They’d all washed off by the end of the fight, but Polizzi was happy to explain them. “When I first started, I was no tattoos, and a lot of fighters nowadays get all inked up,” he said. “And I thought, ‘I want a piece of that!’ Times are tough, the quarter machines at the local grocery store never disappoint, throw a couple quarters in there, get inked up on a dime!”

Polizzi (7-0), an LFA light heavyweight champion, has a fun sense of humor outside of the cage, but he’s all business inside it. Beating a former champ in his promotional debut proves that. “Happy to be here, happy to put on a good show, but I know I can do better next time,” Polizzi said following the fight.

“Excellent opponent, and I know we’re getting to higher elite levels,” Polizzi later added. While he said he wasn’t exactly disappointed, he knows he can do even better. “Come Monday, we’re back at it in the gym, we’re looking back at this Carvalho fight saying ‘hey, we goofed up here, hey, we should have done better here,’ and we’re just looking at building on where we’re already at.”

Let’s get back to that sense of humor though. When it was pointed out by one reporter that he shared a last name with Jersey Shore star Snooki, Polizzi quipped “I wish you guys had not dug that up. What kind of investigative reporting are they doing in Bellator? No one’s brought that up so far!”

“Unrelated as far as I know,” he continued. “If somebody finds a family tree, please just keep that a secret. Please?!?”

A couple more performances like Friday, and Alex Polizzi might just be ready for his star turn.

The post Bellator 245: Alex Polizzi Happy to Put on a Show, Denies Snooki Connection appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Ed’s such a nice guy, I don’t like potentially injuring an opponent like that,” Johnson said following the win, which is unquestionably the biggest of his career to date. Nice guy or not, it wasn’t long before Johnson recognized the Ruth would be susceptible to the submission.

“As soon as I realized he wasn’t super-savvy in that position, I knew I was going to get the sub,” he told reporters at the Bellator 245 post-fight press conference.

What a difference a year has made. Johnson’s performance Friday, against an established talent in Ruth, was the polar opposite of his DWCS showing. “The Contender Series loss was just me getting a little too excited. Wanting to get that contract, coming out, like my dad says, I went after him like I was killing snakes. I was just getting after it.” He took a different approach Friday. “This fight I wanted to come out a little more reserved; pulling out the W in the first round, first couple of minutes, is a huge opportunity.”

Key to the win was what he changed between that last fight and now. “Composure. Being relaxed and staying composed. Realizing I have 15 minutes to knock someone out, I don’t need to do it in a minute and a half.”

With the win over an established talent in the promotion, Johnson believes he’s right in the mix in Bellator’s middleweight division. “Absolutely,” he said when the notion was suggested. “I don’t have a lot of fights, I’ve had dozens and dozens of guys all across the west coast who weren’t interested in fighting me. I had a lot of fights fall through, to have that opportunity against Ed — I have the ability to beat anybody, I’ve just got to go out there and do it.”

Despite the big win, Taylor Johnson isn’t ready to call anyone out just yet. “I haven’t really checked too deep into the roster, but I’m sure I’ll find someone in the next week that looks like an interesting opponent. I just want to fight tough guys really.”

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Stanonik was sent to hospital after a pair of low blows, powered by spinning back kicks, landed flush on his groin. Luckily, he’s okay. Still, the image of Stanonik pounding the canvas with his fists, crying in pain, will be a hard one for MMA fans to forget.

Once again, Raymond Daniels had gone viral — this time, for all the wrong reasons. Consider those kicks the low blows heard ’round the world.

The Bellator kickboxing champion, who had been appearing in just his fourth MMA bout, spoke to the media after the fight, which was ruled a no contest due to the accidental fouls.

“I hope my opponent, Peter, is okay. Obviously I never meant to hit anybody, as far as any type of low blows,” Daniels said, acknowledging that the outcome was “definitely not how I wanted the fight to go. In my head, I had an entirely different ending in mind.”

