Bellator 94 Recap: Rickels Scores “Controversial” Win in Lightweight Finals, Emanuel Newton’s Cinderella Story Continues


(David Rickels enlists the help of Steven Spielberg to secure the Potato Award for Greatest Walkout of 2013. They’re filling up fast, people. All gifs via ZombieProphet/BloodyElbow.) 

As has become the standard for a Bellator event, last night’s Bellator 94 was packed to the brim with exciting stoppages, grueling decisions, and a fair share of controversy thrown in for good measure.

The main card kicked off with a Season 9 bantamweight tournament qualifier bout between Rodrigo Lima and Ronnie Mann, the latter of which was making his bantamweight debut. As noted by the Bellator broadcast team, the characteristic speed that led Mann to the featherweight tourney semifinals in Season 6 was all but negated against Lima, who outgunned, outgrappled, and plain outworked Mann in every aspect of the fight en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The evening’s next bout was also a season 9 qualifier, this time at welterweight, and pitted Trey “That Just Happened?” Houston (Seriously, that’s his nickname. Do we have a Worst Nickname category for this year’s Potato Awards? Because I think we have found yet another front-runner.) against Luis Melo. In what turned out to be a rather entertaining affair, Houston attempted to turn things into a brawl while Melo opted to take things to the ground as often as possible. After getting rocked and nearly submitted in the second round, Melo was able to turn the tides on a fading Houston in the third and secured an arm-triangle finish just over a minute into the round.


(David Rickels enlists the help of Steven Spielberg to secure the Potato Award for Greatest Walkout of 2013. They’re filling up fast, people. All gifs via ZombieProphet/BloodyElbow.) 

As has become the standard for a Bellator event, last night’s Bellator 94 was packed to the brim with exciting stoppages, grueling decisions, and a fair share of controversy thrown in for good measure.

The main card kicked off with a Season 9 bantamweight tournament qualifier bout between Rodrigo Lima and Ronnie Mann, the latter of which was making his bantamweight debut. As noted by the Bellator broadcast team, the characteristic speed that led Mann to the featherweight tourney semifinals in Season 6 was all but negated against Lima, who outgunned, outgrappled, and plain outworked Mann in every aspect of the fight en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The evening’s next bout was also a season 9 qualifier, this time at welterweight, and pitted Trey “That Just Happened?” Houston (Seriously, that’s his nickname. Do we have a Worst Nickname category for this year’s Potato Awards? Because I think we have found yet another front-runner.) against Luis Melo. In what turned out to be a rather entertaining affair, Houston attempted to turn things into a brawl while Melo opted to take things to the ground as often as possible. After getting rocked and nearly submitted in the second round, Melo was able to turn the tides on a fading Houston in the third and secured an arm-triangle finish just over a minute into the round.

Now, onto the “controversial” ending of the co-main event, lightweight tournament final between David Rickels and Saad Awad. After spending the majority of the first round on the defensive, Rickels was able to get his offense going in the second. As the 10 second clack went off, so did Rickels, unleashing a flurry of punches that ended with a brutal right hand that sent Awad crashing face first to the canvas as the bell rung. While Awad wasn’t exactly Thiago Silva vs. Lyoto Machida unconscious, he was clearly out of it, as he rolled over to his back and was initially unable to get to his feet.

Recognizing this, referee Troy Waugh waved off the bout, which was immediately met with protest by both Awad and commentator Jimmy Smith. Although if you were to ask me, the fact that Awad was on rubber legs the entire time he was protesting should say more about Waugh’s decision than anything else. In either case, Rickels will now face Michael Chandler for the Bellator lightweight title. No word yet on whether he will be forced to trim his Glorious Beard of Absolute Victory before that fight.

Emanuel Newton’s Cinderella story continued in the night’s main event, as he was able to successfully utilize his grappling background and heavy hands to keep fellow tournament underdog Mikhail Zayats off balance en route to a UD victory. Although Zayats was able to land early and often in the first round, Newton secured the second with a few strong takedowns and sealed the deal in the third with a two-punch combo that dropped Zayats. The tough-nosed Russian was able to brave the storm but was ultimately unable to put together anything that could have balanced the round out. With the win, Newton will now face newly crowned champ Atilla Vegh in a rematch of their controversial scrap at Bellator 72 that saw Vegh emerge victorious by way of split decision.

