Bellator MMA’s season continues tonight with four tournament bouts decided at the business end of the card. Topping the bill is the featherweight final with Rad Martinez and Shahbulat Shamhalaev fighting for a chance to meet Pat Curran. Plus the welterweight and light-heavyweight finals are decided like on Spike TV.
MMA Sucka has complete coverage for the event with live play-by-play, results and a panel of three staff members will be scoring each round. Get involved in the comments section below or hit us up on Twitter @MMASuckaJer for Jeremy, @CarlinBardsley for Carlin and @JustinFauxMMA for myself.
Light-heavyweight tournament semi-final bout: Jacob Noe vs. Mikhail Zayats
Round one:
Noe begins with a right-hook that fails twice before getting dropped with a right of his opponents. Zayats is giving his opponent no room to breathe and landing a few shots to the body. Noe is doing nothing but stalling on the floor, looking for a stand-up. Zayats has good top position landing shots before taking mount as the referee warned a stand-up. Zayats begins unloading with punches before the once beaten American looks to power out but that is not effective. Zayats crosses over and grabs a straight armbar and Noe submits within seconds.
Mikhail Zayats advances to the finals of the light-heavyweight tournament via submission (armbar) at 3:38 of round 1
Welterweight tournament semi-final bout: Bryan Baker vs. Douglas Lima
Round one:
Lima opens throwing a side kick and the crown begins to boo after a tentative start to the bout. Lima fires with another leg kick as Baker circles and lands upstairs. Lima is stalking his larger opponent who seems unwilling to engage. Baker comes in close to start land a left-hook and Lima counters with a powerhouse shot that puts Baker to sleep.
Douglas Lima advances to the finals of the welterweight tournament via KO (punch) at 2:34 of round 1
Light-heavyweight tournament semi-final bout: Muhammed Lawal vs. Emanuel Newton
Round one:
Newton begins as the aggressor, well aware that he’s the underdog taking the fight to Lawal. Newton gets caught coming in with a left-hook. Newton pressures Lawal and attempts a high kick but eats a shot for his troubles. “King Mo” fires off a two-punch combination. “The Hardcore Kid” is staying busy with his kicks but Lawal is connecting with punches. Newton comes in with a shot and fires a spinning-back-fist that stumps the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight kingpin, a giant upset.
Emanuel Newton advances to the finals of the light-heavyweight tournament via KO (spinning-back-fist) at 2:35 of round 1
Featherweight tournament finals bout: Rad Martines vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev
Round one:
A tentative beginning to this featherweight tournament, Shamhalaev dropping his hands and taunting his American foe to the dismay of the crowd. The Russian fires a leg kick. Martinez throws a kick of his own and gets his leg caught and eats a punch that floored him, Shamhalaev didn’t join him. Martinez leg kicks but takes two more against him for his troubles, the Russian having the far more deadly leg kicks. Martinez shoots for a takedown and gets it to the floor with 90 seconds on the clock. Martinez looks for elbows but Shamhalaev has good control on bottom, not allowing him to get going with his shots. Martinez lands a few shots but leave the door open to get back to the feet as the round closes.
Jeremy Brand scores it 10-9 Martinez
Carlin Bardsley scores it 10-9 Shamhalaev
Justin Faux scores it 10-9 Shamhalaev
Round two:
The Red Fury fighter shows no respect for Marinez with his hands dropped, obviously hasn’t learned from King Mo. Martinez begins having success with his boxing before a huge knee from Shamhalaev pounces and take him off guard with a beautiful knee to the gob and Martinez is on complete defensive mode as he looks to circle out of danger but eats an overhand right that is the nail in the coffin.
Shahbulat Shamhalaev wins the featherweight tournament final via KO (punch) at 2:12 of round 2
