Bellator Fighting Championships begin their fourth-season which kicks off this March on MTV2, which has become a new home for the upstart promotion following their stint on several other networks including ESPN Deportes, Fox Sportsnet, Telemundo, among others.

Since his departure from the World Extreme Cagefighting organization in November of 2009 following a decision loss to newcomer Karen Darabedyan, McCullough has rattled off two consecutive wins, a first-round TKO of Isaac DeJesus and decision win over UFC veteran Corey Hill, both under the Tachi Palace Fighting banner.

Rob remains one of the best entrants into the upcoming lightweight tournament, which may also feature the return of two-time finalist Toby Imada as well as season three winner Pat Curran, who has been inactive since sustaining an injury in preparation for a bout with Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez late last year.

“Razor” Rob reigned as the WEC lightweight champion for a little more then a year, defending his title once against veteran Rich Crunkilton, which he later lost to Jamie Varner in February of 2008. Since the loss to Varner, McCullough went 2-2 in his next 4 outings before being released from the promotion and later racking his recent two-fight win streak.

McCullough holds career highlight victories over the likes of the aforementioned UFC vet’s Kit Cope, Nam Phan, the aforementioned Hill and one-time PRIDE fighter Olaf Alfonso.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of Rob’s recent involvement with the Bellator organization, and namely the upcoming tournament? Sound off in the comment section below.

Razor Rob is having a viewing party this Sunday at Beachfront 301 on Main Street in Huntington Beach, California and I will be joining him to represent Fighters.com and MMA Gospel Radio. The party starts at 6 PM PST.

This is the first event the UFC has held on Versus and is headlined by “The Truth” Brandon Vera (11-4) versus “Bones” Jon Jones (9-1). The co-main event for the event has “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4) taking on Fighters.com fifth-ranked heavyweight “Cigano” Junior Dos Santos (10-1) in a fight to determine yet another challenger for the UFC heavyweight title.

Make sure to get there early and look for me wearing my MMA Gospel Radio signature shirt from KOBC Clothing. We look forward to meeting you.

Melvin is known as more than just a K-1 level striker, he is known as a force of mass destruction. All of his wins but one have come by way of knock out or TKO. He is an aggressive fighter with the power of Zeus in his hands who fights out of the world famous Mike’s Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is very clear what his game plan will be come Saturday night in Miami at the BankAtlantic Center. Manhoef will want to put his fists through the face of Robbie Lawler and everyone on the planet knows this.

Robbie Lawler is gutsy brawler that ends fights with his fists as well. Most of his fights have ended the same way that Melvin has ended his and this is what makes people believe we will see fireworks inside the cage when these two collide. Lawler was the EliteXC middleweight champion until they went bankrupt and he found a new home in Strikeforce. Once hailing from the Miletech camp, he now trains out of the gym he co-owns with former UFC champion and  Fighters.com eighth-ranked welterweight Matt Hughes (41-7), the H.I.T. Squad.

Robbie is known as a guy that take a punch with many reffering to his chin as being made of granite. However, training being such an experienced fighter and training with guys like Hughes, you have to think his camp is revolving around wrestling and the ground game, the glaring weakness of Dutch striker, Manhoef.

Robbie will need to avoid the initial onslaught of Melvin and work his way inside to get this fight t the ground where he can easily finish the fight. One thing stands in his way of getting back to his winning ways, his ego.

Men like Lawler are easily swayed from their solid game plans by the crowd noise and the mere anticipation of the fight ending in a KO. Wednesday night I interviewed “Razor” Rob McCullough (17-6) on MMA Gospel Radio and asked him just how easy it was to feel you can KO anyone after doing it a few times. He told us that it was very easy to get away from the game plan and it sometimes leads to disaster. Lawler must avoid this at cost in order to win this fight.

What separates the two fighters is that Manhoef has next to no ground game and while not known for his submissions, Lawler trains with Hughes who is an amazing wrestler. You have to think that after all his time working with his friend and business partner that he has picked up some wrestling knowledge. One thing is for sure, Matt Hughes used to put together good game plans and for this fight I would be shocked if the game plan was anything other than taking the fight to the mat and making it a quick night.

