Tag: Bellator Season 10

Bellator 118 Results: Joe Warren Captures Bellator Interim Bantamweight Title

Bellator 118 is Bellator season 10’s penultimate event. Joe Warren had a chance to claim the interim bantamweight title if he beat Rafael Silva. And that wording is deliberate. Silva missed weight, so if he won, Bellator wouldn’t award him the title. It was only a championship fight for Warren. Semifinal bouts for the welterweight tournament and summer series light heavyweight tournament took place as well.

What fights should you fast forward when you watch this card on your DVR and which ones should you watch intently? Read on and find out.

Bellator 118 is Bellator season 10′s penultimate event. Joe Warren had a chance to claim the interim bantamweight title if he beat Rafael Silva. And that wording is deliberate. Silva missed weight, so if he won, Bellator wouldn’t award him the title. It was only a championship fight for Warren. Semifinal bouts for the welterweight tournament and summer series light heavyweight tournament took place as well.

What fights should you fast forward when you watch this card on your DVR and which ones should you watch intently? Read on and find out.

Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal: Liam McGeary vs. Mike Mucitelli

British light heavyweight prospect Liam McGeary is on many a radar in MMA (including ours), and has been since Bellator season 9. He took on Mike Mucitelli in the first of the Summer Series tournaments.

Round 1: Mucitelli hit a double leg, but McGeary reversed it and landed in mount. Mucitelli managed to escape mount and return to his feet, but it didn’t matter. McGeary hit a hook that lawnchair’d Mucitelli. It was like turning off a light switch. All strength left Mucitelli’s body and he collapsed lifeless to the canvas like an intern who’s just been told they’re not getting hired. This one warrants posting the GIF (via Zombie Prophet).

Marcos Galvao vs. Thomas Vasquez

Round 1: Not much action after the first minute, but then Galvao rushed Vasquez, secured a body lock, and slammed him. Galvao wasn’t able to make much use of the takedown though. Vasquez returned to his feet midway through the round, and landed a handful of stiff jabs to boot. Vasquez bum-rushed Galvao with a flurry of inaccurate punches, then clinched him. This was a mistake as Galvao hit a gorgeous throw. Vasquez immediately got to his feet though, and then took down Galvao, who got up quickly as well. Vasquez rushed Galvao again and it looked like he almost pulled guard, which was a very questionable decision. Not much else happened in the last 30 seconds. Galvao landed some ground and pound.

Round 2: Galvao landed an overhand right to counter Vasquez’s lazy jab. Vasquez hit a decent left hook. His footwork allowed him to stay out of Galvao’s range, but he never capitalized on it. He’d either throw one punch at a time or a messy flurry. Vasquez moved in to trade but Galvao timed a double-leg perfectly and slammed him to the mat with authority. After like two minutes of stalling, Vasquez got back up…only to be taken down again and for more ineffective ground and pound and guard passing to take place. Vasquez gets up again as the round ends in a front face-lock. Vasquez keeps one hand on the ground to avoid a knee but Galvao throws two of them anyway. The ref doesn’t give a shit. Cool.

Round 3: Both dudes missed basically all their strikes for the first two minutes. Galvao grabbed a body lock and got takedown. He took Vasquez’s back and attempted a rear-nakd choke; he couldn’t clinch it. The second attempt failed too. The other 500 attempts fail too. Right as the round ends, Vasquez escapes and sits in Galvao’s guard, throwing weak punches. Galvao earned a decision victory.

Welterweight Tournament Semifinal: Andrey Koreshkov vs. Justin Baesman

This welterweight tournament semifinal was originally supposed to feature Andrey Koreshkov vs. Sam Oropeza–and it was supposed to take place at Bellator 115. Alas, Oropeza weighed in heavy at 172.4 pounds. He was unable to make weight after given an hour, and was replaced by Justin Baesman. And there were about 45 minutes of commercials before this fight. Holy shit.

Round 1: Koreshkov started off throwing an array of kicks from the outside, but didn’t land any too convincingly. His hands worked better. He hit a nice combo topped off with an uppercut. Koreshkov threw a spinning back kick that nearly landed, and then threw a wild flurry followed up by a flying knee that knocked Baesman out cold. Squash match, but what else do you expect from a late replacement jobber?

