Breaking Down Bellator 43: Riggs Vs Baker

Added on May 06, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Middleweight Fight

Joe Riggs Vs. Bryan Baker

Joe Diesel Riggs has fought in just about every Mixed Martial Arts promotion you can name. The 34-13-1nc fighter first stepped in the cage at heavyweight in 2001. He has gone 4-4 in the UFC, has a handful of WEC fights, and even though he won his last Strikeforce fight-he left the promotion over contract issues. Riggs has proven to be very versatile as he has 16 TKO/KO’s and 15 submission wins, and thats a dangerous proposition for most fighters. What makes even Riggs harder to deal with is that he has a wrestling background which was the base for all his MMA training. Riggs is coming off of a surprising TKO loss to Jordan Mein, but before then was riding a red hot 7-1 streak. Riggs is coming in as high as +230 on the ½ dozen or so websites I checked.

Bryan Baker has fought in pressure situations before, and has big stage himself. The Middleweight Tournament finalist came up short against Alexander Shlemenko, and his only other career loss is to the former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen. The 14-2 Baker has wins over Jeremy Horn, Matt Horwich, Jesse Forbse and Rory Singer. Before Baker’s win over Horn, he admitted to the media that he had been diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, and many counted him out of the Horn fight, and some saw him ending his career after the fight. Of course Baker was having none of it, and won a gutsy unanimous decision over Horn and got back into the winning column. Baker is coming in as low as -260.

If you see something I don’t, then by all means throw some money at Joe Riggs, but I see the size issue being difficult for him in this fight. He goes back and forth at welterweight and middleweight, and I think this is one of those cases where he faces the losing side of that strategy. Riggs is even a little stocky for welterweight, let alone middleweight, and I think Baker is dangerous enough with his hands to keep Riggs in his place. Its also important to mention that 2 of Riggs’ last 4 losses came at 185lbs. I see Baker keeping him on outside with his punches, and avoiding the takedowns to eventually wear down Riggs late in the fight. I do see Baker finishing this one, and it will most likely come in the third round.