Bahadurzada, Carneiro Advance in Glory World Series

Dutch promotion Ultimate Glory kicked off its 2010-2011 MMA World Series on Saturday at the luxurious Passenger Terminal in Amsterdam, where a quartet of international 170-pounders booked their passage to the tournament semifinals.

While it wasn’t the main event, the most anticipated bout of the card came as Shooto 183-pound champ and Strikeforce signee Siyar Bahadurzada dropped to welterweight to meet Derrick Noble, a short-notice replacement for the concussed Nick Thompson. After accidentally jabbing Noble in his left eye 90 seconds into the bout, Bahadurzada backed the southpaw into a ringpost and fell Noble with a smashing right hand. Noble turtled up near the ropes, where the tournament favorite pounded him out at just 1:54 of the opening frame.

Questionable judging marred the tournament bout between another Shooto champion, 167-pound ace Luis “Beicao” Ramos, and UFC veteran Roan “Jucao” Carneiro. The three-round match, while relatively slow-paced, saw Ramos outpoint his countryman on the feet, repeatedly connecting with leg kicks and left straights. Ramos avoided several single-leg attempts from the BJJ black belt “Jucao,” and escaped from trouble quickly when Carneiro was able to take his back in the third round. Although most fans and pundits seemed to disagree, all three judges awarded the win to Carneiro; no scorecards were announced.

In other World Series action, the well-traveled John Alessio handled Sergey Golyaev, despite Alessio taking the match on a week’s notice. After slamming and out-grappling the Russian for the entirety of the first round, Alessio locked on a kimura from side control early in the second. When Golyaev kneed Alessio to the head, the referee stopped the action to warn Golyaev for the illegal strikes. Just as the action restarted, Alessio cranked the kimura, forcing Golyaev to tap, though he would protest the sequence of events immediately afterward.

In the final match of the evening, Golden Glory’s Tommy Depret avoided a takedown from Brazilian Top Team product David Bielkheden by backing into a ringpost and hooking his arm over the middle rope. Though the referee quickly recognized the maneuver, the Belgian was able to stay standing and sink in a guillotine choke, forcing Bielkheden to tap dramatically, with legs flailing, just 34 seconds into the match.

Depret will next get to fight in his home country, as the World Series semifinals are slated for Jan. 30 at the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. The tournament champion will be crowned on April 2, 2011, at a location to be announced.

Newly-crowned Strikeforce women’s 135-pound champion Marloes Coenen was slated to meet Lena Buytendijk on the card as recently as Thursday, but it was revealed during the event that the bout had been scrapped. Coenen will likely participate at the Jan. 30 event.

Continue Reading » UG World Series 1st Round Results