Interim Bantamweight Championship Fight (err, kind of): Joe Warren vs. Rafael Silva

Round 1: Joe Warren clinched immediately but it was Silva that got the takedown and slam. Then he took Warren’s back, but Warren exploded out of the position and rose back to his feet…only for Silva to press him up the cage for the next few minutes. Surprisingly, Silva dominated the clinch work for the first few minutes, that was until Warren landed a giant knee to the body. Silva backed off after that, then Warren nearly locked up a guillotine. The two got back up. After a lull, Silva started spamming right hands and hurt Warren badly. Warren landed a desperation takedown that saved his consciousness with about a minute to go, and then nothing happened on the ground while the round ended.

Round 2: Warren through a shitty flying knee and almost paid for it with his consciousness a la Andrei Arlovski. Warren hit a double leg, but Silva stood up about 20 seconds after getting taken down. Both fighters look gassed, but Silva looks worse. Despite being tired, Silva hits a spinning back kick to the body, and then a stiff uppercut. Warren took Silva down again but Silva used his butterflies to sweep warren and return to his feet. Silva turned up the volume with his strikes, landing right hands at will. Silva caught Warren in the air during a flying knee and threw him to the floor. Silva attempted a spinning back kick as a follow-up but got taken down off it. Like with every other take down in this fight, Silva got up almost immediately. Then he turned the tables on warren and took him down. The round ends after a pattern of both guys taking each other down and getting up.

Round 3: Warren hit Silva with a massive right hand that wobbled him, then attempted an awful-looking flying round kick. Warren stepped into a right hand, then threw a massive overhand right of his own which missed. Warren ate a big right, but then shot a double-leg and landed it. This time Silva didn’t get up right away; he was tired. Warren landed some elbows. He’d occasionally stack Silva but would never land any great ground and pound from the position. Silva went for an arm-bar but it failed; Warren’s arm wasn’t deep enough. Warren finished the round on top in side control. This was pretty brutal in terms of entertainment value.

Round 4: Warren pressed Silva immediately and took him down. Unlike last round, Silva got back up, then tried a takedown of his own. The two battled in the clinch for a little bit before Warren wrestled a breathing-heavy Silva to the mat. He took Silva’s back, then switched to mount, but couldn’t keep it. Cue the same pattern of get up-clinch-get taken down and repeat. Warren tried a pro wrestling pile driver but didn’t have the strength left. Warren took Silva’s back right as the round ended.

Round 5: This round was basically the same as the last one. I don’t wanna use the term “lay and pray” but ugh. About half way through the fight Warren hit an illegal knee in the clinch while Silva had his hands on the mat. The Joe Warren clinch/ground smother continues. The fight ends. Warren wins a decision and the interim bantamweight belt.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card

Joe Warren def. Rafael Silva via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Andrey Koreshkov def. Justin Baesman via KO (flying knee), 1:41 of round 1.
Marcos Galvao def. Thomas Vasquez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Liam McGeary def. Mike Mucitelli via KO (punch), 0:20 of round 1

Preliminary Card

Dante Rivera def. Gemiyale Adkins via majority decision (29-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Jesus Martinez def. Ryan Caltaldi via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Tim Woods def. Eugene Fadiora via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Darrion Caldwell def. Joe Pingitore via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:32 of round 1
Lester Caslow def. Jay Haas via submission (guillotine choke), 2:29 of round 1
Sidney Outlaw def. Mike Bannon via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kevin Roddy def. Amran Aliyev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Bellator 117 Results: Lima Batters Hawn’s Leg to Become Bellator Welterweight Champion

Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion at Bellator 117, and also determined who’d fight in the finals of the season 10 lightweight tournament. In case you missed the fisticuffs, here’s our recap:

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos

This lightweight tournament semifinal started with some feeling out. A flying knee from Pitbull missed its mark, as did a spinning back kick from Campos. Midway through the round, Pitbull landed a sick hook to the liver followed up by a hook to the head–easily the best combo of the round at that point. Shortly after this, a brawl ensued against the cage. Campos landed some jabs, Freire landed a knee and a right hand. They reset, but then Campos pressured Freire again, landing quite a few shots. Campos’ success continued until the end of the first round; he started to get the better of every exchange while Pitbull looked slow and uninterested.

Campos’ luck ran out in the second round. Pitbull tagged him with a nasty right hand that floored him. Campos managed to rise to his feet only to be floored yet again. Pitbull mounted him and finished him with ground and pound when Campos rolled over onto his stomach and covered up. What a comeback.

Freire will be fighting the winner of Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson in the lightweight tournament finals.

