Eddie Alvarez Vs Pat Curran: Bellator 39 Heats Up
By Ben Bieker
Eddie Alvarez (21-2-0, #5 Lightweight) vs. Pat Curran (13-3-0)
Eddie Alvarez has been on a tear throughout his whole career. He started at 170 early, but after a loss when he was clearly outsized to Nick Thompson he dropped down to 155. Since then, his only loss came to BJJ specialist Shinya Aoki. Coming into this fight much of the publicity he has been angling at is targeted at the UFC. In interviews he has stated his caution when fighting a young, hungry fighter like Pat Curran, but his actions have not followed through with his thoughts. It is to be hoped that he has focused enough time on his training and not on bashing the UFC.
Pat comes into this fight on the strength of his improbable run through the Lightweight field in an earlier season of a Bellator tournament. This proposed matchup was intended to happen earlier, but had the brakes put on it when Pat became injured. Now, Pat will look to claim the title he believes is his and stake a claim for himself in the sport of MMA. Originally he fought under the shadow of his cousin Jeff Curran, but with a win he will put his name on a bigger stage than his cousin has ever been able to.
The standup of this fight has to go to Eddie who has clearly demonstrated his proficiency there. That does not mean Pat is slacking in that area, but Eddie is more refined having spent longer in the cage than his opponent. The clinch work and takedowns should be relatively even since both are big 155‘ers and both coming from a strong wrestling background. The ground game will shift in favor of Pat who has spent many years training under his cousin who is a strong BJJ black belt. That is not to put this fight as a standard grappler versus striker since both fighters could stop the fight no matter where it goes.
The Bottom Line: Eddie is not hungry. He seems more worried about the UFC’s takeover of the sport than the opponent in front of him. Look for Pat to make the upset as he takes a close split decision in this drawn out war.
Co-Main Event:
Lyman “Cyborg” Good (11-1-0) vs. Rick Hawn (10-0-0)
Lyman Good is on a mission to reclaim his title. A mission where Rick Hawn stand in front of him. Lyman is a lifelong martial artist who was troubled in his younger days and found salvation in the teachings of MMA. He was relatively unstoppable through the first ten fights of his career until he hit the roadblock that is Ben Askren. All the stand up technique couldn’t help him when he was underneath the force of Ben’s takedowns. He is looking to make a statement about his MMA ability and to redeem himself against Askren in the future when he wins his second tournament in Bellator.
Rick Hawn is the Lyman of a couple years ago. He is a little older but is still looking to make a name for himself. He is also more proficient on the feet than anywhere else in this fight so these two could potential have a striking battle. He also posses a strong takedown defense as shown in his fight against the Judo wizard Jim Wallhead. Much of that ability comes from training with Mark Dellagrotte at Team Sityodtong who taught him how to defend and stay on his feet.
The Bottom Line: Lyman is on a mission to regain his title. He has been to the top and he wants to recapture that glory. Look for him to work over Rick on the ground until he submits him in the second.
Toby Imada (29-15-0) vs. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (8-1-0)
Toby is the man who has always fallen short. Despite his atrocious record he has been in some good fights, and won many of them. In this fight he will fight a guy who is, arguably, just as hungry as him. Patricky will look to build off his win over consensus favorite in the tournament, Rob McCullough, by taking out repeat finalist Toby. This fight is my pick for fight of the night as both of these fighters have the need to be a champion pushing them in their fight.
Toby will obviously have an advantage on the ground as he has submitted many fighters more and less skilled than Patricky. Patricky is competent on the ground, but his advantage is in his standup. This has been shown to be Imada’s weakness when he cannot get the fight to the ground. His fights with Eddie Alvarez and Pat Curran has showed his tendency to get drawn into a firefight on the feet. This will be interesting as both fighters will want to fight where they are best, but may not be able to depending on the game plan of their opponent.
The Bottom Line: Patricky will make Toby unable to reach the finals for a third time. His clean, crisp striking and power will be Toby’s undoing. Look for him to come from behind with another third round stoppage in a close fight.
Ben “Killa B” Saunders (9-3-2) vs. Matt Lee (13-9-1)
Ben seems to be getting a gift in this fight. His one weakness is the ground game and Matt does not have the ability to hold Ben there. Ben will use his patented Muay Thai clinch to rain down any number of strikes to Matt’s body and face. This one will not last long as Ben is obviously being set up for an easy win so he can enter one of Bellator’s tournaments in their upcoming season.
The Bottom Line: 4-5 in your last 9 fights is not a comfortable place to be. Ben is 2-3 in his last 5 fights but fought much tougher people. Look for him to take Matt’s record down to 4-6 as he decimates his opponents with knees in a first round stoppage.