ALVEREZ, LOMBARD WIN MMA TITLES AT BELLATOR XII

Even if you don’t understand Spanish, Bellator’s weekly shows on ESPN Deportes have been can’t miss events.  While their larger mission of growing the sport’s popularity within the Spanish speaking demographic is a long term goal, the promotion has been very successful in delivering great MMA action week after week.  They’ve been helped along the way by some highlight reel finishes and a couple of fight of the year candidates, and they’ve got a good chance to keep building on their momentum in the second season and solidify their status as a promotion on the rise.

The first season of Bellator Fighting culminated with title fights in both the middleweight and lightweight classes.  The lightweight finale served as the show’s main event and saw Eddie Alverez submitting Toby Imada early in the first round to take the title.  Imada, who is perhaps best known for his amazing inverted triangle choke submission victory over Jorge Masvidal in the semifinals, held his own in the first round and could have won it on the scorecards.  Imada used his slick judo skills to take Alverez down a couple of times, though his opponent quickly got to his feet.  Alverez mostly tried to maul Imada along the cage wall with knees and ‘dirty boxing’.  The judges’ were rendered irrelevant early in the second round, however, when Alverez got Imada to the canvas and cinched in a tight rear naked choke for the tapout victory at: 38 of the frame.

The middleweight championship saw Hector Lombard brutalize a courageous Jared Hess for three rounds before a doctor mandated stoppage early in the fourth gave him a TKO victory.  Lombard did it all in the first round, taking his opponent down and mauling him on the ground as well as pounding him in the standup.  By the end of the first round, Hess’s left eye had a huge mouse and was on its way to swelling shut.  The second round was also all Lombard, with Hess’s eye swelling even more and causing a quick inspection by the attending physician who let the fight continue after ascertaining that his vision wasn’t being compromised.

Hess continued to fight valiantly in the third, absorbing a hellacious amount of punishment but still trying to press the action.  He was repeatedly stuffed to takedown attempts, and found himself mounted after a failed effort to take Lombard to the canvas.  At this point Lombard opened a gusher of a cut over Hess’s right eye.  The doctor was once again summoned, and after mopping up the blood allowed the fight to continue.  The bleeding prompted a second evaluation later in the third, and between that and the severely swollen eye the doctor had seen enough by the early fourth round stopping the fight. 

A likely contender for the lightweight belt in season two, Jorge Masvidal looked impressive on the undercard as he dominated Eric Reynolds for two rounds before ending the contest via rear naked choke early in the third.