"Big Rig" Maiquel Falcao (blue shirt) defeated heavy-handed Swede Andreas Spang in a three-round battle to become Bellator Season 6 Middleweight Tournament Champion. (Photo courtesy of Bellator)
Friday night marked the conclusion of another star studded tournament in Lake Charles, Louisiana as “Big Rig” Maiquel Falcao (31-4) faced “Sweet Swede” Andreas Spang (8-2) for the Season 6 Middleweight Tournament Finals and the right to face Season 5 185lbs. tourney winner and former title challanger “The Storm” Alexander Shlemenko (45-7) for the now-vacant middleweight belt. “Pyscho” Karl Amoussou (15-4) and “The Caveman” David Rickels (10-1) brought the fight in their semi-finals bout to determine who would move on to face “The Beast” Bryan Baker (19-3) in the welterweight tournament championship finale. A special attraction fight in the Bellator women’s division featured top 115lbs. star ”Mega Megu” Megumi Fujii (25-2) taking on another of the division’s best in “JAG” Jessica Aguilar (13-4) with one to earn the coveted title of best female fighter in the world. A heavyweight bout between “The Monster” Ron Sparks (8-1) and “Concrete” Kevin Asplund (15-1) was cancelled after Sparks was not granted medical clearance to fight, however, Bellator 69 still delivered in a big way despite its shortened main card on MTV2.
Megumi Fujii vs. Jessica Aguilar: Jessica Aguilar asked for a shot at Megumi Fujii to prove she was the best in the world. She got her chance against the Japanese submission ace, and she shined brightly. Aguilar used crisp boxing, leading jabs, perfectly timed right hands, and a level head to topple Fujii in a three-round battle that was one for the books of women’s fight history. Fujii however didn’t let Aguilar just steal a win, she had the Florida native in tight submission locks but Aguilar escaped from danger and answered with an offense of ground strikes. “JAG” escaped a final first-round surge of an Armbar to Omoplata from Fujii, and carried that momentum into the last two stanzas. Aguilar’s lead jab kept “Mega Megu” from getting too close and opened up a cut in the Japanese fighter’s cheek. Fujii answered with strikes of her own but Aguilar’s stick-and-move counter-strikes only made it worse for Fujii. In the final round Fujii turned the tides on Aguilar as she was sucessful with a takedown and getting Aguilar to her back. The Japanese MMA starlet dropped some hard punches and hammerfists from Aguilar’s guard, but the ATT fighter stayed active with punches from her back. Aguilar attempted several Armbars only to have Fujii fend them off, stand up, then dive back into Aguilar’s guard while raining down heavy punches. The final bell rang and the fight went to the judges, who ultimately ruled in favor of “JAG”. Aguilar via Unanimous Decision
Karl Amoussou vs. David Rickels: Within the first exchange between the men, Rickels’ counter-kick broke Amoussou’s protective cup and the fight had to be paused until it was repaired. The fight resumed with Amoussou’s signature blitzkrieg of strikes and an out-of-step Rickels trying to catch up. The Parisian mixed up his performance with swarming strikes and slick tosses to batter and control Rickels for the majority of the three-round bout. It wasn’t until the final minute of the second frame that Rickels started to have his way, as he put together a combo and ended with a driving knee to put Amoussou on his heels. “Psycho” blasted forward to take Rickels to the mat, and the Kansas native locked onto an arm only to have Amoussou slam him twice until he released it. Amoussou gained control again as he punished Rickels with hard shots to the face to close out the second round. Round 3 started with another groin shot from Rickels, and the fight again was paused to allow the M1 and DREAM veteran time to recover. As the fight resumed, Amoussou slipped on a kick and Rickels dropped down to Amoussou’s guard. From there Rickels unloaded heavy punches on his foe, causing a nasty mouse to form under Amoussou’s left eye. Rickels owned the final round as he kept Amoussou on his back, but it wasn’t enough to sway the judges’ decision, as two of the three determined that Amoussou will face Bryan Baker in the finale later this summer. Amoussou via Split Decision
Maiquel Falcao vs. Andreas Spang: The middleweight tourney combatants went straight to business as the first bell rang inside the cage, however it was the “Sweet Swede” who made the first statement. He caught Falcao with a quick combo against the fence and left the Brazilian dazed. Falcao wisely went for the clinch then drove Spang to the mat to take his back. The men returned to their feet where “Big Rig” delivered an illegal knee and was deducted a point for his attack. The fight resumed and Falcao, now down a point, became a man on fire. Spang proved to be quicker with his punches but Falcao had the perfect formula against the Swede. He clinched and dropped Spang to the mat. The Brazilian KO artist kept Spang grounded with punches and controlled his opponent with his arm locked around his waist. Spang tried to climb back to his feet time and time again however Falcao only dragged him back down for more punishment. For the second and third rounds Falcao hammered down on a turtled-up Spang, dragged him back to the mat when Spang managed to get back to his feet, and resumed his punches and knees to the Swedish import. In the final minute the fight returned to the feet to have Spang go out swinging against Falcao as he fired off a right kick to the body. Falcao caught the kick, tripped Spang to his back and got full mount to end the middleweight tournament at the final bell. Falcao via Unanimous Decision
Click here for the full list of Bellator 69 results.
