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 The semi-finals are here! Alas the tournament resumes, and we get to see two intriguing matchups. The first of which sees Danny Peterson and Hukkelberry Flint face off for the right to get pummeled by the winner of the second semi-final. The 19 year old Belgian got here by defeating Ernesto Powers by ground and pound TKO less than three minutes into the match. As if that was not impressive enough, he needed just 49 seconds to land a guillotine on Jung Ho Park. While dominating is the right word to describe Flint’s journey, ugly might be the best way to describe Peterson’s time. Danny Peterson only had to win once, as he advanced in the first round when his opponent missed weight, but his one win was a comfortable unanimous decision over Tyson Abreu. Stylistically, this will be a battle of contrasts. Flint will want to bring the fight to the ground where his BJJ brown belt will serve him well, while Peterson is your standard sprawl and brawl fighter. Peterson may get the better of the early boxing exchanges, but I think Flint breaks through his takedown defense and gets a submission in the first round.
The other semi-final is the de-facto final of the tournament. Ricardo Morra Jr. is 5-0-0 with first round TKO wins in both rounds, taking 3:31 to beat Akihiro Imanari and just 55 seconds against Jax Sigthorsson. Meanwhile, Ergun Cerrahoglu has dominated his two matches as well, winning by a lopsided unanimous decision over Rony Stark and scoring a first round TKO over Dario Balic. Both have looked fantastic in their first two fights, but only one can make the final. While “Monkey Style” Morra has the edge in the clinch and on the ground, the Turk will be the one deciding where this match is fought. If Cerrahoglu can keep this one as a boxing match, he has a shot, but I think Morra takes him to the woodshed in the clinch and walks out victorious through a second round TKO.
The Grand Prix may be exciting, but the main event is the icing on the cake. Hatebreed Rebel is making his return to the octagon after his failed move up to the 265 lbs division against top challenger Joe “Levels” Dinapoli. Rebel may be short on confidence after his last match against Buster Gruff lasted just 30 seconds until he hit with a KO punch. Dinapoli, on the other hand, has breezed through his two fights in Empire thus far, scoring a stunning spinning backfist on Jaco Camden and a submission on strikes over Ravana Lanka, both in the first round. While Rebel is a submission specialist, Dinapoli has to be brimming with confidence, as all he needs to do is land one good punch and it may be all over. This fight may only last a few seconds before he does just that, and I will pick Dinapoli to win the belt by first round KO.
Picks for the other matchups:
Kulvics over Abbot
Imanari over Abreu
Park over Molina
Bonner over Balic
Sigthorsson over Hashima
Izanagi over Tested
Rodriquez over Frederick
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