Bellator 50: What to Watch For

Alexander Shlemenko (right) is one of the sport’s most exciting strikers.| Photo: Keith Mills

Though he stands just 5-foot-9, Bellator Fighting Championships middleweight titleholder Hector Lombard casts an imposing shadow over the promotion’s 185-pound division.

A string of 24 consecutive fights without a loss -- and a mean streak to go with it -- tends to have a profound impact on the competition. Yet, Lombard, a perfect 7-0 with four first-round knockouts in Bellator, is the target for which eight prospective challengers will gun when they enter the promotion’s Season 5 middleweight tournament at Bellator 50 on Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. The crop of hopefuls includes two men, Alexander Shlemenko and Jared Hess, who have already tried and failed to unseat Lombard, a 33-year-old judoka who has not tasted defeat in almost five years.

Replete with interesting storylines, tournament drama and compelling talent, here is what to watch for at Bellator 50:

Shlemenko, the only man ever to go five full rounds with Lombard, undoubtedly wants another crack at the champion. Known for high-risk, high-reward striking, the 27-year-old Russian won Bellator’s Season 2 middleweight tournament with wins over Hess, Matt Major and WEC veteran Bryan Baker. His 40 career victories are more than twice as many as any other competitor in the eight-man field, so, in terms of experience, he has a significant advantage over his peers. Shlemenko has not missed a beat since dropping a unanimous decision to Lombard in October, as he has rattled off three straight victories, two of them first-round finishes. However, he faces a considerable standup threat in quarterfinal foe Zelg Galesic, a high-level tae kwon do black belt. The 32-year-old Croat, a former Cage Rage champion, was a semifinalist in the 2008 Dream middleweight grand prix. Each of Galesic’s last 13 bouts has ended inside the first round, as he has compiled a 9-4 mark during that stretch.

Bryan Baker File Photo

Baker is no stranger to adversity.

Baker and Hess have a common acquaintance: adversity. Baker battled chronic leukemia into remission and reached the Season 2 middleweight tournament final despite his sickness, ultimately succumbing to strikes from Shlemenko. A winner in nine of his last 10 outings, the 25-year-old Baker has since scored back-to-back wins over UFC veterans Jeremy Horn and Joe Riggs. Hess has endured his own hardship. He suffered a gruesome knee injury against Shlemenko in the Season 2 semifinals, forcing a premature exit from the match and resulting in reconstructive knee surgery. Hess returned after an 11-month layoff in April and submitted Chris Ball with a first-round triangle choke at Bellator 42. Courage has long been one of his hallmarks, as evidenced by his bloody Bellator 9 encounter with Lombard. Despite being mangled by a series of elbows, Hess was willing to go forward. However, a cageside doctor intervened 1:41 into the fourth round, saving him from further damage.

Because of their history, Shlemenko, Baker and Hess figure to steal a majority of the pre-tournament headlines for Bellator’s Season 5 middleweight draw. However, Vitor Vianna may be the fighter to watch. A two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and second-degree black belt in the discipline, the 31-year-old serves as the head BJJ instructor at the Wand Fight Team camp in Las Vegas. Far from a one-trick pony, Vianna has already shown a penchant for the finish, with four wins by submission and four others by knockout or technical knockout. His only defeat under MMA rules came to UFC light heavyweight mainstay Thiago Silva in November 2006, when he broke his arm while blocking a kick at a Fury Fighting Championship event in Brazil. Vianna has sharpened his standup skills alongside the great Wanderlei Silva and has made himself into a slick tactician on the feet, having largely abandoned the wild haymakers that defined his early days in MMA. Consider him the dark horse of the tournament. Vianna will face Sam Alvey in the quarterfinals. The 25-year-old Wisconsin native has won four fights in a row, including his May upset of Frenchman Karl Amoussou at Bellator 45.

Radley Martinez made national headlines when the NCAA All-American wrestler and professional mixed martial arts prospect was featured on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” During the segment, he shared his moving story about his role as the primary caregiver for his father, Richard, who was seriously injured in a car accident when his son was 12 years old. Richard suffers from traumatic brain damage and requires near around-the-clock care. Martinez wrestled collegiately at Clarion University, where he teamed with reigning UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. The Utah-based lightweight has compiled an impressive 9-2 record since entering MMA in January 2008. In his debut with Bellator, he will collide with Brian van Hoven, a 37-year-old journeyman whose seven career victories have come at the expense of opponents with a cumulative 51-46 record.