Alexander Shlemenko rocked Melvin Manhoef’s world on Saturday night at Bellator 133 in Fresno, California. A spinning backfist found the mark in the second round and Manhoef’s lights went out.
Here’s a look at the decisive blow from Zombie Prophet, via Ben Fowlkes of USA Today:
Shlemenko continually tried to land spinning techniques, but Manhoef was able to absorb or sidestep the kicks and punches through the first round. He was also doing a good job stuffing Shlemenko’s takedown attempts.
Manhoef managed to land a hard right hand in the first round, but it didn’t land square on Shlemenko’s face, catching part of the Russian’s shoulder instead.
In the second round, Manhoef got careless and got caught rushing end and he suffered his second straight vicious, one-punch KO. In his last fight against Joe Schilling in Nov. 2014, Manhoef ate a counter right hand that also sent him sprawling to a KO defeat.
At 38 years old, the veteran KO artist has been the canvas much more than he’s been the painter of late. Retirement should be a real option for him at this point.
As for Shlemenko, he’s right back in the mix to regain the title he lost to Brad Halsey in Sept. 2014. He’s now won two fights in a row, and has to be on track to get another shot at his title with perhaps one more impressive showing.
Here’s a look at the results from the bouts in Fresno. Just beneath the table is a breakdown of the other main card scraps.
Honeycutt Dominates MacFarlane
Every wrestler is not created equal. Both Chris Honeycutt and Clayton MacFarlane came into Saturday night’s clash undefeated and with strong wrestling backgrounds. It didn’t take long for us to see that Honeycutt was more skilled and simply the more powerful fighter in the Bellator cage.
From very early on in the first round, Honeycutt had his way whenever the two men clashed on the ground. MacFarlane had designs on keeping the fight standing, but he simply couldn’t stop Honeycutt’s takedowns.
After enjoying several sequences in dominant position, Honeycutt induced the stoppage in the third round as he flattened MacFarlane on his belly and pounded the exposed ribs. Zombie Prophet has the finish:
Referee Jason Herzog was forced to call halt to the bout with just a minute remaining as MacFarlane was offering no resistance.
The win sent Honeycutt’s record to 7-0 with five of the victories coming via TKO/KO. Honeycutt is still a few fights away from being a serious threat to 170-pound champion Douglas Lima, but the 26-year-old powerhouse is opening some eyes.
Others aren’t as impressed. Adam Martin of Parting Shot doesn’t put much stock in MacFarlane as a formidable opponent.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Honeycutt faces someone who can expose his remedial stand-up skills. As of now, he’s looked great in seven professional bouts.
Budd Destroys Holloway
To put it plain, Gabby Holloway had no business in the cage with Julia Budd. The latter was superior in every aspect of mixed martial arts and it showed.
From the opening of the first round, Budd dominated Holloway with a sprinkle of stand-up and a heap of wrestling. The lone moment Halloway had came from a headlock takedown, but she quickly lost the position to the much stronger Budd.
Bellator is working to increase interest in its women’s divisions, but this bout was booed loudly by the Fresno crowd and the matchmaking was taking to task by Combat Press’ Rob Tatum.
To be fair, Holloway was a late replacement for Talita Nogueira. Still, the bout was far from competitive. Budd looks like the real deal, but it might be a good idea to put her in with a better opponent for a more desirable result.
Weichel Inches Past Curran
There’s a new featherweight on the scene in Bellator, and his name is Daniel Weichel. On Saturday, he earned a split-decision victory over former champion Pat Curran.
Weichel got the nod from two of the three judges, but one somehow saw it for Curran. In my opinion, Weichel won all three rounds, although the second round was close because of a Curran takedown.
Aside from that moment, Weichel controlled the action with pressure and more effective striking. Curran seemed bothered by Weichel’s perpetual movement and striking clearly made this his fight.
Reigning champion Patricio Freire also thought Weichel won all three rounds.
He also seems happy to have a fresh face emerge in his division.
A Weichel-Freire scrap could be exciting. Perhaps that’s a fight that can be made in the coming months.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.
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