Bellator Fighting Championships 32 Recap

Tonight is a big night in Bellator Fighting Championships. The first Bellator Heavyweight Champion will be crowned, and a champ will be crowned in the bantamweight division, as well. I’ve got your play by play and various other ramblings if you weren’t able to watch…or if you did watch, but already forgot what happened for one reason or another. Hey, I’m not here to judge.

Ryan Thomas vs. Jim Wallhead

Wallhead is from across the pond. He’s so pale that his skin looks pink…well, aside from the tattoos. Thomas is from Illinois but trains with American Top Team in Florida. What, Ryan? HIT Squad not good enough for ya? You’re too good for your HOME?!? Somewhere, Matt Hughes shakes his head. Or at least, he would if he was a fan of the sport when he himself isn’t fighting. Who am I kidding, Matt’s in bed right now, with visions of combines and Dave Schultz and big country breakfasts dancing in his head.

Both are aggressive to start, Wallhead is working combos and mixing punches and kicks, shortly dropped Thomas two minutes in but Thomas quickly got up and continued. Thomas landed a couple of big body kicks to take the wind out of Wallhead’s sails momentarily. Thomas looked for a takedown but was too sloppy and Wallhead easily defended. Both fighters bringing a lot of volume and landing often as the round ends. Good first round. Tough to call, but Thomas was better for the majority of the round, so 10-9 to him.

Round two starts with Thomas still working lead leg body kicks. Thomas is covering up well but Wallhead lands hooks to his body. Wallhead briefly floors Thomas with a leg kick, but it may have been a slip. Another leg kick for Wallhead. Wallhead is really working the body with his combinations. Thomas scores with an uppercut and a body kick.Thomas shot for takedown, couldn’t get it, Wallhead lands a tight right hook. Thomas landing his jab regularly, Wallhead works the inside leg kicks. They clinch, as Wallhead pushes Thomas against the cage and throws a few light shots. I’d give that one (another close round) to Wallhead, 10-9.

Round three begins and Wallhead is very busy but Thomas is still defending well. Wallhead’s leg kicks are still very crisp. Wallhead definitely has more zip to his strikes than Thomas at this point. Thomas is coming straight forward and really dropping his hands when he throws his right. Wallhead lands a nice straight right counter. Body kick by Thomas gets him inside as he pushes Wallhead against the fence, but Wallhead lands a nice knee as he rebounds. They tumble to the mat and Wallhead is in Thomas’ guard. Wallhead is bleeding a little bit from the top of his head, it appears. Or it may just be blood from Thomas, who has a nasty little cut above his right eye. Thomas is content to hold Wallhead in his guard until the final bell, as Wallhead tries to stay active with strikes. Wallhead takes that round.

I had it 29-28 Wallhead, and all three judges agree. Wallhead gets pretty emotional after, as he seemed like he may not have been sure about continuing his career if he didn’t win this one. Wallhead does look a bit small for a welterweight, but I like how he mixes up his combinations.

Next up, we’ll have the bantamweight final between Ed “Wild” West and Zach Makovsky. These guys might as well be twins, but the voice-over dude, who may or may not have been in the “Candyman” movies, assures us that they’re not “just mirror images” of one another. West says he fights for himself, not anyone else. Well, I guess that’s a refreshing change from the whole “I need to feed my family” reason. Maybe not as heartwarming though, right?

Both of these guys beat Bryan Goldsby on their respective paths to the finals, which is unusual for a tournament. Also, both defeated their two previous tournament opponents by judges’ decisions. Get comfortable for this five-rounder, my friends. Fortunately, they’re wearing different colored trunks for easy identification purposes. If the rounds are close, they’re going to Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky by way of better nickname. Just so you know and all.

The two almost bonk heads while bowing to one another in the middle of the cage, then make a quick agreement to touch gloves at the start of the fight. Can signed “let’s touch gloves, m’kay?” agreements be far off? Sheesh.

