........................................................................... BELLATOR 199..........................................................................
Bellator Fighting Championships return to it's hometown base of San Jose California Saturday May 12, 2018,
for it's final heavyweight quarterfinal bout in the Heavyweight Tournament Grand Prix, which will determine who will be Bellator's next Heavyweight champion.
Headlined by Mohammed "King Mo" Lawal vs. Ryan "Darth" Bader for the coveted final quarterfinal spot, Bellator 199 promises to deliver fireworks on it's final card before the promotion's highly anticipated Bellator 200 landmark event from London England, where all 4 Heavyweight semi-finalists will likely be displayed, along with dates for their respective upcoming bouts
"King Mo" is no stranger to the Heavyweight tournament format, having won Rizin Fighting Championships Inaugural Heavyweight Tournament Championship NYE 2015 at Japan's infamous Saitama Super Arena,
in stunning fashion.
King Mo's opponent is no stranger to accolades, being Bellator's current Light -Heavyweight Champion.
Ryan "Darth" Bader last defended his belt in dominant fashion over Bellator's highly regarded Light Heavyweight Veteran Linton Vassell, (whose last defeat came at the hands of....you guessed it, King Mo,
at Bellators Inaugural DYNAMITE show 2 1/2 years ago).
Many have been wondering, what if someone gets hurt?
Where are the alternates?
And for that, Bellator has veteran Cheick Kongo looking to re-establish himself against the extremely tough
Javy Ayala.
Cheick has been on a statistical tear, currently riding a 5-fight win streak, which includes a unanimous decision over current UFC HW Title contender Alexander Volkov , and Cheick's last loss came against, again, you guessed it, King Mo.
It will be interesting to see if he can win his way to a rematch.
To do that, he has to get by Javy.
Javy, who lost out on an initial tournament spot, being edged out in a decision by Roy "Big Country" Nelson at Bellator 183, made fame by first knocking out former Bellator Heavyweight Thiago Santos, then welcoming famed Heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov to Bellator with a stunning 16-second highlight-reel knockout, *the fastest in Bellator history*.
At just 29, the Hunt'esque Ayala looks for another big name to add to his resume, and a hopeful slot as an alternate and "true" Heavyweight in the tournament.
Scott Coker's last HW tournament was the legendary Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament, in which the newcomer Daniel Cormier peppered Jeff Monson in an alternate bout, and eventually went on to win the tournament as an "injured" Alistair Overeem left a spot vacant.
Just goes to show you, in a tournament, especially at Heavyweight, ANYTHING can happen.
Also on the card, mainstay veteran and knockout artists Paul "Semtex" Daley welcomes fellow veteran Jon Fitch to Bellator who comes in from WSOF/PFL riding a 4-fight win streak.
"Semtex" is coming off an impressive KO victory at Bellator 183 over Lorenz Larkin.
And young superstar Aaron Pico looks to make another impression on Bellator audiences after back-to-back stunning KO victories, as he faces veteran Lee "The American Bulldog" Morrison, who's looking to put Okanogan country on the map with a win to add to his already consecutive 4.
Rounding out the main card, Adam Piccolotti looks to return to his winning ways against the undefeated Carrington "Jet Setter" Banks.
After starting off his professional MMA career 9-0 (his ninth victory over the always tough Brandon Girtz), Piccolotti experienced consecutive losses to Goiti Yamauchi and Dave Rickels, respectively.
Main Card:
Mohammed "King Mo" Lawal vs. Ryan "Darth" Bader
Javy Ayala vs. Cheick Kongo
Paul "Semtex" Daley vs. Jon Fitch
Aaron Pico vs. Lee "The American Bulldog" Morrison
Adam Piccolotti vs. Carrington "Jetsetter" Banks
Undercard:
Janay Harding vs. Amber Leibrock
James Terry vs. Danasabe Mohammed
Brandon Hester vs. Diego Herzog
Hyder Amil vs. Elias Anderson
David Rivera-Cruz vs. Justin Tenedora
Nohelin Hernandez vs. Josh San Diego
Mark Climaco vs. Daniel Oseguera
Tom Oswald vs. Dominic Summer
Cass Bell vs. Khai Wu
Adam Antolin vs. Josh Paiva
*Subject to change