Long reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard will watch closely as eight top level fighters enter the Season 5 tournament for a crack at his gold. (Photo courtesy of Bellator)
Tomorrow night the famed Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino hosts yet another Bellator event: the Bellator 50 and the Season 5 Middleweight Tournament quarter-finals. ”Shango” Hector Lombard (28-2), with the championship belt hoisted across his shoulder, reigns at 185lbs. and only one man will earn the chance to challenge for his gold strap. Stacked with Bellator veterans, a former title challenger, and new faces from around the globe, the tournament seems geared to ensure that man is the toughest test yet of Hector’s reign. “The Beast” Bryan Baker (12-2), a giant and powerful middleweight, has overcome many hardships to unleash “The Beast” inside the cage. Standing across from him is the hard nosed and gritty Jared Hess (12-2), the man who was the runner-up in the first season but was cut down short in the second season due to a freak knee injury. Russian striker “The Storm” Alexander Shlemenko (30-4) will bring his flashy spinning back fists and kicks into the cage to welcome Croatian kickboxer and DREAM and Cage Rage veteran Zelg Galesic (9-5), a man who has never been out of the first round in his entire career. Perhaps one of the most decorated Jiu-Jitsu champions in the world, Vitor Vianna (10-1), will bring his high level grappling with him as he makes his Bellator debut against “Smiling” Sam Alvey (14-2). Starting off the tournament are two newcomers in Strikeforce veteran Brian Rogers (7-2) and Victor O’Donnell (12-1). Both men love to strike and have secured most of their pro wins by TKO. Only four men can move on to the semi-finals but with such talent that is involved in this tournament, anything goes.
