No titles were on the line in Friday night’s Bellator 129 fight card, but that didn’t make the action any less intense.
The card was headlined by Paul Bradley’s bout with Josh Neer, and the two former training buddies underwent a three-round bloodbath. It ended with Bradley sporting his second ever Bellator victory, improving to 22-6 for his career.
The rest of the card didn’t disappoint, with Houston Alexander and Virgil Zwicker fighting to a brutal majority draw in one of the three other fights.
Here’s a look at complete results from the Bellator 129 main card.
Paul Bradley def. Josh Neer
Albeit familiar foes on the training grounds, Friday night’s fight was the first ever meeting for Bradley and Neer and it culminated with Bradley sporting a convincing unanimous decision victory.
Coming off three exciting main-card bouts, Bradley and Neer largely failed to live up to the hype. Much of the fight featured Bradley getting an early round takedown, and holding off Neer who was obviously exhausted having to fight the majority of the three rounds on his back.
It may have lacked a flair for the dramatic, but there was really no doubt as Round 3 wore on that Bradley had wrapped things up. And unsurprisingly, his style drew ire from Neer, per AXS.com’s Eric Holden:
The critics hating on Bradley’s style were out in droves, but Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden jumped to point out Neer could have done more:
It certainly wasn’t ideal for the viewing public, but the result was just what Bradley hoped for. The 31-year-old shook off his Bellator 112 loss to Nathan Coy with the victory, and improved to 2-1 in the organization.
Friday night was Neer’s Bellator debut after a failed UFC stint, and it’s safe to say it didn’t get off to the start he hoped for.
Houston Alexander draws Virgil Zwicker
Houston Alexander and Virgil Zwicker went back and forth throughout their three-round slugfest, and it was only fitting for the bout to end with a majority draw.
Alexander wasted no time using his strength advantage, taking Zwicker to the ground multiple times in the first round and laying the better blows between the two. While hanging tough, Zwicker was undoubtedly losing the momentum.
That didn’t really change in Round 2, with Alexander notching another takedown and keeping his opponent down for a few minutes. However, Zwicker was landing quality blows and a massive welt formed over Alexander’s right eye.
He left no chance for Zwicker to attack his face in Round 3, taking him down early and keeping Zwicker pinned down—although he was landing elbows on the ground—to keep control. But one poor decision in the final round led to Alexander losing his lead, per TheMMAReport.com’s Jason Floyd:
That lost point ended up proving detrimental, as it would have given Alexander a majority-decision victory instead of the draw.
Both fighters remain with identical records in Bellator, going to 1-1-1. Although, it’s likely that Alexander feels as if he missed out on a big chance to give Zwicker his fifth ever loss.
Andre Santos def. James Terry
Andre Santos wasn’t dominant by any means and failed to make his win convincing, but it was a win regardless as he defeated James Terry via unanimous decision.
Terry wasn’t able to land anything early on other than one connection to Santos’ chin, but his opponent found much more early success. By the end of the first round, Santos had opened up a big cut over Terry’s right eye.
Santos looked like he was threatening to end the fight early, but Terry responded strong in Round 2 by upping his intensity and attacking Santos like never before. Though in hindsight, none of the judges saw it as enough to win the round for Terry.
Sensing a much closer fight, Santos came out furiously in Round 3 and was obviously looking for the knockout. Although he didn’t get it, he had Terry on the ropes and a late takedown didn’t do anything to change that.
Santos improves his career record to 38-9 with Friday night’s win in his Bellator debut, while Terry falls to 14-9.
Joe Vedepo def. Davin Clark
All of the fights in Friday night’s Bellator main card went the full three rounds, but Joe Vedepo was set on making sure there was at least one knockout.
In a three-round bout that he controlled from the onset, Vedepo defeated Davin Clark via a Round 3 technical knockout as the referee called the fight after seeing enough.
Vedepo took his opponent to the ground early, notching a Round 1 takedown and landing enough blows to secure an easy opening-round win. Nearly the same thing unfolded in Round 2, with Vedepo notching an early takedown and doing most of the damage.
When the fighters came out for Round 3, Vedepo could have cruised to a win but decided rather to finish Clark off.
Vedepo is quickly reasserting himself as one of the top fighters in Bellator. After losing two of his first three fights in the organization, he has now won three straight with Friday night’s victory—which was also Clark’s Bellator debut.
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