Bellator 35 Results: A Pleasantly Surprising, Rather Exciting Debut on MTV2

While it may have been a bit overshadowed by Strikeforce’s “Feijao vs. Henderson” event, today marked an important date in the history of the upstart Bellator FC promotion. Bellator 35 debuted live on MTV2 tonight, featuring several exciting fights that included a great three-round war to open the show and a great three-round war to close it. Here are the full results as well as some early commentary on Bellator FC’s thirty-fifth show.

Paul Ruiz defeats Jesus Castro by TKO (Strikes) at 1:17 of Round 1. Zoila Frausto defeats Karina Hallinan by Unanimous Decision. Brent Weedman defeats Dan Hornbuckle by Unanimous Decision. Rick Hawn defeats Jim Wallhead by Unanimous Decision. Jay Hieron defeats Anthony Lapsley by Technical Submission (Referee Stoppage) at 3:39 of Round 1. Lyman Good defeats Chris Lozano by Unanimous Decision. Brandon Bender defeats Josh Herrick by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:42 of Round 1. Waachiim Spiritwolf defeats Jaime Jara via Split Decision.

I honestly disagree wholeheartedly with the judges giving Brent Weedman the victory over Dan Hornbuckle. It was certainly a close fight, but I felt that Hornbuckle definitely won two out of the three rounds. Thankfully, the quality of the fight greatly overshadowed its outcome. It was a very good way to start out the night. Rick Hawn and Jim Wallhead also had a pretty entertaining clash, it was much more of a brawl than I would have expected from two Judo-based fighters.

I was very glad that I got to see Jay Hieron debut in Bellator, and I’m even gladder that he debuted in such a dominating way. It was clear as day that Anthony Lapsley was in serious trouble, but to be honest, the fight was definitely stopped prematurely. However, I do have to wonder: would those few extra seconds really have made a difference? It looked like Lapsley was only a few more seconds away from being choked out. I suppose there will always be room for speculation, and I definitely think the referee should be at least somewhat criticized, but at the end of the day, Jay Hieron did what he does best and I can’t wait to see how far he goes in Bellator.

The main event of Bellator 35 was also a close fight between two talented performers, except the decision in this fight definitely went to the man who deserved it. With this win, Lyman is now 11-1 and has only ever lost to the current Bellator Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren. This was a very dominating performance, and I can see Good really going far in this season’s tournament.

Overall, I was moderately impressed with Bellator. I certainly don’t regret checking out this show, that’s for sure. It wasn’t the type of show that blew me away, but it was a solid event from a growing promotion. Plus, it’s the first show of a series of live, weekly shows. Even the UFC doesn’t have live, free, weekly shows. There’s very little I didn’t like about Bellator 35, even if the show didn’t fully blow my socks off. I look forward to following this promotion throughout its inaugural run on MTV2, and I just hope that the MTV2 audience responds as positively to this debut as I did.

And what about you, fans and friends? Any thoughts on Bellator 35?