Asked whether he thought the first of the two fouls was, in fact, a low blow, Daniels responded by saying that “the first time I thought it was a body shot, but my foot’s kind of big.” After that, however, there was no question in his mind. “The second time, I definitely hit him in the groin pretty clean. He kicked me, kind of knocked me off-balance which made me miss my target a little bit. It’s unfortunate, as things in 2020 have been, it’s that kind of year. I normally don’t miss my spin kicks like that.”

Daniels referred to his spinning kicks as his grenade launcher, given they’re the hardest strike a fighter can throw. Which makes the strikes that landed all the more wince-inducing. “I hope he’s okay. I never really want to hurt my opponents in a way where they have to be carried off or anything like that,” Daniels reiterated.

For those surprised that Daniels attempted the same kick twice, he noted that “it’s instinctual sometimes. It’s a very open technique.”

“I fight in what’s called a flow state. Even though I think of these things while I’m training, when I’m in there fighting, things will just flow out naturally, without me even having to think about that technique,” he explained. “So that happened instantly, as a response because of the technique that he threw — which, that is the correct counter, it just landed in the wrong spot. I try to to keep it out of my mind not to throw things, because that creates handicaps for myself.”

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“I just want to fight. Of course I’m disappointed for a fight to end like that,” Fortune (8-1, 1NC) said following the bout, speaking at the post-fight press conference. “It’s not a win, it’s not a loss, but it’s just like a slip I guess. I don’t really know what you would call that, it’s just an accident.”

“He didn’t want to fight anymore, didn’t want to fight through it, so fight’s over,” a clearly disheartened Fortune stated.

Fortune didn’t really want to touch on whether he felt May could have continued. “I’m not going to try to guess on how his nuts feel,” he said. “I’ve been hit in the nuts three times in a fight, and I continued to fight every single time, because I just wasn’t going to leave a fight like that.  That’s up to his discretion. I’m not going to judge what his body feels like.”

However, Fortune did feel like he was going to dominate his opponent as the fight wore on. “I was really looking forward to the second round, just controlling him, seeing what was going to happen.”

In any case, Fortune, who was looking to shake off the first loss of his career, is ready to get back to work. “Obviously I didn’t take any damage. I’m ready to fight.”

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Smith (12-8-1) entered the fight 1-1 in Bellator, off a loss to Arelene Blencowe, who will be the next woman to face featherweight champ Cris Cyborg. Back in the win column, she’s put herself in line for a higher profile fight — with Zingano and former champ Julia Budd names that immediately come to mind.

“I want to fight someone higher up. I want to fight someone who’s going to set me up to move up, and to get a little bit more out of the whole experience,” Smith said following Friday’s event, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press.

Zingano was the name that was immediately suggested. “It would be an honor to get to fight her, [or] to fight Julia Budd,” said Smith. “I know I need to get another win before I can throw my name into the hat for the title shot, but of course that is the ultimate goal.”

It was very important to put on an impressive performance Friday, Smith added, given the last time she fought on a card with two women’s featherweight bouts, the winners were paired up. Logistically, that very much makes sense, with Cyborg already occupied.

“I hope that it’s Cat Zingano,” Smith admitted. The pair both started out in Colorado, recalled Smith. “At the time, she was Cat Albert. I totally had my eye on her. I feel like it would be a pretty cool thing of a big circle coming around if I get to— when I get to fight her. I’m going to speak it into existence: I think it’s going to be cool when I get to fight her. Hopefully that’s going to happen before this year is over.”

As for her performance Friday, Smith appeared pleased overall. “There’s some stuff that I’ve been working on for eight years, and I was able to put it together and do it in this fight,” she said.

The lack of a crowd may have worked to her advantage, she added. “I love the crowd, but I think I was able to slow things down a little more.” Going too slow, at times, was also “kind of a downfall too,” however. “I think that was one of the mistakes that I made, being able to switch from being like ‘okay I’m on the outside, I’m doing this’ and then being able to go in. I would have liked to have been able to make that switch a little faster.”

One of the big stories heading into the fight was Bell missing weight. While she tried to make amends during the face-offs ahead of the fight, saying she meant no disrespect, Smith was having none of it.

