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The lone organization running an MMA event this week is the Bellator Fighting Championships, which will be crowning a brand new middleweight champion on Thursday Night. The championship was vacated last year when then champion Hector Lombard left the promotion to sign with the UFC. However, there is a top notch preliminary card taking place on Spike.com, including a featherweight tournament opening round fight.
Kicking off the action is a lightweight division fight as Jerrid Burke (5-2-0) competes against Joe “Hitman†Elmore (6-5-0). Burke has only won one of his last three fights, with that lone victory coming over Alan Arzeno at a CFA IV event. Elmore has won two of his last three fights, plus has competed against UFC veterans John Cofer and Diego Saraiva. Burke has the better record while Elmore has fought better competition, so it will be Elmore picking up the victory.
More lightweight division action is happening next as Shane “The Rabid Wolverine†Crenshaw (5-1-0) does battle with Ronnie “Bam Bam†Rogers (13-10-0). Crenshaw enters the fight riding a two fight winning streak, but this fight will be his first fight of 2013. Rogers will enter the fight riding a two fight winning streak, which includes a victory over UFC veteran Clay Harvison. Rogers is the most experienced fighter that Crenshaw has ever faced, but he will still be victorious on Thursday Night.
We move to the middleweight division for the next fight as “The Mama’s Boy†Kelvin Tiller (5-0-0) is in action against Dave Vitkay (11-12-0). Tiller is an undefeated fighter who holds a victory over WWE Tough Enough alumni Jeremiah Riggs at Bellator 70. Vitkay enters this fight with a poor record, but has fought UFC veterans Joe Riggs, Jesse Forbes and Hector Ramirez. Tiller is an undefeated fighter with a bright future ahead of him and he will gain the victory over the more experienced competitor.
Welterweights will enter the cage next as Clay “Heavy Metal†Harvison (9-5-0) takes on Ururahy “The Show†Rodrigues (5-4-0). Harvison enters the fight riding a three fight losing streak, which includes two straight losses in the UFC. Rodrigues has won three of his last four fights, which includes a victory over UFC veteran Diego Brandao. Rodrigues will be scoring the biggest victory of his career on Thursday Night when he takes out the UFC veteran.
Up next is a featherweight division fight as George Hickman (3-1-0) battles Stephen “The Advantage†Upchurch (2-1-0). Hickman will be looking to rebound from his first professional MMA defeat, which came to Stephen Upchurch. Upchurch already holds a victory over George Hickman, which happened at Bangkok Fight Night 12 in February 2012. It has been a year since these two last fought each other and in general, so it will be Upchurch winning two straight against Hickman.
Headlining this portion of the card is a featherweight tournament opening round fight as Alexandre “Popo†Bezerra (14-2-0) faces Genair “Junior PQD†Da Silva (13-4-0). Bezerra made it to the semi-finals of the season six featherweight tournament before losing to Marlon Sandro. Da Silva competed in the season five featherweight tournament, losing to Marlon Sandro in the opening round. These are two good fighters will some tournament experience, but it will be Bezerra advancing to the next round.
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