Bellator returned to Spike TV tonight with Bellator 118, a card that was originally to feature a bantamweight title fight, then an interim bantamweight title fight, then it was only a title for for Joe Warren after Rafael Silva missed weight.
Liam McGeary picked up a big win in the first fight of the television broadcast, knocking out Mike Mucitelli with a perfectly timed short left hook. Mucitelli crumbled after the hook landed, leading McGeary to walk away rather than follow up with any more shots.
Here’s a gif of the KO:
Marcos Galvao was up next, grinding out a decision victory over Thomas Vasquez. It wasn’t the prettiest fight, but Galvao dominated position and threatened enough to earn the clear unanimous decision victory, taking the fight by scores of 30-27 across the board.
It was Andrey Koreshkov’s turn to have a “Bellator moment” next, as he scored a thunderous KO victory in the welterweight semifinals, knocking out Justin Baesman with a beautiful knee. Again, we go to the gif:
Finally, Joe Warren won the interim Bellator bantamweight championship, winning a trough five round decision over Rafael Silva. Warren found himself hurt several times in the early rounds, getting caught by clean shots and having to survive until his head cleared.
But Warren is nothing if not gritty and was able to get through the bad times and work his way to a decision win, taking all three cards 48-47 after he clearly won the final round.
All gifs courtesy of @zprophet_MMA