The Bellator lightweight title was on the line last night as the promotion put together a highly-anticipated match up between American Top Team’s “Ill” Will Brooks and Sport’s Lab stand out Dave Jansen. Will Brooks entered the cage as champion and huge favorite over Jansen who was looking to prove he deserved his shot at the belt.
Will Brooks defeats Dave Jansen via unanimous decision (49-46 X3.)
Dave Jansen showed no fear when he stepped into the cage with Will Brooks, winning the first round against the champion through a combination of solid strikes and decent grappling. Jansen seemed to peak early though, as in subsequent rounds Brooks instituted a non-stop clinch onslaught which Jansen had no answer to. As the rounds went by Brooks got better and better, his striking in the later rounds was crisp and he thoroughly deserved his victory.
Rafael Carvalho defeats Joe Schilling via split decision
This fight proved that Joe Schilling is still fundamentally just a striker. The first round of this fight was not very aesthetically pleasing, neither fighter did a lot and Schilling probably deserved the nod, but in the 2nd and 3rd rounds the fight was dictated by Carvalho’s wrestling. He took down Schilling whenever he needed to and made Schilling’s striking advantage unimportant through it.
Joe Schilling showed improvements last night, but it seems like he’s not quite on a level to compete with well rounded MMA fighters yet.
Marcin Held defeats Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy verbal submission (Kneebar) R3, 1:11
Marcin Held is a joy to watch, truly a throw back to Imanari in his prime. For 3 rounds he out grappled Sarnavskiy, who in his own right is a very dangerous submission artist. For the first 2 rounds Held constantly attacked on the canvas without finding real success. In the 3rd round however, he managed to land a signature leg lock, dropping back and catching Sarnavskiy in a tight kneebar.
Held has done enough now to earn a title shot against Will Brooks, both fighters showed good grappling last night and that fight is by far, the most intriguing in their lightweight division.
Check out the vine from Zombie Prophet.
Tony Johnson defeats Alexander Volkov via split decision
AKA’s Tony Johnson put on the best performance of his career thus far against former heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov. Once again, this fight was decided by the wrestling and Johnson, who trains on a daily basis with Olympian Daniel Cormier, was able to control Volkov when needed. Johnson scored takedowns in all 3 rounds and was able to bully Volkov in the clinch early on.
Preliminary Card Results:
Joey Beltran def. Brian Rogers via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Saad Awad def. Rob Sinclair via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
John Teixeira def. Fabricio Guerreiro via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
A.J. McKee def. Marcos Bonilla via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:08
Chad George def. Mark Vorgeas via submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 1, 3:37 (Video via GrabakaHitman)
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