Posts Tagged ‘Marlon Sandro’

Daniel Straus wins Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament

by on May 15, 2012 5:05:17 PM in Features, Fighter Features   |   No Comments »

Daniel Straus defeated Marlon Sandro via unanimous decision to win the Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament.

 

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Daniel Straus is going to need a deposit slip.

The second time proved to be the charm for the 27-year old Straus, who, in his second appearance in a Bellator Featherweight Tournament Final, defeated Marlon Sandro via unanimous decision Friday night at Bellator 68 inside Caesar’s Atlantic City.

Nearly a year since his loss to Patricio Freire in the Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament, Straus bounced back with unanimous-decision victories over Jeremy Spoon, Mike Corey and finally Sandro to earn at $100,000 payday and a date with either Freire or current champion Pat Curran for the Bellator featherweight title.

“It’s been a really, really long ride with a lot of bumps, a lot of bruises, a lot of tears and a lot of blood, but I’m here,” Straus said at the post-fight press conference.

Straus (20-4) outpointed the veteran Sandro 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 thanks to a much-improved striking game. He was getting the better of the dangerous Sandro in their exchanges and managed to stay away from the Brazilian’s looping right hand that has switched off several fighters over the course of his eight-year pro career. After two rounds Straus was comfortably ahead, but Sandro (22-4) nearly stunned him in the third round when he tried to sink in a standing arm-triangle. The choke looked tight – and it was – but Straus was able to get free and finish with a big slam that put the finishing touches on his biggest victory to date.

“It was tight,” Straus admitted. “I kinda saw it coming and I thought I could turn the corner, but he closed the distance quickly.

Straus knew his only chance of holding off the submission attempt was to stay on his feet.

“It would’ve been a wrap,” Straus said.

Since going 1-2 to start his career, Straus has won 19 of his last 21 fights. His only losses during that span have to against – fittingly so – Curran and Freire. He’ll get his chance for a measure of revenge no matter whomever he faces.

“I’m not looking for a grudge fight, I’m just looking to win that title no matter who has it,” Straus said.

Curran and Freire will most likely square off in the final summer series event, which could be in July or August, according to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. Straus will face the winner for the title sometime in late fall, Rebney also said.

Galvao advances to 135-pound final

Marcus Galvao (11-5 MMA, 3-2 BFC) overpowered Travis Marx (19-4 MMA, 1-1 BFC) to become the first to advance to this season’s bantamweight final. The 29-year old Brazilian peppered Marx with vicious kicks and effectively mixed in his boxing to control the standing portion of the fight. Good takedown defense kept Marx from moving the fight to the ground, and Galvao continued to out-strike him on their feet. Galvao took the two of the three rounds on the judges scorecards for a 29-28 victory across the board.

“It’s been a dream since a kid to win this tournament,” Galvao said through a translator.

It was emotional day for Galvao, who dedicated the fight to his mother, who passed away from cancer two weeks prior to the start of the tournament.

Held hooks ‘em again

Derrick Kennington knew exactly what he had to look out for, but in the end it didn’t matter.

The New Jersey native stepped in for his injured coach, UFC veteran Kurt Pellegrino, to take on submission specialist Marcin Held. He knew exactly the spots to stay away from, and certainly started strong when he knocked down Held with a punch in the opening minute. Kennington jumped on Held and started throwing bombs looking to finish the fight. Held was able to escape, however, and quickly went to his bread and butter move.

Held shot in for a takedown and dropped down for a leg lock. Kennington tried to spin free but Held had a firm lock on a heel hook and forced Kennington to tap at 2:08 of the first round.

“I went down but I recovered quickly,” Held said. “I took him down and did what I do best. I tried a heel hook and it worked. Next time I’ll have better standup.”

The 20-year old Pole won by submission for the seventh time to up his career mark to 13-2 and 2-1 in Bellator. Rebney continued to sing Held’s praises, calling him ‘The Polish version of Shinya Aoki’.

“He’s a spectacular submission artist,” Rebney said. “It’s hard for me to believe he’s just 20-years old.”

Rebney also liked what he saw from Kennington. Even though he didn’t make it out of the first round, he thinks the Pellegrino MMA product has earned another chance.

“Marcin Held is a submission freak but much like a lot of the great Japanese fighters if you can stay away from that aspect of their game you have a good chance to win the fight,” Rebney added. “But any mistake is fatal. Add that to the fact that it’s a big fight that is on TV and it’s a lot of pressure on somebody. There’s no shame in losing to a guy like Marcin Held, specifically in a way he beats everybody.”

“You have to applaud guys like that who are willing to step up. He didn’t crumble and he stepped up in an enormous way.  A lot of other people wouldn’t have done that.”

