What's Next For The Winners And Losers Of Bellator 35?

Bellator 35 needed to be a success, and judged solely on the quality of its fights, it certainly was. It remains to be seen if MMA, and Bellator’s unique take on it, can succeed on the MTV2 network, though. But now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold after Bellator’s inaugural show on MTV2? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring Bellator 35.

Next for Lyman Good and Rick Hawn: Each other, as it’s recently been confirmed that this is how the next round of the tournament will shake out.

For Lyman Good to beat Rick Hawn, he’ll have to do what he did to Chris Lozano against a very, very different breed of fighter. Lyman needs to keep it tight and focused, with crisp punching and good footwork to avoid any heavy blows. Also, Good needs to avoid the clinch as much as possible, because if he doesn’t, he’s getting thrown.

And that’s Rick Hawn’s key to beating Lyman Good: utilize the Judo he wasn’t able to utilize against Jim Wallhead because Wallhead was such a good Judo guy himself. Hawn has to avoid being lured into a brawl, even if he can hold his own in one, simply because his Judo is on such a high level. If Hawn closes the distance, he needs to send Good flying every chance he gets.

Next for Jay Hieron and Brent Weedman: And now we come to the other end of Bellator’s Welterweight Tournament Semi-Finals.

For Brent Weedman to beat Jay Hieron, he needs to go for broke and try to knock the grizzled veteran out. Ten of Weidman’s eighteen victories have been by (T)KO, and Hieron has lost a few by dramatic TKO in the past. If Hieron is allowed to get comfortable, his experience and tenacity will simply overwhelm Weedman. It’s up to Weedman to constantly push the pace and constantly go headhunting, whether it be with kicks or punches or anything else.

For Hieron, it really does all come down to finding a comfort zone and working in that zone to achieve mount. Whether by a takedown or a well-timed punch, Hieron needs to put Weedman on his back and work his way to Mount. From there, he should try to punch a hole through Weedman’s head until the ref stops it or Weedman loses consciousness. Or if Weedman gives up his back, Hieron should look to sink in a Rear Naked Choke. It’s all about surviving any initial onslaughts and then forcing Weedman to fight his (Hieron’s) fight.

As for who I think will advance to the finals of Bellator’s latest Welterweight Tournament, my early gut reaction is that we’re going to see Jay Hieron and Rick Hawn battle it out for a shot at the championship.

And that’s what I think, fans and friends. But what about you? What do you see happening in the near and not-so-near future of the big winners and losers of Bellator 35?