A Jiu-Jitsu teacher living in the USA, Daniel Gracie set foot in the black cage of the Bellator promotion this Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with his sights on rediscovering his winning ways. The black belt from the family with the most tradition in Jiu-Jitsu lagged in the first round but looked set to change the course of the match towards the end of the second round, when he landed a couple of strikes that caused Duane Bastress’s knees to buckle.
Bastress was saved by the bell, however, during the break between rounds the doctor deemed a cut on Daniel’s forehead to disqualify him from finishing the bout. Outraged, the Gracie shouted, “I’m okay,” but it did no good; an end was called to the contest. (Watch how the bout unfolded in the following video dug up by GRACIEMAG.com collaborator Junior Samurai.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh6IvyWkQaA
Undefeated up until this Saturday, Renê Nazaré didn’t manage to pull his game off against Jacob Kirwan, who took the unanimous decision. This is the first loss in the Nova União fighter’s 11-fight career. Now Claudio Ledesma, a Renzo Gracie student, put his slick grappling game to work on Brian Kelleher throughout their three-round encounter.
In the middleweight GP semifinal, Brazil’s Vitor Vianna ran roughshod over Bryan Baker and was quick on the trigger, The Jiu-Jitsu instructor at Wanderlei Silva’s academy landed a cross that took Baker’s witts. Another three punches and the referee stepped in, bringing the bout to a close 54 seconds into the fight.
Vitor, que não sabe o que é perder desde 2006, agora encara na final o russo Alexander Shlemenko, que usou os joelhos para nocautear o mão-pesada Brian Rogers.
Bellator 54
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
October 15, 2011
Middleweight GP – Semifinals:
Vitor Vianna defeated Bryan Baker via technical knockout in R1;
Alexander Shlemenko defeated Brian Rogers via technical knockout in R2.
Superfights
Zach Makovsky submitted Ryan Roberts via north-south choke in R2;
Jacob Kirwan defeated Renê Nazaré via unanimous decision
Duane Bastress defeated Daniel Gracie via doctor’s intervention in R2;
Joey Kirwan submitted Lewis Rumsey via guillotine in R1;
Tim Carpenter defeated Ryan Contaldi via technical knockout in R1;
Andria Caplan defeated Adrienne Seiber via unanimous decision;
Claudio Ledesma defeated Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision.