“Ill” Will Brooks owned the main event at Bellator 136.
Dave Jansen had a solid first round, but Bellator lightweight champion Brooks proved why he’s the holder of the gold in the final four rounds. With a clear edge in speed, dexterity and physical strength, Brooks proved to be too much for the challenger at the Brens Event Center in Irvine, California.
Bellator’s official Twitter account acknowledged Brooks’ win, and has the official score:
Jansen came out aggressive, throwing a variety of strikes. Brooks looked content to feel Jansen out, and also allow the challenger to tire himself with a lot of wasted energy.
His plan worked. The champion was clearly the fresher fighter in the championship rounds. The extra reserve led to more accurate strikes, better positioning and the unanimous-decision victory. When the bout was over Jansen’s face showed the rigors of a relatively one-sided battle.
The win marked Brooks’ first official title defense after winning the strap in his rematch with former champion Michael Chandler. Every fight Brooks has, he seems to improve. It’s going to be great to see how good he can be.
da Conceicao Holds Off da Silva
In a bout between two guys with the longest names in the world, John Teixeira da Conceicao eeked out a split-decision win.
He controlled most of the first two rounds, but Fabricio de Assis Costa da Silva pounded away on him in the closing seconds of the third. Unfortunately for the latter, the scoring blows came too late in the fight; as da Conceicao had built up an insurmountable lead.
One judge saw the fight in favor of da Silva, but the right man got the decision.
Awad Imposes His Will on Sinclair
Perfecting Athletes captured Saad Awad’s reaction to hearing the official decision in the image above.
With relentless aggression, Awad easily won an unanimous decision over Rob Sinclair. After being knocked down in the first round, Awad rebounded and continued to apply pressure. It ultimately resulted in Awad getting the better of Sinclair over the course of the bout with strikes and cage control.
Awad kept Sinclair on his heels for the entire bout and walked away with the clear nod from the judges.
Joey Beltran Outslugs Rogers
The battle between Joey Beltran and Brian Rogers was what most would expect. Beltran’s bouts always seem to turn into brawls and this one was no exception.
After Rogers controlled the first round with a series of leg kicks, Beltran took control with authority in the second frame. He dazed Rogers with a huge right hand that left his opponent dazed. Late in the round, Beltran seemed to be seconds away from securing the stoppage, but Rogers was able to escape to survive the round.
In the final round, Rogers seemed to recover. He gave as good as he got in a thrilling stand-up battle that ensued in the final minute, but the judges saw the fight in favor of Beltran. It could have been called a draw, but naming Beltran the winner isn’t a travesty.
Bellator announcer Jimmy Smith thought both fighters deserved some love.
Johnson Holds Down Volkov
Alexander Volkov had no answer for Tony Johnson’s wrestling prowess. The latter was able to control the fight with takedowns and positioning through the first two rounds. Early in the fight, Johnson created balance by attacking with vicious strike attempts in the first round.
Shortly thereafter, Johnson began implementing his wrestling to take over the bout.
Alexander Volkov was able to take the final round as he finally managed to keep the bout standing long enough to briefly use his reach, but it wasn’t enough to win.
Held Makes Em’ Wanna Holler
(Darktime Media captures the victorious image of Marcin Held)
It took almost three rounds, but Polish submission ace Marcin Held secured the victory over Alexander Sarnaivsky. From the beginning of the bout, Held didn’t veil the fact that he was looking for a submission win.
He shot the legs within the first minute of the bout. Sarnaivsky did a great job eluding Held’s attempts early on, but once the fight reached the third round, Held’s superior conditioning was just as important as his submission skills. Bellator fighter Darrion Caldwell acknowledged Held’s overall performance:
Held locked in a leg lock that forced Sarnaivsky to scream out in pain, and forced the submission via verbal tap out. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden loves Held’s submission expertise.
It was the second straight Bellator event to feature a verbal submission. At Bellator 135, Marcos Galvao won the Bellator bantamweight title by causing Joe Warren to yell in pain. Ironically, Big John McCarthy was the referee in both bouts.
Carvalho Edges Schilling
In a close and entertaining bout, Rafael Carvalho’s grappling and toughness proved to be enough to beat joe Schilling. Carvalho took some shots early in the first round from Schilling, who is known for his striking prowess, but the Brazilian proved to have a solid beard.
He powered ahead to push Schilling against the cage in the second round. He controlled the action there, but didn’t do much damage.
In the third round, Schilling landed a right hand that momentarily dropped Carvalho, but the latter didn’t stay down. He sprung to his feet and almost immediately took Schilling down.
He spent the rest of the round in top position, again not doing much damage, but controlling and tiring Schilling out. It was a tough call, but again not a poor decision.
Major Takeaways
After Held’s win, he said he was sure he’d get a shot at the title in his next fight, per the Spike broadcast. He also said he believed a fight with Brooks would be an easy one.
He’ll apparently get his shot to dethrone the champion. Let the hype begin.
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