Bellator MMA debuted in Dublin, Ireland, Friday in front of a packed house and a fairly rabid crowd…at least until the main event.
The fights all went pretty much as expected although the show was not nearly as entertaining as last week’s event in Florence, Italy. The event was part of a joint promotion with UK company BAMMA with the four fight main card airing via tape delay on Spike TV.
The main event was a boring three round heavyweight fight between Bellator stalwart King Mo and Japan’s Satoshi Ishii. Mo handily won all three rounds but never came close to finishing the Olympic medalist.
Ishii seemed very unwilling to engage the entire fight, despite Mo taunting him on several occasions and having his hands down for most of the fight. He was able to take him down seven times, but did virtually no damage on the ground. Mo was doing pretty well standing but just when it seemed he would have Ishii hurt, he’d take him down and just lie on top of him.
The announcers were pushing Mo as a top contender for either the heavyweight or light heavyweight title. He did lose a close decision to Phil Davis and the heavyweight title is currently vacant so either of those is a definitive possibility.
The biggest star to the local crowd was featured in the co-main event as featherweight James Gallagher, a training partner of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, even got to the lights-out treatment during his ring introductions as he put his unbeaten record on the line against American Anthony Taylor.
Taylor and Gallagher had been sniping at each other all week via social media and had a confrontation at the weigh-ins. With just a 1-1 pro record for Taylor, this was clearly designed to be a showcase fight for Gallagher. However, the fight was much closer than anyone anticipated and I had it even at 19-19 going into the third.
In the final round, Gallagher took over. He had been softening up Taylor with leg kicks the whole fight and then took his back standing. He got on a body lock and was able to drag him to the mat. At that point, he quickly slapped on a rear naked choke for his fourth submission win in five career fights.
Gallagher cut a good promo after the fight where said this was his country and that’s what happens to people who disrespect him in his country. He’s just 20 years old and definitely has star potential but he had too much trouble with a guy he should’ve beaten easily and they need to be careful with him going forward.
The opener saw journeyman featherweight Brian Moore of Ireland take on Bellator vet Daniel Weichel.
Weichel dominated Moore en route to a first round submission win and then called out division champion Daniel Straus, who has been out over a year due to injury. Weichel has now won seve of his eight Bellator fights and has definitely earned a shot at the belt.
The second fight featured a pair of women’s bantamweights who both came into the fight with unbeaten records. Local product Sinead Kavanagh was the local favorite and she dominated her 18-year-old opponent, Greece’s Elina Kallionidou, en route to a decision victory. Either of the first two rounds could’ve gone 10-8 and I had it 30-26 for Kavanagh.
This was Bellator’s final event of 2016 and they return in January with Bellator 170 from Los Angeles, one of the biggest shows in company history. Chael Sonnen and Tito Ortiz will square off in a light heavyweight bout on January 21 with Phil Daley and Brennan Ward in the co-main.
Bellator 169 full results:
King Mo (20-5) won a unanimous decision over Satoshi Ishii (14-7-1) on scores of 30-27 x 3 (heavyweights)
James Gallagher (5-0) submitted Anthony Taylor (1-2) with a rear naked choke at 1:52 of the third round (featherweight)
Sinead Kavanagh (4-0) won a unanimous decision over Elina Kallionidou (5-1) on scores of 30-27, 30-25 and 30-26 (women’s bantamweights)
Daniel Weichel (38-9) submitted Brian Moore (9-5) with an arm triangle at 4:44 (featherweights)
Cameron Else (4-3) won via KO over Ireland’s Dylan Tuke (3-1) in 20 seconds (Spike.com)
With a featured fight of light heavyweights Misha Cirkunov vs. Nikita Krylov, Saturday’s UFC 206 prelims on FS1 did 771,000 viewers on FS 1.
While the number is down 60% from November’s stacked UFC 205 prelims, it did beat the UFC 204 prelims (Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson II) by about 15%, but that show was up against heavy competition from college football. The number was more in line with the numbers from the UFC 198 (786,000) and UFC 199 prelims (798,000) from earlier this year.
With one show to go in 2016, the PPV prelims on FS 1 are now averaging 1.137 million viewers on FS 1, up 3% from the 2015 average of 1.1 million.
Typically, the prelims number is usually, but not always, an indicator of PPV buys for the show and those two events are currently estimated at doing 290,000 and 320,000 buys respectively. This was was expected to do considerably below that number, with our own Dave Meltzer setting the over/under for the show at 175,000 buys.
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Saturday afternoon’s Bellator 168 from Florence, Italy, was slightly down from recent numbers at 529,000 viewers, but had no one of note for casual sports fans on the show. Similar UFC shows are usually down about 30-40% from prime time numbers but this is the first time Spike has ran a show like this for Bellator.
