Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.
But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)
Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card; it wasn’t televised or streamed. Davis won via guillotine with only two seconds left in the first round.
In the first televised fight, Tim Welch fought Derek Campos in another lightweight tournament quarterfinal bout. The first round was evenly matched, but Campos was more aggressive, consistently pushing Welch back with his striking. He also landed more strikes. Campos almost finished Welch in the second, wobbling him with a right hand. He neglected to swarm a battered Welch, however. Instead, he opted for a takedown, which allowed Welch to recover and eventually rise to his feet. The third round didn’t feature much action. Campos took Welch to the ground and held him there. Unsurprisingly, Campos got the nod from the judges.
It didn’t take long for Polish prospect Marcin Held to defeat Rodrigo Cavalheiro. After a very brief striking scuffle, Held took Cavalheiro to the mat and submitted the Brazilian with a toehold.
In the night’s co-main event, David Rickels fought Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. This was also the last lightweight tournament quarterfinal of the night. The first round was, essentially, five minutes of brawling with some grappling interspersed. Rickels got the better of nearly every exchange in the first round, but that changed in the second. Freire hurt Rickels with a right hook, swarmed in, and then dropped him cold with a left hook. After one follow-up strike, it was called off.
The lightweight tournament semifinals will be as follows:
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos.
Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson
Bellator 113′s main event was to unify Bellator’s light heavyweight title. Interim champ Emanuel Newton faced non-interim champion Attila Vegh. It was a long, boring 25 minutes, that featured ineffective striking and lots of missed “spinning shit.” There really isn’t much to tell other than that both guys threw lots of strikes that amounted to nothing. If you DVR’d the event, watch this on fast forward if you feel the need to watch at all. Twitter pundits scored it every way imaginable, but the only people that mattered (the judges) gave it to Newton.
Complete Results:
Main Card
Emanuel Newton def. Attila Vegh via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
Patricky Freire def. David Rickels via KO (punches), 0:54 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Rodrigo Cavalheiro via submission (toe hold), 1:56 of round 1
Derek Campos def. Tim Welch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
LC Davis def. Tory Bogguess via submission (guillotine), 4:58 of round 1
Derek Anderson def. Brandon Girtz via KO (knee), 0:23 of round 2
Israel Giron def. Cody Carrillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eric Wisely def. Donnie Bell via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Gallemore def. Fredrick Brown via TKO (punches), 3:34 of round 1
Bobby Cooper def. Marcio Navarro via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)