Kendall Grove has a ton of heart, but as Bellator announcer Jimmy Smith said during the Bellator 137 broadcast: “heart will only get you so far.” Brandon Halsey simply dominated Grove from the beginning of their bout until he earned a TKO win due to unanswered strikes in the fourth round at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California on Friday night.
Halsey was the reigning Bellator middleweight champion, but he missed weight by three pounds and was forced to vacate the title, per Mike Sloan of Sherdog.com. With the strap on the line only for Grove, Halsey proved to be too much.
Most of the fight took place on the ground as Grove had no answer for Halsey’s powerful takedowns. Halsey nearly secured a submission win in the first round, but the tough and poised Grove was able to escape a neck crank and rear-naked choke attempt.
Unfortunately for Grove, he was in survival mode for the entire bout. His points of contention were few and far between as Halsey was never in peril. MMA writer Joe Chacon was disappointed by the lack of competition, but acknowledged that Halsey is probably from Eternia.
Zombie Prophet’s tweet has video of the finish:
The win moved Halsey to a perfect 9-0 in his career and to what appears to be an inevitable run in the light heavyweight division. Here’s a look at all of the results from the televised and live streamed bouts.
Rainey Rocks Juarez
The first round started slowly, but by the end of the frame, veteran Ricky Rainey had Jesse Juarez barely hanging on and waiting for the bell to end the onslaught. A steady diet of knees and uppercuts put Juarez in danger of being stopped.
He shot for a desperation takedown, but Rainey easily thwarted the attempt. Rainey wanted to finish the bout with a rear-naked choke, but couldn’t lock it in tight enough to get the tapout. No matter, Rainey would get his man in the second round.
A little over a minute into the second round, an elbow, a flurry of punches and a knee to the face put Juarez down. Referee Big John McCarthy stepped in to stop the action and Rainey scored a dominant victory.
Zwicker Zaps Al-Hassan
Virgil Zwicker was fighting in front of his hometown and he wanted to impress. Mission accomplished.
A huge right-hand uppercut from Zwicker in the very first round sent Razak Al-Hassan to the showers early. Caposa has the carnage in this tweet:
Though he might not look the part, Zwicker has become one of the most exciting fighters in Bellator. After the fight, MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas might have asked a poignant question via Twitter:
That’s an accurate description of what Zwicker has become. His style isn’t pretty, but it can be exciting.
Parsons Submits Neves Jr.
After a back-and-forth first two rounds, Jordan Parsons proved to have more stamina and facets to his overall game than Julio Cesar Neves. Depending on who you ask, either Parsons or Neves could have been up two rounds to none heading into the third frame. That’s how close the fight was with five minutes left.
In the third round, Parsons took a seemingly winded Neves to the ground. Parsons showed excellent transition skills as he moved from a rear-naked choke to the eventual arm-triangle choke that ultimately led to Neves tapping out.
After two early knockouts, this lengthy scrap gave the card some needed variety.
Taimanglo Blows Up Duarte
Antonio Duarte won the opening round against Joe Taimanglo, but it was all downhill from there. Taimanglo turned up the heat in the second round with heavier strikes and more aggression. Toward the end of the frame, he secured a takedown, but that was just a setup for what was to come in the third round.
In the last round, Taimanglo caught Duarte square on the jaw with a hard, driving right hand. It’s hard to catch an opponent much more flush than Taimanglo connected with Duarte. Zombie Prophet gives us the coup de grace in this tweet:
The latter went down like a ton of bricks and referee Mike Beltran stepped in quickly to halt the action.
Caldwell Edges Silva
For a moment, it looked as if no fight would go the distance on this card. Once this one was over, we wished we could unsee it.
Darrion Caldwell did the better work in the largely uneventful bout. He was able to lean on his wrestling while controlling top position for most of the bout, and nearly putting the crowd to sleep.
Every fight can’t be exceptional and this one was clear proof of that.
Millender‘s Toughness Has to Be Questioned
While he has some physical talent, Curtis Millender‘s reluctance to exchange and to fight through tough situations makes you wonder how he ever decided to become a mixed martial artist. After out-striking Fernando Gonzalez for two rounds, Millender tapped to one of the weakest guillotines I can remember seeing. Take a look at it for yourself in Zombie Prophet’s tweet:
Millender didn’t get caught with a strike that put him on the mat. He was taken down with a very basic trip, and Gonzalez initially missed his opportunity to lock on the submission hold. Millender didn’t even attempt to move his head from the compromising position. It looked as if he had already decided he would tap if he found himself in deep water.
This isn’t meant to take anything away from Gonzalez. He did what he had to do to win the fight, but is there any question that Millender is one of the promotion’s most overrated fighters?
Dantas Pulls Out Close Victory
With a potential title shot on the line in the bantamweight division, former champion Eduardo Dantas executed his game plan and knocked off the highly regarded, but one-dimensional Mike Richman.
Dantas knew half of Richman‘s wins came by KO. Because of his opponent’s power, Dantas made sure he stayed at a safe distance during exchanges and he relentlessly pursued the takedown. The latter was the difference in the bout.
In the first round, Dantas landed a hard body kick early in the bout and quickly secured a takedown. He held dominant position most of the round to take the opening frame. Richman showed solid takedown defense in the second round and used activity to even the score heading into the final five minutes of the fight.
In the final frame, the action was close and competitive, but a mid-round takedown gave Dantas enough of an edge to win the unanimous decision.
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