Bellator 63 Stacked with Local Talent on March 30


As Bellator Fighting Championships prepares to make its sixth trip to Connecticut, the fight card for Bellator 63 has been finalized and features a night of incredible finishers, including the start of Bellator’s $100,000 Welterweight Tournament as well as preliminary action loaded with East Coast talent.

The night will feature the debut of American Top Team product and Danbury resident Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets as she battles New Jersey native Munah Holland. Kheyfets brings a spotless 5-0 record into the cage, and will be looking to impress the Bellator brass in her debut.

“I’m incredibly excited to be fighting in such a big event so close to home,” said Kheyfets. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me, and I can’t wait to get into the cage on March 30th.”

Two very familiar foes collide as Dan Cramer will return to the Bellator cage looking to avenge his last loss when he meets Jeff Nader in a middleweight showdown. The two last meet at Bellator 48 in a very memorable matchup, where Cramer controlled the pace a majority of the fight until Nader connected with a vicious combination that earned him victory:





Russian born welterweight Andrey “Spartan” Koreshkov is also set to make his Bellator debut, and the top prospect will have his hands full with Cleveland native Taiwan Howard. Koreshkov is a true finisher in every sense of the word as the 21-year-old prodigy has never had a fight move into the third round and is the owner of five knockout victories.

Saul “The Spider” Almeida returns to the Bellator cage and has his sights set on victory when he battles Hartford native Matt Bessette. Known as “The Mangler”, Bessette is the owner of four submission victories and is eyeing another on March 30th.

Another Hartford resident will be stepping into the Bellator cage as Parker Porter looks to finish New York native Randy Smith in a heavyweight matchup, while Danbury’s own Ryan Quinn is set to take on the 14-6 Marc Stevens in a catchweight affair at 165 lbs.

The card will be rounded out as Pete “The Heat” Rogers battles Brandon Fleming in featherweight action. Both will be making their pro debuts, and have their sights set on collecting the coveted win.

Bellator 63 Weigh-In Results


The Bellator 63 weigh-ins have been completed from Uncasville, Connecticut in preparation for Bellator’s Friday night event at the Mohegan Sun Arena, which features the quarterfinals of the Bellator Season Six Welterweight Tournament as Chris “The Cleveland Assassin” Lozano squares off against Karl “Psycho” Amoussou, Ben “Killa B” Saunders faces off against Raul “Smash Mode” Amaya, David “The Caveman” Rickels takes on Jordan “Mata Ele” Smith and Bryan “The Beast” Baker challenges Carlos “Indio” Pereira.

Bellator 63 will be broadcast LIVE on Friday, March 30 at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. The undercard will begin at 7:30 pm ET/ 6:30 pm CT and streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com.


The full results for Bellator 63 are below:

MAIN CARD:

Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Chris Lozano (171lbs) vs. Karl Amoussou (170lbs)
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Ben Saunders (170lbs) vs. Raul Amaya (170lbs)
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Bryan Baker (169.25lbs) vs. Carlos Pereira (171lbs)
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: David Rickels (168.25lbs) vs. Jordan Smith (169lbs)


UNDERCARD:

Heavyweight Feature Fight: Randy Smith (254.25lbs) vs. Parker Porter (257lbs)
Catchweight Feature Fight: Marc Stevens (164lbs) vs. Ryan Quinn (165lbs)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Saul Almeida (155.75lbs) vs. Matt Bessette (154.5lbs)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Tiawan Howard (171lbs) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (170.5lbs)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Jeff Nader (184.75lbs) vs. Dan Cramer (185.5lbs)
Womens Flyweight Feature Fight: Marianna Kheyfets (126lbs) vs. Munah Holland (126lbs)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Brandon Fleming (145lbs) vs. Pete Rogers (145lbs)


For more information, visit Bellator.com; follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator.

Amoussou, Baker, Rickels and Saunders impress at Bellator 63 in front of packed Mohegan crowd


The quarterfinals of the Bellator Season 6 Welterweight Tournament have wrapped up as Karl Amoussou, Bryan Baker, David Rickels and Ben Saunders advanced to the semifinal round at Bellator 63 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut LIVE on MTV2 and in HD on EPIX.

