Bellator 208: “Fedor vs. Sonnen” takes place TONIGHT (Oct. 13, 2018) at NYCB Live in Uniondale, New York. In the second semi-final of the Heavyweight Grand Prix PRIDE legend Fedor Emelianenko (37-5, 1 NC) takes on “American Gangster” Chael Sonnen (31-15-1).
Bellator 208’s main card will start at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount Network. MMAmania.com will deliver results and play-by-play for the entirety of the Bellator MMA card.
Many readers check in before, during and after the fights to share their thoughts on all of the action. Feel free to leave a comment (or 208) about the bouts and chat with all the other Maniacs during the show — it’s always a lot of fun!
BELLATOR 208 QUICK RESULTS:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen —
Alexander Shlemenko vs. Anatoly Tokov —
Benson Henderson vs. Saad Awad —
Cheick Kongo vs. Timothy Johnson —
Henry Corrales vs. Andy Main —
Robson Gracie vs. Jamal Pottinger — unaired on DAZN.
Jennifer Chieng vs. Jessica Ruiz — Chieng TKO 1:22 R1.
Shaquan Moore vs. David Meshkhoradze — Meshkhoradze SD 30-27, 28-29, 30-27.
Tommy Espinosa vs. Suhrob Aidarbekov — Espinosa sub (armbar) 1:27 R1.
Frank Buenafuente vs. James Gonzalez — unaired on DAZN.
Jeremy Puglia vs. Eric Olsen — Puglia KO 3:16 R1.
Mike DiOrio vs. Drews Rodriguez — Rodriguez UD 30-27 X3.
Zarrukh Adashev vs. Christian Medina — Adashev TKO 1:08 R1.
Jerome Mickle vs. Nick Fiore — Fiore UD 30-27 X3.
Ryan Castro vs. Dennis Buzukja — Buzukja KO 2:53 R1.
BELLATOR 208 PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Final result:
Alexander Shlemenko vs. Anatoly Tokov
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Final result:
Benson Henderson vs. Saad Awad
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Final result:
Cheick Kongo vs. Timothy Johnson
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Final result:
Henry Corrales vs. Andy Main
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Final result:
Robson Gracie vs. Jamal Pottinger
Round 1: Unaired on DAZN.
Final result: To be determined.
Jennifer Chieng vs. Jessica Ruiz
Blue gloves and black bodysuit for the debuting Ruiz out of Baldwin, New York. Red gloves, black trunks and purple top for the debuting Chieng out of Brooklyn, New York. Our referee is Dan Miragliotta.
Round 1: Both fighters are trading hands quickly. Chieng is the fighter providing forward pressure and hurts Ruiz with a right hand shot at 1:15. Seconds later Miragliotta waves it off with Ruiz still standing up against the fence because she wasn’t defending herself. It’s not really surprising to hear that Chieng had a boxing background coming into this fight. On the replay it even looks like Ruiz verbally submitted — she clearly had her hands up and was signaling surrender toward Miragliotta. She’s already left the cage and the announcers speculate she’s aggravated an existing knee injury.
Final result: Jennifer Chieng wins by technical knockout at 1:22 of round one.
Shaquan Moore vs. David Meshkhoradze
Both fighters are making their pro debut. Blue gloves for Meshkhoradze fighting out of Brooklyn, New York. Red gloves for Moore fighting out of Coram, New York. Our referee in charge is Rob Hinds.
Round 1: Glove tap gets us underway. Meshkhoradze lands the first kick. Moore pushes him to the fence. Meshkhoradze breaks free and lands a combo. Moore returns the favor with a right hand. Moore makes Meshkhoradze circle on the outside. He laughs and smiles then eats a left from Moore. Leg kick for Meshkhoradze. Meshkhoradze keeps smiling and laughing for some reason. Moore shoots at 2:19. Meshkhoradze tries to clinch and throw a knee. Meshkhoradze lands a couple of lefts, misses with a high kick, lands a reverse elbow, then gets tagged so hard his mouthpiece comes out. Hinds stops the fight against the fence to make Meshkhoradze put it back in. He breaks free at 3:57 and we get a firefight between the two. Moore lands a couple of uppercuts and takes Meshkhoradze down late. 10-9 Moore.
Round 2: Moore lands a hard body kick. Meshkhoradze tries a push kick. Moore ducks a hook and backs away from a kick. Meshkhoradze keeps backing up and Moore is landing the left hand. He sails over Moore’s head with a kick and the two clinch. They break at 2:00 and Moore lands the jab. Spin kick by Meshkhoradze.Leg kick. Left hand by Moore. Meshkhoradze lands a right and then leans down and rests with his hands on his knees. Spinning high kick misses. Meshkhoradze mocks Moore and eats a left, then gets tagged again as Moore drops levels and Meshkhoradze gets a warning for holding the cage with both hands. Moore gets a late takedown anyway. 10-9 Moore.
