[Bellator FC]: Stagione 2 - Settimana 1 - matchup per i pesi piuma (08/04/2010)
Joe Warren will meet John Eric Marriott in one April 8 quarter-final, while Georgi Karakhanyan will lock horns with Bao Quach in the other.
Warren, a decorated amateur wrestler, won gold at the 2006 Pan-Am Games, the 2006 FILA Wrestling World Championships and the 2007 Wrestling World Cup. He was an All-American at the University of Michigan. The 33-year-old stunned the mixed martial arts community in 2009, when he debuted with a first-round technical knockout win over former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion Chase Beebe and then outpointed Japanese standout Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. Anchored at Team Quest, Warren last appeared in October, when he submitted to a first-round armbar from the world-ranked Bibiano Fernandes at Dream 11.
Marriott has not competed since December, when he submitted Sean Wilson with a second-round rear-naked choke at a Titan Fighting Championships event. The 24-year-old Independence, Mo., native has never been finished in 19 professional bouts and holds notable victories over UFC exile Ryan Roberts and WEC veteran Chris Mickle. Based out of the Kids to Leaders MMA Gym in Lee’s Summit, Mo., Marriott has secured nearly half (eight) of his 17 career wins by submission.
A former professional soccer player, Karakhanyan last fought in May, when he earned a unanimous decision against Albert Rios at Call to Arms 1. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt has delivered eight of his 12 career wins by submission, seven of them inside one round. Karakhanyan, who trains out of the Millennia Mixed Martial Arts Training Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has never been finished. Nicknamed “Insane,” he absorbed his lone defeat in a disputed split decision to Chris David in 2008. The 24-year-old will carry an eight-fight winning streak into Bellator’s second season.
A Colin Oyama protégé, Quach has posted 11 wins 12 fights, losing only to current WEC featherweight L.C. Davis in that span. A potent striker, he holds notable victories against UFC veteran Douglas Evans and former WEC champion Cole Escovedo; Quach also fought the world-ranked Hatsu Hioki to a draw in 2006. The son of two California-based Vietnamese physicians, Quach has not been finished since being knocked out by a head kick from former International Fight League featherweight titleholder Wagnney Fabiano in June 2006.
The quarter-final matchups do not end there.
Wilson Reis, a semi-finalist in Bellator’s Season 1 featherweight tournament, will collide with Shad Lierley in one of two first-round bouts on April 15. Patricio Freire will meet fellow unbeaten William Romero in the other.
Reis, a former EliteXC titleholder, suffered his only career defeat to reigning Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto in May. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he last appeared in November, when he earned a unanimous decision over Dwayne Shelton at an Extreme Force show. The Philadelphia-based Brazilian has rattled off back-to-back wins since his loss to Soto.
Lierley’s lone defeats came inside the IFL, where he dropped a spirited decision to recent WEC signee Chris Horodecki in June 2007 before being knocked out by Fabiano 10 months later. The 29-year-old wrestled collegiately at New York University and will ride a three-fight winning streak into his next match. Lierley outpointed Nathan Murdock in a unanimous decision at his Bellator debut in May.
Perfect through a dozen professional fights, Freire last appeared in December, when he submitted Johnny Iwasaki with a second-round guillotine choke at a Platinum Fight Brazil event. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, spawned by the Chute Boxe Academy, has delivered 10 of his 12 career wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Freire now trains under the Nogueira brothers.
Romero, a 27-year-old featherweight and one of Canada’s top prospects, has won all five of his fights as a professional, four of them finishes. He has not competed since August, when he knocked out TKO veteran Guillaume Lamarche in 17 seconds under the Ringside MMA banner in Montreal. Romero was once a paratrooper in the Canadian Armed Forces.
“As an MMA fan, I can’t wait to see these fights,” Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a release. “Having watched all of these guys in the cage, I can’t tell you who the favorite will be. There’s been great buzz about our 145-pound division, and it’s definitely warranted. This tournament is a mine field for each of these fighters.”
