Josh “The Punk” Thomson easily defeated Pablo Villaseca via second-round TKO in Bellator 147’s main event in his hometown of San Jose, California, on Friday night. It was clear from the start of the fight, the younger, less experienced Villaseca was in over his head.
The 28-year-old from Chile was having issues finding a home for any of his strikes, and whenever the fight got into close quarters, Thomson’s superior wrestling saw him dominate.
There was one sequence in the first round when Thomson transitioned through three separate submission maneuvers in an effort to finish Villaseca. To Villaseca‘s credit, he escaped, but it only prolonged the inevitable.
In the second round, Thomson again took Villaseca to the ground. This time, instead of looking for submissions, the 37-year-old veteran simply pounded away on Villaseca until referee Scott Herzog called an end to the bout.
Here’s a look at the finish:
Thomson could probably pursue a title shot against lightweight champion Will Brooks, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what he wants. Per the Spike broadcast, he was told about this tweet from Brooks:
Instead of accepting the champion’s challenge, Thomson pushed that potential fight aside and decided to talk about fighting Michael Chandler—a guy Brooks already beat twice for the title.
Why? Brooks seemed to know the answer:
He offered more after Thomson’s disrespectful move:
Is that really good for Bellator or mixed martial arts on a whole? It doesn’t seem like it, but clearly it’s Thomson’s prerogative. It does make you wonder why Brooks can’t seem to get any respect—no matter how much he wins.
Here’s a look at all the results from Friday night’s card:
| Matchup | Weight Class | Results |
| Adam Piccolotti vs. Mario Soto | Lightweight | Piccolotti by submission (second round, rear-naked choke) |
| Virgil Zwicker vs. Brian Rogers | Light Heavyweight | Rogers by submission (second round, arm-triangle choke) |
| Patricky Freire vs. Derek Anderson | Lightweight | Anderson by decision (29-28×2, 28-29) |
| Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Daniel Weichel | Featherweight | Weichel by decision (30-27×3) |
| Josh Thomson vs. Pablo Villaseca | Lightweight | Thomson by TKO (second round, unanswered punches) |
Rogers Chokes Out Zwicker
Brian Rogers is known for his powerful striking. On Friday night, he used his submission skills to take the victory over Virgil Zwicker. In the first round, Rogers proved to have superior quickness.
He was able to get off kicks to Zwicker‘s legs and midsection without much resistance. Rogers put his stamp on the first frame by securing a late takedown and working from side control through most of that round.
In the second, Rogers had two kicks stray low. The second one caught Zwicker on the cup and forced a short delay. Rogers would be looking for the finish shortly thereafter.
He would get it after a scramble on the ground saw him take full mount. Rogers transitioned to an arm-triangle choke that forced Zwicker to tap out. Here’s a look at the winning moment:
Rogers needed this win in a major way. He had lost four of his last five fights. There’s no telling where another loss would have left him. Zwicker had his two-fight win streak stopped, but he’s a crowd favorite who will undoubtedly be back.
Piccolotti Bloodies and Submits Soto
Adam Piccolotti gave the guys in charge of scrubbing blood stains on the mat some work. After controlling the first round, Piccolotti opened a nasty gash across Mario Soto’s nose with elbows on the ground.
Soto would scramble to try and defend himself, but Piccolotti kept the pressure on his opponent. He took Soto’s back, cinched in the rear-naked choke and forced the submission.
Take a look at Piccolotti‘s finish:
The 27-year-old improved his record to 7-0. It was his second straight submission victory, and he’s 3-0 in Bellator. With a few more wins, he could find himself in position to challenge for the lightweight title. Maybe he’ll be willing to fight Brooks.
This was Soto’s Bellator debut; It’s safe to say things didn’t begin the way he’d hoped.
Anderson Outworks Patricky Pitbull
With length and activity, Derek Anderson overcame the powerful Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. The latter normally brings a ton of aggression into the cage. After losing to Anderson via unanimous decision in September 2013, it seemed he would be on fire for the rematch, but that wasn’t the case.
After taking the first round on the strength of his jab and punch-kick combinations, Pitbull‘s powerful left hooks slowed Anderson a bit.
Anderson wasn’t necessarily hurt, but it was clear the Brazilian got his attention.
After regaining his composure between the second and third rounds, Anderson resumed control of the bout as he controlled the distance with his striking. The bout was close, but the judges made the right decision in awarding Anderson the split-decision victory.
Daniel Weichel Dismantles Karakhanyan
Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan looked quite pedestrian on Friday night against Daniel Weichel. The latter’s excellent boxing picked the former apart from the beginning of the first round until the last second of the third.
Karakhanyan had no answer for Weichel‘s jabs, hooks, counter right hands and front kicks. While Weichel never hurt Karakhanyan, the German landed all of the highest impact shots of the fight.
The judges rightfully scored the fight—all for Weichel. With the win, Weichel is in a great position to challenge Daniel Straus for the Bellator Featherweight Championship. Weichel was seemingly seconds away from winning the title from Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in June.
Pitbull caught him with a big shot late in the second round to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Straus would defeat Pitbull to win the title in November. Now Straus is the marked man Weichel is pursuing.
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