Bellator 52 - Information, Results & Event Coverage

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Bellator 52 from L’Auberge Du Lac Loaded with Undercard Talent


Bellator Fighting Championships makes its return to Louisiana on Saturday, October 1st as the promotion hosts Bellator 52 from L’Auberge Du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles. The action begins at 7 p.m. ET with a stacked undercard streaming LIVE on Spike.com. The televised portion of the event will feature the quarterfinals of Bellator’s Season 5 Heavyweight Tournament and will begin at 9 p.m. ET LIVE on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX.

Lightweight sensation Cosmo “Good Boy” Alexander will make his MMA debut against Lake Charles native Josh Quayhagen, who will also be making his professional debut. Alexander enters Bellator with an incredible resume in Muay Thai, as the 29-year-old striker has over 50 professional kickboxing fights under his belt, along with several of the sport’s most notable championship titles. The Miami resident is one of the most highly-coveted prospects in all of MMA and looks to put on a show for Bellator fans. To see video of Cosmo’s devastating striking in competition, please click HERE.

Bellator featherweights collide as Genair da Silva takes on Bellator veteran Bryan Goldsby. For Silva, the Brazilian striker is looking to get back into the win column after suffering a close split-decision loss at the hands of fellow Brazilian Marlon Sandro in Bellator’s Summer Series Featherweight Tournament.

Undefeated light-heavyweight Matt Van Buren joins Bellator looking for victory over Alexandria, La. resident Nick Nichols. At 25 years old, the Virginia based Van Buren will look to impress Bellator brass with a dominating win.

There are also two intriguing heavyweight fights on the ledger as Josh Burns battles former The Ultimate Fighter competitor Zak Jensen, and Liron Wilson takes on the undefeated Justin Frazier, who will put his 4-0 record on the line.

The Season 5 heavyweight tournament will feature an eight-man field that boasts a dominating 73-15-2 record along with 41 combined knockouts. Undefeated Ron Sparks takes on Oklahoma native Mark Holata, Season 3 finalist Neil Grove faces 15-win veteran Mike “300” Hayes; and in other quarterfinal action, Thiago “Big Monster” Santos looks to be the first man to put a blemish on Blagoi Ivanov’s 4-0 record and Army veteran Eric Prindle will test Abe Wagner, the man who beat former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in the first round earlier this year.

“L’Auberge Du Lac has been an incredible venue partner for us, and we should have a great night of fights on October 1st LIVE on MTV2 and EPIX, as well as on Spike.com,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “There are some first-time Bellator fighters on this card that I can’t wait to watch and see what they can do in the cage.”

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Spike.com fights Saturday Feature Debut of World Class Striker & 2 Tournament Competitors Going Head to Head


The fans in Lake Charles, Louisiana need to get to their seats early – and the fans at home around the world need to get to Spike.com as the Bellator fighters continue to produce memorable fights each week. Bellator 52, which takes place THIS Saturday, Oct. 1 from L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort, features a stacked Season 5 Heavyweight Tournament, plus the highly-anticipated debut of devastating striker and champion kickboxer Cosmo “Good Boy” Alexander against Lake Charles native Josh Quayhagen and a fantastic featherweight battle between Bellator tournament veterans Bryan Goldsby and Genair da Silva. These two instant classics can be seen LIVE around the world on Spike.com at 7 p.m. ET.

The Season 5 heavyweight tournament will feature an eight-man field that boasts a dominating 73-15-2 record along with 41 combined knockouts and goes LIVE on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX starting at 9 p.m. ET.

The 29-year-old Alexander will be making his MMA debut against Quayhagen, who is a local fighter getting his pro start as well. Alexander enters Bellator with an incredible resume in Muay Thai, as the accomplished striker has over 50 professional kickboxing fights under his belt, along with several of the sport’s most notable championship titles. The Miami resident is one of the most highly-coveted prospects in all of MMA and looks to put on a show for Bellator fans. To see video of Cosmo’s devastating striking in competition, please click HERE.

The prelims will also feature two former featherweight tournament participants vying for another run in a Bellator tournament. Season 3 participant Bryan Goldsby is eager to get back into the Bellator cage, and will have his hands full with Brazilian knockout artist Genair da Silva. Goldsby has studied da Silva, and is ready for anything the budding star will throw at him.

“I really feel good right now,” said a confident Goldsby. “I’ve put on some muscle, and improved my game across the board. I’m still expecting a stand up war, but if he wants to take it to the ground, I’ll be ready. Either way, it’s going to be explosive.”

Obtaining a tough draw against Top 10 featherweight Marlon Sandro in Bellator’s Summer Series Tournament, da Silva suffered his first loss in over two years with a close split-decision result. After watching the tournament unfold, da Silva was quick to accept the invitation to step back into the Bellator cage.

“I’m just ready to fight and show the world what I can do,” said da Silva. “I wasn’t happy with the decision in my last fight, and I am not going to leave it in the hands of the judges this time. My goal is to become the next Bellator Featherweight Champion and this is the first step.”