Bellator is now averaging 678,000 per show in 2016, down 9% from their 2015 average of 746,000. They also have one more event for the year: a tape delay show Friday from Dublin, Ireland, featuring a main event of King Mo vs. Satoshi Ishii.
Bellator MMA ran its second show of the year in Italy in front of a packed crowd live on Spike TV in North America. In one of the most entertaining televised MMA shows you’ll ever see, Alessio Sakara capped the night off by stopping veteran Joey Beltran in the first round to send the Florence, Italy, faithful home happy.
The crowd had been fairly quiet all night, but they exploded during the ring intros for Sakara and even more so when he scored the TKO win over Beltran just a minute into the first round. In a wide-open light heavyweight division, Bellator could do worse than having Phil Davis defend his title against Sakara the next time they’re in Italy.
The show started off rough for the local fans as Italian fighter Claudio Annicchiarico was TKOd by veteran John Salter in just his second pro fight. Salter had just coming off a stoppage victory over former middleweight champion Brandon Halsey so this was a complete mismatch. The fight was very similar to the Mickey Gall/CM Punk match in that Salter took him down easily and pummeled him to almost no defence before it was mercifully stopped.
The locals got something to cheer for in the second TV fight as Brazilian Kleber Silva, who lives in and fights out of Florence, went up against veteran Philipe Lins. Lins, hyped as a future contender for Davis, came in with a 10-1 record and looked good in the first round, although Silva held his own and I thought landed the harder blows. I scored it 10-9 Silva.
In the second, Lins was starting to take over, pushing the pace and landing far more on the feet. Halfway through the round, Silva rocked Lins during a crazy punch exchange. He was on rubber legs after that and Silva was all over him. The ref gave Lins a lot of time to recover but eventually had to stop it.
After this fight, the cameras showed Ed Ruth warming up backstage. Announcer Sean Grande, a pro wrestling fan, played it up like he had no idea why Ruth was there, given he’d just fought a month ago. Ruth agreed to the fight a week ago and was up against another Italian fighter, Emanuele Palombi (5-2).
The fight went very similar to the first fight in that Ruth took him down easily and finished him with ground and pound. Palombi put up a bit more of a fight but still was stopped in just 1:33 to give Ruth his second pro win.
Next up was one of the best one round fights you’ll ever see as Goiti Yamauchi, one of the young stars that Bellator is pushing as the future of the company, went up against another local in Valeriu Mircea. Mircea is listed with a pro record of 15-3 but made his pro debut in February 2015. That means this was his 19th fight in just 22 months. Crazy.
Even crazier is that Mircea knocked down Yamauchi early and pummelled him on the ground to where ref Jason Herzog was on the verge of stopping it. Yamauchi stayed in there and then turned the fight around. He eventually was working on an armbar and Mircea tried to slam him out of it. He escaped it but Yamauchi was able to sweep into top position and gain mount.
Yamauchi was dropping hard elbows and when Mircea tried to escape, Yamauchi caught him in another armbar and got the quick tap.
After the fight, Yamauchi said he wants one of the top lightweights in his next fight. Really, he should get someone like Patricky Pitbull or Saad Awad as he’s got a 21-3 record and should probably be only 1 or 2 wins from a title shot.
The main event followed between Sakara and Beltran. It was just over a minute with both guys throwing with everything they had until Sakara connected and hurt Beltran badly. He was all over him with ground and pound and the ref stepped in to stop it quickly.
The building was packed, all the fights were finishes and you even had the great comeback win from Yamauchi. There wasn’t much more you could ask for from this show and for casual sports fans channel surfing on a Saturday afternoon, a show like this could make Bellator some new fans.
Next up is their last show of the year from Dublin, Ireland next Friday night as King Mo takes on Satoshi Ishii in the main event.
Last Saturday’s UFC TUF 24 finale show on FS1 featuring flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson vs. TUF winner Tim Elliot on FS 1 did 1,012,000 viewers for the four fight main card.
Of their 18 shows on FS1 this year, this marks the sixth time UFC has cracked the 1 million viewership benchmark.
However, the number was down 7% from the July TUF finale, headlined by strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gladelha, but it was up from the December 2015 TUF 22 finale (Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes) that did 883,000 viewers.
The prelims did a very solid 889,000 viewers, up from the July TUF 23 finale’s 642,000 viewers.
UFC is now averaging 965,000 viewers for the year for their FS1 main cards, up 6.5% from 2015. The prelims are averaging 730,000 this year, up 20% from 2015’s 610,000 viewers.
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Bellator ran shows on both Friday and Saturday night from Thackerville, OK, and the results were better than expected considering the lack of star power in headlining positions.
Friday’s Bellator 166 (bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren) did 613,000 viewers, up from the 597,000 that a much bigger show headlined by Michael Chandler vs Benson Henderson did two weeks earlier.
The 613,000 was their biggest number since September’s Bellator 161 (Cheick Kongo vs Tony Johnson Jr.). Interestingly, Warren and Kongo have always been two of Bellator’s biggest ratings movers.