Bellator crowned a new welterweight champion at Bellator 117, and also determined who’d fight in the finals of the season 10 lightweight tournament. In case you missed the fisticuffs, here’s our recap:

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos

This lightweight tournament semifinal started with some feeling out. A flying knee from Pitbull missed its mark, as did a spinning back kick from Campos. Midway through the round, Pitbull landed a sick hook to the liver followed up by a hook to the head–easily the best combo of the round at that point. Shortly after this, a brawl ensued against the cage. Campos landed some jabs, Freire landed a knee and a right hand. They reset, but then Campos pressured Freire again, landing quite a few shots. Campos’ success continued until the end of the first round; he started to get the better of every exchange while Pitbull looked slow and uninterested.

Campos’ luck ran out in the second round. Pitbull tagged him with a nasty right hand that floored him. Campos managed to rise to his feet only to be floored yet again. Pitbull mounted him and finished him with ground and pound when Campos rolled over onto his stomach and covered up. What a comeback.

Freire will be fighting the winner of Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson in the lightweight tournament finals.

Karl Amoussou vs. David Gomez

This was a non-tournament match with no implications–a “feature fight” as Bellator called it on their website. Most of the first round was simply a feeling out process. Gomez landed a right hand that stumbled Amoussou, and Amoussou landed a couple of knees, an uppercut, and some leg kicks. But Gomez’s cross was really the only meaningful strike in the round. Then there was some clinching, and the round ended.

Amoussou took control in the second round, throwing Gomez as soon as it started. Amoussou sat up in Gomez’s guard and dropped for a heel hook. The bold move failed, and Gomez escaped to his feet. An out of breath Amoussou pressed Gomez up against the cage. Gomez separated and landed a huge right hand. Amoussou managed to walk through it though. Some really, really sloppy brawling ensued (I mean Bellator heavyweight level) that neither guy really got the better of. Both fighters wound up clinched again. They separated with about a minute left in the second round.

To start off the third round, Amoussou clinched and went for a trip, which he missed. Gomez landed a few fast but weak uppercuts and hooks. Amoussou looked exhausted by this point; his hands hovered around his waist. Nevertheless, he still managed to intermittently keep Gomez stymied against the fence. The third round was a predictable pattern of clinch-separate-messy striking-clinch and so on until the end of the fight. Karl Amoussou was awarded with a decision win. If you are going to watch a DVR recording of the event, skip this fight.

Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson

Held dragged Anderson to the mat early and with little difficulty. He passed into side control but then Anderson managed to regain half guard. This didn’t matter though, since Held dropped down for a leg. The two played footsies for a few minutes. Anderson avoided Held’s onslaught and wound up on top in side control, landing short elbows and punches. Anderson attempted to stand up but Held snared his leg. He used the leg lock to sweep Anderson; he sat up in Anderson’s guard. Held attempted yet another leg lock with about 20 seconds to go but it came up short.

Held nailed Anderson with a stiff left hand that dropped him. He got a little wild after that and got tagged with a right hand. Anderson hit a nice body kick. Anderson started to find his range with the jab. Held, on the other hand, resorted to butt-scotting since he had zero takedowns. Held successfully pulled guard and moments later locked up a triangle and secured the tap.

Marcin Held will meet Patricky Freire in the Bellator season 10 lightweight finals.

Douglas Lima vs. Rick Hawn

Both fighters started tentative. Lima plodded forwards as Hawn shuffled around the edges of the cage. Lima landed a leg kick, Hawn countered with a right hand. Hawn half-assed a shot and ate a left hand. Lima continuously stalked Hawn, and eventually landed a MASSIVE leg kick that sent Hawn to the mat instantly. Hawn got back up and threw a 1-2 that Lima blocked. Lima hit another leg kick that crumpled Hawn. He turtled up as Lima landed loads of elbows and punches. Lima backed off as the round ended. Hawn was certainly in trouble.

Lima threw a leg kick to start round 2, but Hawn checked it as well as a follow-up leg kick. The third one, however, connected and floored Hawn, who was slow to get up. Hawn was sent to the canvas yet again with a leg kick. A TKO via leg kicks was imminent at this point. Hawn got knocked down from a leg kick again. The fight started to resemble a lion playing with its food. Another leg kick found its mark but Hawn somehow remained standing. Lima went high with a kick but Hawn saw it coming. Lima landed a millionth leg kick and Hawn fell yet again. Hawn’s corner got up on the apron and called for an end to the fight, and the referee obliged. This was the right call (see all the leg kicks for yourself–GIFs courtesy of Zombie Prophet). Douglas Lima is now the new Bellator welterweight champ!