Lawler has the steel chin to stave off the Manhoef Blitzkrieg and should have the wrestling skills to get this fight where he is guaranteed a win. All the tools are there and the only thing getting in the way of his win on Saturday is himself.

Pride and ego can make or break a fighter and Saturday we will see how it works out for Robbie. No matter the outcome the fans are the true winners after this fight.

You can join me and my co-host Gary Friedman each Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST as we talk MMA news, interview the best in the business and discuss the latest combat sports rumors. MMA Gospel Radio can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel as well as available for download on iTunes.

“Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-1) versus “Razor” Rob McCullough (16-5) made “Fight of the Night”.  Cerrone won the unanimous decision over McCullough.

Rani Yahya’s (12-2) guillotine choke on Yoshiro Maeda (23-6), which ended the fight at 3:30 of round one, was “Submission of the Night”.

Brown, Cerrone, McCullough, and Yahya each earned $7,500 in addition to their regular fight purse.

“Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia (11-3) was awarded a separate bonus of $7,500 for his performance versus “Little Evil” Jens Pulver (22-9-1), according to MMA Weekly.  Garcia won via TKO at 1:12 of the first round.

Brown took the title decisively following a right hand that laid the former champ out. 

Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) won a surprisingly boring unanimous decision over Fighters.com’s third-ranked middleweight and WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho (15-1) in a non-title fight that was heckled by fans throughout.  Official scores were 10-9 twice for Sonnen, 10-8 for Sonnen.

 ”Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia (11-3) dismantled “Little Evil” Jens Pulver (22-9-1) in a 1:12 TKO shocker to move up the ranks in the WEC’s stacked 145-pound division.

Jake Rosholt (5-0) powered to victory over Nissen Osterneck (4-1) in the second round via TKO stoppage.

Rani Yahya (12-2), Danny Castillo (4-1), “The Fury” Carmelo Marrero (9-2), Jose Aldo (11-1), “The A-Train” Aaron Simpson (2-0) and “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-1) were all winners within the cage as well. 

Brown Shocks Faber To Take the WEC Featherweight Title

The arena was pumped for the title bout of the night as Mike Thomas Brown entered to a favorable home crowd.  The fight started quick as expected, but soon tied up into the clinch.  Both fighters threw leather, but Brown’s right hand set the tone for the surprise to follow. 

“I train with the best team in the world.  All I have to do is perfrom like I do in training each day.  I don’t have a lot of knockouts on my record, but I hit fucking hard, man,” announced the new WEC Featherweight Champion, Brown. 

Faber rushed in with a careless elbow attempt only to get tagged with a hard and heavy right hand from the challenger.  Faber went down to the mat and covered up as Brown plastered the champ with punches.  Referee Troy Waugh stopped the fight at 2:23 of the first round. 

Sonnen Glides To A Boring Victory Over An Overweight and Passive Filho

Filho’s entrance into the cage proved to be a metaphor for his performance to come as fans heckled loudly in disapproval in what most assume was a reaction to the veteran’s failure in making weight for the bout. 

The fight between Filho and Sonnen was an absolute deflation to an evening of otherwise exciting and fast-paced bouts.  Filho preferred to lay on his back for the majority of the fight resulting in continuous stand-ups by the referee.  During the fight, Sonnen definitely scored in the stand-up game, but showed hesitation at moments in answering Filho’s lackluster performance. 

Sonnen seemed satisfied to pepper his opponent with jabs and the occasional straight shot resulting in what appeared more as an exhausted round of western boxing set to a chorus of moans and vocal disappointment by the fans on hand. 

Sonnen took a unanimous decision win in this unfortunately boring mixed martial arts sequel. 

Garcia Stuns Pulver With Heavy Hands

Going into the fight,  Garcia hoped for a stand-up war with veteran “Little Evil”.  Although temporarily wobbled by a flurry of punches early from Pulver, Garcia weathered the storm to eventually land a strong right hand.

Pulver was immediately rocked falling to his knees and visibly hurt.  Garcia went in for the kill and unleashed a storm of punches resulting in a quick and surprising stoppage.  It was all over but the shouting at 1:12 of round one.