Saturday’s Bellator 167 (Darrion Caldwell vs Joe Taimanglo rematch) that went head-to-head with the aforementioned UFC show did 545,000 viewers which has to be considered a minor success. It was the third lowest number of the year, but considering the lineup and competition, it’s impressive that it was only down 50,000 viewers from the bigger show just two weekends ago.
The two companies return to the airwaves and Internet streaming this weekend with Friday’s UFC Fight Night 102 on UFC Fight Pass, and Bellator’s Saturday afternoon show on Spike TV from Italy. Also on Saturday, UFC returns to PPV with the injury-riddled UFC 206 from Toronto, CA, headlined by Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway. Prelims will be on FS1 per usual.
UFC announced Thursday that the January 21st PPV originally scheduled at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, is being moved to August 5th instead.
Their February 11th show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, will now become UFC 208 instead of 209.
Originally, there was going to be a head-to-head battle that night both on TV and regionally as Bellator is running a Spike TV show in Los Angeles at the Forum headlined by Chael Sonnen vs. Tito Ortiz.
The January date was going to be difficult for UFC because there were no obvious main events for the show given almost every major star and/or champion either fought in November or is booked for one of UFC’s five December shows, or was injured or unavailable.
The promotion still has two January dates: an FS1 show headlined by BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez in Phoenix and a Fox show in Denver that is still without a main event or main card.
The rescheduled Anaheim date will still be a PPV and likely the first one UFC runs after their annual major July show for International Fight Week.
Fedor Emelianenko and Scott Coker have done business before, dating back to Coker’s days running Strikeforce. Now, one of the best heavyweights of all time and Bellator’s head honcho will run it back one more time.
During Bellator’s Saturday show in San Jose, CA, it was announced that “The Last Emperor” has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion with his first fight scheduled for Saturday, February 18th in San Jose against former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione.
Mitrione was brought out for a promo with Jimmy Smith where Mitrione said he had been asked to sign a bout agreement with the opponent name blacked out, saying the promotion said to trust them that this would be a big fight for him. He had no idea he was going to fight Fedor until they announced it in the arena which led to Fedor coming out, donning one of his well-known sweaters.
The 40-year-old Russian is riding a five-fight win streak and is 2-0 since coming out of retirement. However, his last bout — a majority decision win over Fabio Maldonado — was very controversial as many thought the fight should have been stopped several times for how much damage Fedor took, not to mention the decision win.
The 38-year-old Mitrione is 2-0 in Bellator with two finishes after signing with the promotion earlier this year.
Fans can buy pre-sale tickets now by using the word ‘glove’.
Bellator MMA returns to San Jose, CA, for a big show featuring a big lightweight title fight between Michael Chandler and former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson.
Chandler (15-3) is gunning for his fourth straight win and the first title defense of his second lightweight title reign. He regained the belt by defeating Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in June, his third straight finish in three fights.
Henderson (24-6) already has his second title shot in three fights and is looking for his best Bellator outing to date. After being dispatched by Andrei Koreshkov in an unsuccessful bid for the welterweight title, Henderson earned the shot in a fluke win over Patricio Pitbull earlier this year.
In the co-main event, Michael Venom Page continues his ascension toward the top of the welterweight ranks if he can beat veteran Fernando Gonzalez.
Also on the main show, Keri Anne Melendez — the wife of UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez — makes her MMA debut.
Our live cageside coverage will kick off with the main card at 9 p.m. EST.
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LINTON VASSELL (16-5) VS. FRANCIS CARMONT (25-11), LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
First round: Low kick by Vassell and Carmont back. Leftby Vassell and body kick by Carmont. Vassell went for a takedown. He’s on top in mount. Now Vassell has his back with a body triangle. Vassell threw a few punches. He’s working for a choke as time runs out. 10-9 Vassell.
Second round: Carmont with a body kick. Anotehr body kick by Carmont. Carmont got a takedown. Now he’s working on getting Vassell’s back. Carmont his Vassell’s back and trying to get a choke. Vassell reversed and now has Carmont’s back. Vassell working for a choke. Vassell throwing elbows from that position. Vassell punching. Finally the crowd is booing. It took this crowd longer than most as there are crowds who would have destroyed this fight by now. 20-18 Vassell.
Third round: Vassell with a few punches. Vassell working for a takedown. Carmont ended up on top but Vassell scrambled back up. Vassell with punches. Vassell took him down and got his back. Vassell again working for a choke. Carmont up with 32 seconds left but he looks exhausted. Carmont needs a knockout to win and he’s walking away. Vassell 30-27.
Scores: 30-26, 30-26 and 30-25 for Vassell.
