Alvarez Batters Huerta at Bellator 33

Fights don’t have to be tremendously competitive in order to be entertaining. Even if one fighter is never in much danger, depending on the pace set and the heart of the other combatant involved, a relatively one-sided affair can be quite memorable. Such was the case with Alvarez-Huerta.

For two full rounds, Eddie Alvarez dominated a game Roger Huerta before the fight was stopped under the ringside doctor’s advice. The trouble started early on for Huerta, who was battered by leg kicks early in the first round by Alvarez. A couple of the kicks to Huerta’s left leg visibly hurt the former UFC fighter, and he even switched to a southpaw stance for much of the round to protect his leg.

Despite the early setback, Huerta was very active in the first round. In plenty of memorable exchanges, Huerta showed a willingness to let it all hang out, perhaps because he knew he had little chance of winning a three-round fight with a bad wheel. He even floored Alvarez with a flash knockdown later in the first stanza, though Alvarez sprang back up immediately, showcasing again his ability to recover extremely quickly. After that, it was business as usual for Alvarez, though Huerta tried hard to keep the pressure on. Alvarez even worked in some vicious knees whenever Huerta ducked his head too much.

In the second round, Alvarez stuck with what was working, which was…well, everything. Alvarez found a home regularly for his right uppercut, as well as a straight right that he would throw with or without a setup and a jab that he’d use to keep Huerta (even more) off balance. Again, Huerta’s output was high, but many times he charged forward with punches that fell just short of the mark, only to be countered capably by the Bellator Lightweight Champion.

At the end of the round, Alvarez went back to the leg kicks, even flooring Huerta with one particular vicious kick right before the end of the round. Huerta had difficulty recovering from that last kick, and may not have made it through the round had there been more than just a few seconds left. Sure enough, the fight ended with Huerta on his stool moments later.

While the fight itself wasn’t a classic by any means, Ben Askren did achieve something that you rarely see during his five-round win over Lyman Good. In each of the five rounds, Askren was able to mount his overwhelmed opponent, which is a rare feat, to say the least. Of course, it’s also a fairly dubious achievement, since Askren was never able to finish Good during his welterweight championship victory.

Good had very little to offer Askren throughout the bout, which Askren won by unanimous decision. Askren had very little trouble taking Good down, and obviously advanced position well once the fight hit the mat. When underneath the mount, Good (who was perhaps emboldened by his opponent’s conservative approach from such a dominant position) focused on striking Askren as much as he could rather than going for sweeps. The judges scored the fight unanimously for Askren, with scorecards of 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47.

Rick Hawn was very impressive in his Bellator debut, as the former US Olympic judoka used a beautiful throw at the end of the first round to set up an explosive finish of opponent LeVon Maynard. Hammer fists from Hawn after the throw led to a referee stoppage of the bout just seven seconds before the end of the round.

Also in action was Wilson Reis, who improved his MMA record to 11-2 with a win over WEC veteran Deividas Taurosevicius. The competitive bout was one of two split decisions on a card that was dominated by decisions on the undercard, as well.

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Tags: Bellator 33, Bellator Fighting Championships, Ben Askren, Deividas Taurosevicius, Eddie Alvarez, LeVon Maynard, Lyman Good, Rick Hawn, Roger Huerta, Wilson Reis