Rosholt Overpowers Osterneck

This middleweight challenge started out with the lightning fast pace of a typical featherweight affair.  Both fighters came out swinging with Nissen Osterneck (4-1) swarming Rosholt with a sloppy but continuous barrage of fists.  But, it wasn’t long before the superior wrestling skill of Rosholt took root and found Osterneck on the receiving end of pounding following numerous takedowns. 

Osterneck attempted a few submissions only to find himself mounted again and again by the feisty Rosholt. Momentarily in the second round Osterneck caught Rosholt with another flurry of punches, but the wrestler survived the clash only to get his hooks in again and score another strong mount.  The second round came to an official end via TKO stoppage at 3:48 with Rosholt pounding his way to victory.

The A-Train Railroads Avellan 

Pardon all the clichés here, but if ever there was an train wreck in the cage, this was certainly one for the ages.  “The A-Train” Simpson landed a devastating overhand right at 0:18 of the first round sending David Avellan (5-1) into the realms of unconsciousness.  It was a strong KO victory for Simpson augmenting his undefeated record in stunning fashion.

Yahya Chokes Maeda

Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2) secured an early guillotine in what appeared to be a potentially tight and winning submission only to have Yahya escape and come back with a guillotine of his own.  Yahya hung on strongly to the choke, making Maeda tap at 3:30 of the first round. 

Castillo Stops Dias

Rafael Dias (12-5) was winning on the cards in round one with more technique all around against more wild shots coming from Castillo.  The fight was up and down with Dias looking the better of the two.

Round two found the two fighters in familiar exchange. Dias scored a takedown while Castillo attempted a guillotine. Castillo then tried for an armbar that proved too loose. Dias took Castillo’s back for a moment, but then wound up on the bottom.

But, it was a missed shoot by Dias that finally delivered the ending.  After missing the shoot, Castillo got on top and rained down punches until the fight was stopped at the 2:54 mark.

Marrero Wins The Split Over Steinbeiss 

Marrero’s wrestling skills came in handy for the UFC veteran in the bout against “The Hooligan” Steve Steinbeiss (4-2).

Taking Steinbeiss down often, Marrero avoided submission attempts.  The fighters utilized all weapons, exchanging body kicks in the second round before Marrero appeared gassed in the closing minutes.

Steinbeiss appeared fresh in round three, delivering shots to Marrero and temporarily stunning him.  Winning the round, Steinbeiss nearly got caught in a late guillotine attempt and took an elbow.  The final round ended with Steibeiss in the guard.

Marrero won a split decision with a 29-28 score twice against Steibeiss’ 29-28 third round score. 

Aldo Defeats Brookins In Late Round Stoppage

Aldo scored much better than Jonathan Brookins (8-2) through the first two rounds and winning on the cards.

Aldo came into the second round with a knot over his eye even though he handed out the worse of the stand-up punishment.  Brookins looked surprisingly crisp in the second, but eventually took a lot of damage via leg kicks.

In the third round, Aldo dropped Brookins with a left hook and laid down the leather.  Taking a lot of punches but also hanging in, referee Troy Waugh stepped in and stopped the fight at 0:45 of the final round. 

The Cowboy Disposes The Razor

“Razor” Rob McCullough (16-5) came out with strong low kicks against Cerrone, only to have them answered by the middle of the first round.  Cerrone dropped McCullough with a right and mounted the injured fighter.  An elbow cut McCullough and eventually resulted in a stop to inspect the cut.  The first round started back up; and, Cerrone dropped McCullough again, but was saved by the bell.

In the second, a right uppercut dropped McCullough yet again, but ended up with Cerrone on the bottom.  Cerrone then grabbed an armbar; but, McCullough escaped.

The third round found McCullough landing an overhand right; but, Cerrone soon answered with leg kicks.  There were equal exchanges, but Cerrone turned on the heat and scored a strong takedown.  Cerrone landed a combination of punches late in the final round that hurt McCullough yet again.

Cerrone won a very clear unanimous decision.

After submitting Cub Swanson (12-2) with a guillotine choke in 35 seconds at his WEC debut in December, Pulver lost the unanimous decision in his five-round battle with current Featherweight Champion “California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1) in June.

Garcia, who has been battling drug charges, most of which have been dropped, last fought at his WEC debut in February when he TKO’d “Streetfight Bancho” Hiroyuki Takaya (9-5-1) in the first round.