KERI TAYLOR MELENDEZ (0-0) VS. SHEILA PADILLA (2-0), WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
First round: Melendez got a real big reaction as her husband was one of the stars who built MMA in this building. Melendez cracked her with a right hook to the jaw and one hard punch on the ground and it’s over. :47
ADAM PICCOLOTTI (8-0) VS. BRANDON GIRTZ (14-4), LIGHTWEIGHTS
First round: Piccolotti with a low kick and body kick. Front kick by Piccolotti and a jumping knee. Another jumping knee and Girtz threw him down. Front kick by Piccolotti and Fritz back with a punch. Piccolotti with a right. Girtz hurt him with a right. Low kick by Piccolotti. Body kick by Piccolotti. Left by Girtz. Lefft by Girtz. Knee by Piccolotti and a hard right and kick to the face and Girtz back. The crowd is going nuts. Piccolotti 10-9
Second round: Girtz with a right. Left by Girtz. Body kick by PIccolotti. Left by Girtz. Knee by Piccolotti. Body shot by Girtz. Both missing punches. Piccolotti with a takedown. Now he’s got his back. Girtz back up. Knee by Piccolotti. Jumping knee by Piccolotti. Piccolotti 20-18.
Third round: Piccolotti landed a left. Piccolotti with a body kick. Gritz with a right. Left by Girtz. Left by Piccollotti. Piccolotti went for a takedown but Girtz on top and landed punches. Piccolotti back up. Girtz with a right. Low kick by by Piccolotti. Girtz’s right leg is all bruised up. Girtz landed a big right and is chasing him down. Hard slam by Girtz. Girtz landing elbows and Piccolotti working for a heel hook. Gritz with hard body shots and now landing punches from the top. Girtz’s round 10-9. Good fight. 29-28 Piccolotti.
Scores: All three judges had it 29-28 for Piccolotti
They just announced Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione for February 18 in San Jose at the SAP Center. Fedor was here, sweater in tow. He’s signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator.
MICHAEL VENOM PAGE (11-0) VS. FERNANDO GONZALEZ (25-13), WELTERWEIGHTS
First round: Hard kick by Page t the right shoulder. Page showboating around. Crowd booing quickly here. Right by Page. Not much happening and crowd is booing. Page threw a knee that missed. Page landed a kick just as the round ended. 10-9 Page but almost 10-10.
Second round: Nothing happening this round either. MVP shook his butt and got booed Crowd booing heavy. Page slipped and Gonzalez landed a punch before he got up. Page is just not fighting. Page threw a knee at the end of the round. Could easily be a 10-10 but I’ll go with Gonzalez since he did land a punch so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Spin kick missed and Gonzalez going for a takedown. Uppercut by Gonzalez. I have no idea what got into Page but he’s not fighting. Gonzalez moving forward and Page moving backards. He’s giving away this fight against a guy he was booked to easily beat. The ref is warning Page about not fighting. Page threw a few jabs. Gonzalez has him against the fence going for a takedown. Crowd booing this like crazy. Gonzalez 29-28.
Scores: 29-28 Page 30-27 Gonzalez 29-28 Page. Crowd hated that Page won. Never has a guy deserved to win a fight less.
MICHAEL CHANDLER (15-3) VS. BENSON HENDERSON (24-6) FOR BELLATOR LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE
First round: Henderson tagged him with a right and Chandler with a body kick. Body kick by Chandler. Body kick by Henderson and he slipped and fell down. Right by Chandler. Body kick by Chandler. Dueling chants believe it or not. Hard uppercut by Chandler and he missed wildly on a follow up. Chandler landed an uppercut. Chandler threw Henderson down. Chandler landing punches, Unreal German suplex by Chandler. Chandler is going for a choke. Chandler landing body punches as Henderson is down. Hard punch by Chandler and another. Cadlenr with a guillotine. Henderson out but Chandler landed another good punch. Chandler with a hard right on the ground. Henderson back up and Chandler threw him down. Henderson shot in and Chandler with another guillotine attempt. Henderson out and throwing body punches. Chandler 10-9. Great round.
Second round: Low kick by Henderson. Another low kick by Henderson. Hard body kick by Chandler. Knee by Henderson. Henderson dropped him with a right. Body kick by Henderson. Left by Henderson. Right by Henderson. Chandler’s left leg is all bruised up. Chandler hurt him with a right. Hard body kicks by Chandler. Henderson kicked him in the groin. Side kicks by Henderson. Hard right by Chandler Body kick and punch by Chandler. Henderson needs to do something about his hair getting in his eyes. Body kick by Henderson. Knee by Henderson. Close round to Henderson 19-19.
Third round: Henderson with a right and a body kick. Hard body shot by Chandler. Henderson went for a takedown. Hard body kick by Chandler. Right by Chandler. Head kick by Henderson. Henderson shot in for a takedown. Chandler again got a guillotine. Henderson out of trouble but Chandler is on top. Chandler got his back. Henderson threw a high kick. Chandler’s round 29-28.
