Bellator 84 Season 7 Finale Hosted in Mid-West

Bellator 84 Season 7 Finale Hosted in Mid-West

Russian striker Alexander Volkov earns World Heavyweight Belt

By John Peter Daly

Chicago, IL (December 14, 2012)— Just minutes from downtown Chicago,IL, the Season 7 finale tournament of Bellator 84 concluded at the Horseshoe Casino inHammond,IN.The evening’s events included a Heavyweight Title fight, two Middleweight feature fights and a Women’s Division bout along with several preliminaries.

Standing at 6’7” and 232.2 lbs, Russian Heavyweight Alexander Volkov took home the World Heavyweight Title and earned the 100,000 dollar prize money in a fight he dominated against Rich Hale. Judges score card called the fight 49-46—making it Volkov’s 10^th consecutive win. Both men known for their striking, show that technique and tenacity can lead to a championship fight as much bigger heavyweights have come to normally command the heavyweight division.

Hale opened the fight sending the message of his power landing a hard right hook on Volkov’s jaw knocking him down. However, Volkov bit back in the next four rounds with his karate style kicks, but mostly by using his range with his tremendous reach. Hale appeared unable to move in and stay in to take the fight often resetting after coming forward.

In a close Middleweight Feature Fight, Daniel Vizcaya in his Bellator debut won by split decision (29-28) against Norwegian Jack Hermansson—Hermansson’s first defeat. In contrast to the Title Heavyweight fight, these fighters kept their game on the ground. Hermansson’s Greco-Roman clinch took Vizcaya to the ground in the first, but Vizcaya ended that round on top. Vizcaya then demonstrated his wrestling with a take down in the second round throwing some heavy right hands into Hermansson’s ribs. Hermanson went for a kimura, but was swept by Vizcaya. The third began with another take down by Vizcaya. Hermansson did get on top to land several elbows as Vizcaya held on toward the end of the match.

In another feature Middleweight Fight, Louis Taylor lived up to his fight name “Handgunz”, by winning with a one punch knockout with a short right against Joe Vedepo at 4 minutes and 12 seconds in Round 1.Taylor’s sportsmanship was evident, being on top of Vepedo after an outside take down, he looked up at the referee for a decision as soon as he saw the result of his debilitating right hand.

The Women’s Division feature was a rematch for these fighters from an XFC 17 contest that took place in April resulting in an easy decision: Felice Herrig won 30-27 in a unanimous decision against Patricia Vidonic. Feeding off the hometown energy, Herrig’s expert Muay Thai was matched with up with strong ground work, forceful ground and pound and accurate striking. Herrig’s strength was also evident by an easy take down in the second. Herrig kept it moving right up until the end of the fight that she dominated—making it her 8^th career win

Lightweight Christian Uflacker won against Cliff Wright Jr in a unanimous decision 29-28 when the fight was ended in Round 3 after Uflacker was unable to continue fighting as the referee deemed Wright’s upkick that landed on Uflacker’s jaw an unintentional foul by Wright. The decision was a close call as Uflacker’s knee was not on the ground at the time of the upkick, but the referee concluded that Uflacker was “on his way down” when he was struck. Wright showed some effective striking during the fight. Wright was also able to stay slim on his side when Uflacker, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, had him on the ground in a number of full mounts. However, whenever Wright gained space he did not get back on his feet which might have resulted in a different outcome for him.

In a high energy Flyweight Division fight, Jerald Williams, in his Bellator debut, won 29-28 against Joey Diehl. William’s drive and takedowns kept him on top early in the match, but Diehl’s skill in controlling William’s hips with his feet prevented any submissions. Diehl executed an amazing leaping reverse leg triangle on Williams—a move ideal for a Flyweight—but Williams gets out of it. In the second round, Williams was unable to land his overhand lefts which appeared powerful, but again went in for a take down bringing Diehl to the floor. Diehl’s energy remained up in the final round, stalking Williams down. Diehl also took Williams down with a jump knee, getting Williams flat on the ground for a bit.

A Catchweight feature fight at 215lbs ended at 3:30 in Round 1 by a successful rear naked choke by Anthony Gomez against Anton Talamantes. This is Gomez’ 7^th professional triumph.

In another Catchweight feature at 158 lbs. Robert White won against Kenny Booker by judges decision 29-28. White kept up with active jabs until he was able to close in for some inside fighting; however, Booker demonstrated an intense left hook in his first professional debut. White brought Booker down with a full on suplex, then by keeping his weight on Booker, started pounding on him. Booker did not check the low right kicks, but also seemed unphased by them. Booker got caught with two low blow knees resulting in a one point deduction against White. Yet, Booker seemed to weather the storm of elbows emanating from White in the second and third rounds, coming back with good exchanges in the last round.

Bellator’s next season will premiere on Spike TV on Thurs., Jan. 17 with a exciting fight card line-up that includes two Bellator World Championship Title fights at the BrenCenter in Irvine,CA.

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