Zaromskis, Spiritwolf entertain but still seek resolution

From five seconds to 10 minutes,  this time there was actually plenty of substance to the matchup between Marius Zaromskis and Waachiim Spiritwolf.

But for the second straight time each left the cage with a sense of unfinished business.

After a dominating second round by Spiritwolf in which he nearly put Zaromskis way twice, the bout was called due to a deep cut over the right eye of Spiritwolf to give Zaromskis the TKO victory.

Spiritwolf was impressive in the first round by effectively moving into the clinch and staying inside Zaromskis’ dangerous kicks. He scored a pair of takedowns and briefly took his opponent’s back, ultimately doing enough to control the round.

Midway through the second round Zaromskis landed consecutive knees to the face of Spiritwolf and looked to have him hurt. But Spiritwolf countered by swinging away in a flurry that pinned Zaromskis against the cage. Zaromskis tried to scurry out of danger but Spiritwolf caught him with another punch that dropped him to the floor. Spiritwolf jumped on him and looked to finish, but Zaromskis was somehow able to regain his composure while Spiritwolf slowed as he ended the round in top position.

It looked like Spiritwolf was up 20-18 through two rounds and the crowd was fired up for a third round. But during their exchanges a significant cut had opened above Spiritwolf’s eye and the cage-side doctor determined it was too severe to continue. Spiritwolf looked to be in fairly good shape and was visibly upset by the stoppage. Zaromskis wasn’t even sure what was happening until the official decision was rendered.

“My hand was full of blood and I was like, ‘what’s going on’,” Zaromskis said. “I was worried maybe I’m cut. After I found out it was his head but I was waiting for the third round.”

The pair first met under the Strikeforce banner in 2010. That fight was deemed a no contest after an accidental eye poke by Zaromskis.

“We went from five seconds to 10 minutes,” Zaromskis said. “I’m ready for a third time if Bellator wants it.”

Zaromskis, the current DREAM welterweight champion, improves to 17-6 with his third consecutive victory.

Quick knockout highlights undercard

A heck of a lot happened in half a minute.

That was proven during the undercard bout between Aung La NSang and Jesus Martinez. Martinez opened the fight by quickly dropping NSang with punches and pouncing to finish. NSang quickly recovered, got back to his feet and returned the favor by sending Martinez to the mat with punches. NSang was able to land several clean strikes on the ground to force the TKO stoppage at 36 seconds of the first round.

Francios Amborg opened the event with a split-decision victory over Gregory Milliard at 185 pounds. Anthony Leone then defeated Claudio Ledesma via split decision at 135. Leone won 30-27 on two judges scorecards, but Ledesma was curiously scored to win the fight, 29-28, by one judge. An exciting, back-and-forth battle between Don Carlo-Clauss and Jacob Kirwan in the lightweight division produced a split-decision win for Carlo-Clauss.

The Kennington-Held bout was originally slated for the preliminary card, but was moved to the main card when the Carmelo Marrero-Seth Petruzelli fight was cancelled. A pre-fight medical exam revealed fluid in Petruzelli’s lungs, and a second opinion confirmed he could not fight.

Bellator 68

Main Card Results

-Daniel Straus def. Marlon Sandro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

-Marcos Galvao def. Travis Marx via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

-Marcin Held def. Derrick Kennington via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 2:08

-Marius Zaromskis def. Waachiim Spiritwolf via TKO (doctor’s stoppage due to cut) – Round 2, 5:00

Preliminary Card Results

-Don Carlo-Clauss def. Jacob Kirwan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

-Aung La Nsang def. Jesus Martinez via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:36

-Anthony Leone def. Claudio Ledesma via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)

-Francois Ambang def. Gregory Milliard via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Daniel Straus to defend NAAF’s belt while waiting for Freire, Curran winner in Bellator

by on May 14, 2012 10:18:39 AM in Videos   |   No Comments »

MMADieHards,com caught up with Daniel Straus following his victory over Marlon Sandro at Bellator 68 to win the Bellator Season 6 featherweight tournament.

Bellator 68 Live Results

by on May 11, 2012 6:42:38 PM in News   |   No Comments »

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Bellator 68 weigh-in results

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Bellator 68 adds Marlon Sandro vs. Daniel Straus featherweight-tourney finale

by on April 15, 2012 2:08:07 PM in News   |   No Comments »

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Marlon Sandro reflects on Bezerra victory, anticipates Straus, dreams of defeating Curran

by on April 7, 2012 7:31:08 PM in Videos   |   1 Comment »

Marlon Sandro victorious at Bellator 64 (Photo by: Robert G. Reynolds/mmadiehards.com)

Bellator Season 6 featherweight finalist Marlon Sandro believes he will meet Daniel Straus in the finale, but his dream is to take Pat Curran’s title.

