Bellator closed out its ninth season with an entertaining event that saw one bad-ass Rusian retain his 185 pound title and two tournament champions crowned.
In the evening’s main event, Alexander Shlemenko retained his middleweight strap with a decisive first round KO of Doug Marshall.
Marshall was put on the defensive early on as Shlemenko shot for takedowns. ‘The Rhino’ is always looking for the KO, and his only chance was to stay on his feet and maintain distance.
That wasn’t to be though, as the Russian forced his opponent up against the cage and started to assault him with knees.
The sustained body attack eventually proved decisive and Marshall was doubled over by a vicious left hook to the ribs. His attempts to return fire with a trademark right hayemaker proved to be fruitless and Shlemenko unleashed his favourite move, another left hook right into the ailing American’s liver, which put him down for good.
This season’s middleweight tournament champion, Brennan Ward, is next for the champion in Season 10.
Rick Hawn won his second Bellator tournament, but this time at welterweight.
The Olympian did not have it all easy as he had to recover from an early uppercut from Ron Keslar, which had him on the back foot and eventually on the mat.
Hawn roared back in the second round and took over the fight with effective punches, earning the round off an impressive jab that landed over and again.
Hawn let loose in the third and finished Keslar off with a series of powerful strikes. Trouble started for Keslar when he was hit with a short right hand and that was followed with uppercuts and a crushing overhand right that sealed the win.
With the release of Ben Askren earlier this month, Hawn will fight Douglas Lima for the Bellator welterweight crown next year.
Eddie Alvarez’s first fight as re-crowned lightweight champion will be Will Brooks.
‘Ill Will’ took two 30-27 scorecards and one 30-26 by dominating Alexander Sarnavskiy over all three rounds.
The two fighters exchanged on the feet, but as soon as Brooks got the takedown the bout began to swing in his favour.
The dangerous Russian was thrown off his boxing game early in the second round as well and struggled to recover. He was beaten and back-mounted before the bell sounded.
Round three was even more dominant for Brooks, who continued to ground and pound and take Sarnavskiy’s back again.
While it would be a stretch to imagine Books beating Alvarez, he should be a willing partner to put on an exciting demonstration of violence next year.
Terry Etim won his Bellator debut with a convincing, but not entirely exciting decision win over Patrick Cenoble.
The Liverpudlian dominated from start to finish, taking his opponent’s back in rounds one and three. However, he was not able to lock in the fight-ending choke despite squeezing on a body triangle late on.
Bafflingly, one judge gave Cenoble a round, but the other two, clearer-headed officials gave Etim the nod with 30-27 and 30-26 cards.
Main Card
Alexander Shlemenko def. Doug Marshall via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:28
Rick Hawn def. Ron Keslar via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:55
Will Brooks def. Alexander Sarnavskiy via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Terry Etim def. Patrick Cenoble via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-26)
Prelims
Mike Bannon def. Ahsan Abdulla via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:51
Blagoi Ivanov def. Keith Bell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:59
Goiti Yamauchi def. Saul Almeida via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:04
Bubba Jenkins def. Ian Rammel via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:38
Brent Primus def. Brett Glass via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:20
Lester Caslow def. Jay Haas via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 2:44