Fourth round: Henderson with a right. Chandler picked him up and slammed him. Chandler on top. Chandler riding and Henderson back up. Henderson with a knee and Chandler took him back down. Henderson went for an armlock but Chandler out. Chandler riding him. Henderson throwing elbows to the body and got Chandler’s back and working for a choke. Chandler reversed to the top. Chandler’s round 39-37. Good finish to the round.
Fifth round: Body kick by Chandler. Right by Chandler. Left by Henderson. Henderson with a nice right and a good body shot. Jumping knee by Henderson and Henderson took him down and got his back. Henderson is working for a choke. Hendeson with a body triangle. Chandler reversed to the top. Henderson back on top with elbows. Henderson with punches and elbows from the top. Henderson with a knee. Henderson’s round I’ve got 48-47 Chandler but there were close rounds.
With UFC 205 in the rearview mirror, only the memories remain. That’s why we’re taking a final look at the biggest event in UFC history with Brooklyn-born Mark La Monica of Newsday on the latest Josh Nason’s Punch-Out.
On the menu:
– The guys talk about how Mark got into MMA writing and the road to getting to UFC’s debut in Madison Square Garden this past weekend.
– What made MSG and the experience so special?
– Mark has some key takeaways from the show and why he was so impressed with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
– They discuss Conor McGregor’s potential holding up of two divisions in 2017 and what both want to see him do next.
– Where does Chris Weidman go from here and should light heavyweight be in his future?
– They talk about the three shows coming up this weekend and why Benson Henderson vs. Michael Chandler could be the weekend’s biggest fight.
All that and more in this free edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out. Click below to listen:
Last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night Mexico City main card, headlined by Tony Ferguson’s five round decision win over former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos, averaged 860,000 viewers.
The four fight main card was up 31% from the last Fight Night show in October (John Lineker vs. John Dodson). The prelims, which also aired on FS1, did an average of 668,000 viewers — the second highest number for a Fight Night prelims show since March.
For the year, UFC is now averaging 994,000 viewers for FS1 Fight Night events, up 10% from 2015’s average. The prelims are also up, growing 21% with a 739,000 average this year, up from 610,000 last year.
In other ratings news, despite being headlined by Phil Davis vs. Liam McGeary for the light heavyweight title, last Friday’s Bellator 163 drew a near-record low of 507,000 viewers on Spike TV.
That was the second lowest number of 2016, beating only June’s Bellator 156 show which did 482,000. Prior to that you, you would have to go all the way back to 2013 (the promotion’s first year on Spike) to find other shows that failed to break 500,000 viewers of which they had two.
The two promotions return to TV this weekend with UFC 205 on PPV Saturday with the high-profile prelims on FS1. Bellator 164’s show from Tel Aviv, Israel, will air on tape delay Friday on Spike TV.
Chael Sonnen has an opponent for his Bellator debut.
It was announced on Tuesday night’s edition of SportsCenter that Sonnen would make his debut for the company against Tito Ortiz in the main event of Bellator 170 on January 21st at The Forum in Inglewood, CA.
After completing a two-year suspension for failing multiple drug tests, Sonnen announced last month that he was returning to mixed martial arts and had signed with Bellator. Sonnen had mentioned Ortiz as a possible opponent for his debut fight, framing it as “The Bad Guy vs. The Bad Boy.”
Sonnen’s last fight was in November 2013 at UFC 167, where he concluded his UFC career in a loss to Rashad Evans.
Ortiz, formerly a longtime mainstay in the UFC, has had three fights since signing with Bellator in 2013. He began his career in the promotion with wins against Alexander Shlemenko and Stephan Bonnar before losing his latest fight against Liam McGeary over a year ago.
Former WWE star Ryback has been in talks over the last week with Bellator MMA about fighting. He teased an announcement on Twitter and Bellator has confirmed there have been talks, but nothing serious.
“Spoke, but nothing close,” said Bellator CEO Scott Coker.
Sources close to the wrestler confirmed to us that he’s interested in fighting and in the end it will come down to money. He spoke about the situation today on Las Vegas radio.
Ryback is nearly 35, and while incredibly strong, has never competed in any fighting sport, but he has done some training in boxing and Jiu Jitsu.
This has little to do with, from his perspective, what happened with C.M. Punk, who he wished well in his UFC debut. Punk was unsuccessful in his first fight after transitioning from the squared circle to the Octagon, losing to Mickey Gall by submission in the first round at UFC 203 earlier this month.
TNA champion Bobby Lashley also fights in Bellator.
After telling anyone that would ask that his in-cage career was done, 39-year-old Chael Sonnen will return to the action with Bellator MMA, announced via the Associated Press Thursday night.
A Bellator press release says Sonnen will fight at 205 pounds, but in a quote in the release, he says he’s not sticking to one weight class. Sonnen and his new boss Scott Coker will hold a conference call Friday while Sonnen is expected to be on screen at Bellator’s Friday night show on Spike.
