Joe Warren finishes Nick Kirk with an armbar in the main event

Portland, OR - Bellator Fighting Championships visited the Pacific Northwest for the first time with Bellator 101, bringing the opening round of Season 9's Lightweight Tournament to Portland’s Moda Center, plus the main event featuring the return of the “Baddest Man on the Planet” Joe Warren versus Nick Kirk in the Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal. Warren had recent issues getting cleared to fight at Bellator 98 and addressed this in the post-fight press conference: "I just break machines”. But apparently he stopped breaking machines long enough to be cleared by the Oregon State Atheltic Comission for the fight with Kirk. When the bout got underway, Warren came out fast, hunting Kirk with flying knees that he connected with. But this let Warren open for the counterpunch which appeared to be Kirk’s strategy. In the 2nd round, Warren changed it up and got the takedown and from this point on, Kirk really didn’t have an answer. Warren was able to secure an inverted triangle and start working on Kirk's arm for the tap. Kirk wasn’t giving up though, so it took some punches, elbows, and changing of positions by Warren until the tap finally came at 3:03. With the win, Warren punched his ticket to the Bantamweight Tourney Finals against Travis Marx on October 25th.

Alexander "Tiger" Sarnavskiy came into the Lightweight Tournament surrounded with a lot of hype and in his fight with UFC vet Marcus “The Hand Grenade” Davis, he definately lived up to it. The Tiger pounced with a straight right hand that dropped Davis to the canvas and quickly looked for the rear naked choke. He body triangled Davis’s body, and laid down punishing punches. Davis did his best to hold on but eventually succumbed at 1:40 to the Rear Naked Choke.

In a Lightweight Tournament fight that opened up with double hooks that rocked the entire building, Ricardo Tirloni advanced past Rich Clementi in a complete stand up war. Tirloni cut Clementi early over his right eye that started Clementi bleeding badly. Tirloni kept throwing hooks aiming right for the cut, while Clementi appeared to be fine with trading with him. In Clementi’s 67 fight career, he has 27 submission wins. But he was unable to use those skills against a very game Tirloni who got the takedown in the third and was able to nullify all of Clementi’s attempts at rubber guard and scoring. Clementi finally escaped but couldn’t get the fight back to the mat. It went to the judges who saw it unanimous for Tirloni. Tirloni will face Sarnavskiy in the semifinals on October 25th at Bellator 105.

Saad Awad claimed at the post fight press conference that “I made a lot of mistakes” in his 1st round win against Martin Stapleton. Hard to see what they were as Awad dropped Stapleton early in the fight and when it hit the ground he won the grappling battle, getting Stapleton to tap to a Rear Naked Choke at 3:46.

Most people didn’t see the 43 year-old, 50-fight veteran John Alessio lasting more than two rounds with talented young Will Brooks who boasts a 10-1 record. But if you know "the Natural", you know you should never listen to most people. Brooks opened the fight with quick leg kicks and Alessio ended up catching one and dumping him into side mount. On the mat, it was relatively even between the two fighters, but Brooks' edge in the standup game made the difference in this one. In the third, Alessio ate a huge knee from Brooks that opened up a nasty cut that immediatley started gushing blood. Brooks was all over his back but Alessio wasn’t giving up, fighting on and surviving to the bell. After 3 rounds, all 3 judges saw it for Brooks who advances to face Saad Awad in the Semifinals - the very same man who knocked him out in the Semifinals of Season 8's Lightweight Tournament earlier this year.

The preliminary card was heavily laden with talented Northwest fighters, including the triumphant return of Nathan “Soulforce” Coy who has been training at American Top Team in Florida. In his 170 lb bout with Andy Uhrich, he ate a punch early in the first that put him down but from there it was Coy utilizing his wrestling skills, grinding on Uhrich for the duration of the bout. Urich looked to land some upkicks but Coy was never really in any danger, taking the unanimous decision victory in front of his Northwest fans.

Season 7 Lightweight Tournament finalist, Marcin Held, is well known for his amazing leg-lock submissions but came into the cage and displayed his striking game against hometown favorite Ryan “Diamond” Healy. Held kept the outside of the cage and in an instant landed a big right hand that dropped Healy. He then rushed in and landed a flurry of punches to force referee Dave Hagen to stop the fight at 1:12.

Another prodigal NW fighter making his return to Portland was Tyson "The Anti-Hero" Jeffries who has been training down in Colorado with Ed Herman and Ryan Schultz at Trials MMA. Jeffries faced Dave Vitkay in a 185 lb bout and after some initial striking from Vitkay, Jeffries took it to the mat and spent much of the round searching for the choke finish. In round two, Vitkay came out throwing punches and landing kicks. Jeffries looked to get Vitkay to the mat but Vitkay did a better job defending and the round wound down with Vitkay on top of Jeffries against the cage. In the third, Jeffries got a clean takedown but Vitkay was able to turn the tables and take Jeffries back, forcing the tap at 3:07 by rear naked choke.

Submission of the Night came from undefeated Eugene OR native Brent Primus in a ground war with Boise's Scott “The Tickle Fight” Thometz that was quick and full of transitions from both fighters. Thometz at first did well defending Primus’s sub attempts and even went for an armbar attempt of his own. He wasn't able to secure it however and gave up position. Shortly after, Primus was able to take Thometz' back and he went to work, at one point nodding to the fans in sign that he had the choke which he secured and forced Thometz to tap to at 3:48 of the first round.

One of the most entertaining fights of the night came from from a pair of Northwest fighters in Vancouver WA's Austin Springer versus Olympia WA's Zach Skinner. Springer came out striking but had trouble getting though Skinner hands, and it was Skinner who landed a big punch that dropped Springer in the first and made him go for a defensive takedown. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds though, Springer found his distance and started landing big time with puches, knees and tons of leg kicks. He even threw in the occasional takedown, immediately letting Skinner get back up for more standup. Skinner though never gave in and in the third clipped Springer in an exchange yet again that briefly sent Springer to the floor. Springer quickly shook it off though and went back on the offensive. In the end, the judges saw it across the board for Springer for his first win in a major organization and he remains undefeated as a pro.

Starting the night off was a middleweight matchup between Northwest native Peter Aspinwall and TUF Season 7 contestant Jeremiah Riggs. Aspinwall chose to take the fight to the ground and looked to use his elbows, while Riggs utilized his big power punching to the body. This was a back and forth war that was mainly played out on the ground. Aspinwall was able to score takedowns but Riggs got some reversals. Riggs looked to flurry in the end but it wasn’t enough as 2 of the 3 judges saw it Aspinwall's way for a split decision.

Bellator Season 9 is every Friday night on Spike TV. Bellator MMA's website includes highlights and exclusive behind-the-scenes clips from Portland at bellator.com.