Bellator MMA
Bellator 226 “Bader vs. Kongo” went down September 7, 2019 at SAP Center in San Jose, California. Despite an unfortunate accident marring what could have been a great main event, there were some other highlight reel performances that night at the “Shark Tank.”
One occurred during a preliminary Bantamweight bout between Cass Bell (3-0) and Isaiah Rocha (1-0). It would be hard to take your eyes off of Bell if you were watching these early fights, because his bright neon green hair makes him the human equivalent of a traffic light. Distracting you with his appearance is all a part of his game though.
Bell let his opponent press him toward the fence, biding his time until he could uncork a left hand that dropped Rocha to his butt. It may have had as much to do with Rocha being off balance as the power of the punch, but facing a BJJ practicioner like Bell, you don’t want to end up grounded under any circumstances. Rocha made the rookie mistake of trying to spring back to his feet just as Bell trapped his neck in a guillotine, and falling down only made it tighter. At 81 seconds Rocha was out cold and Mike Beltran stepped in to save him.
If you’ve ever wondered just how nasty a perfectly executed submission can be in MMA, this one is just as good as a spinning backfist or an overhand right. Rocha was done for.
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