Here are the card’s complete results (we’ll update the Houston Alexander and Ryan Jensen fights when the results are available):

Main Card

Douglas Lima def. Rick Hawn via TKO (corner stoppage) 3:19 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Derek Anderson via submission (triangle), 3:07 of round 2
Karl Amoussou def. David Gomez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Patricky Freire def. Derek Campos via TKO (punches), 0:52 of round 2

Preliminary Card

Martin Brown def. Jared Downing via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Larue Burley def. Cliff Wright Jr. via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
Joe Vedepo def. Ben Crowder via TKO (leg injury), 0:48 of round 1
Anthony Smith def. Victor Moreno via submission (triangle choke) via 0:59 of round 2
Julio Cesar Neves def. Josh Arocho via TKO (elbows), 2:37 of round 2
Jordan Parsons def. Tim Bazer via KO (punches), 0:04 of round 2

Unaired
Ryan Jensen vs. Mark Stoddard
Matt Uhde vs. Houston Alexander

Bellator 116 Results: Ivanov Submits Johnson, Volkov Scores KO of the Year Candidate [GIF]

There were no title fights at Bellator 116, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth watching. The heavyweight tournament semifinals took place on the card, as well as a single welterweight tournament semifinal.

How was it? Read the recap and find out!

Alexander Volkov vs. Mighty Mo

Mighty Mo shot for a single leg right out of the gate. Mo couldn’t get Volkov down, but managed to keep him pressed against the cage for the first half of the round. Volkov landed a knee to the body in the clinch, which caused Mo to back off. Then, Volkov hit a tremendous round kick to Mo’s face and knocked him out cold. He hit Mo so hard that the shockwaves made Mo’s belly fat jiggle. Easily one of the best head kick knockouts of the year so far, if not ever. Holy crap. Here’s a GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA)

Volkov, Bellator’s former heavyweight champ, will now be going to the season 10 tournament finals.

Read on to see a GIF of the most amazing, pro-wrestling inspired guillotine choke escape we’ve ever seen.

There were no title fights at Bellator 116, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth watching. The heavyweight tournament semifinals took place on the card, as well as a single welterweight tournament semifinal.

How was it? Read the recap and find out!

Alexander Volkov vs. Mighty Mo

Mighty Mo shot for a single leg right out of the gate. Mo couldn’t get Volkov down, but managed to keep him pressed against the cage for the first half of the round. Volkov landed a knee to the body in the clinch, which caused Mo to back off. Then, Volkov hit a tremendous round kick to Mo’s face and knocked him out cold. He hit Mo so hard that the shockwaves made Mo’s belly fat jiggle. Easily one of the best head kick knockouts of the year so far, if not ever. Holy crap. Here’s a GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA)

Volkov, Bellator’s former heavyweight champ, will now be going to the season 10 tournament finals.

Nathan Coy vs. Adam McDonough

Coy controlled almost the entire first round via lay and pray. Eventually, McDonough managed to escape Coy’s clutches. With about a minute left, he managed to hurt Coy with an uppercut–badly. Coy was faceplanted on the mat and taking loads of punches, but the ref let it go on. Coy managed to recover and take McDonough down again by the round’s end.

The second round didn’t last long. Perhaps Coy wasn’t so composed after all. McDonough landed a hook that sent Coy to the floor. After that one punch, the fight was stopped.

Adam McDonough will be meeting the winner of Andrey Koreshkov vs. Sam Oropeza (which will take place later in the season) in the welterweight tournament finals.

Joey Beltran vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

After an eternity, Matyushenko vs. Beltran started (seriously it felt like an hour of shitty commercials). The first round lacked action. Both men snapped jabs. Both reached with looping hooks and, for the most part, missed by miles. Eventually (and thankfully), the feeling out process sorted itself out, and the fighters engaged with a little more zest. Neither landed anything significant, but it was more fun to watch. The rest of the first round played out like this. Each guy threw big punches but didn’t land too many.

Matyushenko hit Beltran with a stiff jab and an uppercut to start the round. The two started to get more aggressive in round two. There was close to zero technique, but at least it wasn’t a staring contest. Matyushenko backed up Beltran with a flurry and landed a few punches. Beltran countered with his own. Eventually, they started just swinging at random. They might as well have had their eyes closed, to be honest. Matyushenko shot for a takedown from 30 light years away and Beltran stuffed it with zero effort. Beltran and Matyushenko both started breathing heavy as the round ended, making their punches super-labored and slow. The fight got less fun to watch as the seconds passed.

