Bellator Adds Japanese Talent For 2012 Bantamweight Tournament
by Josh Nason on Dec 17, 2011 4:25 PM EST
in Bellator News
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Bellator Bantamweight Champion Zach Makovsky didn't defend his title a single time in 2011 but already has one title defense scheduled for 2012 with the next title challenger to be crowned during their next season.
The promotion announced Saturday they have officially signed Masakatsu Ueda and Hiroshi Nakamura for the tournament, joining Alexis Vila, Marcos Galvao, Ed West, Rodrigo Lima and Luis Alberto Nogueira. The final slot is still to be announced.
The 30-year-old Nakamura (14-5-4) has competed mainly for Japanese organizations like Shooto and Deep, winning three of his four fights in 2011. He's mainly a decision fighter (12 decision wins) so don't expect a ton of flashy finishes. David Castillo reported on the soon to be 34-year-old Ueda's signing in-depth earlier this week, but the quick hit info: he's spent nearly his entire career in Shooto and has won four in a row.
The rest of the bantamweight field:
- Vila (11-1) advanced to the finals of last season's 135-pound tourney, losing to tournament winner Eduardo Dantas by unanimous decision.
- Galvao (10-5-1) has lost two of his last three but both losses (Joe Warren, Vila) were seen as wins by many that watched.
- West (17-6) has been with Bellator since the fall of 2010 and is 2-2 in his last four. He advanced to the 2010 finals against Makovsky and got to the semifinals this past year.
- Lima (9-0) will make his promotional debut, picking up victories by first round submission in his last three.
- Nogueira (12-2) went 2-1 in Bellator in 2011, losing to West. He last submitted Zak Laird in 51 seconds in October.
No brackets have been announced yet. Bellator's sixth season starts on Friday, March 2nd on MTV2 with tournaments at 135, 145, 155, 170 and 185.
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Bellator consistently puts on great sub 155lbs tournaments now if only the same could be said for 205+
Twitter @MaZZM
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Great for them!
One of the few complaints fans have about Bellator was not having enough challengers for their champions forcing these “super fights”. Its beginning to look like resources the Viacom deal is aiding in having more tournies and thus more challengers for their champions. The FW champ Warren has 2 challengers already, the BWs have 1 and another one next season. Askren just defended his title against Heiron and already has Lima waiting in the wings. I can only assume Bellators headed in the right direction in addition to eventually jumping to Spike in 13’, this shit is getting good!
by Cestus84 on Dec 17, 2011 8:30 PM EST via mobile reply actions
The power of Viacom is behind this, more tournaments, more top and also up and coming talent from all around. Really impressive, as long as their champs can fight at least 2 times a year their shouldn’t be a problem about their champs not being legit, Mackovsky is awesome, Warren…..is going to hand that belt over, Chandler is legit, Askren is doing well, Lombard should have a good challenge with season 6’s tournament champ, M’Pumbu is a disappointment, Konrad needs to fight alot more. Hopefully they can squeak in atleast 6 tournaments next season and possibly 2 or more during their summer series
Im still waiting.....
…..for the headline that Miguel Torres will complete the bracket. C’mon Bjorn make it happen.
by Cestus84 on Dec 18, 2011 2:41 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Who's the final entrant?!?
I can see Warren trying to take the spot..
by The KO Kid on Jan 9, 2012 9:51 PM EST via mobile reply actions
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