The third event during Bellator’s seventh season is in the books and what a way to kick off the featherweight tournament. All the action took place in Windsor, Canada.

Highs
Wagnney Fabiano submitting Akop Stepanyan in the first round. The former WEC star made his Bellator debut and reminded everyone how good he truly is. Originally tapped to fight during the season six featherweight tournament, an injury delayed his return to the cage. Nearly two years since his last fight, Fabiano was relentless with his takedown attempts. Once he got Stepanyan to the canvas, he locked in a fight ending armbar and told everyone he was the man to beat in the tournament.

Lows
Unlike Bellator’s heavyweight division where the champ forfeited his title and the tournament is going to crown a new champ, Bellator’s featherweight division is starting to stack up challenger after challenger. The mess started back in 2011 as then champ Joe Warren expressed an interest in fighting in the bantamweight tournament. He won the title in September of 2010 and then fought Marcos Galvao in April of 2011 in a non-title fight. Patricio Freire won the right to challenge Warren a month later, but because Warren was set to fight in the bantamweight tournament, the fight was put on hold. Bellator proceeded with another featherweight tournament that summer in which Pat Curran won the right to challenge the winner of the as yet to be determined Warren-Freire fight. Freire got injured and Curran was able to step in and become champ. Curran’s first defense was to be against Freire in August of 2012, but Curran suffered an injury. While the fight with Curran and Freire was being promoted, Daniel Straus was able to win the season six featherweight tournament and earn his right to challenge for the title. Now with Curran recovering from an injury, two number one contenders and a soon to be third, the featherweight division is too stacked at this point in time.

Oh-No’s
It’s no secret that Eddie Alvarez was at the end of his Bellator contract. Arguably the face of the promotion since the first season, Alvarez had been promoted as the best lightweight in the world. Even after suffering his loss to Michael Chandler, he was still promoted as a top three lightweight by Bellator. But now, one of the long time staples is about to hit the free market and it couldn’t have come with a better send off for Alvarez. Bellator paired him off against Patricky Freire for his last fight as Freire has heavy hands and if someone was going to give Alvarez a fight it was him. And while Freire did catch Alvarez at one point and had him stumbling around on weak legs, Alvarez was able to recover and knock Freire out with just six seconds left in the first round. While Bellator would have a hard time matching ANY offer made to Alvarez by the UFC, Alvarez just made his services even more valuable. Both Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta both tweeted at Alvarez that they were excited to talk to the lightweight. Bellator will be able to recover from the loss of a single fighter, but it still is unfortunate to see a long-time fan-favorite of an organization possibly go to the competition.

Round One: Immediately after touching gloves, Warren landed a low leg kick on the outside of Curran’s left leg. Huge drive for a takedown from Warren, but Curran got back to his feet almost instantly. Warren pressed Curran against the cage with a body lock and worked for a takedown. From here, knees were delivered from Warren to soften Curran up. Curran showed a great base on his feet and calmness on his face. They break from the cage and gained the Thai clinch and trade strikes. They broke clean and restart in the center of the cage. Another follow up takedown after a combo from Warren, but Curran moved back up against the cage. Warren moved from a single leg to take the back of Curran. Curran now put Warren against the cage to make him carry his weight. Warren tried to climb Curran’s back for a dominant position, but Curran  showed good defense and shook Warren off of himself. Crowd erupted with Curran landing kicks and knees to Warren’s face. Warren was visibly stunned but moved forward. Curran remained calm and confident towards the end of the round. Warren dove into the takedown but took one of Curran’s knee to the chest. As Curran chased Warren to the ground, Warren secured a last minute takedown and back control.

Round Two: Both came out a little more methodical until Warren threw a spinning back kick that missed wide. Left hook from Warren then followed by a takedown. Right back to the feet was Curran and they restarted in the center. Curran fired off a jab that landed on Warren’s face. Both canceled each other with a push kick. Nice punch and kick combo from Warren that ended in a strong outside leg kick. Curran showed damaged under the right eye. It was a red mark that ran the length of his cheek. Another takedown attempt from Warren, but Curran defended until they got to the cage. Warren had a body lock and Curran punched the head. They both fought for wrist control and delivered knees to each other’s bodies. A spinning takedown from Warren into side control and Curran on his back. Curran found space and shrimped out from under his opponent to stand up. With less than one minute left, Warren pushed in with a takedown, but delivered knees when he got in close. Curran had center control and Warren was on the outside. Another takedown stuffed by Curran with a follow up kick to end the round.

Round Three: Warren pushed forward strong, but Curran deafened the punches and takedown. Curran countered with an uppercut that stunned Warren. Warren was pushing the action, but Curran getting better of the exchanges as he backs up. Curran caught Warren with a head kick that was partially blocked by Warren and then moved in for the finish. Curran rained down with everything; punches, kicks and knees. Warren is still standing after an onslaught of strikes from Curran. Warren is backed up against the cage and slowly drifted from side to side. He tried to reach out and grab a hold of Curran who then backed away from Warren’s range. Ref gave a ton of chances for Warren to fight back, but Warren was out on his feet. Half of the crowd was screaming for Curran to finish the fight, the other half screamed to stop the fight due to Warren’s safety and health.

Result: New Featherweight Champion: Pat Curran via TKO at 1.25 in round three.

Bjorn Rebney was at the Bellator 60 open workouts and discussed a variety of topics about the upcoming season. The most interesting quote came when asked his thoughts on the fact that a Bellator champ for the first time is regarded as the underdog.

Bellator’s Season 6 Featherweight Tournament is setting out in its quarterfinal stage at Bellator 60. The new tournament begins under a headliner of season 5 summer series winner Pat Curran’s title shot against Joe Warren. Season 6 kicks off as Marlon Sandro faces off against Roberto Vargas, Mike Corey takes on Ronnie Mann, Alexandre Bezerra fights Kenny Foster, and Daniel Straus faces Jeremy Spoon.

