Bryan Baker successful in second comeback fight; earns second round TKO victory.
The third match of the evening put Bellator season two middleweight tournament finalist Bryan Baker (14-2) of West Covina, CA against the UFC veteran Joe Riggs (34-12) of Phoenix, AZ.
Baker is a very inspirational figure in the sport of MMA. He was diagnosed with leukemia last year, yet he continued to fight on. After going through chemo therapy, Baker made a successful return to the cage, earning a victory over Jeremy Horn.
Now, Baker’s leukemia is in full remission, and he is back to 100 percent.
After a touch of gloves, Baker and Riggs began the felling out process. Both fighters showed respect for the others striking prowess as not much happened for the first two minutes, until Baker landed an accidental low blow on Riggs.
As the round went on, the crowd became restless because of the lack of action. Around three and a half minutes in to the first round, Baker landed a flying knee, which up until that point of the fight was the most significant strike of the round.
After throwing a high kick was was barely blocked by Riggs, Baker began to open up more with his strikes. As the round came to an end, Baker went for a flying knee, and Riggs landed a counter right that stunned Baker as the bell rang to end the round.
The second round started off just as slowly as the first. For the first minute, both fighters just circled each other, much to the dismay of the crowd. Riggs finally opened up and landed a pair of body punches.
Baker finally pressed the action and ate a pair of right hooks for his efforts. Baker threw another flying knee that missed, but then secured the clinch and landed some big knees to Riggs’ midsection.
After an unsuccessful takedown attempt, Baker started to get tagged more and more by Riggs’s counters. That was until Baker landed a flush left hook to Riggs’ jaw that put him down and out.
Baker could have landed more punches before the referee finally stepped in to stop the fight, but Baker decided against it as he realized Riggs was done.
Official result—Bryan Baker def Joe Riggs via TKO at 3:53 of round three.
During the post fight interview, Baker proposed to his girlfriend in the cage. Thankfully, she said yes.
Baker improves his record to 15-2, and Riggs falls to 34-15.