My 60th ESC 'Tournament of Champions': 'Elite Eight'

After hearing all 40 entries for this year's ESC (to be held on the third week of May in Vienna, and will start to break them down on the 5th of April), it's time for the continuation of my tournament of champions.

The quarterfinals are all set!

BUCHAREST region final
(3) Satellite v (5) J'aime La Vie

HELSINKI region final
(1) Euphoria v (2) Wild Dances

ROME region final
(1) Hardrock Hallelujah v (15) Vivo Cantando

LONDON region final
(5) Hold Me Now v (10) Apres Toi

Eight different nations represented here. Come on back and see who is in the final four!

BELLATOR MMA 121: Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinals

BELLATOR MMA is back this Friday night!

The headline for BELLATOR 121 is the light heavyweight tournament quarterfinals for the new season. Also Eric Prindle is in action.

CARD

Light heavyweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(205 lb/92.25 kg)

Carlos Edouardo v Egidijus Valavicius

Austin Heidlage v Phelipe Lins

 

LIVE on SPIKE! This is one of three cards for the summer series 2014. 



It's Spring and It's Stanley Cup Playoffs 2014 Time!

Every season there are some stories to chew on regarding the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including this weird new format. Nevermind on that.

For the first time in six seasons, the Stars are in the playoffs as they clinched the eighth and final spot in the West. Also the Avs are back for the first time in the postseason in a few seasons, surprising because when Patrick Roy took over as head coach, it was a major overhaul. And it worked. At least there will be playoffs in the Pepsi Center--but not the Nuggets!

In the east, the Jackets are finding life in their new digs. After a few seasons, they are back in the postseason fold. The Bolts also missed the playoffs last year, but bounced back this year.

However the biggest SCF story this year is the Habs. They are the only Canadian franchise in the big dance. The six others--including the Jets, Canucks and Senators--all missed the playoffs. Sad, considering that Lord Stanley was last won by the Habs in 1992-93, the last time it was done by a team north of the border.

With that in mind, the conference quarterfinal matchups:

(STOP! Before you proceed, they are best of seven)

(proceed.)

WEST
Quarterfinals
(C1) Avalanche v (W1) Wild
Game 1 4.17
Game 2 4.19
Game 3 4.21
Game 4 4.24
Game 5 4.26*
Game 6 4.28*
Game 7 4.30*

(C2) Blues v (C3) Blackhawks
Game 1 4.17
Game 2 4.19
Game 3 4.21
Game 4 4.23
Game 5 4.25*
Game 6 4.27*
Game 7 4.29*

(P1) Ducks v (W2) Stars
Game 1 4.16
Game 2 4.18
Game 3 4.21
Game 4 4.23
Game 5 4.25*
Game 6 4.27*
Game 7 4.29*

(P2) Sharks v (P3) Kings
Game 1 4.17
Game 2 4.20
Game 3 4.22
Game 4 4.24
Game 5 4.26*
Game 6 4.28*
Game 7 4.30*

EAST
Quarterfinals
(A1) Bruins v (W2) Red Wings
Game 1 4.18
Game 2 4.20
Game 3 4.22
Game 4 4.24
Game 5 4.26*
Game 6 4.28*
Game 7 4.30*

(A2) Lightning v (A3) Canadiens
Game 1 4.16
Game 2 4.18
Game 3 4.20
Game 4 4.22
Game 5 4.24*
Game 6 4.27*
Game 7 4.29*

(M1) Penguins v (W1) Blue Jackets
Game 1 4.16
Game 2 4.19
Game 3 4.21
Game 4 4.23
Game 5 4.26*
Game 6 4.28*
Game 7 4.30*

(M2) Rangers v (M3) Flyers
Game 1 4.17
Game 2 4.20
Game 3 4.22
Game 4 4.25
Game 5 4.27*
Game 6 4.29*
Game 7 4.30*

*-if necessary.