Now, let’s talk about our girl Felice Herrig, the cosplay-enthusiast who got all up in opponent Heather Clark’s grill at the weigh-ins yesterday. In the first round of their card-opening affair, Herrig was utterly dominated by Clark’s relentless top game and positioning. In the second, however, Herrig was able to turn the tables with her trademark combinations and managed to capitalize on a botched headlock throw by Clark to take her back as the round expired.

The third was largely contested on the mat, with Herrig scoring mount at one point and nearly securing a one-armed rear-naked choke. Although Clark was able to wriggle her way out of it and get on top toward the end of the round, things really got interesting after the bell (see above). Apparently still harboring some ill will towards Clark, Herrig decided to engage her opponent in a little post-fight taunting. Clark didn’t appreciate this and promptly backhanded Herrig (because she’s been pimpin’ been since pimpin’ since been pimpin’), who had to be separated by the ref to ensure that a Paul Daley-type incident didn’t occur.

Full results for Bellator 94 are below.

Emanuel Newton def. Mikhail Zayats by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-David “Caveman” Rickels def. Saad Award by TKO at 5:00, R1
-Luis Melo def. Trey Houston by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:09, R3|
-Rodrigo Lima def. Ronnie Mann by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Julien Williams def. Kenny Moss by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:19, R1
-Augusto Sakai def. Rob Horton by TKO at 4:01, R2
-Jessica Aguilar def. Patricia Vidonic by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
-Joe Taimanglo def. Ronnie Rogers by submission (north-south choke) at :33, R2
-Edson Berto def. Bruno Carvalho by submission (heel hook) at 1:27, R1
-Tony Fryklund vs. Patrick Cenoble fought to a draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28)
-Felice Herrig def. Heather Clark by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

J. Jones

Fresh Off His Knockout Of ‘King Mo’, Emanuel Newton Believes Bellator LHW Title Will Be His


(Photo via Bellator.com)

By Elias Cepeda

Last month, former Strikeforce champion Muhammad Lawal was scheduled to take his next academic step towards the Bellator light-heavyweight tournament title. Sure, he had to fight someone, but no one seemed to give much credit to his opponent, Emanuel Newton.

The two had traveled and trained in the same circles, even together, but their careers couldn’t have been more different. Lawal was a former top international wrestler that entered high-level MMA with great fanfare and quickly became one of the most dangerous 205-pound fighters in the world.

Newton, instead, had toiled on mostly the regional circuits for nearly ten years. He had fought, and sometimes beaten, guys who would go on to fight and win in the UFC, but Newton’s own shot at the big time had yet to come.

Fighting in the Bellator tournament, however, gave him his chance. Both Newton and Lawal won their first-round fights in January and advanced to face one another. All the attention, including from this writer and site, was on Lawal.

With his pedigree, brash public persona, and world class skills, “King Mo” was the story. The world took for granted that he had taken a step down to fight in Bellator after being fired by Zuffa (the parent company of Strikeforce and the UFC) and that Lawal would easily stomp through every one of his opponents in the tournament, Newton included.


(Photo via Bellator.com)

By Elias Cepeda

Last month, former Strikeforce champion Muhammad Lawal was scheduled to take his next academic step towards the Bellator light-heavyweight tournament title. Sure, he had to fight someone, but no one seemed to give much credit to his opponent, Emanuel Newton.

The two had traveled and trained in the same circles, even together, but their careers couldn’t have been more different. Lawal was a former top international wrestler that entered high-level MMA with great fanfare and quickly became one of the most dangerous 205-pound fighters in the world.

Newton, instead, had toiled on mostly the regional circuits for nearly ten years. He had fought, and sometimes beaten, guys who would go on to fight and win in the UFC, but Newton’s own shot at the big time had yet to come.

Fighting in the Bellator tournament, however, gave him his chance. Both Newton and Lawal won their first-round fights in January and advanced to face one another. All the attention, including from this writer and site, was on Lawal.

With his pedigree, brash public persona, and world class skills, “King Mo” was the story. The world took for granted that he had taken a step down to fight in Bellator after being fired by Zuffa (the parent company of Strikeforce and the UFC) and that Lawal would easily stomp through every one of his opponents in the tournament, Newton included.

For his part, Lawal insisted to us that Newton was a real fighter who posed real danger, but no one really listened. Fighting is intrinsically meritocratic when left to its own devices, however, and our expectations and prejudices have no bearing on what happens in the ring.

On February 21st, Emanuel Newton cut Muhammed Lawal’s Bellator coronation short by knocking him out cold in the first round with a spinning back fist. The punch, like Newton himself, looked to be an afterthought. But both packed more power and surprising timing than was expected, and tonight Newton finds himself in the finals of Bellator’s Season 8 light-heavyweight tournament against Mikhail Zayats.

