Lozano tops Weedman at Bellator 49

By John McMullen
jmcmullen@phanaticmag.com

ATLANTIC CITY (The Phanatic Magazine) - Chris Lozano and Ben Saunders both impressed during the
 the quarterfinals of Bellator's Season 5 welterweight tournament televised live on MTV2 from Caesars Atlantic City on Saturday.

Lozano rallied to edge Brent Weedman all on three judges scorecards. Ricardo Almeida, Romulo Bittencourt and Cardo Urso, scored the bout 29-28 for Lozano who now advances to the semifinals of the tourney.

Weedman couldn't follow up on a sold first round performance that included a knockdown late.  Lozano turned the tide in Round 2 with two solid punches that hurt his counterpart.

In other quarterfinal action  former The Ultimate Fighter participant Ben Saunders outgrappled Chris Cisneros for two rounds before a nasty knee to the liver in the third round took Cisneros will. Saunders followed the knee with punches from the top and Keith Paterson waived things off 29 seconds into the round.


“Lots of people got to see my ground game tonight, and see what I can really bring to the table," Saunders said. "I’m a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu, not just a stand up fighter, so I was happy with what I brought to the cage tonight. I was just so ready for this fight, so I was confident going in. Chris was tough as well, just never stopped. I felt like I pushed the pace, but he was nails all fight, so credit to Chris.”


Douglas Lima and Luis Santos also advanced.

Lima and his stinging leg kicks opened up the tourney by upending Steve Carl in a unanimous decision. Urso and Jeff Blatnick both saw it at 30-27, while Almeida mistakenly gave Carl a round.

“Steve Carl is tough as hell," Lima said. "It was incredibly tough, but I knew I had the victory. I never like having it go to a decision, but I knew I controlled the fight."

Santos pitched a shutout, winning all three scorecards by 30-27, en route to his quarterfinal win over veteran Dan Hornbuckle. Neither fighter looked all that explosive and were unable to ignite the crowd but Santos was a clear and decisive winner.

“Dan was really tough, and give him credit," Santos said. "This opportunity means everything to me. He was a top opponent and a finalist in the last tournament, so to get a win now is huge. I really wanted a knockout, and at the end I thought I was going to get it, but I knew I had the victory, and that’s all that matters. I’m just so grateful.”

In other action Bucks county heavyweight Azunna Anyanwu kicked off the night by stopping J.A. Dudley at 4:16 of the second round. Anyanwu landed three straight solid shots to send Dudley to the ground where he curled up before referee Donnie Carolei jumped in to stop things.

Featherweight Lester Caslow got the best of James Jones just 15 seconds into the second round when it appeared Jones tweaked his knee backing away from a punch. Caslow took advantage of the wounded fighter and ref Gasper Oliver was forced to wave it off.

After dropping the first round, welterweight Joel Roberts caught Brylan van Artsdalen with a triangle choke at 1:47 of the second round.

Lithuanian welterweight Giedrius Karavackas stopped LeVon Maynard 92 seconds into the final round. Maynard had gotten the best of Karavackas in the first two rounds but caught a knee while shooting in for a takedown and never recovered.

The final preliminary bout saw Brazilian Alexander Bezerra dominate Scott Heckman en route to a second round stoppage in a catchweight bout of 147 pounds. A massive slam off a takedown was the beginning of the end for Heckman, who could not stop Bezerra's ground and pound.

NOTES: The promotion announced that Point Pleasant's Kurt Pellegrino has signed to take on Patricky "Pitbull" Freire at Bellator 59 in Atlantic City on Nov. 26.