“Honestly, she didn’t make weight and I got a percentage of her purse. I get a little salty,” explained Smith. “I had some bad experiences with people not making weight. Three out of four, something like that, of the last people I’ve fought or have been lined up to fight haven’t made weight. It’s just disrespectful no matter how you look at it.”

“I know there’s a lot of different situations going on, we’re in a pandemic. I know she’s from Oregon, where there’s a lot of wild fires,” Smith allowed. “We were cool after the fight, but I would just like to be able to fight somebody who comes in like a professional, and not have any of those extra emotions, ever.”

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Calling the fight a big one for Zingano might be an understatement. She’d been out over a year. Joining a new promotion, with heavy expectations placed upon her. “Alpha” looked strong in the fight, however, against a fighter who just would not be put away.

Still, Zingano (11-4) was not overly thrilled with her performance in the cage at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on Friday night. “I can see where I can do better, where I’m capable of doing better,” said Zingano. There were positional battles, places and positions she got stuck, noted Cat, where she can improve.

“It’s definitely not a perfect performance. I have a ton of things that I can do better. And I will,” Zingano promised.

Yet while it wasn’t the greatest performance of her life, it still paid off. “It’s only up from here,” she suggested. Now it’s a matter of taking the win home and improving on it.

Part of that is mental. Zingano has been through a lot — an extended layoff, the loss of her husband — over the years. “This is part of my therapy, this is part of how I get through my day-to-day and all the things that have happened,” she explained.

“I want to see things that scare the crap out of me, and then stomp them. It’s my way of coping with things that I have,” she continued, adding that fighting keeps her connected to things that are important to her.

Following her win at Bellator 245, Zingano expressed disappointment at not being able to finish the fight. But with some time to reflect, she agreed that perhaps it’s for the best.

“Now, I’m sitting here, I understand my cardio, I understand going against somebody who is dead set against you getting the completion. There’s a lot to be said about these five minute rounds, getting a minute in between, getting a pep talk and going back in,” she told Cageside Press. “I’m glad I got all fifteen minutes, I guess including the breaks I got seventeen.” All that meant that Zingano “got to shake off things, get the nerves, get hit, do some hitting, and come out with my hand raised.”

After her own win earlier in the night, fellow UFC alum Leslie Smith suggested a fight between the two would make sense. Zingano agrees. “Definitely. I’ve been watching her, and I know she’s been watching me for many years,” she said, noting that the pair had a number of commonalities. “I think it’d be really interesting to get in there against each other, and kind of figure out how that one would go.”

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The end result of Friday’s bout at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT was a split decision win for “Mr. Wonderful.” Back in 2013, it was a unanimous decision victory. But still close.

Regardless of the finer details, a win is a win. Davis (22-5, 1NC) now has three of those in a row. Which could be enough to earn him a shot against light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov.

“I feel like, [Nemkov] can fight whoever he wants to fight, but I know deep down inside, the champion wants to fight the guy who was right on his ass,” Davis said during Friday’s Bellator 245 post-fight press conference. “I want that fight, and I know he wants that fight.”

After all, the pair met before, just over a year ago in another close fight. But if it’s not a title shot — and in these crazy pandemic era times, nothing is set in stone — is there anything else that makes sense?

Davis dismissed the idea of a third fight with Ryan Bader. “Absolutely not. You gotta know when to let sleeping dogs lie. Or like my grandma would say, ‘that dog don’t hunt!’ Listen, it’s good. He got me. Moving on.” There is, however, a fight that might work for Davis.

“Corey Anderson,” suggested Davis. “He’s definitely a veteran, he deserves a veteran’s welcome to the Bellator family. But that would be something to talk about, maybe, and only maybe, if Mr. Nemkov isn’t available.”

In the meantime, Davis is very proud of having taken a second win against Machida.

“Machida is such an amazingly elusive guy. It’s so hard to get a hand on him,” he observed. “I remember watching him fight Shogun Rua. Well twice, actually. And Shogun just could not get the movement, he couldn’t get him down. And Machida got the first win over him. He’s just one of those guys, he’s very frustrating.”

