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The sole focus of the MMA universe this week is squarely on the Bellator Fighting Championships, as they are the only major promotion running an event this weekend. The promotion is rewarding the fans who will be checking out the action with a pair of tournament finals. If that was not enough, there are also two big fights to check out in both the bantamweight and welterweight divisions.
Kicking off the action is a bantamweight division fight as Rodrigo “Ratinho†Lima (10-1-0) does battle with Ronnie “Iron Mann†Mann (21-5-1). Lima will be looking to rebound from his first professional MMA defeat, which came to Hiroshi Nakamura at Bellator 64. Mann has won three of five in Bellator, including a run to the semi-finals of the 2011 Bellator “Summer Series†Bantamweight Tournament. This fight could easily be the show stealer of the entire event, but it will be Mann picking up the victory in this one.
Welterweights will be stepping into the cage next as Trey “That Just Happened?†Houston (10-1-0) battles Luis “Sergio Junior†Melo (28-11-3). Houston has split both of his Bellator fights, defeating Jeremiah Riggs and suffering a defeat to Billy Horne. Melo enters the fight riding a five fight winning streak, with three victories coming in the Pentagon Combat promotion. The winner of this bout could be put into next season’s welterweight tournament and it will be Melo getting that opportunity.
Up next is the season eight light heavyweight tournament finals as “The Hardcore Kid†Emanuel Newton (20-7-1) faces Mikhail Zayats (21-6-0). Newton earned his way to the tournament finals with a pair of victories over Atanas Djambazov and King Mo. Zayats was able to call himself a tournament finalist after defeating the duo of Renato Sobral and Jacob Noe. These are two fighters who nobody really believed would become tournament finalist, but it will be Newton winning the tournament.
Headlining this card is the season eight lightweight tournament finals as Saad Awad (14-4-0) takes on David “The Caveman†Rickels (13-1-0). Awad punched his ticket to the tournament finals as he earned victories over Guillaume DeLorenzi and Will Brooks. Rickels got himself a spot in the tournament finals after he achieved victories over Lloyd Woodard and Jason Fischer. These are two of the more exciting fighters in all of Bellator at the moment, but it will be Rockels winning the whole thing.
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