The day before weighing in for the fight this week, Newton insisted to CagePotato that Lawal’s hype didn’t faze him leading up to their bout last month. “I didn’t feel too much, man. I didn’t let the hype, the attention for my opponent, anything, affect me. I had a fight in front of me and that was it,” he told us.

Not buying into your opponent’s hype is one thing, but being such an overlooked underdog had to have motivated “The Hardcore Kid.” Still, the plain-speaking Newton insists that he didn’t feel slighted. Rather, he was too busy training to worry about being insulted by being dismissed. He does allow that winning was sweet, though.

“Afterwards it was definitely sweet,” he said. “I  liked showing what I can do.”

Predictably, Newton didn’t let his surprise KO of Bellator’s biggest star distract him from his next task — fighting Zayats in about a month’s time. “I had to move forward,” he said. “I have a tough guy in front of me.”

Indeed he does. Zayats has won his past seven fights, including a TKO over former UFC title challenger, Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

Newton may not talk trash, but his confidence is unmistakable. It is also clear that much of it comes from his faith.

“I feel like I’ve got God with me and so there’s nothing I can’t do,” Newton told us.

He doesn’t seem to mean that God wants him to win and not Zayats, necessarily. Newton just seems to believe that the higher power he believes in makes anything possible for him, if he reaches out and grabs it.

“I think Mikhail is a God-fearing man as well,” Newton ended.

“But it’s just my time, now.”

Bellator 94 Weigh-Ins Blah Blah Blah Felice Herrig in a Supergirl Bikini [VIDEO/PHOTOS]

(Props: 1inchBoom. Felice appears at 1:10, and bullrushes Clark at 1:53.)

Bellator is at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa tonight with an event that will decide the Season 8 Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight tournament winners. The fighters weighed-in yesterday, and if you’re reading this, it’s probably not because you care that David Rickels came in 0.1 pound heavier than Saad Awad. (Although he totally did; results are at the end of this post, via Sherdog.)

No, you probably just want to see how Felice Herrig looked in her latest scale-appearance. Never one to disappoint (see here and here), Herrig transformed into Supergirl on stage, then got directly up in the face of her much-taller opponent, Heather Clark, who was herself wearing a tiny bikini and high heels in an attempt to win the evening’s swimwear competition. Clearly, this enraged Herrig, and the two women had to be separated by Bjorn Rebney.

Check out a couple photos of Felice in her superhero outfit below, and watch her fight during the Bellator 94 prelims on Spike.com or Bellator.com beginning at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT.


(Props: 1inchBoom. Felice appears at 1:10, and bullrushes Clark at 1:53.)

Bellator is at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa tonight with an event that will decide the Season 8 Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight tournament winners. The fighters weighed-in yesterday, and if you’re reading this, it’s probably not because you care that David Rickels came in 0.1 pound heavier than Saad Awad. (Although he totally did; results are at the end of this post, via Sherdog.)

No, you probably just want to see how Felice Herrig looked in her latest scale-appearance. Never one to disappoint (see here and here), Herrig transformed into Supergirl on stage, then got directly up in the face of her much-taller opponent, Heather Clark, who was herself wearing a tiny bikini and high heels in an attempt to win the evening’s swimwear competition. Clearly, this enraged Herrig, and the two women had to be separated by Bjorn Rebney.

Check out a couple photos of Felice in her superhero outfit below, and watch her fight during the Bellator 94 prelims on Spike.com or Bellator.com beginning at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT.

Photos via @FeliceHerrig

MAIN CARD
David Rickels (155.8) vs. Saad Awad (155.7)
Emanuel Newton (204.4) vs. Mikhail Zayats (205.6)
Trey Houston (170.4) vs. Luis Sergio da Fonseca Melo (169.8)
Ronnie Mann (135.7) vs. Rodrigo Lima (135.8)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Tony Fryklund (155.6) vs. Patrick Cenoble (156.2)
Joe Taimanglo (145.6) vs. Ronnie Rogers (146)
Julien Williams (170) vs. Kenny Moss (171)
Felice Herrig (115.7) vs. Heather Clark (115.9)
Jessica Aguilar (114.6) vs. Patricia Vidonic (115)
Augusto Sakai (261.3) vs. Rob Horton (242.2)
James Edson Berto (155.6) vs. Bruno Carvalho (155.3)