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The pair’s first meeting was a close one. Nothing had changed come Friday night in Uncasville, CT.

As always, Machida opened in his karate stance, staying light on his feet, and opting to fire off a kick down the middle early. Davis was forced to hunt him down, and figure out the bizarre angles presented by the Brazilian. Davis would flip the script, going upstairs with a head kick that was partially blocked. He’d also utilize a push kick, which forced Machida to stay at range.

Round two opened with a similar chess match playing out. Davis flashed his jab, but didn’t have his range down. Machida continued to be elusive, circling, looking to pick his spot. The pair traded kicks, but neither fighter was able to put together a combination, at least not that landed. Around the two minute mark, Davis landed a punch that sent Machida scrambling, more off-balance than hurt — but he appeared to roll his ankle a little during the sequence. Davis, meanwhile, was finding success with his kicks. Off an exchange that had Machida retreating, Davis was able to take control of his opponent’s back while standing, but there was no time left in the round in which to work.

The third and final frame saw the pair trading kicks early in the round. Davis had settled in and found a rhythm, relying on his kicks, the odd jab, and forcing Machida to turn up his offense. However as the round wore on, the teep and push kicks that served Davis so well earlier in the bout were nowhere to be found. Both men turned it up in the final minute, but they’d end up going to the judges. Machida may have done enough to take the third, but he didn’t do enough to win the fight, at least not in the eyes of two judges.

It could be Vadim Nemkov next for Davis — we’ll know soon enough.

Official Result: Phil Davis def. Lyoto Machida by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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In the end, the fight moved forward at a catchweight. There was little question that, after the coronavirus pandemic had delayed her debut, Zingano would press on. Bellator, meanwhile, had officially announced earlier on Friday that Cris Cyborg’s first title defense would come against Arlene Blencowe. Another factor for the winner of Zingano vs. Holloway would need to consider.

An early clinch Friday night in Uncasville, Connecticut led to a brief spell on the ground, with Zingano working off her back. That didn’t last, and back on the feet, “Alpha” Cat worked her opponent back to the cage, working in knees during a positional battle. Zingano looked for a sweep in an attempt to get Holloway down, then finally landed the takedown off a throw. That gave her a minute to work from side control, which took her to the end of the round.

Zingano opened the second with a couple of low kicks, while Holloway tried to stay light on her feet. Again, Cat went for a clinch and a takedown by the fence. Nearly giving up her back in a scramble, she managed to recover and get into guard. This time out, Zingano had far more time to work with. Zingano eventually worked from the back, with Holloway covering up and trying to get to the fence.

Early in the third, Zingano simply muscled Holloway to the canvas. From then she got right into guard, but Holloway used the fence to escape. The next time they hit the ground, it was Zingano on the bottom, with Holloway landing right in mount. That gave Gabby a chance to land some ground n’ pound, while Zingano held on, hands clasped. Holloway began dropping elbows, Zingano still hanging on. Just as things were getting real dicey, Zingano reversed, getting into half guard. Holloway worked her way free, eating a few knees for her efforts. Her time in mount likely won her the round, but Zingano finished in control, and had done enough to win the fight.

Official Result: Cat Zingano def. Gabrielle Holloway by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)

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Opposite Ruth on Friday, a fellow wrestler in Taylor Johnson. But one who had a wee bit of experience in the jiu-jitsu realm as well. That experience paid dividends on Friday.

If you thought Ruth was going to having a dominant performance falling back on his bread and butter, his wrestling, you were wrong. Early on, Johnson gripped on to a leg, and began hunting a submission. Ruth, try as he might, could not break free of the hold. Johnson latched on with a heel hook — an inverted heel hook to be exact — and before long, Ruth was forced to tap.

Taylor Johnson was not on the radar prior to Friday, but after submitting Ed Ruth win an inverted heel hook, he most certainly is now. A big win for Johnson, and a rude welcome back to the middleweight division for Ed Ruth.

Official Result: Taylor Johnson def. Ed Ruth by submission (inverted heel hook), Round 1, 0:59

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