Round 3 was much of the same, but Beltran decided to work the body instead of constantly throwing at (and missing) Matyushenko’s head. Matyushenko shot in, but Beltran reversed him. In the scramble, Beltran wound up on top in side control. He transitioned to north-south and sunk in a north-south choke, earning the submission win. Vladimir Matyushenko’s last fight ends in defeat. And Beltran will meet Alexander Volkov in the heavyweight tournament finals.

Lavar Johnson vs. Blagoi Ivanov

Ivanov attempted to rush Johnson and ate an uppercut. Still, he managed to successfully clinch Johnson and keep him against the cage. It didn’t take long for him to hit a single leg and drag Johnson to the floor. Ivanov dropped for a leg lock but botched it. He wound up with Johnson on top of him, hitting him. However, Johnson’s lack of grappling enabled Ivanov to rise to his feet without harm, and then even put Johnson in a guillotine. To escape, Johnson body slammed Ivanov in what was the most awesome guillotine escape I’ve ever seen (it was the closest thing to a pro wrestling body slam you’ll see in MMA–here’s the GIF, again via Zombie Prophet). But Ivanov’s superior grappling skills allowed him to turn the tide. He got back to his feet after the slam, clinched Johnson, and landed a judo throw. A few moments later, he submitted Johnson with an effortless keylock.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card

Blagoi Ivanov def. Lavar Johnson via Submission (keylock), 4:08 of round 1
Joey Beltran def. Vladimir Matyushenko via Submission (north-south choke), 3:06 of round 3
Adam Mcdonough def. Nathan Coy via KO (punches), 0:30 of round 2
Alexander Volkov def. Mighty Mo via KO (head kick), 2:44 of round 1

Preliminary Card

Brandon Halsey def. Joe Pacheco via Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Karo Parisyan def. Ron Keslar via KO (punches), 4:05 of round 2
Rob Emerson def. Joe Taimanglo via Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ricky Rainey def. Andy Murad via TKO (head kick and punches), 1:11 of round 1
Phelipe Lins def. Travis Clark via Submission (rear naked choke), 0:40 of round 1
Rodney Wallace def. Carlos Eduardo via Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Not Aired
Featherweight Brandon Bender vs. Mario Navarro
Middleweight Dave Vitkay vs. Keith Berry

Bellator 115 Results: Vitaly Minakov Bests Cheick Kongo, Retains Bellator Heavyweight Title


(At least it’s better than the UFC Fight Night 39 poster…)

Cheick Kongo failed to capture Vitaly Minakov’s Bellator heavyweight title at Bellator 115. The main event was, essentially, the only noteworthy fight on the card. It didn’t start out this way though. A welterweight tournament semfinal was supposed to take place as well, but Andrey Koreshkov succumbed to the flu. His fight against Sam Oropeza will be rescheduled.

A middleweight tournament semifinal bout was canceled as well. Jeremy Kimball couldn’t make weight against Dan Cramer.  Not surprisingly, Bellator wasn’t able to salvage the card on such short notice. What we got was a patchwork card filled with one-off “feature fights” that meant nothing. In case you’re still interested, we’ve recapped it for you:


(At least it’s better than the UFC Fight Night 39 poster…)

Cheick Kongo failed to capture Vitaly Minakov’s Bellator heavyweight title at Bellator 115. The main event was, essentially, the only noteworthy fight on the card. It didn’t start out this way though. A welterweight tournament semfinal was supposed to take place as well, but Andrey Koreshkov succumbed to the flu. His fight against Sam Oropeza will be rescheduled.

A middleweight tournament semifinal bout was canceled as well. Jeremy Kimball couldn’t make weight against Dan Cramer.  Not surprisingly, Bellator wasn’t able to salvage the card on such short notice. What we got was a patchwork card filled with one-off “feature fights” that meant nothing. In case you’re still interested, we’ve recapped it for you:

Johnny Cisneros vs. Mikkel Parlo

First off, this is a catchweight bout as Johnny Cisneros missed middleweight by quite a bit (he weighed in at 193.5 pounds).

The two clinched to start off the fight. Parlo managed to land a double leg but Cisneros sprung to his feet almost as soon as he hit the ground. The two remained clinched. Parlo started to land some nice uppercuts. Cisneros separated and landed a nice uppercut of his own. Parlo clinched, then landed a stiff hook. After 30 seconds of inactivity, the two started exchanging wildly, with several punches snapping Parlo’s head back. There was another pause to the action. Parlo landed an elbow to Cisneros’ head and then took him down. Cisneros got back up, and another insane slugfest ensued. We’re talking just throwing with their eyes closed. In the chaos, Parlo hit another takedown. They were on the ground longer this time, with Parlo chilling in Cisneros’ guard. The latter fighter rose to his feet, and the same pattern of clinch-separate-wild exchange-takedown-get up-clinch-etc. played out until the first round ended.

