The Bellator Fighting Championships Season 2 tournament finals are in full swing tonight with a highly anticipated Welterweight showdown between "Funky" Ben Askren and Dan "The Handler" Hornbuckle. There are of course other fights on this card but that is certainly everybody's main focus.
The other fights:
Main Card
Stephanie Frausto vs Lisa Ward - Women's 115lb division
Jarrod Card vs Jose Vega - 140lb catchweight
Raphael Davis vs Demetrius Richards - Lightheavyweight division
Prelims
Leonardo Pecanha vs Tyler Stinson - Welterweight Division
Rudy Bears vs Brian Green - 180lb Catchweight
Cole Konrad vs John Orr - Heavyweight Division
Jared Downing vs Chad Vandenberg - Bantamweight Division
Main Event
Welterweight Tournament Final - Winner gets $100K + a shot at Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good
"Funky" Ben Askren (5-0) vs Dan "The Handler" Hornbuckle (21-2)
It's certainly no secret what Askren is bringing to the cage. He's a two time former NCAA Wrestling Champion and a former member of the US Olympic wrestling team. He showed of course great takedowns and fantastic top control in his two tournament fights, both against Ryan Thomas. I compared him before to a fresh off of The Ultimate Fighter Josh Koscheck and that's pretty much exactly what he is. Strong wrestling but not much yet in terms striking and submission skills. He's a super athletic with huge potential but definitely still very much a work in progress. Dan Hornbuckle caught the attention of hardcore MMA fans with two excellent wins in Sengoku including a TKO of Nick Thompson and a BRUTAL head kick KO on Akihiro Gono. In the Bellator tournament this year he's showed off his great submission skills with first a triangle choke finish on Tyler Stinson followed up by a kimura win over Steve Carl. Hornbuckle knows Askren is going to get this fight to the ground, but he's going to make him pay for it with a huge striking advantage. Once it gets to the ground I don't think Hornbuckle is afraid of that either.
Prediction - Dan Hornbuckle by submission in Round 2, probably a triangle choke. Hornbuckle has a good height and reach advantage and I think he'll wrap those long legs around Askren and put him away. Hornbuckle won't be uncomfortable working off of his back, I think he's fully expecting to finish the fight from there. And hopefully he'll wipe the damn smirk off of Ben Askren's cocky jock asshole face. That's the other thing he has in common with Josh Koscheck.
Bellator 22 preview and predictions
