We had an onslaught of MMA and boxing this weekend, and having caught you up on the UFC, World Series of Fighting, Mayweather vs. Maidana II, we now turn to the event that kicked off the festivities. Bellator 124 in Michigan was headlined by a light heavyweight title defense by champion Emanuel Newton and challenger Joey Beltran. After Newton took the opening round, Beltran evened things up in round 2, and with Newton at a loss for successful offense, he uncorked the spinning backfist of doom to put Beltran out cold. He’s done it against Muhammed Lawal, and now he’s KO’d Joey Beltran.
Here’s the GIF, courtesy of Zombie Prophet:
Who will Newton face next? Light heavyweight tournament winner and undefeated prospect Liam McGeary, who impressively tapped out Kelly Anundson with an inverted triangle choke.
Elsewhere on the main card, ex-Strikeforce and UFC fighter Ryan Couture gets the submission win over short-notice replacement Tom Bagnasco in his promotional debut.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Emanuel Newton def. Joey Beltran via third-round KO (3:07)
Liam McGeary def. Kelly Anundson via submission (inverted triangle) (R1, 4:47)
L.C. Davis def. Zeilton Rodrigues via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Ryan Couture def. Tom Bagnasco via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 3:01)
Preliminary Card
Sabah Homasi def. Eric Moon via submission (guillotine) (R2, 1:07)
Adrian Hadribeaj def. Mike Hamida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Mike Hernandez def. Thomas Vasquez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Leroy Johnson def. Adrian Henderson via split decision (28-29, 29-28×2)
Jason Fischer def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (30-26 x3)
Eric Ramirez def. Cortez Phelia via submission (guillotine) (R2, 0:38)
About the author