The second round played out almost exactly like the first, except both fighters were tired now. There was more clinching and eventually Cisneros lacked the energy to return to his feet. Parlo mounted him halfway through the round, though he couldn’t do much with the position. He smothered Cisneros and landed ineffective punches for the remainder of the round.

Parlo’s dominance on the ground continued in the third frame. A wild, overly-aggressive series of punches from Cisneros opened the door for a Parlo takedown. Parlos was content to control things from half guard and mount until the fight ended. Parlo was awarded with a unanimous decision victory.

Kelly Anundson vs. Volkan Oezdemir

Anundson got floored with a leg kick to start things off, but then he landed a clean overhand right. He shots a double leg. Oezdemir sprawled and got pushed all the way back to the cage. Anundson grabbed a body lock and scored a takedown. After some scrambling, the two wound up clinched against the cage again. Oezdemir got up, and then Anundson took him down again, this time slamming him. This was the story of the first round: Anundson landing lots of takedowns and sticking to Oezdemir like animal abuse allegations stick to Michael Vick.

The second round looked like the first, only slower and lazier. I could go into detail but really there’s not much to tell. Anundson controlled Oezdemir until he took his back and sunk in a rear naked choke turned neck crank, bringing this one to an end.

On a side not, Oezdemir wins CagePotato’s official “Most Annoying Surname to Spell Award.”


Herman Terrado vs. Justin Baesman

Terrado threw a right hand and then clinched. The two grappled against the cage. They traded short knees and elbows that didn’t amount to much. Terrado went for a big knee with lots of windup but fell on his ass instead. He jumped up and threw a huge flurry of punches, as if to help was away the shame of slipping. The two clinched again. A guillotine attempt by Baesman went nowhere. Terrado took Baesman down after a lengthy bout of stalling. He advanced to mount, and then Baesman turned to his back. After a failed rear naked choke attempt, Terrado turned back to mount, and then gave up his back a second time. Terrado slipped off Baesman’s back as the round ended.

The second round was uneventful until about halfway through. At that point, Baesman took Terrado to the mat after peppering him. Terrado was clearly exhausted and not capable of defending himself. Baesman landed a series of thunderous elbows. Too many, in fact. The fight really should’ve been stopped, but it continued into the third round, which featured numerous messy grappling exchanges and a plucky armbar escape by Baesman (or embarrassing armbar failure by Terrado, depending on your perspective). In the end, the judges declared it a draw.

Cheick Kongo vs. Vitaly Minakov

The heavyweight title fight started with two karmic nut shots. Minakov landed both a kick and a knee to Kongo’s package. After the second offense, referee Herb Dean deducted a point. The most significant happening was late in the first round. Kongo landed two stiff jabs. Minakov countered with a straight right that floored Kongo. Minakov tried to capitalize by going for a leg lock and failed. Nevertheless, he managed to get on top of Kongo, and finish the round in Kongo’s half guard, reigning punches down on him.

Kongo dragged Minakov to the canvas at the start of the second round. He was unable to do anything with it though. Minakov rose to his feet after about thirty seconds. Minakov pushed Kongo against the fence and landed a clean kene to the gut. Kongo tried to claim it was a nut shot but Herb Dean had none of it, thankfully. Minakov landed a straight right. The Russian was clearly the aggressor, backing Kongo up throughout most of the round. He nailed Kongo with another right which wobbled him. But on the way in, Kongo landed a huge counter left. This didn’t phase Minakov though, who immediately threw Kongo down and quickly took his back. After a few punches, he slipped off and the round ended.

A visibly gassed Minakov managed to trip Kongo at the start of round three. The next two and a half minutes were lay and pray. Minakov eventually stood up, but Kongo stayed grounded to avoid knees to the head. In a reversal of fate, Kongo managed to take Minakov down on a lazy, lazy double leg. Kongo couldn’t take advantage of the takedown. He shot for another double leg, and after a sprawl that seemed like it lasted forever, Minakov pulled off an amazing reversal and wound up on top in north south. He switched to side control but by then the round was nearly over. He did land some pretty hard shots to the body, though.

