Bellator 107 went down this past Friday night (Nov. 8, 2013), with season nine tournament finals in the Heavyweight, Middleweight and Bantamweight divisions. The Heavyweight tournament saw Cheick Kongo take out Peter Graham, while the Bantamweight tourney saw Joe Warren earn a TKO victory over Travis Marks and Brennan Ward beat Mikkel Parlo via second round standing TKO to earn the Middleweight tournament crown. All three winners earn six figure paydays and title shots, so let’s take a look at what awaits. Cheick Kongo will be fighting a Russian, that we know. Current title holder Alexander Volkov is booked to defend his title on November 15th at Bellator 108 against Vitaly Minakov. Either way, Kongo is next for the winner. Volkov is a 6’7″ striker who has been through a tournament in Bellator and wound up with the title when Cole Konrad retired. Minakov is an undefeated protege who is a real threat to take Volkov’s belt. Kongo will likely be in attendance this week to see first hand who he gets. Joe Warren beat Travis Marks to earn a shot at Eduardo Dantas, the current Bantamweight titlist. Warren was impressive, and he looks like he has added to his game considerably since starring on the Fight Master reality show and changed his training. Warren is 37 years old and he has to feel his time is now. He will have to show how improved he really is to take out Dantas, who is more than a dozen years his junior and has a good bit more MMA experience as well. Dantas is widely criticized for dropping a non-Bellator bout while trying to stay busy, but he is undefeated in Bellator at 5-0 and is probably comparable in BJJ to Bibano Fernandes, who wiped out Warren quick back in 2009. Warren has a tall order ahead of him. Warren and Kongo were both favored at the books, making Brennan Ward the only underdog that broke through with a win when he took out tough Mikkel Parlo. Ward was impressive in running through the Middleweight tournament, ending all three of his fights in the second round. For his troubles however, he gets the winner between champion Alexander Shlemenko and challenger Doug Marshall. Since the title at Middleweight was vacated by Hector Lombard, Shlemenko has clearly shown himself as dominant at the weight class and will likely be a hefty favorite if and when it happens. Overall, Bellator got what they wanted out of Kongo, which is a credible heavyweight who is in shape. That’s more than can be said about anyone else on their roster. Kongo however wasn’t spectacular, and neither was Warren. Looking ahead to this Friday night at Bellator 108, there is the Heavyweight title fight to determine who Kongo fights next, as well as the long-awaited debut of Quinton Jackson.
