Reis, Pitbull, Straus, and Foster Move onto Featherweight Tournament Semifinals at Bellator 37
CONCHO, Okla. (March 19, 2011) — The Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament fighters put on an action-packed show at the Lucky Star Casino as Wilson Reis, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Kenny Foster and Daniel Straus battled their way to the semifinals and one step closer to earning a title shot against Bellator Featherweight Champ Joe Warren.
Kenny Foster pulled off the upset of the night, becoming the first featherweight to move on to the semifinals in a true testament to tournament-style MMA. Avoiding an early takedown, Foster landed a knee to Erik Larkin’s face, opening a cut above the four-time NCAA D1 All-American’s eye. Foster smelled blood and outwrestling Larkin on the ground to maintain the top position, where he locked in a guillotine choke, forcing an end to the fight at 3:15 in Round 1.
Bellator veteran Daniel Straus and undefeated Argentinean Nazareno Malegarie took to the cage next, putting on a gritty 15-minute MMA show. Straus looked to be in trouble on the ground throughout the fight as Malegarie attempted several submissions. At the end of the three rounds, it was Straus’ dominating performance on his feet that caught the attention of the judges. Straus via a unanimous decision earned his way to the semifinals in a hard-fought battle.
Next up, Wilson Reis brought Zac George to the ground and forced him to give up his back early with a flurry of hammerfists. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Reis earned his third trip to the featherweight semifinals and ended George’s six-game win streak with a rear-naked choke at 2:09 in Round 1.
All eyes were on Season 2 featherweight standouts Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan as they closed out the night’s fights. In Round 1 action, Pitbull lifted Karakhanyan off his feet but Georgi defended with a guillotine attempt. The fighters battled through Round 2 mostly on their feet with Freire appearing to a have a slight edge in the momentum. It was all Freire in Round 3 as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt dropped Karakhanyan to the mat with a left hook to the chin, paving the way for a relentless ground-and-pound assault that ended the fight with a TKO at 0:56 in Round 3.
“The featherweight’s put on spectacular performances tonight at Bellator 37,” said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Fans have the opportunity to witness amazing fights when you let fighters control their own destiny, and I’m thrilled with the start to our fourth season on MTV2.”
Official Main Card Results:
Kenny Foster def. Eric Larkin by guillotine submission [3:15, Round 1]
Daniel Straus def. Nazareno Malegarie by unanimous decision [29-29, 29-28, 29-28]
Wilson Reis def. Zac George by rear-naked choke submission [2:09, Round 1]
Patricio Freire def. Georgi Karakhanyan by TKO [0:56, Round 3]
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator Fighting Championships is the first MMA promotion to hold a nationally televised tournament format. Bellator’s fourth season will begin March 5, 2011, airing LIVE on MTV2.
About MTV2
MTV2 is a man’s best friend, available in nearly 80 million homes and with the highest concentration of males 12-24 and 12-34 on TV today. A vibrant mix of music, lifestyle and action sports programming, MTV2 has reflected the habits and behavior of young people since its launch in 1996. MTV2 is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
