· Warren Picks Up Controversial Decision Win At Bellator 41

Bellator 41 concluded Saturday night from the outdoor venue of the Cocopah Casino and Resort in Yuma, Ariz. The promotion’s first visit to the state was a success as the featherweight tournament semifinals came to a close, and two Bellator champions triumphed in separate non-title bouts.

In the headlining “super fight,” Featherweight Champion Joe Warren went to war with Marcos "Louro" Galvao in his first match since capturing the belt in September of 2010. In the 137 pound non-title catchweight fight, Warren immediately found his self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” epithet in question, as the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Galvao routinely stuffed the takedown attempts from the Greco-Roman Olympic wrestler, and reversed them, ending up on top of Warren multiple times. Though the champion was able to return to his feet, Galvao clearly held the advantage in the striking, landing a variety of punches, kicks, and powerful knees.

The challenger continued to demonstrate his superior strategy and technique in the second round. With both Warren and Galvao appearing visibly slower and fatigued, Galvao utilized impressive counter striking and repeated flying knees—two in a row at one point—to keep Warren off balance and on the losing end of the exchanges. Remarkably, Galvao was able to stifle Warren’s patented takedowns until just 30 seconds left in the round—which, however erroneous, appears to have swayed the judges in favor of Warren.

It was not until the final stanza that the fading champion was able to get his footing and gain a demonstrable advantage. While Galvao managed to land several counters, Warren secured two key takedowns that gave him the round. Using the top position to control and smother Galvao, while landing effective ground-and-pound, Warren finished the match on the top. In a somewhat bizarre and controversial decision, Warren remains undefeated as the judges’ scores were unanimously in his favor (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)—an announcement that met with a chorus of boos from the fans in attendance.

Just prior to the main event, Wilson Reis took on Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in an equally intense and entertaining bout that offered little in the way controversy. In a rematch of their semifinals battle from last year, Reis and Freire again vied for the coveted spot in the featherweight tournament finals and they did not disappoint. After two hotly-contested rounds that saw a bit of everything—in takedowns, scrambles, submission attempts, and effective striking from both fighters—the third round looked to be the deciding factor.

Possibly down two rounds, Reis began as the more aggressive fighter in the third; after a few minutes in, however, he was visibly slower and Freire’s counters became the determining element. A vicious right coupled with an array of powerful follow up shots wobbled Reis and Freire went in for the kill. Several strikes later Reis was buckled against the fence, out on his feet, as the referee jumped in to stop the fight—a few punches too late. Picking up the knockout victory, Freire moves on to the finals.

Bantamweight Champion Zach "Fun Size" Makovsky faced a stiff challenge against the undefeated Chad "Robo" Robichaux in another non-title affair, though he proved that his championship status is no fluke. The former Marine, Robichaux attempted to use an intense pace and a variety of unorthodox strikes to upset the champion, but it was Makovsky’s superior wrestling, strength and technique that outmatched Robichaux for the first two rounds.

Continually beating Robichaux to the punch, Makovsky was able to overwhelm him, often ending up with an advantageous ground position, and on two occasions nearly finishing by submission—with a rear-naked choke and an arm triangle, both in the second round.

As they entered the final round, Makovsky again appeared the fresher and more dominant fighter. Overpowering Robichaux, Makovsky tossed him to the ground and quickly transitioned to the mount where he reigned down a series of damaging blows that forced referee Jason Herzog to stop the fight, awarding Makovsky the technical knockout win at 2:02 of the third round.

Opening the main card, the first featherweight semifinals match saw Daniel Straus take on Kenny “The Tooth Fairy” Foster in a hard-fought battle. After clearly taking both the first and second round, Straus entered the third on his way toward his predilection of winning gritty three round decisions. Foster, however, started the round fatigued and tentative, more than he had been the entire fight. After a failed takedown attempt from Foster, Straus once again successfully scrambled and gained top position where he transitioned from a D'Arce choke to a deep and painful looking guillotine that finished his opponent as Foster tapped out. Straus wins via submission at 3:48 of round three and moves on to face Freire in the featherweight tournament finals.

Aside from the late judging mishap, Bellator 41 presented another solid and high-quality event. “This season continues to produce outstanding fights, and tonight was no different,” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney stated as the evening ended. “Two of our champions came away with victories, and Pitbull and Straus both earned well deserved trips to our featherweight final later this season on MTV2—which will make for an unbelievable championship fight.”

Official Results:

Main Card

• Joe Warren defeated Marcos Galvao via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Patricio Freire defeated Wilson Reis via knockout (punches) at 3:29 of Round 3
• Zach Makovsky defeated Chad Robichaux via technical knockout (punches) at 2:02 of Round 3
• Daniel Straus defeated Kenny Foster via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:48 of Round 3

Undercard:

• Carlos Flores defeated Rudy Aguilar via technical knockout (punches) at 1:19 of Round 1
• Anthony Birchak defeated Tyler Bialecki via submission (D'arce choke) at 4:06 of Round 1
• Nick Piedmont defeated Michael Parker via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
• Brendan Tierney defeated Dano Moore via submission (arm bar) at 0:49 Round 1