 Lyman Good is great as first Bellator Welterweight World Championship June 12, 2009 - Uncasville, Conn. :: At the climax of the first ever Bellator Fighting Championships Welterweight World title bout, the New York phenom Lyman Good grounded and pounded his way to victory, defeating the Dominican legend killer Omar De La Cruz in an aggressive demonstration of Good's constantly evolving ground game. Lasting just over one minute, Good charged at the Tae Kwon Do Jiu Jitsu technician and did exactly what no one expected him to do, by shooting in on the BJJ Black specialist and using his electrifying ground skills to pound out the victory. Good trapped De La Cruz against the cage and delivered a barrage of strikes inside Omar's guard until the referee stopped the fight in front of thousands of Good supporters. Good thanked his family and coaches profusely as he adorned the Bellator Welterweight Title Belt and raised the $175,000 check for his three fight effort. The Welterweight championship bout can be seen on Saturday, June 13, 2009 exclusively on ESPN Deportes and on Bellator.com on Wednesday, June 17th in English.
"This is for my family and always has been," commented an ecstatic Good after the match. "I would also like to tell the people at Team Tiger Schulman's (TTS) how grateful I am for everything they've done. Growing up without a father, my coach stepped into that role and for that I am extremely thankful for getting that direction in my life and to Bellator for giving me this opportunity." Lyman Good, who spent the last four months living and sleeping in his training facility, said that he would keep his championship belt there to inspire his team and other TTS fighters.
"Lyman Good exemplifies everything that is right about this tournament structure," added Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney. "He's a world-class talent that was never given a chance on the world stage. We provided that opportunity and he capitalized on it at the very highest level. And, he's a great guy. I could not be happier for Lyman Good. We are lucky to have him fighting for our organization."
In a thrilling feature fight New York-native and freestyle ace Nick Pace took on Collin Tebo in bantamweight action. The 22 year old up-and-comer Pace, also a product of TTS, came out of the gate hungry leaping at Tebo with a flying knee kick landing squarely and taking the match to a screeching halt just under two minutes into the match via TKO. The spectacular KO created a monster roar from the crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena. In other undercard action, Mexican legend Edwin Aguilar took on local fan favorite Uriah Hall in a back-and-forth battle of fists and high leg kicks. This hard fought match showed Aguilar's tenacity and resilience while taking a beating from the hard throwing newcomer Hall. With under a minute left in the bout, Hall took out Edwin with a series of strikes. In the shortest match of the night, last minute replacement fighter Jake Ellenberger stunned Marcelo Alfaya with a strong right hook knockout just 42 seconds into the match.
All of the Bellator XI action will air on ESPN Deportes Saturday, June 13. The full fight card results are below:
Bellator XI Welterweight Final Tournament bout:
170 lbs. - Omar De La Cruz (5-1) vs. Lyman Good (10-0) Good by TKO (strikes) at 1:23
Bellator XI Non-tournament bouts:
175 lbs. - Marcelo Alfaya (10-5) vs. Jake Ellenberger (20-4) Ellenberger by TKO at 0:42
170 lbs. - Justin Torrey (5-0) vs. Matt Makowski (5-2) Torrey by unanimous decision
170 lbs. - Vagner Rocha (2-0) vs. Igor Gracie (1-2) Rocha by unanimous decision
135 lbs. - Collin Tebo (1-1) vs. Nick Pace (2-0) Pace by TKO (Knee) at 1:47
185 lbs. - Edwin Aguilar (20-14) vs. Uriah Hall (2-0) Hall by TKO (strikes) at 14:31
135 lbs. - Nick Garcia (1-3) vs. Jimmie Rivera (3-1) Rivera by unanimous decision
185 lbs. - Dennis Olson (6-3) vs. David Branch (4-0) Branch by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:27
Bellator Fighting Championships' premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights on ESPN Deportes. The English-language broadcast becomes available on www.Bellator.com each Wednesday. The nationally televised events feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There are four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season one over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions.
For more information, visit www.bellator.com.
Bellator's Spanish website is available at www.BellatorEspanol.com. Please contact your local cable provider to learn more about viewing Bellator Fighting Championships on ESPN Deportes.
About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Bellator founder and 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 (including Rob Beiner, winner of 12 Emmy awards for sports programming), fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.
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