Round 3: Moore lands the first left hand of R3. Moore wades in with combos and lands a flush left over the top. Meshkhoradze leans down on his knees again at 1:10 and eats a counter left when he stands back up. Why in the blue hell does he keep doing that? Now he’s high-fiving Moore. What for? The reason you’re losing is you aren’t taking this fight seriously Meshkhoradze. Stop goofing off and KNUCKLE UP. He leans on his knees again at 2:16. Moore lands the left again. Moore lands a straight right and Meshkhoradze tries to laugh it off like it didn’t hurt, the biggest tell in the MMA poker game that exists. Meshkhoradze tries a spin kick but doesn’t land it clean. Moore covers up for a combo and avoids a knee. Meshkhoradze leans again at 4:20. He lands a hard leg kick. 10-9 Moore. Meshkhoradze should not get back in the cage until he can stop goofing around.
Final result: The judges score it 30-27 Meshkhoradze, 29-28 Moore, 30-27 Meshkhoradze.
Tommy Espinosa vs. Suhrob Aidarbekov
Blue gloves and red trunks, 5-1, fighting out of Newton, NJ is Espinosa. Red gloves and black trunks, 5-3, fighting out of Brooklyn, NY is Aidarbekov. Our referee is Todd Anderson.
Round 1: Espinosa is pressuring early and swinging big. Aidarbekov clinches with him and drops around the waist to get a takedown. Espinosa gets up but Aidarbekov lifts him off the ground and slams him back down. Espinosa tries to wrap the legs around Aidarbekov’s head for a triangle, then goes for the armbar and gets the tap and a round of praise from John McCarthy for how smooth the transition was.
Final result: Tommy Espinosa wins via submission (armbar) at 1:27 of round one.
Frank Buenafuente vs. James Gonzalez
Round 1: Unaired on DAZN.
Final result: To be determined.
Jeremy Puglia vs. Eric Olsen
Blue gloves and red trunks, 0-1, Long Island, New York for Puglia. Red gloves and dark trunks, 0-1, Levittown, New York for Olsen. Our referee is Todd Anderson.
Round 1: Puglia was looking for a takedown early. Olsen turns him around so we can get a better look at his mohawk. Puglia finally gets the takedown and tries to pass to the back but lets Olsen on top. Puglia tries to go for a triangle and gets powerbombed. Both fighters get back up. Puglia throws a knee to the body and both men spin around. Anderson calls for work at 2:42. They break and Puglia starts landing big leather including right uppercuts. Multiple left hands put Olsen on the ground and Anderson finally steps in. McCarthy: “He’s built like a big SOMETHING house.” He hits like one too.
Final result: Jeremy Puglia wins by technical knockout at 3:16 in round one.
Mike DiOrio vs. Drews Rodriguez
Rodriguez has blue gloves, black trunks, and makes his pro debut fighting out of Brentwood, New York. DiOrio has red gloves, gray trunks, and is 1-2 out of Homer, New York. The ref is Rob Hinds.
Round 1: DiOrio goes for a clinch immediately to nullify the 10 inch reach advantage of Rodriguez. Rodriguez starts landing shots when they break. DiOrio tries to claim a cup shot as Rodriguez pushes him into the fence to throw knees, Hinds says no. DiOrio turns him around. Hinds tells both men to get busy. DiOrio drops levels and Rodriguez spreads his legs. Rodriguez turns it around and throws a nice right elbow. Hinds calls for improvement again at 3:13 as Rodriguez puts the pressure on into the fence. DiOrio turns it around again. Rodriguez breaks free at 4:13. Leg kicks are traded. Rodriguez lands a spinning back kick, a head kick that hurts DiOrio and some knees. DiOrio drops levels and doesn’t get a takedown. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round 2: Rodriguez runs to the center and accepts the offer of a glove tap. DiOrio pushes him into the fence at 0:12. Rodriguez gets out at 47 seconds and throws a front kick. Rodriguez backs away as DiOrio gives chase and kicks the lead leg outside and inside. DiOrio seems a bit overwhelmed. Right hand lands for Rodriguez. Another hard leg kick. DiOrio charges and misses. Push kick to the knee and a 1-2 combo. Head kick. McCarthy says DiOrio has become a literal heavy bag. DiOrio clinches with 90 seconds left. Hinds calls for improvement a half minute later. DiOrio fails to get a single leg and Rodriguez lands whatever he can to the body and head. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round 3: DiOrio charges forward hoping to land a come from behind shot. Rodriguez quickly regains control and lands a spin kick. Right hand. Knee kick. Right hand. Combo. Push kick. Leg kick. DiOrio clinch at 1:15. This is all DiOrio has and all it does it waste our collective time. They break at 1:55. Rodriguez circles and lands a hard right followed by a head kick. Clinch and a takedown attempt at 2:24. The fight stalls there until Rodriguez breaks free for a moment at 3:57, then DiOrio pushes him right back into the fence. Please do not book DiOrio for a return fight. Rodriguez steps out and throws a knee then steps back and lands a spin kick. Rodriguez stuffs a single leg and lands rights to the head. DiOrio pushes him into the cage one last time. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Final result: The judges score this contest 30-27 X3 for Rodriguez by UD.
