Fighters of the Bellator Fighting Championships have managed to spark heightened interest in the promotion, as its tournaments have unfolded. The promotion’s recent featherweight semi-finals featured another highlight reel finish, as Yahir Reyes leveled Estevan Payan with a sudden, blunt-force spinning back fist for the knockout. Payan stalked Reyes for the first round and a half, backing him up with punches, before Reyes landed the shot off a fainted leg kick. Like Toby Imada’s submission of tournament favorite Jorge Masvidal last week -- which has garnered 232,000 YouTube hits -- a video of Reyes’ knockout quickly went viral. That video had drawn around 164,000 views at mid-week. By comparison, the next highest-viewed Bellator video on YouTube stands at just 6,458 views.
Reyes, based out of Tijuana, Mexico, will face Joe Soto, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based wrestler, in the 145-pound final. Soto notched an impressive win over former EliteXC featherweight champion Wilson Reis. The 24-year-old Reis came in undefeated in seven fights, and most viewed him as the favorite to take the bracket. Soto shut down or neutralized every takedown attempt by the jiu-jitsu fighter and stayed active on his feet. Soto was given the 30-27 nod by all three judges. Reyes vs. Soto will take place June 5 in Ontario, Calif. The tournament winner will collect a total payday of $175,000 for his three tournament wins.