How to watch the games:

• In the US it is on NBC, NBCSN and CNBC.
• In Canada, it is on CBC and TSN (final playoffs ever for TSN) 

BELLATOR MMA 113: Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals & Light Heavyweight Championship

Light heavyweight title action and new season lightweight quarterfinals headline BELLATOR MMA 113 Friday night.

The new season quarterfinals in the lightweight division will have some familiar names in the tournament, headlined by the match between Patricky Freire and David Rickels. Marcin Held is also in action.

Attila Vegh will defend the light heavyweight title against recent tournament winner Emanuel Newton.

CARD

Lightweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(155 lb/69.75 kg)

Brandon Girtz v Derek Anderson (prelims)

Tim Welch v Derek Campos

Marcin Held v Rafael Cavalheiro

David Rickels v Patricky Freire

 

Light heavyweight championship

Attila Vegh (c) v Emanuel Newton

 

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night! 



BELLATOR MMA 112: Featherweight World Title & Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals

For the third time, Daniel Straus and Pat Curran will fight inside the cage, and this time, for the featherweight world title. That is the main event at BELLATOR MMA 112 Friday night.

Also on the card is the quarterfinals for the new edition of the welterweight tournament, featuring Andrey Koreshkov in action.

CARD

Welterweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(170 lb/76.5 kg)

Paul Bradley v Nathan Coy (prelims)

Jesse Juarez v Adam McDonough

Cristiano Souza v Sam Oropeza

Andrey Koreshkov v Nah-Shon Burrell

 

Featherweight championship

(145 lb/65.25 kg)

Daniel Straus (c) v Pat Curran

 

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night.  

BELLATOR MMA 111: Bantamweight Championship and Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinals

The new season heavyweight tournament and bantamweight championship fight headline BELLATOR MMA 111 on Friday night.

All four heavyweight tournament quarterfinals will take place, starting off with Rich Hale against Blagoi Ivanov in the prelims. The other three heavyweight quarterfinal matches--Peter Graham v Mou Siliaga, Rich Holata v Alex Volkov and Ryan Martinez v Lamar Johnson--will be on the SPIKE card.

The main event is for the bantamweight championship as Eduardo Dantas defends the title against Anthony Leone.

Also Eric Prindle will be in action in the preliminaries.

 

CARD

Heavyweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(265+ lb/119.25 kg)

Blagoi Ivanov v Rich Hale (prelims)

Mou Siliaga v Peter Graham

Rich Holata v Alex Volkov

Ryan Martinez v Lamar Johnson

 

Bantamweight championship

(135 lb/60.75 kg)

Eduardo Dantas (c) v Anthony Leone

 

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night! 

BELLATOR MMA 110: Featherweight Quarterfinals and Light Heavyweight Semifinals

The 'toughest tournament in sports' is back for another season.

A new season of BELLATOR MMA kicks off with two tournaments: current season featherweight quarterfinals and current season light heavyweight semifinals. In the featherweight tournament quarterfinals, we will see Will Martinez and Mike Richman in action, while in the light heavyweight semifinal tournament will see Mikhail Zayats taking on Mo Lawal, while former champion Christian M'Pumbu will take on Quinton Jackson.

CARD

Featherweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(145 lb/65.25 kg)

Scott Cleve v Daniel Weichel (prelims)

Desmond Green v Mike Richman

Will Martinez v Goiti Yamauchi

Diego Nunes v Matt Bessette

 

Light heavyweight tournament

Semifinals

(205 lb/92.25 kg)

Mikhail Zayats v Mo Lawal

Christian M'Pumbu v Quinton Jackson

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night. Oh yeah, and another weight class "Boxcino" tournament on ESPN's Friday Night Fights at about the same time too. Yes folks. There are boxing tournaments too. 

 

 



BELLATOR MMA: The 100th: Welterweight Tournament Final & New Season Quarterfinals

The last MMA fight card of the summer is the only TV card with welterweights only.