Sonnen, who signed a multi-year, multi-fight deal, told the AP, “I’m a heel. Heels lie.” He also told the AP’s Greg Beacham that he wants his first fight to be in November: “The Bad Guy vs. The Bad Guy.” The second Bad Guy in that equation is assumed to be fellow Bellator signee and one-time Sonnen opponent-to-be Wanderlei Silva.
Sonnen also told Beacham that the reason he signed with Bellator and not UFC: “Zeros apostrophe S”.
“Chael is an incredible athlete that has competed at the very highest levels of the sport,” Bellator MMA President Scott Coker said, “I know that he is going to continue to do just that here at Bellator. When we were in the process of signing him, Chael was adamant that he wants to compete in three divisions here.
“He already has unfinished business with Wanderlei Silva, but he also wants to fight guys like Tito Ortiz, Fedor Emelianenko and even Rory MacDonald at middleweight. These are all fights that I’d be very inclined to watch, so hopefully we can put some, if not all of these matchups together starting before the end of the year.”
The longtime UFC middleweight contender came to prominence in 2009-10 during a run that saw him win three in a row en route to a shot at then-middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Sonnen had called out “The Spider” in promos and interviews as he evolved into a true character that was beloved by some and reviled by others.
After losing in heartbreaking fashion to Silva during their first 2010 meeting, Sonnen was put on the shelf for a year due to testing for elevated testosterone levels. He fought his way back to a big money rematch with Silva and was bested via 2nd round TKO.
The final three fights of his UFC career were at light heavyweight where he went 1-2 with a light heavyweight title shot and loss against then-champion Jon Jones in that mix. Sonnen was last seen getting beat by Rashad Evans by first round TKO in November 2013.
This summer, Sonnen completed a two-year ban from the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to testing positive for multiple drugs.
MacDonald appeared following an interview with Michael Venom Page, a signature Bellator star in the same weight class. He received a mixed response from the fans in Anaheim, perhaps due to the Canadian flag that covered the video wall.
In an interview with Bellator play-by-play man Sean Grande, MacDonald promised to take over Bellator. He said that he’s coming after Koreshkov (Bellator welterweight champion) and won’t stop there, claiming he’d take the middleweight title as well. He promised to put on a show for the fans, and said that Bellator had made him an offer he couldn’t possibly refuse.
The 27-year-old MacDonald recently finished out his UFC contract after going 9-4 with the promotion. He lost his last two UFC fights, including the fight of the year in 2015 against Robbie Lawler and a number one contender’s bout earlier this year against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
MacDonald’s impending free agency had been a point of discussion as he entered the last fight on his UFC contract against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC Fight Night 89 in June without signing a new contract.
A signing would represent one of the biggest acquisitions for Bellator to date as they look to gain footing and compete with the UFC. MacDonald was recently removed from the fighter rankings on the UFC’s website.
MacDonald, a welterweight, is 18-4 in his career, with all four losses coming in the UFC after he joined the promotion in 2010. He’s coming off of two straight losses after losing to Thompson by unanimous decision in June and losing to Robbie Lawler at UFC 189 in a fight that won MMA Match of the Year in the 2015 Observer awards.
His other two losses were against Lawler at UFC 167 and against Carlos Condit at UFC 115.
Bellator MMA has it’s second European show of the year and the company’s debut in London at the O2 Arena on Spike TV. Headlining the tentpole card is a matchup of welterweights Paul Daley and former champion Douglas Lima. Newly signed Matt Mitrione takes on local favorite Oli Thompson in a heavyweight matchup and one of the top prospects in Bellator, Michael Venom Page, squares off with Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in another welterweight clash.
James Gallagher (3-0) vs Mike Cutting (6-5) Featherweights
Gallagher is a 19 year old training partner of Conor McGregor who has won all 3 of his pro bouts via first round submission. It appears Cutting missed weight as he’s announced at 148.5 lbs. Both guys are making their Bellator debuts.
