Bellator 66 Reaction

Bellator consistently providing great shows and Bellator 66 didn't disappoint. Bellator 66 featured the Lightweight Semi Finals and the Middleweight Semi Finals along with a Light Weight match between Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki.

Starting off with the first lightweight semifinal match between Thiago Michel and Brent Weedman. What I really liked about this fight was Thiago Michels stand up, he looked incredible with his kickboxing but Weedman responded very well and took over the fight with his ground game. Weedman didn't land nothing too devastating from the ground but he did manage to control Michel very well often finding himself hammering down strong knees from side control. Overall a very nice fight to start off the event. Weedman took the victory and advanced to the Lightweight Tourney finals.

The next lightweight semifinal match was between Rick Hawn and Lloyd Woodard. Rick Hawn really impressed me with how well he could stay focused and stick to his game plan. In this fight Woodard really tried egging Hawn into a slug fest. Woodard dropped his hands alot and was talking alot of shit but Hawn had none of it. Hawn effectively pressed Woodard into the fence and worked the clinch for the first round. In the second round Woodard did exactly what I expected him to do, come at Hawn hot with his hands down and sure enough he got cracked with a strait punch that dropped him game over for Woodard Hawn advanced to the Lightweight finals to face Weedman.

The first middleweight semifinal match was Maiquel Falcao vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky. I cant say Falcao really impressed me in this fight even though he won he was highly regarded for a devastating power puncher but it looked like Vasilevsky's footwork was able to help him evade most of the power shots. Falcao did show me he had an excellent defensive guard and even went for a arm bar early in the first round. Although it seemed like Vasilevsky was owning the first two rounds Falcao came to late in the 2nd and was able to start landing on Vasilevsky. In the third it was all Falcao which earned him a someone surprising unanimous decision win over Vasilevsky.

The second middleweight semifinal was Brian Rogers vs. Andreas Spang and this one was a fierce barn burner. Rogers who has impressed me in last years tourney came in guns blazing hurting Spang and often, however in this fight I realized that Rogers still has alot to learn before he can move up to the next level. Roger had Spang hurt and backing up early in the first when Rogers went for a kick but slipped what seriously impressed me about Spang is how quickly he capitalized on the small window that Rogers gave him. Spang ended up taking his back and had a RNC nearly locked in but Rogers was able to defend it well and got out of it. Then Rogers kept landing huge shots on Spang but was never able to get him out of there. In the second it was more of the same, just when you thought Spang was finally gonna go down he caught Rogers with a clean counter and dropped him and then followed up with a vicious hammer fist to seal the deal.

The main event was a super fight rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki. The two battled back in 2008 were Shinya Aoki won by a leg lock. This fight was a turning point for Eddie Alvarez, coming off a loss to Michael Chandler and losing his Bellator LW Championship a loss to Aoki would be devastating for his career. Alvarez was able to win the fight by TKO after rocking Aoki in the first and then raining down blows to stop the fight. Eddie kept the fight standing we're he had a advantage and avoided the ground game of Aoki at all cost and it got him the win. Now we're no sure what's next for Alvarez but a UFC contract might be in the cards for the former Ruler of the Bellator LW Division.

Overall it was a very entertaining card and Bellator delivered once again! Check in for more reactions for next weeks Bellator card, and the UFC 145 Reaction.