Saturday, October 15, 2011, Bellator Fighting Championships will make its return to the Boardwalk Hall Ballroom in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for Bellator 54, featuring the semi-final pairings for the Season 5 Bellator Middleweight Tournament.
The co-main event will see Russian striker Alexander Shlemenko (41-7-0) go toe-to-toe with American Brian Rogers (8-2-0), while California's Bryan Baker (16-2-0) takes on Wand Fight Team representative Vitor Vianna (11-1-1) in evening's main-event. The winner of the Season 5 tournament will become the #1 contender at 185lbs and earn a shot at the promotion's title in 2012.
Alexander Schlemenko vs. Brian Rogers
Season 2 Middleweight Tournament winner Alexander Schlemenko representing RusFighters Sport Club boasts a diverse array of standing attacks that have seen the Omsk, Russia, native compile twenty-five victories by way of [T]KO. He is a winner of four straight bouts and ten of his previous eleven, losing only to promotion champion Hector Lombard in that stretch. In forty-seven professional fights, Schlemenko has only been stopped three times inside the distance.
Rogers has been equally impressive of late, stringing together seven consecutive wins, all by way of [T]KO in the first round. The Independence, Ohio, native fighting out of Strong Style Fight Team has never been submitted or knocked out in his young career.
This fight will come down to experience, endurance, and who controls the grappling aspect late in the bout. Both men have proven extremely difficult to put away and Saturday will be no different as each combatant will be weary of the others ability standing. The only two times the American has been out of the first round he was defeated; expect Schlemenko to weather an early storm, swinging the fight in his favor late while pressing the pace into rounds two and three with more activity when standing en route to a unanimous decision win.
Brian Baker vs. Vitor Vianna
Brian Baker - A Season 2 Tournament finalist - has put together three consecutive wins inside the Bellator cage since he was stopped on strikes for the first time in his career against Schlemenko at Bellator 23 in June of last year. Half [8] of his wins have come by [T]KO and the Team Wildman talent entered the Season 5 tournament an early favorite to make the finals.
Fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, once-defeated Vitor Vianna has demonstrated a well-rounded attack with four [T]KOs, four submissions, and three decision wins on record. His lone defeat came against UFC veteran light-heavyweight Thiago Silva in November of 2006, a year in which he competed six times.
Both of these fighters like to mix-up their attacks and are comfortable where ever the action takes place - standing or on the ground - but the size advantage Baker will carry into the fight could make all the difference as they grind each other out down the stretch. Also worth noting, while Vianna has appeared four times to-date from 2007 onward, Baker began his career in '07 and has competed on eighteen occasions since. Expect Baker to impose his game and pace on Vianna as this fight wears on, winning battles in the clinch, and securing more top-control throughout the bout as he picks up a unanimous decision and books his place in the Season 5 final.
Matchups:
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Semifinals
Bryan Baker vs. Vitor Vianna
Alexander Shlemenko vs. Brian Rogers
Zach Makovsky vs. Ryan Roberts
Jacob Kirwan vs. Rene Nazare
Duane Bastress vs. Daniel Gracie
Karl Amoussou vs. Joey Kirwan
Tim Carpenter vs. Ryan Contaldi
Andria Caplan vs. Adrienne Seiber
Brian Kelleher vs. Claudio Ledesma
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