MMA You Want to Watch This Week 5/2 - 5/8

We're still dealing with the fallout of UFC 129 from this past Saturday, whether it's more complaining about Georges St. Pierre fighting 'safe',  or how Jose Aldo isn't really as good as he's been hyped up to be, how John Makdessi makes Tae Kwon Do work in MMA, how most everyone figured the Vladimir Matyushenko fight was the one to miss while grabbing a beer, or how Steven Seagal is the new god of MMA coaches (and people seem to really buy that one, somehow).  Oh yeah, and don't forget the grapefruit Aldo planted on Mark Hominick's head and how Rory MacDonald threw Nate Diaz around like a kid with a new action figure.  Lots of craziness still swirling around from both media and fans alike, which just proves that UFC 129 was a great show and worth every penny of the PPV cost.  

But, it's time to let the dust from Saturday settle, and start thinking about this week and the great fights we've got coming up.  Bellator is back with the welterweight tournament final, and we have three other events streaming online (one of them for free) to fill out the weekend.  As usual, if you see that I've missed any event scheduled to be broadcast in some way this week, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

All times are Eastern

First of all, here's the weekend lineup from www.gofightlive.tv, including links and prices:

AAMMA XIII

Florence, KY

Saturday, May 7, 7pm, IPPV, $9.99

Featuring both pro and amateur fights, 20 bouts total on this card.

Blood and Sand IX

Biloxi, MS

Saturday, May 7, 8pm, IPPV, $14.99

Pro and amatuer card, 18 fights total.

Tachi Palace Fights 9

Friday, May 6, 8:30pm,  Sherdog

This event will be streamed for free on Sherdog, and offers a nice little mix of familiar names and intriguing fights.  First of all, Efrain Escudero is fighting Fabricio Camoes.  I've never made it a secret that I like Effy, and I'm hoping that he's on the road back to the UFC by picking up a win here and extending his current streak to 4.  Camoes is coming off his first fight since his own UFC release, beating Steve Lopez by TKO 23 seconds into the first round.

Gerald Harris is also fighting on this card, going up against 25-15 Anthony Ruiz.  This is Harris' second fight since being fired by the UFC after a controversial decision loss to Maiquel Falcao.  Also, Waachiim Spiritwolf will be taking on Jorge Lopez.  Spiritwolf's last two fights were memorable, at the very least - he was slated to face Marius Zaromskis on a Strikeforce Challengers card last November, but we were cheated of what was sure to be an exciting fight when Spiritwolf was poked in the eye and the doctors would not let the fight go on.  Then, he beat Jaime Jara on the undercard of Bellator 35 in one of the bloodiest fights the promotion has seen this season. 

That's just a few of the 13 fights on this card, and there's sure to be some great action.  Plus, it's free MMA, so there's no reason to not watch!

Bellator 43

Saturday, May 7th, 9pm, MTV2

After taking a week off to avoid competing with UFC 129 look back at the season so far, Bellator is back this weekend with one tournament final and three feature fights. 

First of all, the welterweight tourney final, with Olympic Judoka Rick Hawn vs. Jay Hieron out of Xtreme Couture.  I have to say, no disrespect to either of these guys, but I didn't expect to see either one of them in the final.  And I won't venture an opinion on whether I think either of them can beat champ Ben Askren.  But this should still be a good fight.  Hawn looks better every time we see him, and Hieron has tons of experience in the cage.  Hawn is undefeated with 11 wins to his credit.  Hieron is 21-4 and is currently on a 9 fight win streak.  Of course, the winner of this fight will go on to face Askren at some point.

The other three main card fights are interesting, and will probably give us a good idea who we'll see in future tournaments.  First of all, Strikeforce vet Joe Riggs makes his Bellator debut against Bryan Baker.  Riggs, 34-13, is coming off a loss to Jordan Mein back in January.  Baker (14-2) is a veteran of last season's middleweight tournament, making it to the final where he lost to Alexander Shlemenko (prior to that, Baker's ONLY career loss was to Chael Sonnen).  We will also see Jose Vega vs. Chase Beebe, and Zak Jensen vs. Neil Grove - from bantamweights to heavyweights, all in one event.

UPDATE:  No sooner do I get this up than Neil Grove pulls out of his fight with Zak Jensen.  MMA Diehards has the story here - sounds like a nagging injury is the reason.  No replacement has been named yet.

That's all I have for you this week.  Sorry I haven't been getting this to you on Mondays like I used to.  You can blame life for making my weekends and Mondays so crazy I don't have time to put together a grocery list, let alone a coherent story.