Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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Bellator Fighting Championships brought their top class mixed martial organization to the IX Center last night for a top notch card. There was a lot of top local fighters represented and they came close to filling up all the seats. What seems to always happen to Cleveland fans happened again as most of the home town fighters were beat.

The top local fighter on the bill, Brian Rogers was stunned in the middleweight tournament after having his way for most of the fight. Andreas Spang, a late injury replacement stunned the Cleveland crowd when he landed a picture perfect left hook that sent Rogers down and out in the second round.

Rogers came out aggressive as he always does in the first round, landed some really solid shots and then slipped when he attempted a head kick. After that he found himself in a bit of trouble as Spang took his back while they stood up. Rogers was able to get out and then went to work with crisp shots to finish the first round.

Round two started like the first ended with Roger landing big beautiful punches. “The Predator” was stalking and that one split second where he looked to get a little complacent, Spang landed a bomb and ended the fight. A left hook put Rogers down and then a hammer fist was dropped to ensure the fight was ended. The ref jumped in and stopped the contest and rightfully so.

There were a lot of fans in the crowd complaining and going after the referee in typical classless fashion. I understand you want to see your friend and our favorite fighter do well but give credit where credit is due. Andreas Spang landed a picture perfect and deserved the victory.

The night’s main event saw one of the best 155 pound fighters in the world get revenge from a loss back in 2008. Eddie Alvarez stepped in with Shinya Aoki and dominated him. Aoki was clearly out of his league and wanted nothing to do with the dominate Alvarez.

Eddie Alvarez is a well rounded beast, one of the most well complete guys in the sport. Aoki is a submission fighter with little to no striking skills and the difference was visible as soon as the bell rang. It took Alvarez just over two minutes to pound out Aoki.

Solid local fighters Joe Heiland and Donny Walker showed a ton of heart but came up short in their contests.

Full results:

MAIN CARD (MTV2)

• Eddie Alvarez def. Shinya Aoki via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:14
• Andreas Spang def. Brian Rogers via knockout (punches) - Round 2, 3:34 - middleweight tourney semifinal
• Maiquel Falcao def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29) - middleweight tourney semifinal
• Rick Hawn def. Lloyd Woodard via KO (punch) - Round 2, 0:10 - lightweight tourney semifinal
• Brent Weedman def. Thiago Michel via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) - lightweight tourney semifinal

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com)

• Jessica Eye def. Anita Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• John Hawk def. Marcus Vanttinen via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Attila Vegh def. Dan Spohn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Frank Carabello def. Donny Walker via knockout (flying knee) - Round 4, 2:25
• Julian Lane def. Joe Heiland via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 2:49

All in all, it was a good night of fights with results that weren’t what the Cleveland fans wanted. There was a very nice turnout and hopefully the area can get more fights to come to our backyard.