This is also a historical event, considering on Friday, it will be the 100th event BELLATOR MMA has done in their six (or seven) year existence, back when they had shows televised by either Fox Sports Net, NBC or ESPN Deportes.

For this card, Phoenix is the city, and a rematch for the welterweight tournament final will be the headliner as Ben Saunders and Doug Lima will fight to see who will get a shot at Ben Askren's title in the future.

While one welterweight division qualifying tournament will end, another will begin with quarterfinal action featuring the likes of Brent Weedman, Rick Hawn and the "War Machine" in action.

 

CARD

Welterweight tournament

(current season)

Final

(170 lb/76.5 kg)

Doug Lima v Ben Saunders

 

Welterweight tournament

(new season)

Quarterfinals

(170 lb/76.5 kg)

Ron Keslar v Luis Melo

Rick Hawn v Herman Terrado

"War Machine" Koppenhaver v Vaughn Anderson

Brent Weedman v Justin Baesman

 

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night! Got my BELLATOR app! 

BELLATOR MMA 99: Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinals

The fall season of BELLATOR MMA is getting hotter as the country is getting cooler. Friday's BELLATOR 99 will feature all four quarterfinal matches, including Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire who will return to the cage.

 

CARD

Featherweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(145 lb/65.25 kg)

Akop Stepanyan v Justin Wilcox



Joe Taimangelo v Andrew Fisher

Desmond Green v Fabricio Guerreiro

Diego Nunes v Patricio Freire

 

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night! Don't forget next Friday night is BELLATOR's 100th event!

 

16 Teams, One Cup. Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013.

 

"The Maple Leafs are coming back to the playoffs. The Maple Leafs are coming back."

Those are the words of the CBC's Bob Cole after the Leafs clinched their first playoff spot in nine seasons. The lockout-shortened NHL season will finally have their postseason. After four months and 48 games, it is now time for the NHL's version of the Sweet 16.

The Leafs will open playoffs play in their East quarterfinal with the Bruins. The Islanders are also back in the postseason, as they will open their series with the Penguins.

The Wild are also back in the playoffs, and the Red Wings are back for the 22nd consecutive time.

With that in mind, here are the matchups...

(best of seven)

EAST
Quarterfinals
(1) Penguins v (8) Islanders
Game 1 5/1
Game 2 5/3
Game 3 5/5
Game 4 5/7
Game 5 5/9*
Game 6 5/11*
Game 7 5/12*

(4) Bruins v (5) Maple Leafs
Game 1 5/1
Game 2 5/4
Game 3 5/6
Game 4 5/8
Game 5 5/10*
Game 6 5/12*
Game 7 5/13*

(3) Capitals v (6) Rangers
Game 1 5/2
Game 2 5/4
Game 3 5/6
Game 4 5/8
Game 5 5/10*
Game 6 5/12*
Game 7 5/13*

(2) Canadiens v (7) Senators
Game 1 5/2
Game 2 5/3
Game 3 5/5
Game 4 5/7
Game 5 5/9*
Game 6 5/11*
Game 7 5/12*

WEST
Quarterfinals
(1) Blackhawks v (8) Wild
Game 1 4/30
Game 2 5/3
Game 3 5/5
Game 4 5/7
Game 5 5/9*
Game 6 5/11*
Game 7 5/12*

(4) Blues v (5) Kings
Game 1 4/30
Game 2 5/2
Game 3 5/4
Game 4 5/6
Game 5 5/8*
Game 6 5/10*
Game 7 5/13*

(3) Canucks v (6) Sharks
Game 1 5/1
Game 2 5/3
Game 3 5/5
Game 4 5/7
Game 5 5/9*
Game 6 5/11*
Game 7 5/13*

(2) Ducks v (7) Red Wings
Game 1 4/30
Game 2 5/2
Game 3 5/4
Game 4 5/6
Game 5 5/8*
Game 6 5/10*
Game 7 5/12*

*-If necessary.

