By Zach Heim, RCM MMA Correspondent
Thackerville, OK (March 8th, 2014)– Bellator MMA started it light heavy weight Tournament tonight live on SPIKE TV. Just like every other Bellator MMA event there were exciting fights all night long.
The main card started with Mark Holata taking on the former Bellator heavy weight champion Alexander Volkov. Mark Holata came out and landed a big right which stunned Volkov. Holata was able to hold the former champ against the cage until Volkov land a short left which sent the American to the mat and Volkov swarmed until referee Jason Herzog stopped the fight due to strikes, with 3:40 left in the first round.
Might Mo squared off with Peter Graham in the second fight on SPIKE TV. In the first round Graham landed a ton of leg kicks and knees to the thigh of Mo. Mo never tried to check the leg kicks but was able to land some big left hands and looked to hurt Graham at one point. Mighty Mo came out in the second round and shot for and scored a single leg takedown ending up in Grahams open guard. He landed some shot but no real damage done. Once Graham got back to his feet he tried to chop Mo down with some big leg kicks. Mo never went down but did finally check on of the kicks, Graham got Mo in a tae plum and land a big knee to try to steal back the round but Mo took him down again got side control and tried for a key lock with about 5 seconds left in the round and was not able to get in. In the third round Mighty Mo came out and ate a couple more leg kicks before he was able to land another single leg takedown. Mo work on the ground in side control. Might Mo was able to get his right arm under Graham’s head and rolled to his back and began to crank on Graham’s neck, 30 seconds later Graham tapped.
Lavar Johnson would do battle with fellow American Ryan Martinez in the next bout in the quarter final of the heavy weight tournament. Ryan Martinez was able to do just what he wanted for most of the first round. He took Johnson down and dropped some big hammer fist and shot to the body while controlling the fight for the first 3:30 of the fight. Then Johnson got up and was swinging for the fences as he chased Ryan Martinez around the Bellator cage. Finally he caught Martinez with a huge right hand right behind the ear sending Martinez to the canvas. Referee Dan Mirgliotta stopped the fight after the next blow with only 39 seconds left on the clock in the first round.
Next on the card was the Bantam Weight World Championship fight between Anthony Leone and Champion Eduardo Dantas with Jason Herzog as the referee. Leone was able to come out and get a takedown on his first attempt as he caught the champions kick. Leone was able to land some ground and pound with short elbows to the head and body of the champion for the rest of the round. The champ did show a very active guard and he continually tried to throw his legs up for a triangle or an arm bar. In the second round the fighters came out a little more controlled and cautious. Spending most of the round on the feet with Leone trying for a takedown the champion was able to use great speed and balance to stay on his feet. Leone kept trying for that single leg and then Dantas stepped back over Leone’s head and dropped in perfect position for a rear naked choked. Dantas locked on the choke and got what is one to the best submission I have ever seen to retain his title.
So the card offered what the fans want finishes and one to the greatest chokes in mixed martial arts history. Also we filled the semifinals of the heavy weight tournament. Mighty Mo will take on former champion Alexander Volkov the winner of that fight will face the
Undercard Results
Chris Gutierrez def. Justin McNally via TKO (Knees to the body and punches) Rd.1 2:50
Brent Primus def. Chris Jones via TKO (Punches) R1 1:45
Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Matt Jones via TKO (Punches) Rd1 1:23
Javy Ayala def. Eric Prindle via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) R3 2:05
Cortez Coleman def. Daniel Miller via Verbal Submission (Punches) R2 4:49
Blagoi def. Rich Hale via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
winner of Lavar Johnson and Blagoi Ivanov to find out who will have to battle for the gold.
You can keep up to date on everything going on in Bellator MMA by following them on Twitter @BellatorMMA. You can also follow RCM US MMA Correspondent Zach Heim on Twitter @Zheim82
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