Alvarez Victorious

Excerpt from sherdog


Eddie Alvarez cruised into the Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight tournament final. Jorge Masvidal was not as fortunate. 


The world-ranked Alvarez (17-2) submitted Eric Reynolds with a third-round rear-naked choke at BFC 4 on Friday at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The electrifying 24-year-old coaxed the tapout 90 seconds into round three. 


Alvarez -- who has rattled of back-to-back submission wins since his defeat to Shinya Aoki on New Year’s Eve -- mounted Reynolds (10-2) multiple times in the first two rounds and built a substantial lead on the scorecards. He latched himself onto his opponent’s back in the third round, flattened him out and cinched the choke. Alvarez has now delivered 15 of his 17 career wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission. 


Toby Imada awaits Alvarez in the final. 


Seemingly behind in his semi-final matchup, Imada stunned the favored Masvidal (17-4) with a third-round triangle choke that rendered the American Top Team ace unconscious 3:22 into round three. An 11-year veteran of the sport, Imada (22-12) has won his last eight fights, all of them finishes. 


Dave Herman, Dan Evensen and Matt Jaggers were all victorious in non-tournament action. An EliteXC veteran, the eccentric Herman (14-1) bounced back nicely from his TKO loss to Mu Bae Choi at Sengoku “No Ran 2009” in January, as he stopped Josh Barnes on first-round strikes. 


Bellator returns on May 8 at the Central Pavilion Arena in Robstown, Texas. That show will feature the featherweight tournament semi-finals, pairing Wilson Reis with Joe Sotoand Yahir Reyes with Estevan Payan. 

Cordeiro Truncates Comparisons to Jackson

Excerpt from sherdog


Kings MMA founder and former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro(Pictured) during a recent interview with Sherdog.com on constant comparisons to trainer Greg Jackson:

“I think our philosophy is very different from the American guys. We put a lot of emotion into the things we do, and, sometimes, it speaks louder. This is the Brazilian way of acting, and I think it’s the right way. I don’t know the degree of the relationships Greg Jackson has with his students or if they come to him already prepared. These things are hard to learn because there’s been a huge amount of marketing with him. I don’t know of any champion that was made there. Unlike here, where we have fighters who are offspring of this camp, I don’t know how it happens there. It may exist, but the ones I know are fighters from other states who came to train with him. These guys get together in order to train all in the same place. Everything comes down to results. If you put his roosters against ours, ours will beat them.” 

I'd love to see a bout between these two, they have very similar striking styles and ground game.