Rafael Carvalho v Vadim Nemkov | Bellator
Vadim Nemkov dominates Rafael Carvalho to earn second round submission victory while Melvin Manhoef gets a KO win.
Bellator returned to Italy for the seventh time this evening but it was their first time touching down in the city of Milan. The triple-header wasn’t filled with the biggest of names up and down the card but there were a number of bouts which stood out as being particularly relevant to different divisions. It was a near full capacity crowd inside the Allianz Cloud and they provided a great atmosphere throughout the night to support their local fighters. There were some impressive finishes and competitive battles during the show that would have helped to further cement the promotion’s standing to European fans.
Top contender, Vadim Nemkov, made a real statement in the Bellator 230 main event as he ran through former middleweight champion, Rafael Carvalho, in dominating fashion to get the submission victory. Straight out of the gate, Nemkov opened with vicious leg kicks before immediately shooting and landing a takedown. That same level of pressure continued throughout the fight and Nemkov, who was watched on by Fedor outside the cage, landed his right hand at will. Carvalho’s most significant moment came during the second round when a head kick got the Russian’s attention but he wasn’t able to capitalise as he was taken down moments later. From there, Nemkov worked to mount and rained down some heavy blows on Carvalho who then presented his back. Nemkov sunk in the rear-naked choke and in the process sent a message to the rest of the light heavyweights in Bellator that he is a force to be reckoned with.
In the co-main event of the numbered portion of the show, Hesdy Gerges’ difficult start to his MMA career continued as he dropped a unanimous decision to Dragos Zubko. Both fighters have kickboxing backgrounds so many were predicting a pure stand-up battle inside the cage but that wasn’t quite accurate. Zubko was able to earn some takedowns over the first two rounds but Gerges did a decent job of getting back to his feet, even recovering from the mounted crucifix position. Despite landing a punch which dropped Zubko in the third, it was too late for Gerges to claim victory as he fell to 0-2 in his MMA career.
Elsewhere on the main card for Bellator 230, Kirill Sidelnikov earned a unanimous decision victory over the previously undefeated Domingos Barros by fending off takedown attempts and working effectively at range. Also, Andrea Fusi and Walter Pugliesi put on a highly entertaining bout for the Italian fans in attendance to open the night. It was an all-action affair where both men were aggressive but Pugliesi landed the more damaging strikes on the feet to take the judges’ scorecards and consequently avenged his loss from last year.
Many predicted that the Bellator Milan headliner would be over quickly and that was proved to be correct when Melvin Manhoef added another first round knockout to his illustrious resume. In the hope of having the grappling edge over his opponent, Bahati shot early but Manhoef managed to defend it well. Shortly thereafter, Bahati was knocked off balanced and the Dutchman followed him down to the mat. Manhoef managed to posture up from half guard and landed a series of clean punches that put Bahati briefly unconscious. It is not known how many more fights Manhoef has left at 43-years-old but whenever he competes, spectators are pretty much always entertained.
Stefano Paterno and Ashley Reece both put on an incredible display in a welterweight clash where both of their stocks rose despite Paterno coming out on top. The Italian, who had the full backing of a partisan crowd, displayed great stand-up skills early as he appeared to be one step ahead of Reece in the opening moments. However, Reece managed to take Paterno down shortly after and held position for the rest of the round while Paterno landed some elbows from the bottom. In the second round, Paterno landed some heavy strikes that hurt the Englishman badly but Reece showed incredible toughness and resilience to stay in the fight. The pace slowed slightly in the third as a result of the huge effort that both fighters gave but they still looked to land big punches to make a statement to the judges. It was Paterno who got his hand raised by unanimous decision in his Bellator debut but both can be put in exciting fights going forwards.
Rounding out the European Series card, late-notice replacement Rafael Macedo overcame Kane Mousah by spilt decision in a mostly uneventful contest. The night ended with huge scenes of celebration inside the arena as the biggest star in the country, Alessio Sakara, blitzed Canaan Grigsby to pick up a TKO win in 23 seconds.
Bellator 230: Carvalho vs. Nemkov Full Results
Light Heavyweight – Vadim Nemkov defeats Rafael Carvalho by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:56 of round two.
Heavyweight – Dragos Zubko defeats Hesdy Gerges by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Heavyweight – Kirill Sidelnikov defeats Domingos Barros by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Welterweight – Walter Pugliesi defeats Andrea Fusi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Lightweight – Nicolo Solli defeats Dan Cassell by submission (triangle choke) at 3:15 of round one.
Bellator Milan: Manhoef vs. Bahati Full Results
Light Heavyweight – Melvin Manhoef defeats Yannick Bahati by knockout at 2:29 of round one.
Welterweight – Stefano Paterno defeats Ashley Reece by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-27).
Lightweight – Rafael Macedo defeats Kane Mousah by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29).
Light Heavyweight – Alessio Sakara defeats Canaan Grigsby by TKO at 0:23 of round one.