Lyman Good
After watching Lyman Good absolutely tear through everyone he fought on his way to Bellator gold, a lot of MMA fans must wonder about this relatively unknown fighter. Not only did he win, but he absolutely dismantled the guys he fought in the Bellator Fighting Championship, finishing every single one of his opponents in decisive fashion.
Although Bellator had pegged him as an early favorite, it wasn’t any less surprising how easily he was mowing through his opponents. A self-proclaimed family man, Lyman is a dude with ridiculous strength. In fact, he is absolutely huge for his weight class. More and more, we are seeing bigger guys in each weight class manhandling their opponents, and Lyman is no exception.
From what we saw in Bellator, what’s next for Lyman? Is he ready for the big time right now, or does he need to fight through some more mid-level competition first? It’s worth nothing that in his first 6 fights, he only fought one guy with a winning record; admittedly, though, his competition was stepped up in the Bellator Tournament. His situation reminds me a bit of Carlos Condit, who dominated his level of competition and decided to step into deeper waters. I don’t know how Lyman would fare in the UFC, but something tells me he is going to be hella fun to watch develop.
Bellator will hold their final show of their initial run as a MMA promotion on Friday and we are very much looking forward to it. Bellator has done an outstanding job of putting on great fights with alot of fighters that are on the brink. When we first heard about their promotion I think we all expected mediocre success, but we would be lying if we didn’t acknowledge that some spectacular Knockouts have certainly helped their success.
If you aren’t familiar with Bellator, they held 4 weightclass tournaments over a 12 week period with other random fights on the undercard. So far they have crowned champions in the featherweight (Joe Soto) and welterweight division (Lyman Good). On Friday night the lightweight and middleweight champs will go home with the Bellator belt and $175,000.
My only beef with Bellator is that its broadcast in spanish only, so if you want to watch it live you need to have ESPN Deportes. Bellator does however, release the previous weeks event broadcasted in english and free online. Keep an eye on this promotion and go to an event if it comes near you because the chances are that you will get to see a highlight reel KO given their track record.
Scheduled Fight Card
Lightweight Championship – Eddie Alvarez (15-2-0) Vs. Toby Imada
Middleweight Championship – 
Hector Lombard(19-2-1) Vs. Jared Hess (8-0-1)
Sami Aziz(2-1-0) Vs. Fabio Mello(5-6-0)
Jorge Masvidal (16-4-0) Vs. Eric Reynolds (11-2)
Sergio Morais Vs. Josh Martin (6-2-1)
Valerie Coolbaugh(3-1) Vs. Rosi Sexton(8-1)
Troy Gerhart (5-0) Vs. Luis Palomino (9-4)
Stephanie Guimaraes (0-1-0) Vs. Jennifer Klosptoff
Lyman Good will be fighting tomorrow night at Bellator 11 for the Middleweight Championship belt. If you haven’t seen him, this guy is the Real Deal. He is freakishly strong for his division, and I could see him instantly going to the UFC and shaking things up. He has lightning fast stand-up, some pretty good jitz, and a superior wrestling pedigree. He’s going into this fight 9-0, and I see absolutely no reason that he will lose, short of giant TV screen falling from the ceiling of the venue and crushing him. Could happen.
If you have ESPN Deportes, make sure you check out Bellator 11 tomorrow night. Otherwise, you will be waiting for the English-language broadcast on Wednesday like the rest of us gringos.
