Bellator's heavyweight tournament has been trimming away the fat of the group thus far, leaving us with the prime rib, the final four of the 8-man tournament. While "The Goliath" Neil Grove was already impressive in his debut, when he dispatched of UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez inside of the first round in their bout at Bellator 24, some new challengers have emerged from Bellator 25, which was held just last night, on August 19. ...

“King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (4-0) TKO’d late replacement “Smashing Machine” Mark Kerr (14-11) in 25 seconds at M-1 Global Breakthrough in Kansas City Friday night, sending Kerr’s mouthpiece zipping across the mat at the end of a right hook while Kerr lie flat on his stomach. Lawal had crouched low out of his corner; and, Kerr threw a low kick. Lawal caught Kerr’s low kick and dumped Kerr on his stomach, beginning the onslaught of punches that ended the fight. For Lawal, the "W" is Pyrrhic as the talented light heavyweight wastes time versus opponents, like Kerr, who don't develop his talent. ...

"Diesel" Travis Wiuff (52-11) battled five rounds versus three heavyweights Friday night in Atlantic City to conquer YAMMA Pit Fighting's first tournament. In non-tournament action, forty-four-year old original Ultimate Fighter challenger Patrick Smith (15-13) submitted 417-pound "Butterbean" Eric Esch (10-6-1) with strikes. And, "The Russian Bear" Oleg Taktarov (16-5-2) also won by submission over "The Titan" Mark Kerr (15-7). The tournament featured one-round fight-offs into the semi-finals. Wiuff drew Brazilian Marcel Pereira (0-1) and pummeled the jits player on the mat over five minutes for the unanimous decision. The tourney had commenced with an Alexey Oleinik (7-4) front-choke submission of "The Tank" Sherman Pendergarst at 4:18. Chris Tuscherer (13-1) had dominated Tony Sylvester (10-2) for a unanimous decision. And, former UFC Heavyweight Champion "Suave" Ricco Rodriguez (28-9) had taken George Bush (5-1) down at will to score a UD. The second round also featured one-round fight-offs pairing Oleinik versus Tuscherer and Wiuff versus Rodriguez. Again, Tuscherer dominated his opponent in G'n'P fury for a unanimous decision; and, Wiuff similarly overwhelmed the veteran Rodriguez, also for a UD. In the three-round tournament final, Tuscherer didn't do more than frustrate the seemingly fresher Wiuff.  Wiuff closed out round one with a left-right combo that bloodied Tuscherer.  Rounds two and three were fought mostly on the mat, with Wiuff unloading ground'n'pound in spurts while Tuscherer was somewhat effective tying him up. At the final bell, Wiuff took all three judges' cards 30-27 twice and 29-28. In the event's "Masters Superfight" main event, Smith shredded Bean's pillar-like legs with kicks that eventually fell the massive man.  Esch was helpless on his back as Smith beat him to verbal submission at 3:17 of round one. After absorbing a massive right from Kerr in the other "Masters Superfight", Taktarov swept into a side kneebar to tap "The Titan" at 1:50 of round one. The night had popped-off at the end of a "Philly Badass" Lamont Lister (4-3) overhand right that dropped Russian Oleg Savitsky (1-2) in a tournament alternate bout.  "Badass" finished him on the mat for a 33-second TKO. In the other tourney alternate bout, Bryan Vetell (4-3) won a one-round unanimous decision over Antwain Britt (3-1). ...