Every game, every night. On CBC, TSN, NBC, NBC Sports Network, NHL Network, RDS, CNBC and regional carriers.

Because it's the Cup.

BELLATOR 89: Dantas v Galvao For the Bantamweight Title!

What better way to end your Valentine's day night than some hard pounding tournament action and a title fight that BELLATOR can deliver!

The bantamweight title is on the line as Eduardo Dantas defends the title against the most recent tournament winner in bantamweight, Marcos Galvao.

In addition, the middleweight tournament quarterfinals will begin on Thursday night featuring Andreas Spang, Brett Cooper and Brian Rogers.

 

CARD
Middleweight tournament

quarterfinals

(185lb/83.25kg)

Sultan Aliev v Mikkel Parlo

Doug Marshall v Andreas Spang

Brett Cooper v Norman Paraisy

Dan Cramer v Brian Rogers

 

Bantamweight championship

(135lb/60.75kg)

Eduardo Dantas (c) v Marcos Galvao

 

LIVE on SPIKE after IMPACT Wrestling Thursday night.

BELLATOR 88: Falcao v Shlemenko For the Middleweight Title!

Another BELLATOR event, and another championship fight. The vacant middleweight world title will be on the line as Maiquel Falcao will take on Alex Shlemenko.

Also, the featherweight tournament quarterfinals begin, with one aim: a title shot against current featherweight champ Pat Curran in the near future. The returning Marlon Sandro will headline the quarterfinal action.

 

CARD

Featherweight tournament

Quarterfinals

(145 lb/65.25 kg)

Genair da Silva v Alexandre Bezarra

Fabricio Guerrero v Frodo Khasbulaev

Mike Richman v Mitch Jackson

Akop Stepanyan v Marlon Sandro

 

Middleweight championship

Vacant title

(185 lb/83.25 kg)

Maiquel Falcao v Alexander Shlemenko

 

 

LIVE on SPIKE Thursday night after IMPACT Wrestling. 



BELLATOR MMA 87: Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals

It's the return of the lightweight quarterfinal tournament beginning Thursday night. Four great matches featuring your favorites, including the returning Lloyd Woodard and Ricardo Tirloni. Guillarme DeLorenzi will now have a different opponent as Saad Awad will replace Patricky Freire. Patricky will not fight due to knee injury. Very unfortunate, I was looking forward to his return.

CARD

Lightweight tournament

Quarterfinal

(155lb/69.75kg)

Ricardo Tirloni v Will Brooks

Thiago Michel v Alexander Sarnavskiy

Lloyd Woodard v David Rickels

Saad Awad (replacing Patricky Freire) v Guillarme DeLorenzi

 

Always remember: CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE.  

 

 

LIVE on SPIKE Thursday night. 

BELLATOR 86: Askren v Amoussou for Welterweight Title and Mo Lawal's MMA Return

Finally it is great to be back posting pictures on my blog.

With that in mind, BELLATOR 86 will be just as explosive as Thursday night's BELLATOR 85. Why? Because Ben 'Funky' Askren will return to the cage and defend his welterweight title against the most recent welterweight tournament champion Karl Amoussou.

Also, there are four welterweight tournament quarterfinal matches featuring the likes of Brent Weedman, Marius Zaromskis, Doug Lima, Ben Saunders and Mikhail Tsarev.

But that's not all! the final quarterfinal match in the light heavyweight tournament will mark Mo Lawal's return to MMA as this will be his first fight with BELLATOR for the RPW (which was a GOOD concept, but short lived) and Strikeforce star.

 

CARD

Welterweight tournament

Quarterfinal
(170 lb/76.5kg)

Jose Gomes v Raul Amaya

Marius Zaromskis v Brent Weedman

Koffie Adzitso v Ben Saunders

Doug Lima v Mikhail Tsarev

 

Light heavyweight tournament

Quarterfinal
(205 lb/92.25kg)

Przemyslaw Mysiala v Mo Lawal

 

 

Welterweight championship

(170lb/76.5kg)

Ben Askren (c) v Karl Amoussou

 

 

LIVE on SPIKE Thursday night after IMPACT Wrestling! 

