Bellator London highlights: ‘MVP’ scores another highlight-reel KO

Michael ‘Venom’ Page | Callum Knowles/photosbycwk

The English standout floored Giovanni Melillo in the first round with a huge right hand and Fabian Edwards defeats Mike Shipman.

Bellator’s European Series came to a close for the year on Saturday night and spectators were treated to an evening with plenty of talking points in London. It was a scaled down version of Wembley Arena so it wasn’t packed out to full capacity but the fans in attendance contributed to a great atmosphere once the main card began. The man who many of those came to see took centre stage in the main event and produced a headline-stealing moment.

Going into the card, everyone was expecting to see another huge finish from Michael ‘Venom’ Page and he didn’t disappoint. In the past, some have accused MVP of sitting back too much and not showing enough urgency but that certainly wasn’t the case on Saturday night. He came out with his usual, unique style and fired off two big right hands straight away followed by a leg kick. Melillo looked like a rabbit in the headlights and it was clear he was outclassed from the get go. The end came just under two minutes into the opening round when MVP uncorked a massive right hand which landed right on Melillo’s chin. It’s another walk-off knockout for his resume although it didn’t advance his standing in the welterweight division at all. Bellator could aim to book the fight against Derek Anderson, who was originally scheduled for the main event, for the third time next which would make a lot of sense.

In the co-main event, a clash which European fans have been clamouring for finally took place as Fabian Edwards met Mike Shipman inside the cage. Shipman took the centre straight away and looked to control Edwards against the cage when he could. Edwards was waiting for the counter early and wanted Shipman to make the first move before committing. The brother of UFC welterweight, Leon Edwards, landed some nice combinations at range but was crowded and controlled by Shipman at times.

During the second round, Shipman was successful in that maintaining that pressure and managed to take Edwards to the mat. He wasn’t able to do much damage or advance position and Edwards worked his way back to the feet. Edwards then tried for his own takedown but Shipman defended well and made his opponent carry his weight. On occasion, Edwards doesn’t show enough urgency to work for separation and that was the case again here.

In the final stanza, Edwards looked at his strongest as he fired off some clean shots from the left hand side. Shipman was able to take the Team Renegade fighter down again but wasn’t able to get much control time before Edwards got back to his feet. With Shipman tiring a little, Edwards landed some solid combinations towards the end of the round which appeared to hurt his opponent. It was a close bout but Edwards emerged with the victory by split decision to extend his undefeated record to nine. He has made it known that he wants to fight Costello van Steenis next to decide who the best Bellator middleweight in Europe is while Shipman’s stock didn’t really take a hit so he can look forward to more interesting match ups.

The bout which opened the main card was a meeting between former BAMMA and Cage Warriors champions as Terry Brazier took on Soren Bak in a lightweight clash. It was Bak’s debut in the promotion and his dominating grappling game was too much for Brazier to handle. In the first round, Brazier landed some nice shots on the feet but was quickly taken down shortly thereafter. Bak moved to half guard before transitioning to mount but ran out of time to get any damage off.

This pattern continued for the rest of the bout as Brazier didn’t really offer much from the bottom to trouble Bak. The takedowns came easier for ‘The True Viking’ as the fight wore on and he didn’t let a restless crowd impact his strategy. Brazier hasn’t ever been dominated like that over a sustained period of time and was visibly agitated with Bak’s approach to the contest. With the promotion looking to expand into Scandinavia next year, expect Bak to feature in more high-profile spots after this unanimous decision victory.

There were some notable moments during the evening’s preliminary action where no less than fifteen fights featured. Denise Kielholtz picked up another victory in her transition from kickboxing as she overcame Sabriye Sengul by americana, fourty seconds into their contest. Pietro Penini defeated Charlie Ward by decision to hand the SBG Ireland product his first loss in the promotion. Also, Robert Whiteford had a successful Bellator debut to end his short retirement as he knocked out fellow UFC veteran, Sam Sicilia, with six seconds to go in the bout. Lewis Long, Chris Bungard and Akonne Wanliss all picked up impressive first round stoppages to ensure they are names on people’s minds heading into the new year.

Full Bellator London Results:-

Main Card

Welterweight – Michael “Venom” Page defeated Giovanni Melillo via KO (punch) at 1:47 of round 1.

Middleweight – Fabian Edwards defeated Mike Shipman via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).

Lightweight – Søren Bak defeated Terry Brazier via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Preliminary Card

Women’s Flyweight – Denise Kielholtz defeated Sabriye Sengul via submission (americana) at 0:32 of round 1.

Lightweight – Tim Wilde defeated Charlie Leary via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Middleweight – Pietro Penini defeated Charlie Ward via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Featherweight – Robert Whiteford defeated Sam Sicilia via KO (punches) at 4:54 of round 3.

Welterweight – Lewis Long defeated Walter Gahadza via submission (rear-naked joke) at 1:44 of round 1.

Lightweight – Chris Bungard defeated Benjamin Brander via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:26 of round 1.

Middleweight – Kent Kauppinen defeated Andy Manzolo via submission (forearm choke) at 3:53 of round 1.

Catchweight (161lbs) – Alfie Davis defeated Alessandro Botti via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Middleweight – Kevin Fryer defeated George Tokkos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Featherweight – Aiden Lee defeated Damian Frankiewicz via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:24 of round 3.

Catchweight (150lbs) – Jeremy Petley defeated Tom Mearns via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Featherweight – Harry Hardwick defeated Nathan Rose via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28).

Lightweight – Akonne Wanliss defeated Tim Barnett via submission (D’Arce choke) at 0:56 of round 1.

Bantamweight – Raphael Uchegbu defeated Shane Campbell via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:17 of round 3.

Women’s Featherweight – Charlotte McIntyre defeated Josie Blaber via TKO (punches) at 2:00 of round 2.