Brandon Halsey finishes Kendall Grove, loses title at Bellator 137

Brandon Halsey dominated and finished Kendall Grove in the main event of Friday night’s Bellator 137, but left the cage as the former middleweight champion.

Halsey, who missed weight for his first title defense at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., had no trouble imposing his wrestling against the UFC veteran in the first round, almost finishing the fight with an arm-triangle choke in the first minute.

Halsey started to fade after the first round, but had enough gas left to continue dominating Grove with takedowns and ground and pound. The California native pushed the pace in the fourth round, rocking Grove with two hard shots, and finished the job with heavy ground and pound.

The Bellator middleweight title is now vacant with Halsey’s win, and the promotion has yet to announce who will fight for the gold next.

In the co-main event, former bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas battled dangerous striker Mike Richman, who also came in overweight for the contest, and had trouble with his cardio.

The Brazilian clearly won the opening round with three takedowns, but Richman controlled the action in the second, tying the score after stopping Dantas’ single leg takedown attempts.

The third round was the closest of the three, but Dantas was finally able to secure a takedown after landing a spinning back fist, winning the contest via unanimous decision.

Prior to the fight, Dantas told MMAFighting.com he was promised a shot at bantamweight champion Marcos Galvao if victorious at Bellator 137, but the promotion hasn’t announced what’s next for the Brazilian.

In the welterweight division, Fernando Gonzalez continued to impress, this time stopping Curtis Millender in the third. The former Strikeforce and WEC fighter, who defeated MMA veterans Karl Amoussou, Karo Parisyan and Marius Zaromskis in his first three Bellator bouts, choked out Millender with a guillotine 74 seconds into the third round.

“I want that belt,” Gonzalez said after the win.

In the main card’s opening fight, former NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell scored the biggest victory of his MMA career against longtime Brazilian veteran Rafael Silva.

Caldwell reversed an ankle lock attempt in the first round to stay on top and work on the ground and pound. Silva came back strong in the second round, but Caldwell used his wrestling to score points in the third and win via unanimous decision.

“Are you ready to give me a title shot?” Caldwell asked after improving to 7-0 in MMA.

In the preliminary portion of Bellator 137, Rafael Silva’s younger brother Julio Cesar Neves suffered the first loss of his professional career against Jordan Parsons. After racking up a perfect 30-0 record, the Brazilian featherweight prospect gassed badly and tapped to a third-round arm-triangle choke.

Brandon Halsey dominated and finished Kendall Grove in the main event of Friday night’s Bellator 137, but left the cage as the former middleweight champion.

Halsey, who missed weight for his first title defense at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., had no trouble imposing his wrestling against the UFC veteran in the first round, almost finishing the fight with an arm-triangle choke in the first minute.

Halsey started to fade after the first round, but had enough gas left to continue dominating Grove with takedowns and ground and pound. The California native pushed the pace in the fourth round, rocking Grove with two hard shots, and finished the job with heavy ground and pound.

The Bellator middleweight title is now vacant with Halsey’s win, and the promotion has yet to announce who will fight for the gold next.

In the co-main event, former bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas battled dangerous striker Mike Richman, who also came in overweight for the contest, and had trouble with his cardio.

The Brazilian clearly won the opening round with three takedowns, but Richman controlled the action in the second, tying the score after stopping Dantas’ single leg takedown attempts.

The third round was the closest of the three, but Dantas was finally able to secure a takedown after landing a spinning back fist, winning the contest via unanimous decision.

Prior to the fight, Dantas told MMAFighting.com he was promised a shot at bantamweight champion Marcos Galvao if victorious at Bellator 137, but the promotion hasn’t announced what’s next for the Brazilian.

In the welterweight division, Fernando Gonzalez continued to impress, this time stopping Curtis Millender in the third. The former Strikeforce and WEC fighter, who defeated MMA veterans Karl Amoussou, Karo Parisyan and Marius Zaromskis in his first three Bellator bouts, choked out Millender with a guillotine 74 seconds into the third round.

“I want that belt,” Gonzalez said after the win.

In the main card’s opening fight, former NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell scored the biggest victory of his MMA career against longtime Brazilian veteran Rafael Silva.

Caldwell reversed an ankle lock attempt in the first round to stay on top and work on the ground and pound. Silva came back strong in the second round, but Caldwell used his wrestling to score points in the third and win via unanimous decision.

“Are you ready to give me a title shot?” Caldwell asked after improving to 7-0 in MMA.

In the preliminary portion of Bellator 137, Rafael Silva’s younger brother Julio Cesar Neves suffered the first loss of his professional career against Jordan Parsons. After racking up a perfect 30-0 record, the Brazilian featherweight prospect gassed badly and tapped to a third-round arm-triangle choke.