Bellator 98 Gifs/Results: Alexander Shlemenko decisions Brett Cooper in a war

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Bellator 98 was live tonight from The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, featuring middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko defending his title against Brett Cooper and the entire opening round of the middleweight tournament. Following are the entire event results with animated gifs courtesy of Bloody Elbow’s Zombie Prophet. Check out the Bellator 98 play-by-play for detailed, round-by-round descriptions of each fight.

Alexander Shlemenko defeats Brett Cooper by unanimous decision (48-47 x 3)

Though middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko was heavily favored, he found himself in an all out war with the game Brett Cooper. Cooper was not only surprisingly willing to engage Shlemenko on the feet but pasted him with short and heavy punches throughout, staggering the Russian with a stiff left hook in the first round.

Cooper was wary of Shlemenko’s signature spinning back-fist and blocked his first attempts, but got caught with one while amidst a kick in the second round. Shlemenko seemed to be turning his tide his way in the second until …

Cooper was getting backed up with flurries and ate a monster knee, but uncorked a massive right while leaning back on the fence that once again wobbled Shlemenko. The story in the first two frames was Shlemenko’s higher volume versus Cooper’s more powerful and damaging outbursts.

The remaining rounds saw Shlemenko mount the same striking volume only without Cooper’s momentum-changing knockdowns to balance things out. The entire fight was a back-and-forth massacre but Shlemenko’s speed, chin and kickboxing arsenal was just too much for Cooper in the last three rounds.

Mikkel Parlo defeats Brian Rogers by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26 x 2)