Also official on the WEC 36 card are:

“Indio” Danillo Villefort (8-2) v Jake Rosholt (4-0)
“Razor” Rob McCullough (16-4) v “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-0)
Rani Yahya (11-4) v Yoshiro Maeda (23-5-2)
Johny Hendricks (3-0) v “Russian Crusher” Alex Serdyukov (8-4)
“9mm” Ed Ratcliff (6-1) v Danny Castillo (5-1)

Headlining the event are Faber and Mike Thomas Brown (19-4) in a featherweight title fight, and a middleweight title rematch between Fighters.com’s third-ranked “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-0) and Chael Sonnen (20-9-1).

McCullough squeaked by“Machine” Kenneth Alexander (5-3) by split decision in Sacramento 1 June, his first fight since losing the WEC title to “Worm” Jamie Varner (14-2) by vicious knockout.

Cerrone has submitted all eight of his opponents, sixth of them in the first round.

His last victim, Danny Castillo, found himself in an armbar just 1:30 after the opening bell in Sacramento.

The “California Kid” packed a big right hook counter to Pulver’s southpaw boxing in the first session.  Faber landed the punch just enough to make Pulver think twice.

The fight only went to the mat once in round one, when Faber fell mid-kick and Pulver pounced; but, Faber locked up Pulver and stood out of “Li’l Evil’s” mount.

In round two, Faber felt Pulver respected his stand-up enough to shoot to the mat with single-leg takedowns.  Faber scored most attempts; but, Pulver’s guard smothered Faber’s offense.

Faber decided to throw with the noted striker, Pulver, in round three and beat “Li’l Evil” by popping in and out with jolting shots and mixing in a high kick to keep Pulver guessing.

In the fourth, Faber took Pulver back to the mat and hammered elbows into his skull until the bell.

By the final round, Pulver was gassed and Faber closed the UD with jabs and right hooks to Pulver’s head.

Torres Shuts Maeda Down

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (34-1) boxed Yoshiro Maeda‘s (23-5-2) right eye shut, convincing the cageside doctor to stop the fight after the third round.

Maeda drew first blood in round one, splitting Torres’s forehead with a knee in the clinch.

The cut didn’t slow Torres’s forward onslaught.  In round two, Torres landed kicks at all levels before clsoing distance with a jab/right hook/knee combo into the clinch where Torres hammered knees to Maeda’s body.

Maeda was game!  He brawled the champ to the mat and slipped on a nifty toe lock.  Torres reciprocated before they both released and scrambled.  Maeda reached again for the toe lock; but, Torres swung his legs into a near triangle choke.  Maeda slipped free and the fighters returned to their feet.

By round three, Torres’s jab had ballooned Maeda’s right eye.  A straight punch direct hit proved how little Maeda could see from his lead side and the cageside docter ended the fight.

Munoz Mauls Grigsby

Mark Munoz (4-0) solved Chuck Grigsby‘s (13-4) reach advantage to pound him out at 4:15 of round one.

Grigsby exploited his advantage early, landing an uppercut that drove Munoz to the cage.  But, Munoz was persistent with the takedown, scoring it beneath Grigsby’s combos.

Once Grigsby was back to the mat, Munoz postured out of Grigsby’s guard and landed several looping, lunging overhands.  Grigsby reached for Munoz’s ankle and Munoz kneeled and landed three right hooks, the second of which knocked Grigsby cold for the Munoz victory.

“Razor” Dull in Return

Former WEC Lightweight Champion “Razor” Rob McCullough (16-4) and “The Machine” Kenneth Alexander (5-3) wanted nothing to do with each other in a three-round McCullough split decision.

The kickboxer and wrestler circled each other most of the fifteen-minute affair.

McCullough scored consistently with a sharp leg kick, frequently countering an Alexander straight; but, Alexander took the kickboxer McCullough to the mat just as often.

Alexander couldn’t score on the mat, nor keep “Razor” pinned; and, McCullough’s strikes added up on the cards in the meantime.

Fighters.com scored the fight 29-28 for McCullough.

Cerrone Taps Castillo

“Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-0) tapped WEC debuting Danny Castillo (5-1) in an armbar in the first round.

Castillo took lanky Cerrone to the mat; but, Cerrone wrapped up the armbar from rubber guard.