Philadelphia's Eddie Alvarez entered the lightweight championship tournament for newly created Bellator Fighting Championships as the odds-on favorite to win. Three months later, he lived up to those expectations, beating Toby Imada in the championship tournament final in Hollywood, Fla., on Friday night.
Alvarez put Imada away with a crushing right hand, followed by a rear naked choke submission just 38 seconds into the second round.
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| Alvarez wins Bellator gold. (T. Casino/SHO) |
Alvarez surprised Imada at the start of Round 2 with a looping right hand that put him on his back. Alvarez followed him to the mat with strikes, and sunk in a rear naked choke for the submission at 38 seconds of Round 2.
After the win, a jubilant Alvarez celebrated with family and friends as he was announced as the new lightweight champion.
"That sounds great, don't it?" Alvarez said.
Alvarez timed his big right hand as a counterpunch to an Imada jab, and it worked to perfection.
"Toby's a good submission guy, but we saw in the training camp he throws weak jabs," he said.
Alvarez (18-2) has won eight of his past nine bouts, with the only loss coming to the highly regarded Shinya Aoki at K-1 Dynamite in Saitama, Japan, on Dec. 31.
Imada (22-13) scored an upset to earn his way into the semifinals, beating Jorge Masvidal -- one of the early favorites -- via inverted triangle choke in the third round. The win over Masvidal was Imada's eighth in a row, with six of those coming via submission.
Hector Lombard became Bellator's first middleweight champion by dominating previously undefeated Jared Hess for three rounds, winning via cut stoppage at 1:41 of Round 4 when a major gash on Hess' head was deemed too dangerous to allow him to continue fighting.
Fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla., with American Top Team, Lombard (21-2-1) has won 14 of his last 15 bouts, with the exception being a draw with Kyle Noke in 2007. He has finished his last seven opponents with strikes.
"I am very happy because the fight went more than four rounds," Lombard said after the win. "I proved today that I can go the distance."
Hess threw a knee, but Lombard caught his leg and used it for a double-leg takedown at the start of Round 1. Hess got to his feet and threw a leg kick, but his own takedown attempt got stuffed. With Hess unable to get Lombard to the canvas, he resorted to more leg kicks. Lombard caught him with several heavy fists throughout the first round, once dropping Hess briefly to a knee, and sending him to his corner with a mouse under his left eye at the end of the round.
The swelling under Hess' eye worsened quickly, prompting referee Troy Waugh to have it examined shortly into Round 2. When the fight resumed, Lombard continued to land two or three punches every time Hess lunged forward with one swing. Hess pulled guard from a takedown attempt, but Waugh stood the fighters back up when neither stayed active on the ground. Lombard easily stuffed another Hess takedown attempt at the end of Round 2.
Lombard took Hess down easily at the start of Round 3, opening a wide gash on his head with strikes from the top. With Hess bleeding heavily, Waugh stopped the bout twice to have doctors examine the wound. Lombard continued to take Hess down and brutalize him with punches to the body and head, as Hess continued to fight back to his feet and shoot for takedowns.
Hess fought hard in the fourth round, but the damage was already done. After Lombard took Hess down and worked more punches from within guard, blood began to flow from Hess' head in sheets, covering his arm and the canvas in crimson. The audience gasped, and Waugh stopped the bout once again. As doctors attempted to stop the blood loss to no avail, Waugh waved off the fight at 1:41.
Hess (8-1-1), a former Oklahoma state champion wrestler and All-American at the University of Central Oklahoma, went into the fight with no MMA losses, and just one draw. He had finished his previous six opponents, and had only been taken past the first round twice, including his win over Yosmany Cabezas on May 29 to advance to the middleweight tournament final.
Jorge Masvidal (18-4) redeemed himself from the loss to Imada by submitting Eric Reynolds (10-3) with a rear naked choke at 3:33 of the third round.
Masvidal picked Reynolds apart with boxing toward the end of the first round, and Reynolds responded with spinning kick attempts and by taunting Masvidal to come forward. Masvidal dominated Reynolds with fists and knees for the duration of Round 2, but each time Masvidal tried to put the fight away on the ground, Reynolds managed to escape. Masvidal finally caught Reynolds in a rear naked choke for the tapout in Round 3.
The card also featured a pair of women's MMA bouts. Rosie Sexton (10-1) defeated Valerie Coolbaugh (1-2) via submission to an armbar at 3:40 of Round 1 for her fourth straight win. In the first bout of the night, Stephanie "Cyborg Jr." Guimaraes (1-1) earned her first career win with a 49-second KO of Yvonne Reis (0-2) with a knee to the face from a Muay Thai clinch.
Since the beginning of April, the Bellator Fighting Championships have held 10 events in various cities, advancing fighters through a series of tournaments to crown champions at 145, 155, 170 and 185 pounds.
Joe Soto won the featherweight tournament with a second-round victory via rear naked choke over Yahir Reyes on June 5. Lyman Good took welterweight honors by defeating Omar De La Cruz via TKO in Round 1 on June 12.
A new season is scheduled to begin in late September or early October. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said the tournament format will be brought back in the form of a challenger competition, with the participants fighting for the right to a title shot at the existing champions. The winner of each tournament will get to fight for the title in their weight class at the end of the season.
Full fight results from Friday's Bellator FC event in Hollywood:
• Eddie Alvarez defeated Toby Imada via submission to a rear naked choke at 38 seconds of Round 2 (155-pound tournament final).
• Hector Lombard defeated Jared Hess via TKO due to a referee stoppage (cut) at 1:41 of Round 4 (185-pound tournament final).
• Fabio Mello defeated Sami Aziz via submission to an armbar at 1:58 of Round 3 (145 pounds).
• Jorge Masvidal defeated Eric Reynolds via submission to a rear naked choke at 3:33 of Round 3 (155 pounds).
• Sergio Morais defeated Josh Martin via submission to a triangle choke at 4:21 of Round 1 (170 pounds).
• Rosie Sexton defeated Valerie Coolbaugh via submission to an armbar at 3:40 of Round 1 (120 pounds).
• Luis Palomino defeated Troy Gerhart via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds (155 pounds).
• Stephanie Guimaraes defeated Yvonne Reis via KO due to a knee to the face at 49 seconds of Round 1 (140 pounds).