In the season 5 “Summer Series” featherweight tournament, the bracket narrowed down to Curran vs Sandro. The fight was an instant Bellator classic, as Curran cracked Sandro with a second round head-kick, ending the tournament via knockout. The stoppage fueled a fire under Sandro, who has since finished Rafael Dias in the first round via submission.

Curran picked Sandro as his favorite to win the tournament. It is a popular pick, as Sandro seems to be the most veteran fighter in the bracket. Sandro holds an amazing 20-3 record, mostly built up of knockouts and submissions. He will face a stiff test in 12-1 Vargas, who is a submission specialist himself with four submission stoppages to his credit.

Ronnie Mann was originally scheduled to fight Waggney Fabiano, but Fabiano had to pull out of the contest due to injury. Now Mann squares off against a team Curran stand-out, Mike Corey. A high school wrestler, Corey uses that base along with stellar Jiu-Jitsu to win fights. He is up against the greatest test of his career as he faces a tall task in Mann. Making it to the semifinals of season 5′s tournament, Mann lost a decision to Curran. He has since rebounded with a win over Kenny Foster, and is considered a high seed in the tournament.

Alexandre Bezerra is a man on a mission. He flys into this tournament with four Bellator wins at his back. The submission specialist has forced eight opponents to surrender via tap-out, and hopes to keep his streak going against Kenny Foster. Foster was originally slated to fight on the under-card, but was bumped up into the tournament after weigh-in issues forced Genair Da Silva off of the card. It would be the biggest upset of any if Foster can pull off a win against Bezerra.
Daniel Straus is another impressive record holder on this card at 21-4. Despite being a wrestler at heart, Straus has finished many opponents via TKO. He holds a 3-1 record in Bellator, dropping his most recent Bellator fight to Patrico Freire. He is slated against a ground expert in Jeremy Spoon. Spoon has finished eight of his twelve fights by submission, with an overall record of 12-0. This is a drop down in weight for Spoon, who usually fights at 155 pounds. Straus is certainly the toughest test in Spoons short but successful career, but he stands a solid chance, and Spoon could easily be the dark horse in this tournament.

Bellator is finally coming back to the Chicagoland area. On Friday March 9th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana Pat Curran will get his shot at current Bellator featherweight Joe Warren.

 
Curran earned his shot against the champion during Bellator’s summer series featherweight tournament. He bested Luis Palomino in the first round with a Peruvian necktie submission during the opening round. He then fought a hard three-round battle with Ronnie Mann and earned the unanimous decision to move onto the finals. In the second round against Marlon Sandro, Curran landed a beautiful headkick that sent Sandro to the canvas and gave Curran his second tournament win in two years.

Warren meanwhile is coming off his first loss in Bellator after trying to become the first Bellator fighter to earn two championships. In the opening round of the bantamweight tournament, Warren was matched up with Alexis Vila where he suffered a first round knockout and his dreams of being both the bantamweight and featherweight champ were squashed.

The current card includes:
Joe Warren vs Pat Curran
Marlon Sandro vs Roberto Vargas
Wagnney Fabiano vs Ronnie Mann
Alexandre Bezerra vs Genair da Silva
Jeremy Spoon vs Daniel Straus

WrestlingObserver.com has reported that Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (14-3-1) has suffered a knee injury while training for his upcoming bout with Daisuke Nakamura (20-10) and is forced to withdraw from the fight.   Officials have yet to make an announcement as to who will be the replacement fighter for the October 6 event.

Cavalcante is 0-2-1 in his last three fights losing to Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki.

Nakamura most recently competed at “M-1 Global: Breakthrough” where he earned the unamious decision over Ferrid Kheder.  Nakamura is now 11-1 in his last twelve fights with his loss coming at the hands of Mitsuhiro Ishida.

DREAM 11 still features the organizations featherweight grand prix finale as well as the “Super Hulk” semifinals. 

The new lineup includes:

Main Event

• Champ Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki (for DREAM lightweight title)

Co-Main Event

• Daisuke Nakamura vs. TBA*

Featherweight grand prix finale

• Bibiano Fernanders vs. Joe Warren+
• Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro+
• Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Daiki “DJ.taiki” Hata^

Super Hulk semifinals

• Hong Man Choi vs. Ikuhisa Minowa#
• Bob Sapp vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou#

+ – Featherweight grand prix semifinal
^ – Featherweight grand prix reserve bout
# – “Super Hulk” semifinal

DREAM officials announced that Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (14-3-1) will be taking on Daisuke Nakamura (20-10) at DREAM 11.  The show takes place on October 6 from the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan and will air on HDNet.

Cavalcante looks to rebound from a two-fight losing streak where he has lost to Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri.  Prior to the losses Cavalcante was 12-0-1 in his previous thirteen fights.

Nakamura most recently competed at “M-1 Global: Breakthrough” where he earned the unamious decision over Ferrid Kheder.  Nakamura is now 11-1 in his last twelve fights with his loss coming at the hands of Mitsuhiro Ishida.

DREAM also confirmed that Bob Sapp would be stepping in for the injured Gegard Mousasi to take on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjo in the “Super Hulk” tournament.

The full card now includes:

Main Event

•    DREAM lightweight champ Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki

Featherweight Grand Prix Finals

•    Bibiano Fernanders vs Joe Warren

•    Hiroyuki Takaya vs Hideo Tokoro

•    Kazuyuki Miyata vs Daiki Hata *

Super Hulk Semifinals

•    Hong Man Choi vs Ikuhisa Minowa

•    Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs Bob Sapp

* Featherweight grand prix reserve bout