Bellator XIII: "Roger Huerta Vs. Chad Hinton" Live Blog and Results

The crew is setting up for Bellator XIII here in Hollywood, FL, and the atmosphere is already lively. The fighters are warming up in the cage and seem to be getting along despite the fact that they will be trying to knock each other out here soon.

Cameramen are running around, PR reps are making sure everyone’s connected to the Internet, and the referees are indoctrinating the fighters like it’s their first fight ever. Now the music's starting, and people are starting to come in.

Being a Thursday, you'd think it was a Saturday night. Everyone's really lively and anticipating some fireworks. I was given a schedule of the fight and I was told that they would be mixing the undercard fights with the main card fights. It's right before 7:00 p.m. and the first fight is soon to begin.

 

Ralph Acosta vs. Chris Manuel

Round 1

Manuel and Acosta start off by clinching quickly. Manuel's doing a good job of keeping away from the double underhooks, and the fight has yet to go to the ground.

Not a whole lot of strikes have been thrown, but the ref separated them. The fight is against the cage again. Both fighters are very fast. The fight just went to the ground.

Acosta is fighting well. He's definitely the aggressor as he just picked up Manuel and slammed him, taking the fight to the ground.

Acosta took Manuel's back in the first round, but the round ends.

Round 2

Manuel is getting increasingly aggressive. He's clearly winning the round, a big difference from the last. Wow, I've realized that the audience here simply loves yelling, "Elbows! Elbows!" Sheer tacticians, they must be.

Round 3

This round begins in a flurry of punches. It goes to the ground, and Manuel ends the fight with a guillotine choke.

Manuel wins in 0:35 of the third round via submission.

 

Moyses Gabin vs. Mikey Gomez

Round 1

MMA is such a respectful sport. The two fighters are very respectful of each other from the get go. The fight starts out with kicks and punches, a standing match.

Neither fighter is dominating at this point. Gomez tries to shoot, but it's stopped. Gabin definitely wants to keep this standing, but Gomez brought it to the ground. It's standing again, but neither man is dominating. Oops, back down to the ground.

Again, elbows seem to be the favorite weapons of the audience. I wonder how many of them have been struggling in an MMA match with a guy trying to suffocate you while you "elbow" him.

The ref stands them. The fighters look pretty even in terms of ability.

Round 2

Second round starts with good knees from Gomez and a couple of punches from Gabin. On the ground again, the fighters might have the ref split them up as not a lot is happening. Some people are arriving late, but it's a pretty full house. The ref made them stand.

Round 3

The fight quickly goes to the ground. Neither fighter is dominating, although Gomez has been on top most the time. Audience members are still arriving.

Wow, Gabin has a nasty cut on his foreheads. Blood is everywhere as Gomez tries to secure a submission. Gabin looks similar to Joe Daddy Stevenson after fighting BJ Penn.

Gomez wins by unanimous decision.

Bellator XIII just went live, now accessible to 92 million homes on television. It's definitely growing in size and popularity, and it'll be interesting to interview Bjorn Rebney here soon. The audience is getting ready for the first featherweight match on the main card.

Quach vs. Karakhanyan will be the first televised match.

 

Bao Quach vs. Georgi Karakhanyan

As Karakhanyan is walking out, he has people cheering him with banners and Russian flags. He looks more ready than ever. Kinda neat how the advertisements on his trunks glow in the dark.

Quach comes out with a similar welcoming. He looks focused and ready as he stares across the cage at Karakhanyan. The two seem tense and eager to begin.

Round 1

Quach nails Karakhanyan in the solarplexus and is ground-and-pounding him in the first thirty-seconds of the match. Now it's standing again.

Dang, Karakhanyan has a huge knot on his forehead! Quach seems to be the more dominant fighter at this time. I have no idea why when in an MMA match the fighters hit the ground that the audience immediately yells at the ref to stand them up.

Big knee from Karakhanyan, but Quach seems to rule the ground. Big, big knees from Quach now right in the leg of Karakhanyan. Karakhanyan won't be able to walk tomorrow I'm sure.

Karakhanyan followed up with a bunch of knees, one being to Quach's chin. Should be ruled a KO for sure, Quach is out.

Karakhanyan wins by KO in the first round at 4:05.

I was surprised at the decisive outcome. Quach threw a bunch of knees himself, but it looked like he expected Karakhanyan to follow up his last offense with a punch instead of a knee. Quach is fine now, but he definitely should go to the hospital because he was out cold.

 

Joe Warren vs. Eric Marriott

Marriott got a good welcome walking into the cage for the next featherweight match. Oh man does Joe Warren look ready. He did a Sumo stomp coming into the cage while looking right at Marriott. This should be explosive!