Gallagher gets a decent reaction from the crowd but a crowd shot shows a ton of empty seats. Gallagher with early cage control. Callagher catches a kick 45 seconds in and gets a takedown. Gallagher using elbows to set up a choke. Gallagher takes the back at 1:15. Gallagher with a full body lock and working for a rear naked choke. Gallagher continuing to land punches to the head, while trying to secure the choke. Cutting doing almost nothing. Cutting finally fights him off at 4:00 and ends up in top position briefly. Gallagher tries to take the back again but Cutting sweeps to top position. Gallagher working for an armbar but defended well by Cutting. Cutting landing punches from the top as the round ends. 10-9 Gallagher
Gallagher again with cage control early as they trade leg kicks for the first minute. Crowd booing 1:45 in as neither guy engaging at all. Gallagher stumbles Cutting with a counter shot after a kick at 2:15. McCarthy warns Cutting “Don’t just run, Mike”. McCarthy stopped the action at 2:45 and warned Cutting he’d dock him a point if he didn’t start to engage. Nice punch combo at 3:00 from Gallagher. Cutting connecting with single leg kicks while continuing to retreat. Gallagher with a takedown at 4:00 and right into side control. Gallagher working for a Kimura and uses it to take the back at 4:45. Gallagher with a rear naked choke but gives it up quickly. 10-9 Gallagher, 20-18
Round 3 starts the same with Gallagher advancing and Cutting basically running away. Cutting throwing the occasional kick, Gallagher barely even throwing a strike through 2:30. Crowd is deathly silent. McCarthy warns Cutting again at 2:45. Gallagher catches a kick at 3:00 and takes Cutting down. Gallagher on top in a north/south position, not landing any strikes. Cutting throwing light punches from the bottom. Ref warns them to work at 4:30. Gallagher into side control at 4:45. Crowd singing the Ole song. Gallagher finally throwing punches as the round ends. 10-9 Gallagher, 30-27. Terrible fight
WINNER – JAMES GALLAGHER (4-0) by unanimous decision (scores 30-27 x 3)
Gallagher got a post-fight promo but didn’t have much to say. Promised to give a better fight next time out.
Spencer Hewitt (12-10) vs Pietro Menga (12-0) Flyweights
This was not on the main card lineup, so it must be from the prelims and was probably good.
Menga with early cage control. Menga drops Hewitt with one punch and does a walk-off pose afterward.
WINNER – PIETRO MENGA (13-0) by KO (punch) at 41 seconds
Jack Mason (29-15-1) vs Jason Radcliffe (8-2) Middleweights
This is another fight that was not listed on the main card lineup. It should be noted that this card was taped earlier today but has been promoted as “live” in the definition that only applies to Bellator and Impact wrestling. Radcliffe drops Mason with a knee to the head in the first exchange of the fight and it’s over.
WINNER – JASON RADCLIFFE (9-2) by KO (knee) at 16 seconds
Lightweight champion Michael Chandler was interviewed cageside by Sean Grande and Jimmy Smith. Talked about how great it felt to win the title in front of his hometown fans in St. Louis. They announced a #1 contender’s fight between Patricio Pitbull, moving up from 145, against Benson Henderson, moving down from 170. That’s a good matchup in the sense that Chandler has heat with Pitbull and Henderson is still one of the biggest names in the company.
Michael “Venom” Page (10-0) vs Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (21-17) Welterweights
They aired the walkouts. During Cyborg’s, Sean Grande said he could be an honorary member of the Legion of Doom. Not sure I’d make that comparison. MVP gets a huge ovation coming out and loud MVP chants. Page has first round stoppages in 9 of his 10 career fights.
Page with early cage control. More MVP chants. Page lands a right and Santos falls but Page gets right up, not wanting to go to the ground with him. Flying knee from Page lands but Santos ties him up along the cage and takes him down at 1:45. Page up quickly but Santos takes him down again. Page with a leglock attempt from the bottom. Santos fights it off and remains on top. Santos doing nothing from the top but holding Page down.Santos into side control at 3:30. Santos landing light punches to the head. Big John warns them to work at 4:30. Elbows to the body and legs from Santos as the round ends. 10-9 Santos
Page advancing to start again. Page landing single punches from distance, while Santos just retreating for the first 90 seconds. Through 3 minutes, Santos may not have landed a single strike, although he’s thrown a few. Hard body kick from Page at 3:30 and Santos clearly affected by it. Another one at 3:45. Page closing the distance. Loud MVP chants. Santos finally lands a strike, a leg kick, at 4:15. Santos runs into a jumping knee and Santos is down like a shot. Highlight reel KO there.
WINNER – MICHAEL “VENOM” PAGE (11-0) by KO (jumping knee) at 4:31 of round 2
Page put over Cyborg in his post-fight interview, made a Pokemon Go reference and then led the crowd in his hand movements.
Lukasz Klinger (7-2) vs Francis Carmont (24-11) Light Heavyweights
No walkouts for this one. Klinger took this fight on late notice when Linton Vassell from England dropped out. Carmont with a takedown 45 seconds in. Crowd is very quiet. Smith and Grande are so bored with the fight they start talking about Rory McDonald. Carmont not landing any punches and barely trying to advance, just holding Klinger down. Carmont finally landing some punches at 3:00, looking to set up a choke. Carmont secures the D’Arce choke at 3:30 and gets the tap after securing a body lock as well.
WINNER – FRANCIS CARMONT (25-11) by submission (D’Arce choke) at 3:54
Matt Mitrione (10-5) vs Oli Thompson (17-8) Heavyweights
Thompson is making his Bellator debut but formerly fought in UFC. Mitrione is back 3 weeks after scoring a KO win in his Bellator but nearly being knocked out himself in the same fight. Despite the fact that Thompson is from London and Mitrione has the American flag all over his entrance video, he gets a bigger reaction from the crowd.
