Koreshkov dominates Lima to take Bellator Welterweight Title
On Friday evening, Michael “Venom” Page (r), aka “MVP” exhibited supreme confidence even before knocking out his latest victim Rudy “Bad News” Bears at Bellator MMA show in Uncasville, Conn. All photos: Bellator MMA
Friday evening at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, it was Andrey “The Spartan” Koreshkov (18-1), battling nonstop to wrench the Bellator MMA Welterweight Title Belt away from the former champion Douglas “The Phenom” Lima (26-6). After five grueling rounds, the judges unanimously awarded the 170-pound belt to the Russian [48-47, 50-45 and 50-45].
Lima, unable to fend off the relentless takedown attempts from Koreshkov, spent the majority of his time on his back. It wasn’t until the final stanza, with less than a minute remaining, that Lima started to look competitive. Of course by this time, the 24-year-old Russian’s thoughts were about having that Championship belt wrapped around his waist.
In the final round, all Andrey Koreshkov (l) needed to do was land the hard jab and maintain the proper distance so Douglas Lima (r) couldn’t pull off any late fight heroics with his grappling skills and the plan worked. All photos: Bellator MMA
Paul Daley stops Dennis Olson
In the co-main event, Paul “Semtex” Daley (36-13-2) exploded on Dennis Olson (14-8), unleashing an arsenal of punches that forced referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the contest at just 1:12 of round two.
Daley has now won two straight since returning to Bellator MMA after a nearly three-year hiatus. The 32-year-old Englishman fended off takedowns and bided his time before pummeling Olson with shots that crumpled the New Hampshire native into a heap.
Paul “Semtex” Daley (l) has his arm raised in victory by referee Dan Miragliotta after he defeated Dennis Olson by TKO early in round two.
After his bout, “Semtex” had a few choice words for Bellator MMA’s newest signee Josh Koscheck, who sat cage side after cornering Honeycutt earlier in the night.
“I’m a perfectionist. When anybody fights me they always fight their best. I prepared for a tough fight. I would’ve liked to take him out in the first round, but I felt his strength,” said Daley. “I caught a kick and I was pretty comfortable in his guard even though I was caught by a couple of combinations.”
“Josh Koscheck and I are going to get our fight soon,” added Daley. “I don’t like him and we’re going to settle it in this Bellator cage.”
“Irish” Brennan Ward (11-3) from nearby Waterford, Connecticut knocked out Roger “The Leprechaun” Carroll (16-12) with a vicious right hand at 2:06 of round one. Ward was scheduled to fight Gavin Sterritt, but after the Wolfslair product withdrew from the fight, and was released by the promoter, Carroll stepped in on short notice.
Carroll, with a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, is from Claremont, North Carolina. He was hoping to fight Ward on the mat, but Ward prudently kept the bout upright and eventually landed one of his big overhand rights to end Carroll’s night.
Ward: “I knew it was just a matter of time before he went down. It was a pretty vicious shot. I can’t help but throw bombs.”
(l to r) Bellator welterweights Brennan Ward (10-3) vs. Roger Carroll (16-11).
No Contest in the Honeycutt versus Bradley fight
In what was shaping up to be a better than average welterweight bout Chris Honeycutt (6-0, 1 NC) and Paul “The Gentleman” Bradley (22-6, 1 NC) ended the night in a no-contest following an accidental clash of heads at 2:47 of round two.
Both wrestlers had been trading takedown attempts and shots on the feet, when Honeycutt accidentally head butted Bradley opening up a cut near the eye of the San Diego based fighter. After Bradley was examined by the ringside physician, referee John McCarthy was instructed to call an end to the fight. Bradley trains at the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. with head coach Eric Delfierro who is assisted by Adrian Melendrez.
After the head butt, the ruling of a no contest had both fighters, Chris Honeycutt and Paul Bradley feeling down in the dumps.
Rudy Bears KO’d by Michael Page
In the opener on the main card, Michael “Venom” Page (8-0) from London, England continued his winning ways by defeating Rudy “Bad News” Bears (16-14) of Raytown, Missouri. He stopped Bears with a walk off home-run punch at just 1:05 in the opening frame.
Despite being inactive since October of 2014, the layoff didn’t seem to slow the Brit down on Friday evening, as he avoided everything Bears threw at him and then countered with precision. The 28-year-old has now finished seven of his eight opponents.
(l to r) Michael “Venom” Page versus Rudy “Bad News” Bears
After the fight, Page made it clear that he is back, “The one and only MVP is back. This is what I do all day, I’ve been training for this. I’m a precision fighter and I don’t just throw punches. I think everyone saw exactly what kind of statement I made tonight.”
Preliminary Fight Results:
Dean Hancock (2-0) finished off Alex Dunworth (2-2) at 2:14 of round two. After Dunworth’s corner man Joe Lauzon saw his fighter getting pummeled repeatedly he wasted no time and threw in the towel.
The sole women’s bout saw Kaline Medeiros (5-4) wrenching the arm of Sarah Payant (1-1) with a Kimura to force the Massachusetts native to tap out at 3:24 of the opening frame.
Also on the preliminary portion of the card, Ryan Quinn (11-5) finished off Waylon Lowe (15-7) via a guillotine choke at 2:47 of round two. With the win, the Connecticut native has now won four of his last five bouts.
In a bantamweight rematch from a bout seven months ago, Remo Cardarelli (5-2) evened the score by defeating Billy Giovanella (8-4) by securing a [30-27, 29-28, 29-28] unanimous decision.
Kin Moy (7-2) came from behind to defeat Blair Tugman (7-6) by way of a triangle choke submission at 3:01 of round three. Tugman was taking the fight to his opponent, when out of nowhere, Moy managed the slick maneuver to secure his seventh victory.
In the lone heavyweight bout, Parker Porter (6-4) finished off Eric Bedard (6-6) via submission at 2:51 of round two. The victory is Porter’s first Bellator victory.
In the opening bout of the evening, welterweight Ilya Kotau (1-0) made quick work of Nicolas Sergiacomi (1-1) via a rear-naked choke at 2:17 of round one.
The next local Bellator MMA show is scheduled for Friday, August 28, 2015. It will feature Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard (32-14-2 2 NC) in his first bout under the Bellator MMA banner, going up against Brandon “Cold Roll” Girtz (11-4) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif.
As mentioned, that contest will be the headlining bout of Bellator #141, which will air live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while the preliminary bouts will stream live on Spike.com at 7 p.m. ET. Additional bouts to be announced.
Tickets for Bellator #141, which start at just $50, will go on sale Friday, July 24 at Pechanga.com and the Pechanga Resort & Casino box office. Doors open at 4 p.m. PT local time, and the first contest will take place at 5 p.m.
