Bellator closed out its ninth season with Bellator 109 this past Friday night (Nov. 22, 2013). The show featured some solid performances, led by Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko, who used a punishing body attack to wilt Doug Marshall in the first round. In tournament finals, Rick Hawn won the Welterweight tourney while Will Brooks pulled out a win at Lightweight. Shlemenko could likely to be one of the next fighters that tests free agency from the Bellator roster. Shlemenko will defend his title next against Brennan Ward, who won the season nine Middleweight tournament. Ward is a tough guy, but look for Shlemenko to be favored heavily in the bout. Shlemenko stands head and shoulders above what Bellator has out there in the weight class, and Bellator’s tournament format is unlikely to be enough of a test for a fighter to step up and face Shlemenko, who is still young and has a massive resume. It would be a shame to not see him compete in the UFC. At welterweight, Rick Hawn took out Ron Keslar in the third round after Keslar had hit him with everything he had. Hawn now earns a shot at the vacant Bellator welterweight crown, most likely meeting standout Douglas Lima. Hawn looked tough in coming from behind to pull out the win, but expect him to be pressured by Lima in what will likely be a near pick ’em fight at the books should the bout be booked. Will Brooks used a solid wrestling game and straight ground and pound to control and bloody talented Russian Alexander Sarnavskiy, who was favored in the bout going in. Brooks is in line for a Lightweight title bout, however, with the recent epic second second title bout between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler leading to widespread calls for an immediate trilogy, Brooks may be on thew shelf for a while. This would be a shame, as he showed a lot of heart in gutting out the win. Hopefully Brooks will get Alvarez in season 10. Bellator’s much vaunted first year on Spike TV is over, and frankly it fell flat. Its ‘Fightmaster’ reality show was watched by almost no one, they cancelled its first pay-per-view, released its undefeated welterweight champion and saw a lot of their cross promotion with SPIKE and TNA Wrestling come up short. The fighters often saved the day for the company with good to great in-ring performances, but it will be interesting to see how Bellator comes out for what will be a critical 10th season. Alexander Shlemenko vs Doug Marshall highlights