Zach Makovsky vs. Ed West

The fight starts and both bounce off in characteristic bantamweight fashion that is so annoying to those of us who are 100 pounds heavier and couldn’t move like that even in junior high school. West is working on keeping his distance, landing kicks and straight punches. Makovsky catches a kick and dumps West, willingly going into his guard. West does the fat man sit-up and briefly looks to underhook Makovsky’s left leg. Makovsky finally postures up and lands a hard left hand as West pushes him away and backwards-somersaults to his feet quite surprisingly.

Makovsky lands a leg kick and a side kick (!) to the body. Makovsky gets another takedown and tries to pass to side mount, but ends up in butterfly guard instead. He sits up, punches and tries to pass, then ends up standing. Makovsky dives in to pass and is stuck in West’s guard again. He stands and West stands, too. West lands a jab. Body kick for Makovsky lands as the round ends. Makovsky wins via activity and control, 10-9.

Round two begins and Makovsky doesn’t waste much time taking down West again. West controls Makovsky’s posture and isn’t looking for subs. For his part, Makovsky is pretty conservative, too. Makovsky stands up to re-evaluate the situation and West is up in a flash again. Makovsky misses a head kick. West steps into a body kick to land a straight right. West isn’t setting up his kicks and Makovsky is just backing out of the way more often than not.

Now Makovsky is chasing West around, as West is just circling away. West air-balls on a flying knee as Makovsky comes in, then Makovsky gets another takedown as he sticks with it. Makovsky is in side mount and West is doing his best to keep him tied up. Makovsky stands up for I don’t know what reason, losing his position. Makovsky dives into guard while landing a left hand. Makovsky controls the right shoulder of West while briefly working rubber guard, but West stands out of it. Makovsky wins another round, 10-9.

Round three begins and Makovsky lands another quick takedown, then passes from half-guard to side mount. Makovsky is trying to isolate West’s right arm, and as West looks to get guard back, Makovsky just stands again, allowing West to stand. They face off and not much is going on, then Makovsky shoots very quickly and brings West down again. He’s in side mount again, will he simply stand up and give up the position a third time?

West is cut badly near his right eye. Makovsky stands up to punch West again, and it doesn’t pay off as he simply loses his position and ends up in guard…again. Makovsky stands out of guard and West backwards-somersaults to stand again. West low kicks and Makovsky takes him down again as West goes for a guillotine. The arm is in and it wasn’t deep enough, as Makovsky squirts out and ends up in guard. That’s another round for Makovsky based on aggressiveness and activity, plus plenty of takedowns. Makovsky’s up three rounds in my book and West needs to start taking more chances.

The championship rounds are underway, and guess what happens to start round four?

a) West does a flying knee for the knockout.
b) Hulk Hogan comes in, hits Makovsky with a chair and leg-drops him, then reveals his alliance with West.
c) Makovsky gets a takedown within fifteen seconds.

Yeah, it’s c. I know, I wish it was b, too. Makovsky is in side mount and every time he feels West start to try to regain guard, he just stands up instead of keeping his position. I don’t get it. He’s stuck in guard now because of his bizarre tactical choices. It’s a high guard for West, but Makovsky isn’t giving him much to do with, and there’s a referee stand-up.

West’s high kick is blocked, and he’s backed up by a left hand from Makovsky, then a body kick that scores. Leg kick lands for Makovsky. West strikes back but can’t find his range at all. Makovsky comes in with a left hand, clinches with double underhooks, then gets a nice inside trip into West’s closed guard. West lands a few up-kicks as Makovsky stands. Makovsky back into the guard, but passes to half-guard. He’s not doing a whole lot though, as most of his shots are being blocked or landing without much effect. Another carbon-copy round ends in Makovsky’s favor.

These poker commercials kill me. I love when they try to act like poker is so exciting and compelling. It’s a basic card game. It’s much like this particular fight: it’s only really exciting to those who are participating, honestly. The commercials where poker players show us their “intimidating” glares are the best, though. Poker players are tough guys!