BELLATOR 77: Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals

The lightweight division takes center stage on Friday night, with the quarterfinal tournament, featuring the return of former quarterfinalist Marcin Held. All eight are vying for the #1 contender for a title shot with current lightweight champion Michael Chandler at a later date.

CARD

Lightweight tournament

quarterfinals
(155lb/69.75kg)

Rich Clementi v Alexandre Sarnavskiy

Ricardo Tirloni v Rene Nazare

Marcin Held v Murad Machaev

Dave Jansen v Magomed Saadulaev

 

LIVE on MTV2 and epix HD this Friday night. 



BELLATOR 76: Alvarez (For the Final Time) v Patricky Freire

Friday night's BELLATOR 76 could possibly be the final fight for former BELLATOR lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, according to his contract. Alvarez, whose last fight was against current DREAM champion Shinya Aoki (who fought this past weekend at ONE's Rise of the Kings), will fight in a feature main event against the returning Patricky Freire.

Also there will be all four quarterfinal matches in the featherweight tournament.

CARD

Featherweight tournament

quarterfinals

(145 lb., 65.25kg)

Wagnney Fabiano v Akop Stepanyan

Shahbulat Shamhalaev v Cody Bollinger

Mike Richman v Jeremy Spoon

Rad Martinez v Nazareno Malegarie

 

Lightweight feature fight
(155 lb., 69.75kg)

Eddie Alvarez v Patricky Freire

 

 

LIVE on MTV2 and epix HD Friday night. Hopefully after Alvarez is done with BELLATOR, he should fight for ONE.





BELLATOR: The 'Diamond' Event!

74 events in the books. Friday will be the 75th event BELLATOR has done, and an even better way to celebrate 75 events is for another #1 contender tournament to take place. This time it's the heavyweight tournament, headlined by the final that wasn't: Eric Prindle vs Thiago Santos, which never happened because Santos failed to cut weight, thus Prindle got the #1 contender spot and loss the title fight to Cole Konrad.

 

CARD
Heavyweight tournament

quarterfinals

(200+lb/90+kg)

Brett Rogers v Alexander Volkov

Mark Holata v Vinicius Queiroz

Mike Wessel v Richard Hale

Eric Prindle v Thiago Santos

 

Winner of this tournament gets a title shot against Cole Konrad in the near future.

 

LIVE on MTV2 and epixHD Friday night. 

It's That Time! Stanley Cup Playoffs!

It's that time again.

Even though the Stars, with first year coach Glen Gulutzan, missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season, there are some stories to talk about regarding this year's playoffs.

Two of the biggest stories in this NHL postseason are those of the Blues and Panthers. The Blues' ending their playoff-less draught by earning a number 2 seed in the west (won the Central division) and will play the Sharks in the first round. The Panthers however, had a long-standing suffering of their own. Twelve years since their last playoff run, and the Southeastern division champions will have the Devils in the first round. Time to bring out the rats out of hibernation, eh?

For the second straight year, the Canucks are the number 1 seed in the west, while the Rangers are the number one seed in the East, for the first time in eons. The defending Stanley Cup champ Bruins (Atlantic division champs) will host the Caps in the first round.

FIRST ROUND (best of seven)

WEST
(1) Canucks v (8) Kings
(4) Predators v (5) Red Wings
(3) Coyotes v (6) Blackhawks
(2) Blues v (7) Sharks

EAST
(1) Rangers v (8) Senators
(4) Penguins v (5) Flyers
(3) Panthers v (6) Devils
(2) Bruins v (7) Capitals

All the games are televised, on cable via TSN, NBC Sports Network, CNBC and NHL Network (in both US and Canada) and on CBC and NBC as well.

Quick SCF prediction: Blues/Rangers. Bank on it!