Bellator Dynamite: Phil Davis at a Crossroads

If this weekend showed us anything it's that MMA outside of the UFC is really starting to come back in force. The greater popularity of the sport and a larger wave of athletes inspired by the previous generation of fighters means that even the B-tier shows can put on solid cards with exciting, talented fighters.

While Bellator went over the top rounding up and flying in legends of MMA to be seen cageside, the overall feel of Bellator Dynamite was exciting as Scott Coker further pushed his ambition to build the company into something similar to the PRIDE FC style of event. PRIDE FC is so fondly remembered by fans that we often forget how chaotic the tournament structure often became. Those who were recalling PRIDE and DREAM's tournaments through rose tinted glasses were soon reminded that a tournament is a completely different world to one fight every three or four months.

In the opening bout of the tournament, Muhammad 'King Mo' Lawal lit up Linton Vassell, but managed to look completely reckless doing so. Vassell went southpaw and began looking for the same long, left straight over and over again—to the point where it was literally all that he was attempting for minutes at a time—and King Mo had a field day moving his head and throwing counters. I enjoy Mo's bouts, I love his commitment to learning the boxing game and his palms down parrying guard—George Foreman or Sandy Saddler style—but as soon as he whiffed the faintest hint of blood, Mo's hands came down to his knees and he started swinging wild.

Mo even fell over himself at points and I found myself worrying that we were going to see an ankle turn and a forced departure from the tournament after he finished winning the bout. What's even more vexing is that Mo did this while Jeff Mayweather is in his corner, spoke to him between rounds, then went right back out and swung wild again. While Mo picked up the victory and moved into the finals, it soon came to light that he had suffered a rib injury and was unable to continue in the tournament.

This meant that Francis Carmont, who won the reserve bout, was free to advance to the finals, and it goes down as another chapter in the story of Muhammad Lawal not quite living up to his incredible potential.

The true stand out of the tournament, however, was Phil Davis. It turned out that when placed against men who couldn't keep him off of them, he was able to do whatever he wanted. By far the more competitive of the semi-final bouts on paper, in reality Davis took Emanuel Newton to school. In the period spent on the feet, Newton did little except throw flicking kicks which often came nowhere near connecting, and when they did they didn't seem to achieve anything. Newton noted working on his Taekwondo in pre-fight interviews, but his application of kicks has always been pretty mediocre.

The sole slick moment of TKD from Newton was as he landed the loose lead hook to back kick combination he had been looking to bait Davis into diving on from the early going. Davis pushed in at the first sign of the hook and ate a thudding back kick to the ribs. Except Davis kept going and now he was on Newton's back. On the ground, Davis simply dominated Newton—who has always had a problem with early grappling exchanges. There was a nice moment as Newton fought up and performed a granby as Davis tried to drag him back down, but Davis was always one step ahead.

If you're unfamiliar with the granby—which I would rate as the prettiest move in all of wrestling—enjoy this highlight.

The finish came off of a kimura as Davis had Newton crowded against the fence. Davis' corner shouted that there were thirty seconds remaining and Davis, without hesitation, dived to his back with the kimura to crank it from closed guard. This is the kind of stuff you love to see from fighters—considering the risk and reward in giving up position to attempt a submission. In the last thirty seconds of the round—where the opponent will not benefit from time on top—and you aren't scared of dropping the round, it's absolutely a smart thing to do.

When Davis met Francis Carmont in the finals, most expected a snoozer. Carmont is not an exciting fighter, and he's got decent enough wrestling to make most opponents think. For the opening minute it was Carmont making kung fu hand gestures and landing smacking inside low kicks off of feints while Davis whiffed his own. As the crowd was turning to boos and jeers, Davis stepped in with a right, Carmont circled out to Davis left, and Davis' left hook caught Carmont flush.

I believe Davis is at a cross roads in his career and this knockout over Carmont might be the best thing that ever happened to him. Davis was always going to be able to rag-doll anyone without truly top notch wrestling—look at how easily he manhandled Glover Teixeira—but the confusion and timidity Davis shows when he can't get the takedowns easily is a game killer. While Carmont ran onto Davis' left hook, and we can't pretend Davis has suddenly acquired knockout power, perhaps this KO will give Davis the confidence to get in camp with one of MMA's best boxing coaches and start working on the area of his game which has been completely absent.

The GLORY part of the evening seemed rather understated with just three fights on the television broadcast. The most significant of those was Saulo Cavalari's majority decision win over Zack Mwekassa to take the vacant GLORY light heavyweight title. Mwekassa looked markedly better than in the first bout, as he did a decent job getting the checks in on the end of his combos, but the kicks still proved a pain for him and he was clearly tiring in the final rounds whereas Cavalari kept up his output.

The strangest moment came as the referee docked Cavalari a point early on for holding—when Cavalari wasn't really clinching excessively—then proceeded to do nothing in the later rounds when Cavalari was falling into a hold at the end of every exchange. It isn't so big a deal whether a referee is strict or lenient on rules, so long as they are consistent with it.

In the main event, Tito Ortiz got triangle choked as expected, but did a surprisingly decent job up until then. Ortiz took Liam McGeary down fairly easily, then moved the Brit to the fence, where Ortiz made his name. Ortiz was able to stifle McGeary's attempts and pass his guard, but McGeary came back to shoot a knee through and threaten an armbar, only to kick through into the Estima style reverse triangle which he troubled Emanuel Newton with. Ortiz tapped and McGeary remained the light heavyweight title—his next fight will be against the far more threatening Phil Davis.

While today we've focused on Bellator Dynamite, it would be a travesty to discuss a weekend of non-UFC bouts and forget Justin Gaethje. Gaethje might well be the most exciting fighter on the planet right now, and I recommend you enjoy him while he lasts, because the amount he gets hit in every fight likely means he isn't going to have much career longevity. A terrific wrestler with a thunderous right hand and some creative set ups, Gaethje is a man with a real gift for violence, but not so much for hitting and not getting hit.

Gaethje got rocked early as he was caught on one leg as he threw a telegraphed low kick—something he does frequently.

From then on there were level changes into uppercuts (the old Chad Mendes special):

Slams:

And one of the most wickedly fast catch-and-pitch right hooks I've seen to date.

While Gaethje continues to batter everyone put in front of him and carry the World Series of Fighting brand, it would be a tremendous relief to see him develop some head movement, or at least begin to use that double forearm cover up to some effect as Tarec Saffiedine does, rather than just blinkering himself and eating punches around the outside of his arms.

A terrific weekend of fights, and a reminder that this is a sport and a reminder that there's plenty of quality MMA outside of the UFC, and plenty of fantastic fighters that you've might never even have heard of.