It was the welterweight tournament that was given the honor of kicking off the fifth season for Bellator from Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A staple of the Bellator tournaments, the welterweights do not disappoint at Bellator 49 with four competitive fights.

The night opened on Spike.com with the five bout local card that saw all five bouts ending before the judges played any factor. Four of the fights ended via technical knockouts and the other ended by a submission that turned the lights out on Brylan Van Artsdalen.

The highly touted Douglas Lima opened the welterweight tournament against Steve Carl, making a successful Bellator debut with a unanimous decision win. Lime shock of being rocked badly in the opening round and now advances to the semifinals.

Bellator veteran Dan Hornbuckle had high expectations for this tournament but Luis Santos was having nothing of that. The underdog Santos defeated Hornbuckle with a one-side unanimous decision to score the upset.

Former UFC welterweight, Ben Saunders moved to 2-0 with Bellator by getting the only finish in the opening round of the tournament. Saunders defeated the Hawaiian Chris Cisneros with a third round TKO to send a message to the rest of the fighters.

The nights final welterweight fights was easily the most competitive as Chris Lozano took on Brent Weedman. A great way to end the night of action and the opening round of the tournament with Chris Lozano getting the close decision from the judges.

The semifinal matchups with be Douglas Lima vs. Chris Lozano and Luis Santos vs. Ben Saunders.

Main Card (MTV2):

170 lbs.: Chris Lozano vs. Brent Weedman – Chris Lozano by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

170 lbs.: Ben Saunders vs. Chris Cisneros – Ben Saunders by 3^rd rd. TKO

170 lbs.: Luis Santos vs. Dan Hornbuckle – Luis Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

170 lbs.: Steve Carl vs. Douglas Lima – Douglas Lima by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Local Card (Spike.com):

145 lbs.: Alexandre Bezerra vs. Scott Heckman – Alexandre Bezerra by 2^nd rd. TKO

170 lbs.: Giedrius Karavackas vs. LeVon Maynard – Giedrius Karavackas by 3^rd round TKO

145 lbs.: Brylan Van Artsdalen vs. Joel Roberts – Joel Roberts by 2^nd rd. Technical Submission (Triangle)

145 lbs.: James Jones vs. Lester Caslow – Lester Caslow by 2^nd rd. TKO

265 lbs.: Azunna Anyanwu vs. J.A. Dudley – Azunna Anyanwu 2^nd rd. TKO

The Welterweights Kickoff Season Five At Bellator 49
The Welterweights Kickoff Season Five At Bellator 49