In the main event of the evening, the weeks of trash talking and bad blood finally boiled over as Chris Lozano and Karl Amoussou squared off inside the Bellator cage. The fight started with both men patiently waiting for the other to strike. The first significant blow was thrown by Amoussou, a head kick that opened up a cut on the head of “The Cleveland Assassin.” Moving forward, Lozano took advantage of Amoussou being off balance and successfully secured a takedown. However, Amousssou showed his underrated ground game and sweeped Lozano, ending up in the full mount position. From there, Amoussou opened up with strikes to the head that caused Lozano to reach for his feet. Seizing the submission opportunity, Amoussou locked up a rear-naked choke that forced the submission of Lozano at 2:05 of the first round.

“You just saw the next tournament champion. I wanted to make a statement. This is what I’ve done,” Amoussou said.

With the submission win, Karl Amoussou maked a successful welterweight debut and advances to the semifinal round of the Bellator Season Six Welterweight Tournament.

Former middleweight tournament competitor Bryan “The Beast” Baker was certainly hoping that the drop in weight to compete in the Season Six Welterweight Tournament would prove to be the right one against a dangerous striker in Carlos Pereira. Through 3 tactical rounds, both fighters took turns dictating the pace of the fight. In the first round, it was Pereira who took the center of the Bellator cage, stalking Baker and forcing him to move backwards. In the second round, it was Baker who used his oftentimes unorthodox striking to outwork Pereira. The third round proved to be just as close as the first two, with Baker getting a takedown and landing a heavy dose of ground and pound on Pereira to close out the fight. When the judges rendered their decision, two of the three saw the fight for Bryan Baker, giving him is 7th victory in the Bellator cage.

With the split decision victory, Baker earns his way into the Season Six Welterweight Semifinals and improves to 17-3 in his career.

“I’m still learning this weight cut,” Baker said of the win. “Time to go to work.”
For Jordan Smith, the opportunity to become a Bellator World Champion almost never happened. When Brian Foster was forced out of the welterweight tournament, David “The Caveman” Rickels needed a new opponent. Enter “Mata Ele.” The fight ended almost as fast as it started. Both fighters wasted little time as they took the center of the Bellator cage. After a brief and violent exchange, Rickels dropped Smith with a hook and unloaded a series of right uppercuts that forced the stoppage 22 seconds into the fight, giving Rickels his fourth career Bellator victory.

“I clipped him, and I saw he was hurt. He buckled down, and I always look to finish. A couple of good uppercuts after that, and it was goodnight,” said an excited Rickels.

With the first round KO win, David Rickels punches his ticket to the semifinals of the Bellator Season 6 Welterweight Tournament and remains undefeated in his professional career, earning his 10th win.

In the first quarterfinal fight of the Season 6 Welterweight Tournament, Bellator veteran Ben Saunders wanted to erase the disappointment of his last fight in the Season 5 Tournament Championship against Douglas Lima while promotional newcomer Raul Amaya was looking to keep his undefeated record intact while making a name for himself at the expense of “Killa B.” While Raul Amaya showcased his toughness and heart, ultimately, it was the dominant ground game of Ben Saunders that proved to be the difference in the fight. Saunders was aggressive, threatening with submissions through all 3 rounds and punishing Amaya with punches and elbows to the face and body. When the final bell sounded, it was expected that Ben Saunders would earn the unanimous decision victory, which he did.

“He was tough as hell,” said Saunders. “I gave him respect after. Kid fought to the end.”

Ben Saunders improves his record to 13-4 with the unanimous decision victory and advances to the semifinals of the Season 6 Welterweight Tournament. Amaya loses for the first time in his professional career as he falls to 9-1.

The semifinals of the Bellator Season Six Welterweight Tournament will feature Ben Saunders taking on Bryan Baker, while Karl Amoussou will take on David Rickels on May 4th from Casino Rama.