Round 1

Warren immediately takes it to the ground. I guess the Randy Couture training helped him a lot. Yup, just as I thought: "Elbow!" coming out of nowhere.

Wow, Marriott seems overwhelmed in the first round. Warren is on top and pummeling him, evidently looking for a first round finish.

Marriott attempted an armbar. How Warren got out of that is amazing; it was deep. Marriott then caught him in a deep triangle...but the round ended.

Round 2

Warren took Marriott down. He's elbowing Marriott hard while the fans in one section are clearly here for Marriott, chanting, "Let's go Eric."

Warren is definitely dominant in the top position. He won round two by the looks of it.

Round 3

Warren and Marriott struggled a bit in the clinch, but it's on the ground now with Warren in the top position. Marriott almost caught Warren in an armbar, but Warren expertly picked Marriott up and slammed him very aggressively.

One thing I notice is that Warren is not so much concerned with passing Marriott's guard as he is laying his body weight on him and pummeling him. It seems to be working for sure.

The crowd is chanting "Eric! Eric" in what seems to be a last ditch hope of inspiration. Warren is really turning up the heat in the top position, quickly switching positions. Marriott has a huge mouse under his left eye! The round ends.

Warren wins by unanimous decision.

Roger Huerta vs. Chad Hinton

The crowd is definitely ready for Roger Huerta and Chad Hinton. Hinton has a fanbase cageside; either that or they just want to see Huerta lose. This is certainly the most anticipated fight of the night according to the audience.

Here they come...

Chad Hinton is huge for a lightweight. He definitely looks in shape for the fight and ready for Huerta. Huerta's walking in and the audience is going crazy.

Huerta looks calm, but Hinton looks assertive. Both look ready without a doubt. Huerta's in great shape too.

Whoa, Mickey Rourke is here! He has an arm brace that makes him look like his new Ironman 2 character. I guess he hurt himself, unless it's the part of the set.

Round 1

What an exciting match. Hinton is a brute, but Huerta just dropped him with a front kick to the stomach. A lot of Hinton fans around.

Huerta is so skillful as he rolls Hinton off the top position and back to standing. Hinton took Huerta's back! Huerta's back on top, though, and pummeling Hinton. The crowd is cheering.

Round 2

Both men go into a flurry. It ends on the ground with Huerta on top. Hinton is definitely a competitor.

Huerta and Hinton go back and forth, but Huerta definitely had the upper hand in the second round. He ended by mounting Hinton, but Hinton hung in there like a champ. The third round will for sure be interesting.

Round 3

Roger Huerta quickly ends the match by monkey rolling Hinton off his back and kneebarring him.

Huerta wins by submission at 0:56 of the third round.

 

Carey Vanier vs. Joe Duarte

Round 1

Vanier is leading with aggression for the first round. There are a bunch of scrambles, but it seems to be an overall even matchup so far.

Vanier is getting a lot more aggressive, practically slamming Duarte into the mat. Duarte brings it back standing, and the round ends.

Round 2

Pretty even matchup. Vanier seems to still be the aggressor, as he is always opting for the takedown. However, the crowd was booing a bit because when it was standing neither fighter had the energy to attack the other.

Round 3

The fight went straight to the ground. Vanier is on top again, and it's not looking good for Duarte as Vanier has his back. The ref stopped the match with Vanier being the aggressor for the majority of the match.

Vanier wins by TKO at 4:14 of the third round.

 

John Kelly vs. Edson Diniz

Round 1

Diniz seems calm, waiting for Kelly to come close for the clinch. Kelly is very aggressive, trying to find a way through Diniz's defense. The two seem pretty evenly matched so far.

There are a lot of John Kelly fans here. Now Diniz has Kelly against the cage and the two are scrambling for position. Diniz may have a knee bar (?!)

Diniz wins the match by submission at 4:35 of the first round.

 

Francisco Soares vs. Vagner Rocha

Round 1

Rocha is starting off as the aggressor, pushing Soares into the cage. The two are struggling, finally going to the mat.

Soares is now on top, being more in control of the match. Rocha is definitely using his ground skills to stop Soares's attacks, and scrambles between side control and half guard.

Round 2

Rocha once again takes Soares to the mat, pummeling him with hard punches while Soares tries his best to stop Rocha from mounting him. Soares had a chance at what looked like a kneebar, but Rocha just finished the fight.

Rocha wins by TKO at 2:07 of round 2.

 

Great fights during a great evening of MMA. Thanks for reading. Now it's time for the post fight press conference.