Undefeated light heavyweight Matt Van Buren joins Bellator looking for victory over Alexandria, La. resident Nick Nichols. At 25 years old, the Virginia based Van Buren will look to impress Bellator brass with a dominating win.

There are also two intriguing non-tournament heavyweight fights on the ledger as Josh Burns battles former The Ultimate Fighter competitor Zak Jensen, and Liron Wilson takes on the undefeated Justin Frazier, who will put his 4-0 record on the line.

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The Bellator 52 weigh-ins have been completed from L’Auberge du Lac Hotel Resort in preparation for Bellator’s Saturday night event at the L’Auberge Event Center, which features the Quarterfinals of the Season 5 Heavyweight Tournament.

Bellator 52 will be broadcast LIVE on Saturday, October 1 at 9:00 pm ET/8:00 pm CT on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. The undercard will begin at 7:00 pm ET/ 6:00 pm CT and streamed LIVE around the world on Spike.com.

The full weigh-in results for Bellator 52 are below:

MAIN CARD:

Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Neil Grove (265.5) vs. Mike Hayes (228)
Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Blagoi Ivanov (244) vs. Zak Jensen (265)
Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Abe Wagner (247.5) vs. Eric Prindle (265.5)
Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Mark Holata (258) vs. Ron Sparks (263)



UNDERCARD:

Featherweight Feature Fight: Bryan Goldsby (144.4) vs. Genair da Silva (150.4)*
Lightweight Feature Fight: Josh Quayhagen (156) vs. Cosmo Alexander (155.6)**
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Justin Frazier (263) vs. Liron Wilson (227.4)
Light heavyweight Feature Fight: Nick Nichols (213.6)*** vs. Matt Van Buren (204.2)



* Goldsby and da Silva agreed to fight at a 150-pound catchweight.
** Alexander made weight on the second attempt. He originally weighed-in at 157 lbs.
*** Nick Nichols and Matt Van Buren agreed to fight at a 213-pound catchweight.

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Sparks, Hayes, Prindle, Ivanov Advance to Heavyweight Semifinals


It was an action-packed start to the Bellator Heavyweight Tournament as eight heavy hitters lined up inside the L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles for Bellator 52 to kickoff the quarterfinals of the Season 5 tournament. Ron “The Monster” Sparks will take on Eric Prindle and Mike “300” Hayes faces Blagoi Ivanov in the semifinals after big wins in Louisiana this weekend.

“It was another great night in another full house at L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Our heavyweights put on some explosive performances tonight, and I can’t wait for the semifinals later this month at Bellator 56 from Memorial Hall in Kansas City.”

In a stunning upset, Mike “300” Hayes eliminated Neil Grove from the tournament with a split-decision victory in the night’s main event. Grove had a slight reach advantage and outweighed his opponent by more than 30 pounds, but Hayes executed an excellent game plan. He moved in and out of Grove’s striking distance and racked up points on the judges’ scorecards with lots of leg kicks and straight punches to the body.

Ron Sparks remained undefeated and advanced to the semifinals with a knockout win over Mark Holata in the first fight of the evening. Holata didn’t shy away from the fight, trading punches with Sparks right away, but “The Monster” was able to stun him with a right hook early and on a later exchange dropped him to the canvas with a pair of left hooks to the jaw line. It was a big win for Sparks who is eager to show Bellator and the fans what he’s capable of.

His corner instructed him before the final round to continue pushing the pace and to force a takedown when the time was right. He did just that and took Grove to the mat midway through Round 3, losing top position for a moment, but finishing strong on top with a submission attempt followed by some heavy punches.

“Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness,” said Sparks after the victory. “These guys are monsters but I’m ‘The Monster.’ I think I can be one of the best heavyweights out there. You guys will see.”

Zak Jensen stepped up to fight Blagoi Ivanov last minute as Thiago Santos was scratched from the fight card. He walked through all of Ivanov’s best punches but couldn’t avoid his takedowns and despite taking quite a beating, was the victim of a technical submission not a knockout. Jensen escaped full mount, a keylock and some ground-and-pound by Ivanov in the second round, but was caught in a five-finger guillotine choke as he attempted to fight the submission attempt. Jensen was briefly put to sleep by the fight-ending submission as Ivanov advanced to the semifinals.

Eric Prindle would also advance to the semifinals with a hard fought win over Abe Wagner. Both these men fought for three hard rounds and looked to be hitting just as hard in the final round as they had in the first. The fighters split the first two rounds and Prindle stole the third when he stuffed a takedown attempt by Wagner and kept him grounded for the remainder of the fight.

Bellator Fighting Championships visits the Buffalo Run Casino & Resort in Miami, Oklahoma on Saturday, October 8 for Bellator 53. The night will include the semifinal round of the Bellator Welterweight Tournament and matchups between Ben “Killa B” Saunders and Luis Santos, as well as Chris Lozano and Douglas Lima. All four welterweights are looking for a chance to advance to the finals of this season’s 170-pound tournament.