Zarrukh Adashev vs. Christian Medina
Both fighters are 0-1. Adashev has the blue gloves and fights out of Brooklyn, New York. Medina has the red gloves and fights out of Bronx, New York. Our referee in charge of the contest is Todd Anderson.
Round 1: A takedown attempt for Medina is foiled in the first 14 seconds. Adashev hurts him and Medina shoots again. Adashev throws a spin kick and several knees then starts pouring it on against the fence. It is all over even though commentary thinks there might have been an illegal knee. On replay it looks like they may be right. It was the very last strike right as the ref was stepping in to stop it either way.
Final result: Adashev wins by technical knockout at 1:08 of the first round.
Jerome Mickle vs. Nick Fiore
Red gloves and black trunks for Mickle. Mickle’s record is 3-6 and he fights out of Bronx, New York. Blue gloves and black trunks for Fiore. Fiore’s record is 2-3 and he fights out of Hicksville, New York. Our referee is Dan Miragliotta.
Round 1: Mickle moves to the outside as Fiore paws with his right hand. Mickle won the previous meeting between these two by knockout. Fiore shoots for a takedown and can’t get it. Mickle drops him with a right hand and Fiore dives for a takedown to not suffer a second KO loss — and it works. He’s got Mickle on his back against the fence and is working his way to a mount. Mickle tries to push off the fence with his feet but Fiore has the full mount now and is slowly inching up. Mickle sweeps and Fiore escapes, but Mickle kicks him in the cup with a right foot and Miragliotta calls time, telling Mickle that’s his one and only warning. Fiore responds to an overhand right with a couple of solid lefts then shoots at the three minute mark and gets another takedown. Mickle goes for an omoplata but Fiore scrambles and winds up in side control looking for an armbar. Despite that early knockdown Fiore has outworked Mickle most of the round. 10-9 Fiore.
Round 2: Mickle takes the center but Fiore pushes back and chases the left hand. Mickle keeps reaching out with his left hand to feel the range and pop off his overhand right, which his corner is telling him to “watch the setup” for. Fiore stuns him with a left and gets a takedown at 1:25. Fiore tries to posture up while Mickle tries to keep it chest to chest. Fiore pulls free and avoids upkicks but when he lets Mickle back up he catches a hard shot and has to reset. Mickle tags with the left and gets a takedown at 3:22 with a little blood on his left cheek. Full mount at 3:54. Fiore goes body head with strikes. 10-9 Fiore.
Round 3: Mickle connects with a leg kick and a body kick. Fiore tags Mickle with the left at 39 seconds and takes him down to side control. Full mount at 1:23. Mickle bucks him off and immediately throws heavy leather but Fiore covers up and avoids damage. Fiore clinches to push Mickle into the cage. Mickle goes for a takedown but Fiore sweeps on top to half guard. Fiore scoots Mickle toward the cage, ending up in full guard in the process. He looks to posture up with under a minute left. He doesn’t do a whole lot of damage but he’s on top to the end for a 10-9 and what should be a unanimous decision.
Final result: The judges score it 30-27 X3 for Mick Fiore.
Ryan Castro vs. Dennis Buzukja
Castro is 0-1 in the red gloves and trunks fighting out of Patchogue, New York. Buzukja makes his pro debut in the blue gloves and black trunks out of Staten Island, New York. Our referee in charge is Dan Miragliotta.
Round 1: Glove tap gets us underway as Castro lands the leg kicks and quickly shoots for a takedown. Buzukja breaks away and Castro circles coming forward with lefts and gets caught with a counter right shot. Buzukja is throwing big right hands, Castro goes for a leg lock, then tries to take the back when Buzukja escapes. Another right hand hurts Castro — and another. Buzukja pins him against the fence and Castro is staggering on his feet from the offense at all angles. Miragliotta may want to step in soon. He’s taking a close look. Castro is out standing and Miragliotta makes the right call.
Final result: Dennis Buzukja wins via knockout at 2:53 of round one.