Alexander Shlemenko and Douglas Lima won the Bellator Fighting Championships middleweight and welterweight tournaments with impressive victories on Saturday night.
Shlemenko had no trouble at all defeating Vitor Vianna by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 30-27 and one scoring it 29-28. The fight took place almost entirely standing up, and that was exactly what Shlemenko wanted: He's a far better striker than Vianna and knew he'd cruise to a victory as long as Vianna couldn't get him to the ground. Vianna is a gifted Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner, but he wasn't able to use his submission skills in this fight.
"I really respect Vianna. He is a very, very tough opponent," Shlemenko said afterward.
With the victory, Shlemenko earns a rematch with Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, who beat Shlemenko last year.
As for the welterweight fight, it was fairly even in the first round, and Saunders probably deserved to win the first. But Lima brutalized Ben Saunders with a hard right hand just over a minute into the second round, and a series of hammer fists from Lima finished Saunders off on the ground. Lima is now on a nine-fight winning streak, and he'll be a tough test for Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, whom he'll fight in 2012.
In other Bellator action, Roger Hollett beat John Hawk by split decision, 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. And in the first televised fight of the evening, Alexandre Bezerra had his eye almost completely swollen shut by Doug Evans in the first round, but Bezerra still managed to force Evans to tap out to a heel hook before the first round ended.
Shlemenko had no trouble at all defeating Vitor Vianna by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 30-27 and one scoring it 29-28. The fight took place almost entirely standing up, and that was exactly what Shlemenko wanted: He's a far better striker than Vianna and knew he'd cruise to a victory as long as Vianna couldn't get him to the ground. Vianna is a gifted Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner, but he wasn't able to use his submission skills in this fight.
"I really respect Vianna. He is a very, very tough opponent," Shlemenko said afterward.
With the victory, Shlemenko earns a rematch with Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, who beat Shlemenko last year.
As for the welterweight fight, it was fairly even in the first round, and Saunders probably deserved to win the first. But Lima brutalized Ben Saunders with a hard right hand just over a minute into the second round, and a series of hammer fists from Lima finished Saunders off on the ground. Lima is now on a nine-fight winning streak, and he'll be a tough test for Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, whom he'll fight in 2012.
In other Bellator action, Roger Hollett beat John Hawk by split decision, 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. And in the first televised fight of the evening, Alexandre Bezerra had his eye almost completely swollen shut by Doug Evans in the first round, but Bezerra still managed to force Evans to tap out to a heel hook before the first round ended.
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