Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Dan Hornbuckle and Ben Askren will face off in Bellator Fighting Championship’s season two welterweight tournament final after picking up wins on May 20 in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Hornbuckle, known as “The Handler,” picked up his second straight first-round submission by tapping Iraq war veteran Steve Carl with a kimura. Askren took down UFC veteran Ryan Thomas immediately and kept him on the defensive on the mat for 15 minutes toward a 30-27 unanimous decision victory.
Bellator 19 also saw featherweight champion Joe Soto shine in a non-title bout, wresting Diego Saraiva to the mat and landing an elbow with 40 seconds left in the first round, opening a cut that ended the fight via TKO. Unlike in tournament bouts, Bellator allows elbow strikes in non-tournament fights. Soto faces the winner of the Joe Warren vs. Patricio "Pitbull" Freire 145-pound final on a date to be announced.
While they remain preempted by local sports on several prominent local affiliates, Bellator has been trumpeting its rating success on Fox Sports Net with live Thursday night airings. The promotion announced in a news release that the May 6 Bellator event, featuring Eddie Alvarez and Roger Huerta, saw a 184-percent increase in ratings compared to the season two premiere on April 8.
Bellator’s middleweight tournament final will be decided next week with Bryan Baker vs. Eric Schambari and Jared Hess vs. Alexander Shlemenko.