Welterweight tournament semifinals tonight at BFC 78

Tonight starts the first semifinal of the Bellator season 7 tournaments as the Welterweights take to the cage while two former tournament competitors fill out the main card.  BFC 78 takes place at the Nutter Arena in Dayton, OH with an undercard webcast on Spike.com and a main card televised on MTV2.

Lyman GoodIn the main event Lyman Good tries to continue on the path to regaining his former belt as he takes on the impressive up-and-comer Michail Tsarev.  In the quarterfinals Good defeated Jim Wallhead by decision in a fight mostly based on Good’s edge with short strikes in the pocket.  Good has always been known for his conditioning and strength with his loss to Ben Askren that cost him the title and to Rick Hawn in the season 4 semifinals being his only two in his 13-2 career. Michail Tsarev It is difficult to judge Tsarev as the Russian has only fought in the states once when he defeated Tim Welch in the quarterfinals, Tsarev’s eleventh win in a row.  Tsarev won his Bellator debut with a rear-naked choke and his is known for his submissions with 19 of his 24 wins coming by such.  Watch for Good to be more tentative than normal as Tsarev’s takedowns are unusual by American standards anyway.

Andrey KoreshkovThe co-main event looks to be a striking war as Andrey Koreshkov faces former Dream champion and Strikeforce vet Marius Zaromskis.  In the quarterfinals Zaromskis, usually known as the superior striker in any of his fights, took a lot of punishment from Nordine Taleb, even resorting to trying to take Taleb down. Marius Zaromskis Undefeated Koreshkov doesn’t quite have the power of Taleb but he has the submission skills to compliment his preferred striking, arguably a difference from Zaromski’s previous opponents.  The fight should stay mostly on the feet and will likely go to a decision but either fighter could win it.

Daniel StrausDaniel Straus won the season 6 featherweight tournament but since Patricio Freire hasn’t faced defending champion Pat Curran yet Straus this night fills time with a fight against Alvin Robinson.  Straus is on a four-win streak with his loss to Freire being his only loss since April 2009, actually a KO loss to Curran.  Robinson is a UFC vet but went 1-3 in that organization and hasn’t fought at this level since then.  Robinson has a chance no doubt but the odds are against him.

Brian RogersBrian Rogers has made it to the semifinals of both season 5 and 6 middleweight tournaments but not the finals.  Most recently Rogers lost to Andreas Spang at BFC 66 by KO.  Rogers’ opponent Dominick Steele is a Strikeforce vet who had two fights in January, a win over Donald Crawford Jr. on the  7th and a loss to David Branch on the 22nd, both by decision.  Rogers has the experience edge but Steele can give him a run for his money.  Either way look for this to be another striking war, this time between two local fighters who have had moments in the larger spotlights before.

Prelims:

MW: Jason Butcher vs.Shaun Asher
Women’s Flyweight: Zoila Gurgel vs.Casey Noland
MW: Trey Houston vs.Billy Horne
MW: Mikkel Parlo vs.Jared Combs
LW: Rocky Edwards vs.Robert Hanna IV
140: Jake Nauracy vs.Justin McNally

Main card:

FW: Daniel Straus vs.Alvin Robinson
MW: Brian Rogers vs.Dominick Steele
WW tournament: Andrey Koreshkov vs.Marius Zaromskis
WW tournament: Lyman Good vs.Michail Tsarev