Bizarre end to Prindle/Santos fight caps BFC 75

Santos with sub attempt

Hardly anybody actually believes in curses but Bellator’s heavyweight division may be proof for those so inclined.  At BFC 75 three of the four tournament fights went smoothly, it was the main event that once again featured Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos that went awry.  BFC 75 took place at the Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN with an undercard streamed live on Spike.com, main card televised live on MTV2.

Prindle stomps SantosTheir first fight ended in an accidental foul and “no contest”, second match postponed, and third cancelled, now we are back to square one with the fourth matchup between Prindle and Santos ending in a disqualification, the difference this time being Prindle was the one who committed a blatant foul which resulted in his disqualification.   Santos took down Prindle early and kept top position for most of the round as he looked for kimuras, guillotine chokes, and even a keylock.  Near the end of the round Prindle regained his feet while Santos stayed on his back inviting Prindle to try to pass his guard.  Prindle instead kicked the leg of Santos and then with less than ten seconds remaining in the round Prindle fired off an axe kick, apparently trying to hit the abdomen but instead squarely hitting the cup of Santos.  Santos unable to continue was declared the winner due to disqualification and now advances to the quarterfinals.

Alexander Volkov on leftTwo international fighters were very impressive this night as both Vinicius Queiroz and Alexander Volkov advancing in the heavyweight tournament.

Volkov’s opponent Brett Rogers just couldn’t overcome the reach advantage and for the first time seemed unable to start an offense, instead being relegated to covering up from the long jabs, push kicks, and occasional head kick of the M-1 Challenge vet.  To Rogers’ credit he didn’t take enough damage to end the fight or even score a dominant round but by the end of three rounds there was no doubt Volkov won the fight, his eighth in a row.

Vinicius Queiroz with submissionBy contrast Vinicius Queiroz managed to submit Mark Holata in the first round but it was a bit of a come-from-behind situation.  Holata knocked down Queiroz early in the round and secured top position for strikes but Queiroz managed to recover, pull rubber guard, and find an armbar for the tapout.

Richard Hale on topThe fourth semifinal saw Richard Hale catch Mike Wessel with a series of punches, knocking down the UFC vet in the first round.  Wessel seemed to move in slow motion trying to regain his feet while Hale seemed to be in fast-forward throwing a series of punches at the sides of Wessel’s head forcing the TKO in just 1:19.

In the quarterfinals November 2nd Queiroz faces Volkov while Santos takes on Hale, no word on the rest of the card at this time.

Up next however is BFC 76 this weekend with Eddie Alvarez taking on Patricky Freire.  Look for more on this card in the days to come.

BFC 75 results:

Anthony Gomez def. Jose Medina 2:32 R1 by rear-naked choke
Joe Williams def. Rod Montoya 3:17 R1 by rear-naked choke
Chase Beebe def. David Harris by unanimous decision
Ryan Martinez def. Manny Lara by majority decision
Vinicius Queiroz def Mark Holata 3:26 R1 by armbar
Richard Hale def. Mike Wessel 1:19 R1 by TKO
Alexander Volkov def. Brett Rogers by unanimous decision
Thiago Santos def. Eric Prindle 4:54 by DQ (axe kick to groin)
Cliff Wright def. Bobby Reardanz 3:39 R1 by rear-naked choke
Jason Graves def. Rafal Skibinski 2:50 R1 by rear-naked choke