BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 19 was held Thursday May 20, 2010 at the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas. In a non-title fight, Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe "The Hammer" Soto opened up a significant cut on the head of former UFC fighter Diego "The Octopus" Saraiva in the first round. After the round, the doctor called the fight in favor of Soto, who remains undefeated at 9-0. Although this was Saraiva's ninth overall loss, he had previously lost 8 times by decision. This was the first time in Saraiva's career that he was stopped in a fight.
The Bellator Welterweight Tournament Final is set with the conclusion of the two semifinal bouts. Ben "Funky" Askren and Ryan "The Tank Engine" Thomas fought for the
second time in this tournament, after Thomas was reinserted into the tournament when "Judo" Jim Wallhead couldn't get a flight stateside due to the dreaded Icelandic Ash Cloud. Thomas scored a dope
360 drop punch on Jacob "Tick Tock" McClintock to advance to the semifinals. After a controversial fight stoppage in the first fight between Askren and Thomas at
BELLATOR 14, this rematch became one of the most anticipated grudge matches of the year so far. Askren left much less doubt this time about his victory, scoring a convincing unanimous decision win over Thomas, who can continue to contend that Askren never
finished him, but there is now no doubt that Askren has
beat him.
In the other semifinal fight, Dan "The Handler" Hornbuckle continued his winning ways, taking out Steve Carl with a kimura submission just over two and a half minutes into their semifinal fight.
BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS XIX
Joe Soto (9-0) won by TKO over Diego Saraiva (18-9) after R1. [5:00]
[Welterweight Semifinal]
Ben Askren (5-0) won by UD over Ryan Thomas (11-5). [15:00]
[Welterweight Semifinal]
Dan Hornbuckle (21-2) won by SUB over Steve Carl (10-2) in R1. [2:31]
Scott Barrett (10-1) won by TKO over Ty Lee (7-1) in R1. [2:25]
Chas Skelly (7-0) won by SUB over Daniel Pineda (10-7) in R2. [7:16]
Joe Christopher (10-3) won by SUB over Brandon McDowell (31-27) in R1. [1:36]
Johnny Bedford (16-8) won by TKO over Jared Lopez (8-9) in R3. [12:16]
Douglas Frey (8-3) won by SUB over Aaron Wise (1-5) in R1. [0:49]
Josh Smith (2-1) won by UD over Donyiell Winrow (1-1). [15:00]
Complete MMA win-loss records with total fight time in brackets.
UD = Unanimous | SD = Split Decision | SUB = Submission | R = Round