Bellator 64 recap: Askren remains champ, Sandro advances to welterweight finals, Marx and Nakamura are Season 6 bantamweightweight semifinalists

by on April 6, 2012 10:43:16 PM in Features, Fighter Features   |   No Comments »

Ben Askren (Top) defeating Douglas Lima (Bottom) at Bellator 64. (Photo courtesy of Rob Reynolds/MMADieHards)

The Bellator welterweight championship did not change hands, and a Bellator Season 6 welterweight finalist and two bantamweight semifinalists have been decided.

Ben Askren defended his 170-pound title against Douglas Lima  in a five round affair.

Marlon Sandro won a close split-decision against Alexandre Bezerra to go on to the Bellator Season 6 welterweight finale.

Travis Marx picked up a unanimous decision victory to beat Masakatsu Ueda, and Hiroshi Nakamura weathered a couple of grueling shots en route to defeating Rodrigo Lima to advance to the bantamweight semifinals.

Lima avoided the takedown of Askren in the early going, but the inevitable happened about midway through the opening frame.  Askren put Lima on his back, but he did not have his way with him.  The Brazilian was striking off his back and attempted various submissions.  Nevertheless, the bout remained on the mat until the round ended.

Round 2 began and so did the takedown.  After eating a high front-kick, Askren put Lima on his back.  Lima was in mount position for a brief moment, but Askren gained top control and smothered the Brazilian for the remainder of the round.

It should come as no surprise that within the first minute of the fourth frame the fight was on the mat.  Askren dominated Lima with ground and pound, yet also attempted a submission, but the former MFC welterweight champion avoided tapping out.  The ref stood the bout back up and the round ended with Askren controlling Lima on the ground.

Round 4 showed some of Lima’s feature striking, but before long, the contest was back on the ground.  Askren didn’t cause as much damage as he did in earlier rounds, but he still controlled the frame.  Lima was close to completing an armbar, but the champ pulled out.  The round finalized with Askren laying in Lima’s guard, and “The Phenom” appearing fatigued.

Round 5, 30 seconds in and Lima was on his back again.  Askren pinned Lima against the cage on the floor, postured up and unleashed ground and pound for the final four minutes of the fight.

Askren won a decisive decision and remained the Bellator welterweight champion, and he commented on the fans that don’t appreciate his wrestling ability.

“If you don’t like wrestling in MMA there’s a sport called boxing,” Askren stated in a post-fight interview.

The intensity from the moment the bell rang could be felt throughout the venue.  Sandro and Bezerra exchanged punches and kicks, and every strike had ill intentions behind it.  Though, each fighter landed shots that resembled the sound of a yard stick cracking a chalkboard, the heaviest bombs kept missing.  Sandro dropped Bezerra on two separate occasions with leg kicks, but never had the opportunity to capitalize on the downed opponent.  The round came to a halt as Sandro was readying to throw a flying-knee.

Bezerra showed good head movement and threw more kicks in the beginning of the second frame, but had trouble getting inside the longer Marlon.  Neither fighter showed an interest in taking the bout to the canvas, but in the final minute of the round, Sandro attempted a double-leg takedown that was rejected.  Both Brazilians happily traded strikes until the bout ran out of time.

In a change of pace, Bezerra charged out of his corner at the beginning of the third round and took Sandro to the mat.  Sandro nullified the attacks and the bout resumed to standing.  Bezerra clipped Sandro and the Bellator Season 5 welterweight finalist dropped, but it was hard clarify if it was a knock down or a slip.  Bezerra continued to push the pressure, landing more punches on Sandro and being the aggressor as the round finalized.

Sandro went on to win a split decision and advance to the Bellator Season 6  welterweight finals.

Marx had an answer for anything Ueda came at him with in this bantamweight quarterfinal contest.

After a minute and a half of a feeling out process, Marx locked his hands around Ueda and slammed the Japanese mixed martial artist to the canvas.  Ueda reacted quickly and went for a kimura from the bottom, but Marx was free in no time.  The bout eventuated to its feet and both combatants traded leather until the frame finalized.

Marx came out of his corner in the second round and attempted a flying-knee that missed.  Ueda tackled the American to the mat and ended up in Marx’s guard.  The two bantamweights competed for a dominate position, as they each took turns from back to mount to back control.  Marx had Ueda in a peculiar position that appeared as if he was trying to accomplish a variation of a triangle-choke.  Ueda defended and the bout returned to standing and striking.