Exhausted, Minakov was unable to stop Kongo’s takedown in the beginning of round 4. He summoned the energy to stand up, only to wind up on the canvas again after another takedown. Minakov was too tired to do anything except for complain about Kongo grabbing his shorts. Herb Dean warned him like 1,000 times but never deducted a point. After prolonged inactivity, Dean stood them up. Minakov successfully landed an inside trip as the round finished (or Kongo toppled over; I couldn’t tell).

Round 5 was literally five minutes of Minakov on top of Kongo in mount and half guard. Sometimes he threw punches. Sometimes he didn’t.

After the 25 minutes were over, the judges deemed Vitaly Minakov the winner.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card

Vitaly Minakov def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)
Herman Terrado drew Justain Baesman (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Kelly Anundson def. Volkan Oezdemir via submission (neck crank), 3:19 of round 2
Mikkel Parlo def. Johnny Cisneros via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Rick Reeves def. James Terry via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Freddie Aquitania def. Josh Appelt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sinjen Smith def. Jason Powell via submission (arm bar), 1:52 of round 1
Benito Lopez def. Oscar Ramirez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

 

 

Bellator 113 Results: Newton Edges Vegh, “Pitbull” Freire Buries “Caveman” Rickels

Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.

But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)

Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card. At the time of writing, the results of this fight aren’t available. We’ll update the article when they are.

Much to Bellator’s dismay, their light heavyweight title belongs to someone not named Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal; Emanuel Newton bested Attila Vegh in a lackluster decision at Bellator 113 to unify the light heavyweight strap. The first round of Bellator’s season 10 lightweight tournament took place at Bellator 113 too.

But the first notable event of the night happened on the prelims. A bout between journeymen Daniel Gallemore and Fredrick Brown ended with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. Gallemore elbowed Brown, putting him out on his feet. After a few punches from Gallemore, Brown faceplanted. At this point, Brown was clearly “done” but referee Chuck Wolfe allowed about a dozen more blows to land before he had seen enough. It was despicable, to say the least. See for yourself (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA)

Other preliminary card events of importance: Derek Anderson kneed Brandon Girtz’s head into the rafters in the night’s first lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Former WEC standout LC Davis was scheduled to fight on the prelims, but his fight was moved to after the main card; it wasn’t televised or streamed. Davis won via guillotine with only two seconds left in the first round.

In the first televised fight, Tim Welch fought Derek Campos in another lightweight tournament quarterfinal bout. The first round was evenly matched, but Campos was more aggressive, consistently pushing Welch back with his striking. He also landed more strikes. Campos almost finished Welch in the second, wobbling him with a right hand. He neglected to swarm a battered Welch, however. Instead, he opted for a takedown, which allowed Welch to recover and eventually rise to his feet. The third round didn’t feature much action. Campos took Welch to the ground and held him there. Unsurprisingly, Campos got the nod from the judges.

It didn’t take long for Polish prospect Marcin Held to defeat Rodrigo Cavalheiro. After a very brief striking scuffle, Held took Cavalheiro to the mat and submitted the Brazilian with a toehold.

In the night’s co-main event, David Rickels fought Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. This was also the last lightweight tournament quarterfinal of the night. The first round was, essentially, five minutes of brawling with some grappling interspersed. Rickels got the better of nearly every exchange in the first round, but that changed in the second. Freire hurt Rickels with a right hook, swarmed in, and then dropped him cold with a left hook. After one follow-up strike, it was called off.

The lightweight tournament semifinals will be as follows:

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Derek Campos.
Marcin Held vs. Derek Anderson

Bellator 113′s main event was to unify Bellator’s light heavyweight title. Interim champ Emanuel Newton faced non-interim champion Attila Vegh. It was a long, boring 25 minutes, that featured ineffective striking and lots of missed “spinning shit.” There really isn’t much to tell other than that both guys threw lots of strikes that amounted to nothing. If you DVR’d the event, watch this on fast forward if you feel the need to watch at all. Twitter pundits scored it every way imaginable, but the only people that mattered (the judges) gave it to Newton.

Complete Results:

Main Card

Emanuel Newton def. Attila Vegh via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
Patricky Freire def. David Rickels via KO (punches), 0:54 of round 2
Marcin Held def. Rodrigo Cavalheiro via submission (toe hold), 1:56 of round 1
Derek Campos def. Tim Welch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

LC Davis def. Tory Bogguess via submission (guillotine), 4:58 of round 1
Derek Anderson def. Brandon Girtz via KO (knee), 0:23 of round 2
Israel Giron def. Cody Carrillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eric Wisely def. Donnie Bell via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Gallemore def. Fredrick Brown via TKO (punches), 3:34 of round 1
Bobby Cooper def. Marcio Navarro via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Bellator 111 Results: Dantas Submits Leone With Incredible Choke, Johnson, Mo, Volkov, and Ivanov All Advance


(Note: The heavyweights are never photographed below the shoulders.)

