Bellator 116 is in the books, as the show came to us last night from Temecula, California featuring the semi-finals of their season 10 Heavyweight Tournament. Neither tournament bout made it past the first round, as Blagoi Ivanov submitted Lavar Johnson and Alexander Volkov took out Mighty Mo Siliga. As predicted, this sets up an all Russian tournament final that earns the champion a win at the Russian Champion, Vitaly Minakov. Of all of Bellator’s top heavyweights, who are just barely mid-tier UFC level if that, none even speak English. Apparently, Bellator is saying ‘nyet’ to ratings, I know Ivanov is Bulgarian, but they understand ‘nyet’ those Bulgarians do! Let’s look at the fights and the upcoming tournament finals.
Blagoi Ivanov did not mess around with Lavar Johnson, who had his same predictable game of looking to land his big punch. Ivanov threw him a couple of times before securing control on the ground and finishing with the arm lock. Once again, Johnson had no answers for a fighter with a more compete game.
Big Mo Siliga came in with a strikers pedigree and a reputation as a poor man’s Mark Hunt. He came in and showed some smarts and diversity, as he didn’t seem to want to strike with the 6’7 Russian and came in looking for the take down. Volkov however, has come a long way. His frame has filled out and he is a far cry from the awkward, lanky kid that he was when he started in Bellator. He showed poise and confidence, and his front kicks are lethal. Blagoi and him is an interesting match-up of styles, and look for it to be a heated match, as Bulgarians and Russians share a heated rivalry in sports that goes back decades. Bulgarian and Russian are languages with a lot of similarities, and most Bulgarians learn Russian in school. Most locals wont appreciate it because neither man is exactly CM Punk on the microphone, but this fight could be a really hot fight because of the ethnic influences. Give the edge to Volkov going in, we will see where the sportbooks put the odds.