Mitrione with a nice punch combo 45 seconds in. Mitrione throwing bombs but Thompson ties him up in a clinch on the cage. Mitrione gets separation with a knee and follows up with punches. More knees from Mitrione. Thompson fires back with punches. Mitrione teeing off on him at 1:45 but then backs off. Thompson falls down in a takedown attempt but Mitrione lets him back up and they clinch on the cage again. Thompson cut over his left eye. Separation at 2:45 and they’re both landing hard punches. Thompson looks rocked but he’s still standing. Thompson staggers Mitrione with a shot and tries to clinch but Mitrione takes control of the tie-up at 3:30. Mitrione with hard knees to the body from the clinch. Thompson with a nice punch combo and they separate. Back to a cage clinch at 4:45 and that’s how they close the round. 10-9 Mitrione
Mtrione with a punch combo 15 seconds in. Thompson follows up with one of his own. Both guys starting to land leg kicks as well. First two minutes in the centre of the cage with neither having cage control. Mtrione starting to advance at 2:15. Mitrione unloading with punches at 3:00 and Thompson gets backed up to the cage. They clinch with Mitrione in control. Mitrione landing punches to the head and body from the clinch but they get warned from the ref for lack of action. They separate at 4:15. Mitrione with a left hook that staggers Thompson. A couple more punches from Mitrione and Thompson falls face first and the ref stops it.
WINNER – MATT MITRIONE (11-5) by TKO at 4:21 of the 2nd round
Mitrione gets a post-fight promo and has his young son with him. He basically just put over Thompson in his interview and then said he was talking his son for a trip around Europe. You’d have to think his next fight will be for the vacant heavyweight title and they really should’ve at least hinted at something here.
Fedor, Lennox Lewis and Tito Ortiz were all shown at ringside.
Douglas Lima (26-6) vs Paul Daley (38-13-2) Welterweights
The comments from Grande and Smith would make you think that they are moving away from the idea of a Koscheck/Daley rematch. The winner here should probably be in line for a shot at Andrey Koreshkov for the welterweight title. Daley gets a nice reaction from the crowd. Not quite as big as MVP’s but just under that.
Daley advancing to start but gets dropped by a punch from Lima, who follows him to the ground. Daley to his feet at 45 seconds but Lima still in control of the clinch. Ref warns them to work at 1:15. Lima not doing much but working for a takedown. Daley landing knees to the body and legs with his back to the cage. McCarthy breaks them up at 2:15. Great punch exchange at 2:30. Daley still advancing and gets caught with a counter punch again but stays on his feet. Lima clinches up on the cage again at 3:00. Ref warns them to work again at 3:45 but they separate on their own. Daley landing leg kicks. Lima starting to land leg and body kicks as well. Daley clinches up on the cage right before the round ends. 10-9 Lima
Daley with early cage control as they trade leg kicks. A few single punches from both guys but no sustained offence through 1:45. Lima catches a kick and clinches up on the cage after a takedown attempt but Daley separates. Punch combo from Daley at 2:15. Daley slightly more active through 3:00. Lima rocks Daley with a left and follows up with more punches. Daley no-selling it but he’s clearly hurt. Lima unloading on him at 3:15 and then Daley tries for a takedown. Lima ends up on top and still unloading on punches but Daley makes it to his feet at 4:00. Lima with knees to the body while controlling the clinch. Daley gets off a good shot but then Lima rocks him with another combo as the round ends. 10-8 Lima, 20-17
Daley had to be cleared by the doctor to come out for the 3rd. Jimmy Smith only scored round 2 a 10-9 but Lima clearly ahead 2 rounds regardless. Round starts the same as the other two with Daley controlling the pace but Lima gets a takedown at 1:45. Lima looking for an armbar as he tries to advance position. Ref warns them to work at 2:15. He warns them again at 3:00. Lima landing light shots to the body and holding Daley down. Daley trying to secure an armbar from the bottom but Lima defends it. Daley sweeps to top position at 3:45 but Lima does the same and ends up back in top position. Ref warns them again at 4:45. Lima does land some punches as the round ends. 10-9 Lima, 30-26 overall
WINNER – DOUGLAS LIMA (27-6) by unanimous decision (scores 30-27 x 3)
Daley and Lima both got interview time after the fight. Neither guy had much to say except to say that everything they said about each other before the fight meant nothing, that they were just trying to build a fight.
Overall, an okay show. I don’t sense much interest in this one, though. The MVP KO is worth going out of your way to see although word is that Cyborg suffered a fractured skull from the knee. Bellator is back Friday night with Bellator 159 on Spike with Darrion Caldwell vs Joe Taimanglo in the main event.
