INGLEWOOD–In a sport where legends often hang around way too long and seldom get to leave on a good note, Tito Ortiz (19-12-1) will retire from the sport of mixed martial arts as a winner.
Ortiz, 41, submitted Chael Sonnen (28-15-1) by rear-naked choke in the opening round of the Bellator 170 main event at The Forum on Saturday night, to get his hand raised for the final time of his career, which lasted over 20 years.
The official time of the stoppage came at 2:03 of round one.
“Tonight, January 21, 2017, I’m going to let my son lay my gloves down in the cage, because this is the last time I’ll be fighting,” Ortiz told Jimmy Smith after the fight’s conclusion.
Sonnen went on the attack early on in the contest and looked to have Ortiz in trouble with a guillotine choke. Once “The People’s Champion” escaped, he turned the tide from top position. Sonnen tried to get out from the bottom, but gave up his back in the process. The end would come soon after as the former UFC champion took the back of Sonnen and locked in a rear-naked choke to force the tap. Referee Big John McCarthy had to forcibly release the choke after Ortiz continued to hold on after Sonnen tapped.
The co-main event was expected to be a wild and entertaining slug fest and boy, did it live up to the hype. Paul Daley (39-14-2) defeated Brennan Ward 14-5) by knockout in the opening round with a jumping knee, rendering him unconscious. Daley never even attempted to follow Ward to the canvas and ran off and jumped up on the side of the cage in celebration.
The official time of the stoppage came at 2:27 of round one. Ward remained down on the canvas for several minutes after the bout ended and eventually had to be carted off in a stretcher and was taken to the Harbor UCLA Medical Center for observation.
A huge win for Daley, who gets back on track after losing to Douglas Lima by unanimous decision at Bellator 158 this past July. Ward has now lost two out of his last three fights. Following his impressive win, “Semtex” called out top Bellator signing Rory MacDonald for a future scrap.
Hisaki Kato (8-2) defeated Ralek Gracie (3-1) by unanimous decision in a lackluster affair. Both Middleweights were extremely tentative, but Kato landed all of the significant strikes and dropped Gracie towards the end of the first round. Gracie scored his first takedown of the bout with just under two minutes left in the third round, and passed into mount, but it was too little too late. Kato has now won three in a row after handing Gracie his first career defeat.
In Featherweight action, Emanuel Sanchez (14-3) overcame a point deduction for an illegal knee and defeated Georgi Karakhanyan (26-7-1) by majority decision. Two judges scored the bout 28-27 in favor of Sanchez. The third judge scored it a 28-28 draw.
Sanchez was dominant early on in the bout and controlled the former WSOF Featherweight champion on the ground while delivering some solid punches and elbows from top position. Things got a bit odd in the second round due to a foul by both opponents. The bout was halted by referee Blake Grice after Karakhanyan landed an illegal up kick. Then when the action resumed, Sanchez landed an illegal knee to the head of Karakhanyan, who was downed, which resulted in Grice deducting a point for the foul.
“El Matador” bounces back into the win column after dropping a unanimous decision to Daniel Weichel at Bellator 159 this past July. Meanwhile, Karakhanyan has his two-fight win streak snapped in defeat.
In the opening bout of the main card, Derek Campos (18-6) and Derek Anderson (14-3) put on a highly-entertaining and back-and-forth bout. Campos earned a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28. The bout was set at a catchweight of 161 pounds due to Anderson missing weight.
Campos dropped Anderson in the second round with a huge uppercut and landed a timely takedown in the third and proved to be the superior striker over of the course of the three-round fight. Andersen remained game throughout the contest and nearly ended it in the final round after catching Campos in a guillotine attempt, but he couldn’t seal the deal.
Campos has now won three straight fights. Anderson has his two-fight winning streak snapped in defeat.
For complete Bellator 170 “Ortiz vs. Sonnen” results, click here.
