power & Light District in Kansas City, Missouri, for the quarterfinals of this year’s middleweight tournament. The winner of the Season Two tourney receives a title shot against current champ Hector “Shango” Lombard, who faces off with Paulo Filho in a non-title scrap on May 13th. Full Bellator XVI event recap and results are after the jump…

(Alexander Shlemenko‘s last appearance, a 40-second stoppage via knees to the body against Sean Salmon, at Fight Festival 27 last month in Finland.)

Who needs a frantically thrown-together arena in Abu Dhabi? Bellator is hosting its own outdoor event this Thursday at the Power & Light District in Kansas City, Missouri, featuring the quarterfinals of their middleweight tournament. Sure, there really aren’t any big names on the card, but it’s Bellator, so you know there will be at least one insane finish on YouTube by Friday morning. Here’s how the middleweight tourney is arranged:

Bryan Baker vs. Sean Loeffler
Ryan McGivern vs. Jared Hess
Alexander Shlemenko vs. Matt Major
Eric Schambari vs. Luke Zachrich

Go to fightpicker.cagepotato.com right now to make your picks for the tournament fights as well as the "Local Feature Fight Card," which includes recently-ousted featherweight GP competitor Eric Marriott, former Strikeforce Challengers headliner Rudy Bears, and Drew Dober. Note: Due to some recent changes to the Bellator XVI lineup, we had to make a few edits to the questions this afternoon. So if you already entered a pool, please go back and double-check your picks.

And just for fun, we’ve included two questions about Saturday night’s welterweight boxing championship match between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley. For inspiration, the first episode of HBO’s Mayweather vs. Mosley 24/7 is after the jump…

(Props: youtube.com/BellatorMMA)

Bellator’s inaugural season came to a close on Friday night, with the finals of their middleweight and lightweight brackets. In the 185-pound title fight, Hector Lombard used his striking and ground-and-pound to open up some nasty cuts on the head of his opponent, Jared Hess; the fight was eventually stopped in the fourth round after Hess lost a few gallons of blood. Directly after, 155-pound favorite Eddie Alvarez completed his sweep of the lightweight tourney by knocking Toby Imada out of his jock with a big right hook early in the second round, then sinking in a rear-naked choke. Lombard and Alvarez collected $100,000 checks for their efforts.

In non-tournament action, Jorge Masvidal submitted Eric Reynolds via third-round rear-naked choke, Bodog/ShoXC vet Rosi Sexton submitted Valerie Coolbaugh via first-round armbar, and Stephanie Guimaraes became Bellator’s latest YouTube star with her 49-second knee-knockout of Yvonne Reis. The Guimaraes knockout is above; highlights from the Lombard/Hess and Alvarez/Imada fights are after the jump.

(Image courtesy of Bellator.com)

The Bellator Fighting Championships‘ ongoing tournament series made a stop in Norman, Oklahoma, on Friday night, with an 11-bout card highlighted by the first round of their middleweight bracket. Fights from this event were split between two separate ESPN Deportes broadcasts, one shown two nights ago ("Bellator III") and one to be aired next Saturday ("Bellator IV"); weird, I know.

As expected, 185-pound favorite Hector Lombard advanced to the semifinals and increased his record to 19-2 with a dominant win over Virgil "The Mexican Machine" Lozano. "Shango" needed just 70 seconds to knock out Lozano from the clinch with a well-timed uppercut. Though Lombard may be the only fighter in the 185-pound bracket that most MMA fans have heard of, he has a very stiff test coming up in his semifinal fight against Damien Stelly, a U.S. Army Ranger who used slams and ground-and-pound to score a unanimous decision over Lion’s Den fighter Alex "El Toro" Andrade.

Elsewhere on the card, former UFC middleweight champ Dave Menne handed ATT prospect Norman Paraisy his first career loss, as part of Bellator’s welterweight tournament. Though Paraisy held an edge in the first two rounds of their match, Menne was able to take Paraisy’s back during a scramble in the third frame and sink in a rear-naked choke. Menne advances to the 170-pound semifinals and will next take on Omar De La Cruz.

Following a one-week layoff, Bellator’s next show will be held May 1st at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, and will feature the semifinal match-ups for their lightweight tournament. Top-ten lightweight Eddie Alvarez will meet Eric Reynolds, while Bodog/Strikeforce/Sengoku vet Jorge Masvidal will match up with Toby Imada.

Full results from Bellator III/IV are after the jump…