Bellator MMA 113
By Zach Heim, RCM MMA Correspondent
Mulvane, Kansas(March 22, 2013)– Bellator continued season 10 with its lightweight tournament, and with Emanuel Newton facing off with Attila Vegh for the light-heavy weight title. Bobby Cooper was able to get a unanimous decision victory against Marcio Navarro to kick off the prelims. (30-27; 29-28; 29-28) Then Daniel Gallemore earned a TKO victory over Frederick Brown in the first round. Eric Wisely beat Donnie Bell via split decision. ( 30-27; 29-28; 28-29) Israel finished off the under card with a unanimous decision victory over Cody Carrillo (29-28; 29-28; 29-28)
Tim Welch and Derek Campos kicked off the main card on SPIKE TV each trying to move on in the lightweight tournament. Campos was able to control the pace of the first round as he held the middle of the Bellator cage and keep Welch off balance with jabs and a low leg kick here in there. Round number two was dominated by Campos. He had Welch hurt badly on the feet but for some reason decided to take him down instead of continuing to go for the finish. Then he got Welch in an arm triangle but let it go a few seconds later. Grappling was the main showcase in the third and final round. Campos controlled with top position for most of the final round but Welch was able to work his way to top position in the final 10 seconds of the fight. Derek Campos took home a unanimous decision. (30-27; 30-27; 30-27)
Rodrigo Cavalheiro coming in on a 10 fight win streak with eight straight knock outs went to battle with Marcin Held next. It was a quick pace right off the bat with both fighter coming out swinging. Held was able to take Cavalheiro down with four minutes left in the round and went for a heel hook right away. Rodrigo was able to avoid the submission attempt for a short time but Held finally got it locked on and Cavalheiro had no choice to tap out. So with that impressive first round submission victory Marcin Held will advance to the lightweight tournament semifinals.
Next we saw Brandon Gritz face off with Derek Anderson in another lightweight tournament match up. Anderson was able to keep distance with his long frame and land shot from the outside. Girtz final got on the inside and force Andeson up against the fence with a little under two minutes left in the round and he almost had a great kamora locked on but Anderson was able to battle out of it before the round. The second round didn’t last long as Girtz shot for a take down and Anderson nailed him with a hard knee to the chin. With that impressive knockout victory Derek Anderson moves on to face Marcin Held in the lightweight tournament semifinals.
Next up Patrick Pitbull squared off with David Rickels to see who would fill the last semifinal spot in the lightweight tournament. Round number one was action packed. Both fighter staying in the pocket throwing short but heavy hands. Rickels showed he wasn’t afraid of Pitbull at all. He took it right to him with good head movement, level changes, and was able to put him against the cage and work some dirty boxing. Pitbull did get a takedown but Rickels was very active from open guard landing some ear slaps and elbows to the shoulder. Pitbull came out on fire in the second round. He started with a flying knee and a roundhouse kick but missed with both. He keep up the pressure and landed a big left hook which hurt Rickels bad and Pitbull went in for the kill. Pitbull will move on to face Derek Campos in the lightweight tournament with that impressive knockout victory.
Finally the main event saw Emanuel Newton go toe to toe with AttliaVech to unify the Bellator light-heavy weight titles. Round one was a feeling out period. With both fighters throwing some big shot which is what Vega wants t do. Newton threw a lot ofkicks trying to keep the distance. A lot of the same in the second round with Emanuel coming out and controlling the fight with his kicks. Vech was able to land some big shots and swell Newton’s eye a little. In the third round Vega seemed to be running from Newton. Vega did have a couple of good spurts but then just went back to waiting on Newton. Emanuel threw a lot of kicks again and controlled the round but Attlia probably stole the round with the big shot he did throw and land. More of the same to start the championship rounds. Newton stalking Vega around the cage landing leg kicks. Vega was able to land a good over hand right but it did no damage to Newton. In the fifth and final round both fighters went out and tried to leave everything in the cage. They spent a lot of time against the cage but has some great exchanges before the final bell. Emanuel Newton was awarded a split decision victory to become the Undisputed Light-Heavy Weight Champion. (48-47; 48-47; 49-46)
It was another action packed night of fights put on by Bellator MMA and SPIKE TV. You can follow Bellator MMA on twitter @BellatorMMA and you can also follow RCM MMA Correspondent Zach Heim on Twitter @Zheim82.
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