Bellator 111 being able to build off Bellator 110‘s momentum was questionable. After all, three fourths of 111’s main card was comprised of heavyweights with questionable cardiovascular conditioning. What could’ve turned into a disaster instead turned into a decent night of fights (though some were not so decent), with the Bellator bantamweight title up for grabs between champion Eduardo Dantas and challenger Anthony Leone.

On the prelims: Up-and-comers Brent Primus and Abdul Razak both looked impressive. We will watch their next fights with interest. However, we can’t say that we’ll do the same for Eric Prindle, a mainstay in Bellator’s heavyweight division. In his loss to Javy Alaya, he displayed a ground game so awful it made James Toney look like Marcelo Garcia.

Also of note on the prelims: The first heavyweight tournament quarterfinal took place. Blagoi Ivanov bested Rich Hale in a tepid decision with not a whole lot of action.


(Note: The heavyweights are never photographed below the shoulders.)

Bellator 111 being able to build off Bellator 110‘s momentum was questionable. After all, three fourths of 111′s main card was comprised of heavyweights with questionable cardiovascular conditioning. What could’ve turned into a disaster instead turned into a decent night of fights (though some were not so decent), with the Bellator bantamweight title up for grabs between champion Eduardo Dantas and challenger Anthony Leone.

On the prelims: Up-and-comers Brent Primus and Abdul Razak both looked impressive. We will watch their next fights with interest. However, we can’t say that we’ll do the same for Eric Prindle, a mainstay in Bellator’s heavyweight division. In his loss to Javy Alaya, he displayed a ground game so awful it made James Toney look like Marcelo Garcia.

Also of note on the prelims: The first heavyweight tournament quarterfinal took place. Blagoi Ivanov bested Rich Hale in a tepid decision with not a whole lot of action.

In the first fight on the televised portion of the card, former Bellator heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov defeated Mark Holata via TKO. The Russian started off shaky, getting rocked early on in the first round. After some time in the clinch, Volkov managed to floor Holata with a knee and then followed up with brutal ground and pound. It was all over in 81 seconds.

In the next match, kickboxers Peter Graham and Mighty Mo squared off. The first round of this fight wasn’t terrible, but the second and third round were less than spectacular. Mighty Mo and Graham displayed some Eric Prindle-level grappling in those rounds. Mo finally put Graham out of his misery with a half-assed head and arm choke late midway through the third. If you DVR’d the fights, watch this one on fast forward.

The night’s co-main event pitted UFC and Strikeforce vet Lavar Johnson against Ryan Martinez. Martinez wrestled Johnson to the mat early on, making the UFC vet’s chances look grim. Johnson managed to return to his feet. A few of the wildest exchanges we’ve ever seen ensued (like both guys were missing by miles but still swinging anyway). Johnson managed to connect before Martinez, and it was over before the the first round ended.

So the next round of the Bellator heavyweight tournament will look like this:

Mighty Mo vs. Alexander Volkov.

Lavar Johnson vs. Blagoi Ivanov.

Now, onto the main event. Eduardo Dantas pulled off the slickest rear naked choke off all time against Anthony Leone, submitting him in the second round. Our words don’t do the martial artistry justice. You’ll just have to check out the GIF (via @ZProphet_MMA). Trust us, it’s worth it. Dantas’ submission is immediately a candidate for submission of the year (so far). Fortunately, there were no staged scuffles afterwards.

Complete results:

Main Card

Eduardo Dantas def. Anthony Leone via submission (rear naked choke), 2:04 of round 2
Lavar Johnson def. Ryan Martinez via TKO (punches), 4:22 of round 1
Mighty Mo def. Peter Graham via submission (head and arm choke), 2:31 of round 3
Alexander Volkov def. Mark Holata (punches), 1:21 of round 1

Preliminary Card

Blagoi Ivanov def. Rich Hale via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cortez Coleman def. Daniel Miller via verbal submission (strikes), 4:49 of round 2
Javy Ayala def. Eric Prindle via TKO (doctor stoppage), 2:05 of round 3
Abdul Razak def. Matt Jones via TKO (punches), 1:23 of round 1
Brent Primus def. Chris Jones via TKO (punches), 1:45 of round 1
Chris Gutierrez def. Justin McNally via TKO (strikes), 2:50 of round 1