The final round started and both fighters took the center of the cage.  Neither athlete backed down, as they exchanged punches and kicks, to the head and body.  Ueda managed to grapple Marx to the ground, and after he could not get the Utah native’s back, he tried to achieve a crucifix.  The maneuver was never completed and they returned to competing on their feet.

They stood toe-to-toe as the match ended, trading sloppy strikes, not retreating from one another.

Marx came away the winner, with all three judges awarding him the bout.

Nakamura’s N. American debut went well for him, but not so much for his groin.

The fight hit the mat immediately and Lima attempted a submission.  Nakamura defended well, and following a chess match on the ground, the Japanese native was back to his feet while Lima laid on his back.  Nakamura circled his opponent, slamming his shin against Lima’s calf, but the Brazilian swiftly leapt to his feet and secured standing back-control.

After a short break due to a groin shot that Nakamura was on the wrong end of, the action continued and Lima came out guns a blazing.  Nakamura absorbed a few heavy shots to the dome, but clinched up and the fight made its way back to the floor as the round ended.

The second round began with yet another knee to the groin from Lima.  A brief pause occurred and the bout ensued.  Nakamura latched a body lock on Lima and dragged him to the ground.  After tussling against the cage on the mat, Lima went for a series of submissions, including two triangle-chokes and an armbar.  Nakamura fought off the submission efforts, but then had to deal with Lima’s ankle and leg-lock attempts.  The round ended with Lima being deducted a point for his pair of strikes to where the sun don’t shine.

Round 3 began and Lima was on his back almost instantly.  “Ratinho” landed strikes and tried to complete any submission that presented itself to him.  In the closing minute of the round, both fighters were intertwined in each other’s heel-hooks.  The referee stood the combatants back up, but the match ended shortly thereafter.

Nakamura picked up a unanimous decision, 29-27 on all accounts, and “Iron” commented on his first bout on a new continent.

“This is my first time in North America, now that I am over that I look forward to fighting here again,” he said.

Bellator 64 results

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Bellator 60 Recap: Curran takes the title, Sandro and Bezerra earn the submission while Straus and Corey decision their way into the semi-finals

by on March 9, 2012 10:58:37 PM in Features, Fighter Features   |   No Comments »

 

Bellator featherweight champion, Pat Curran (Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com)

Bellator Fighting Championships opened their Season 6 featherweight tournament Friday night at The Venue at Horseshoe Hammond in Hammond, Ind.

Headlining the card was a championship bout that saw the Summer Series tournament winner Pat Curran taking the featherweight title from Joe Warren.

Within the tournament, Daniel Straus grinded out Jeremy Spoon, Mike Corey dominated Ronnie Mann, Marlon Sandro submitted Roberto Vargas and Alexandre Bezerra forced Kenny Foster to tap advancing them into the semi-final round.

Almost taking the belt in the first round, Curran excited fans as he landed a head kick that had the champion back peddling to gain composure.  However, used to being in a brawl, Warren quickly recovered and started the march over.

However, the fight never made it into the championship rounds as Curran turned up the aggression coming out for the third, picking the champ apart.  Rocking Warren with a knee, Curran landed punches-in-bunches, knocking out his opponent to take home the featherweight title.

Entering the Bellator featherweight tournament for the first time, Spoon looked to keep his undefeated record intact against Straus – a tourney veteran.

Being the bigger fighter, Straus used his size to control where the fight went and dominated his opponent for 15-minutes.  While Spoon made attempts at being the aggressor, the judges still felt otherwise and gave Straus the unanimous decision win, sending him to the semi-final round.

Continuing with quarter-final action, British fighter Mann, jumped in the cage against the American, Corey.

Mann appeared to have the early control, out-striking his opponent, but that quickly changed once Corey took the fight to the mat.  Wrestling proved to be the weakness in Mann’s fight game and Corey exploited it, controlling his opponent on the ground for the remaining rounds.

Solidifying his place in the next round, Corey took home the unanimous decision victory over Mann.

Starting out the Season 6 Featherweight tournament was a quarter-final bout between Sandro and Vargas.  The Brazilian came out early looking to bang his way in to the tournament semi-finals, dropping Vargas with a violent uppercut.

While Vargas initially recovered, Sandro quickly put his opponent back on the canvas where the fight quickly came to an end.  Locking his position in the next round, Sandro finished Vargas via rear naked choke in the first round.

Shown on the preliminary card due to time restraints, Bezerra faced Foster in a late fight change in order to earn his way to the next round.  Not fazed by the late changes, Bezerra managed to lock on a rear naked choke late in the second round, forcing Foster to tap with three seconds remaining.

Joe Warren vs. Pat Curran leads the way along with Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament brackets in Crystal Lake

by on January 19, 2012 3:37:04 PM in News   |   No Comments »

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