Round five sees things staying much the same. West’s telegraphed high kicks are still being blocked, Makovsky is still landing leg kicks, and Makovsky will still take down West immedi-oh, wait a minute. Kick to the berries by Makovsky. West wisely takes a few minutes to recover. The fight restarts and Makovsky takes down West again. he’s in side mount again, and he fails to utilize it again. Every ground situation replays in the exact same way with these two. I swear, if this fight went 100 rounds, they would all look identical to one another.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Makovsky has his head buried in West’s chest as West has full guard. Then Makovsky briefly postures up and flurries, only to settle back into West’s guard. He passes to side mount again, then West turns his hips and Makovsky stands up. It’s ridiculous. Body kick partially lands for West. West is bouncing around like he did in the first round, but he’s only flicking jabs and isn’t really trying to end the fight. I have no idea what he’s thinking…clearly he can’t win a decision. The final bell mercifully ends a well-paced but repetitive bout. I’ll be absolutely shocked if anyone has this with any other score than 50-45 Makovsky. And that’s saying something, considering how MMA judges have performed lately.

Unbelievably, two judges score it 49-46, and I’d love to know which round they gave to West, considering every round went the same way. The last judge gave it to Makovsky 50-44. Zach Makovsky is the Bellator Bantamweight Champion.

Things aren’t looking any better for the main event, sadly. Neil Grove will try his damnedest to do two nearly-impossible things: defend Cole Konrad’s takedowns, and have an exciting fight with Cole Konrad. I don’t think either is likely to happen, and this may be a very anticlimactic fight, too.

In the pre-fight hype video, Konrad correctly states that if his opponents can’t get away from his wrestling, that’s their problem. That’s true, but what about the poor viewers, Cole? “He’s in for a long night tonight,” Konrad says about Grove. Or maybe about me, since I have to watch this fight. Who knows?

Neil Grove is supposedly one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport. I love Bellator, but considering that the heavyweight division outside of the UFC and Strikeforce has all the depth of a kiddy pool, you’ll hopefully excuse my skepticism. Grove seems to be a nice enough guy, though I’d have hoped to see more footage of him working on takedown defense in the gym than hitting the Thai pads.

What’s the over/under for the first takedown in this one? 15 seconds? I’ll take the under. I do think this may get interesting if it goes to the final two rounds, which it just may. However, would Grove even benefit from that scenario? He should just lay back and let Konrad wear himself out, honestly. Of course, if Konrad doesn’t wear out, he’s screwed, but let’s be honest, he’s screwed anyway. I don’t like the chances of a guy whose background is “Goju Ryu Karate” in 2010 against a former wrestling standout.

Cole Konrad vs. Neil Grove

I should have taken the “over”, as the two largely just look at each other for the first fifty-five seconds, until Grove plants and throws a punch and is taken down immediately. Grove is able to stand right up though, as Konrad doesn’t control him. Konrad lands an inside leg kick, the first landed strike of the fight. Grove steps in with a sloppy left hook and Konrad takes the easy takedown into Grove’s half-guard.

Konrad isn’t doing anything but holding Grove down, though Grove messes up and essentially gives Konrad the mount. Konrad still doesn’t posture up and Grove just holds him down to keep him from being able to throw hard shots. Konrad doesn’t appear to be interested in posturing up and striking, choosing instead to wear down his opponent with the occasional short strike. Out of nowhere, Konrad locks up an Americana and has it cranked pretty hard. It doesn’t seem deep enough, but Konrad cranks it a bit more to get a loud groan and a tap from Grove.

Konrad is the first Bellator Heavyweight Champ, and I got spared another 21 minutes of seeing him fight. Everyone goes home happy! The replay shows Grove rolling away from the hold, essentially tightening it up for Konrad in the process.

Just as I was wondering who else advertises this late at night on CSN, a 37th poker commercial is followed by the infamous Shake Weight commercial.

We’re back, and Konrad is officially crowned the champ. Jimmy Smith really gives Konrad the benefit of the doubt for “expanding his repertoire” to add submissions. Come on. Wrestlers have been using the Americana since the early Pride days. It’s like a can opener or arm triangle from the side mount. It’s not like Konrad is busting off triangle chokes or mastering the rubber guard.

Next week, we’ll have the highly-anticipated Eddie Alvarez-Roger Huerta fight. Too bad it’s a non-title matchup, right?

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Tags: Bellator, Bellator 32, Bellator Fighting Championships, Cole Konrad, Ed West, Jim Wallhead, Neil Grove, Ryan Thomas, Zach Makovsky