• Joey Villasenor def. Evangelista Cyborg via split decision
• Tim Kennedy def. Nick Thompson via submission (strikes) 2:37 Round 2
• Jorge Gurgel def. Conor Heun via unanimous decision
• Sarah Kaufman def. Shayna Baszler via unanimous decision
• Luke Rockhold def. Corey Devela via submission (rear-naked choke) 0:30 Round 1

Under Card:

• Dennis Hallman def. Justin Davis via (submission) rear naked choke 0:20 Round 1
• Brian Caraway def. Alex Zuniga via unanimous decision
• Lyle Beerbohm def. Duane Ludwig via submission (schoolyard choke) 4:27 Round 1
• Landon Showalter def. George Stork via unanimous decision
• Len Bentley def. Marques Daniels via unanimous decision
• Steve Hadsel def. Taylor Roberts via knockout (punches) 0:17 Round 1

UFC Co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta joins Fox Fight Game to talk about UFC 99 Fight Card:

 

Ray Mercer defeats Tim Sylvia via knockout in round one
Jeremy Horn defeats Chris Davis via submission (rear naked choke) in round one
Rich Clementi defeats Sasuke Zapata via submission (side choke) in round one
John Salter defeats Roberto Traven via knockout in round one
Bryan Goldsby defeats Joey Marimberga via knockout in round one
Joe Jordan defeats Juan Zapata via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

PRESS RELEASE: Monroe, Louisiana – May 30, 2009 – In front of an electrified and vocal crowd in Monroe, Louisiana, Hector Lombard and Jared Hess put on dominating performances to earn their way to the first ever Bellator Middleweight world championship. Opening the semi-final action was the Cuban Olympian and knockout artist Hector “Shango” Lombard taking on Army Ranger and combatives expert Damien Stelly. Out of the gates both fighters let punches fly with a go-for-broke start that ended with Lombard mounting Stelly and implementing a ground and pound strategy that eventually resulted in a referee stoppage. While Stelly fought gallantly, he wasn’t able to break free from Lombard’s mount and the referee stopped the fight via TKO with the ultra tough Hector Lombard moving onto the finals in under three minutes.

Headlining the night, the Oklahoman all-around tactical machine Jared Hess faced the legend killer and unpredictably versatile Yosmany Cabezas. Nearly going the three round distance, this match demonstrated how tough both competitors are with Hess dominating the fight with ground and pound while Cabezas consistently looked for an edge on Hess. Although Hess defiantly took the first two rounds with Cabezas physically showing signs of his beating, the Cuban powerhouse Cabezas never gave up even with fists showering upon him. With only 30 seconds left in the match, the referee called it a TKO victory for the relentless Oklahoman tornado Jared Hess. Both Hess and Lombard collected the $50,000 purse and will move onto the Bellator Middleweight world championship bout and compete for the $100,000 grand prize in Hollywood, Florida on June 19th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. All the Bellator Middleweight semi-final action can be seen on Saturday, May 30, 2009 exclusively on ESPN Deportes and on Bellator.com on Wednesday, June 3, 2009.

“The Hector Lombard, Jared Hess final truly pits our two top Middleweights against each other. Lombard standing is an amazingly powerful force and Hess on the ground is non-stop action and strikes. This should be a great final,” remarked Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney. “This deafening Monroe, Louisiana crowd was treated to a fantastic night of action that was just a preview of the championship finals that these two powerhouses will demonstrate at Bellator XII in June.”

With the stunning undercard battles, Nick Ring returned to the cage after a three year hiatus, not showing an inch of ring rust, to submit Isidro Gonzalez in less than one minute via guillotine submission. Alex Andrade returned to Bellator action for retribution and got just that by dominating Christian Fulgram with a furious throwing of rights and lefts resulting in the referee to call it in just over two minutes. In a battle of the heavyweights, LSU football star Shawn Jordan impressed his loyal fans by taking out fellow Louisianan Jayme McKinney in 30 seconds into the second.

All of the Bellator IX action will air on ESPN Deportes Saturday, May 30. The full fight card results are below:

Bellator IX Middleweight Semi-Final Tournament bouts:

185 lbs. – Yosmany Cabezas (8-2) vs. Jared Hess (8-0-1) Hess by TKO at 14:26

185 lbs. – Damien Stelly (9-3) vs. Hector Lombard (19-2) Lombard by TKO (strikes) at 2:56

Bellator IX Non-tournament bouts:

185 lbs. – Isidro Gonzalez (16-13) vs. Nick Ring (8-0) Ring by submission (guillotine) at 0:39

145 lbs. – Shad Lierley (5-2) vs. Nate Murdock (6-5) Lierley by unanimous decision

185 lbs. – Christian Fulgram (10-3) vs. Alex Andrade (8-5) Andrade by TKO at 2:01

HWT – Shawn Jordan (1-0) vs. Jayme McKinney (5-4) Jordan by submission at 5:30

175 lbs. – Dan Keenan (0-1) vs. Chan Leonhardt (3-1) Leonhardt by KO at 3:03

155 lbs. – Chas Skelly (3-0) vs. Mike Braswell (4-3) Skelly by split decision

Bellator Fighting Championships’ premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights on ESPN Deportes. The English-language broadcast becomes available on www.Bellator.com each Wednesday. The nationally televised events feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There are four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season one over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions.

For more information, visit www.Bellator.com. Bellator’s Spanish website is available at www.Espanol.Bellator.com. Please contact your local cable provider to learn more about viewing Bellator Fighting Championships on ESPN Deportes.

• Ikuhisa Minowa (42-30) defeated Bob Sapp (10-4-1) by achilles lock at 1:16 in round 1
• Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-4) defeated Jan Nortje (2-6) by TKO (Strikes) at 1:18 in round 1
• Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1) defeated Mark Hunt (5-6) by kimura at 2:28 in round 1
• Hong Man Choi (2-2) defeated Jose Canseco (0-1) by TKO (Strikes) at 1:20 in round 1

Featherweight grand prix quarterfinals:

• Hideo Tokoro (22-16-1) defeated Abel Cullum (14-3) by rear-naked choke at 1:37 in round 2
• Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1) defeated Yoshiro Maeda (24-7-2) by TKO (Strikes) at 9:39 in round 1
• Bibiano Fernandes (5-2) defeated Masakazu Imanari (16-7-1) via unanimous decision
• Joe Warren (2-0) defeated Norifumi Yamamoto (17-2) via split decision

DREAM middleweight title:
Ronaldo Souza (10-2) had a Jason Miller (22-6) to a no-contest

Non-tournament bout:
Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) defeated Gesias Calvancante (14-3-1) via unanimous decision