The seventh season of the Bellator Fighting Championships continues tonight with Bellator 78 from The Nutter Center at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
The main card on MTV2 and in commercial free high definition on EPIX2 will start at 8 p.m. ET and live results and play by play will be available on TheMMAReport.com.
To discuss the fights, use the comments section below and follow Jason Floyd (@jason_floyd) and on Twitter for more details on this Bellator fight card.
Dave Blattman vs. Justin McNally
Round 1 – McNally came out early pressing the action and the fight would end up going to the ground. Blattman would be the person in top position, but McNally began to look for a submission on his back. He would lock in a triangle choke and Blattman went to sleep. Once the referee noticed that Blattman was out, he came in to stop the fight at the 38 second mark of the opening round.
Result: Justin McNally def. Dave Blattman via technical submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, :38
Rocky Edwards vs. Rob Hanna
Round 1 – Hanna took control of the cage in the opening moments of the fight and immediately looked for a takedown. The fighters would grapple against the cage and Edwards was able to thrown Hanna to the mat. Hanna would be able to transition and get on the back of his opponent. Edwards would be able to defend the submission attempts and Edwards would end up transition to his opponents back and look for a kimura submission. Edwards would then look for an armbar, but Edwards would defend the hold and end up in top position. The fighters would continue to grapple near the cage and Edwards would get the back of Hanna and lock in a body triangle and looked for a rear-naked choke. The round would end before he could potentially end the fight.
Round 2 – The fighters opened the round by trading jabs and Hanna looked for a takedown against the cage. He would end up getting the takedown and landed in top position. Edwards would be able to get out of the position and once again got the back of his opponent. He was about to lock his legs around the body of his opponent and looked for a choke. Hanna was able to escape out of the back door. Hanna stepped away and the action returned to the feet. Hanna would once again go for a takedown against the cage and Edwards looked for a standing guillotine with his back against the cage. Hanna would end up taking the fight to the ground and Hanna would end in top position as the round ended.
Round 3 – Hanna would once again come out and look for a takedown against the cage and would eventually get the takedown. While on his back, Edwards continued to look for submissions. Hanna would end up taking the back of Edwards and looked for various submissions. The action would return to the feet and Hanna would look for a takedown once again. He looked to take the fight to the ground with a single leg, which he would achieve. Hanna would end up getting in the full mount position in the last 30 seconds in the round, but he was unable to do much damage as the round ended.
Result: Rob Hanna def. Rocky Edwards via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jared Combs vs. Mikkel Parlo
Round 1 – The fighters felt each other out for the first minute of the fight and Combs would land a right hand that would drop Parlo for a moment. He would immediately get back to his feet and the fighters continued the circle around each other. Parlo then landed several strikes that had Combs on his heels and in survival mode. Combs looked to use his wrestling to keep himself in the fight. The fighters would grapple against the cage and Parlo was able to escape and the action returned to the middle of the cage. Once again, Parlo would landed several combinations that dropped Combs and the referee came in to stop the fight at the 3:51 mark of the round.
Result: Mikkel Parlo def. Jared Combs via TKO (strikes) -Round 1, 3:51
Billy Horne vs. Trey Houston
Round 1 – Both fighters cam out aggressive with Horne getting the best of the action. With the fighters beginning to grapple, Horne would take the fight to the ground and worked his ground game from side control. He would end up transitioning to top position and transitioned to half guard in attempt to achieve full mount. Houston would be able to get off his back and the action returned to the standing position. Horne would end up taking the fight back to the ground and achieve full mount. He began to throw several punches and Houston answered back with his own punches. Horne would end up getting the back of Houston and locked in a rear-naked choke and gets the victory.
Result: Billy Horne def. Trey Houston via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:30
Shaun Asher vs. Jason Butcher
Round 1 – Butcher went for a high kick in the opening moments of the round and the kick would miss. Asher went for a takedown and Butcher went for a standing guillotine choke. Asher would look to slam his opponent to have him release the choke hold, however Butcher was able to maintain the choke after the slam. Asher looked to escape the submission, but Butcher was able to put more pressure on the neck and Asher would have to submit.
Result: Jason Butcher def. Shaun Asher via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:32
Zoila Gurgel vs. Casey Noland
Round 1 – Gurgel was able to gain control of the cage as the fight opened and the fighters would grapple against the cage. Gurgel would be able to take the fight to the ground. Noland would be able to transition to attempt a leg lock, but was unable to do anything with the submission. When she let up the position, she went into top position on the ground. Noland would move to side control and Gurgel would get off her back. She would work her ground game, but the fighters came back to their feet. Noland would control the action for the rest of the round with kicks and punches.
Round 2 – As the round opened, they grappled against the cage with Gurgel’s back against the cage. Noland was unable to get a takedown, but landed multiple knees in the clinch. Once again, they would grapple against the cage and Gurgel would take the fight to the ground and nearly landed in full mount. She started in half guard and looking to improve her position. The fighters would end up getting back to their feet, which Gurgel looked for a guillotine choke and quickly transitioned to get the back of her opponent. After being unable to get a submission, Gurgel landed in top position. She began to look for a kimura submission hold but Noland was able to escape the hold. The round would end with the fighters grappling against the cage.
Round 3 – As the final round started, Noland would once again look for a takedown against the cage. Gurgel would be able to get her back off the fence and get back to the center of the cage. The fighters would once again grapple near the cage with Noland landing knees to the body. Gurgel would end up landing several elbows which the fight went to the ground and Gurgel opened up a cut on the forehead of Norland. Norland would get back to her feet in the last moments of the round and the judges will decide the winner.
Result: Zoila Gurgel def. Casey Noland via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dominique Steele vs. Brian Rogers
Round 1 – Both fighters came out swinging with Rogers getting the early advantage in the fight. Rogers would land a right land that nearly dropped Steele. The fighters continued to stand in the middle of the cage and use their jab to create distance. Steele looked to take the fight to the ground, but he was unable to achieve the takedown. Rogers would land a combination near the end of the round and the fight would go to the second round.
Round 2 – Rogers would continue to get the better of the strikes in the opening minute of the round and Steele looked for a takedown after Rogers landed a combination. Rogers would be able to break away from the takedown attempt and move back to the center of the cage. They would continue to strike in the center of the cage throughout the rest of the round with neither fighter doing much damage.
Round 3 – Steele would look for another takedown in the first minute of the round, but once again Rogers would stop the attempt. Rogers would end up landing multiple shots that knocked the mouthpiece out of Steele’s mouth but the fight would continue. In the final moments of the round, Steele took the action against the cage and landed a short elbow and several strikes before the final bell.
Result: Brian Rogers def. Dominique Steele via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alvin Robinson vs. Daniel Straus
Round 1 – Straus immediately looked for a takedown as the round opened and Robinson looked for a guillotine choke. Straus would work his way out of the submission hold and would transition to get the back of his opponent for a moment. Straus looked for an armbar submission, but could not finish the submission. Robinson would end up in top position and transition to the back of Straus. The fighters would make it back to their feet and grapple against the cage. Straus would end up taking the fight to the ground and maintain side control. In this position, he landed several short elbows and looked to advance his position. The round would end with Straus having a guillotine choke locked in but Robinson would make it to the bell.
Round 2 – Straus would be able to get a takedown early in the second round. Straus looked for a guillotine choke and ended up giving up the hold and looked to advance position. Straus continued to dominate the fight on the ground and advanced to side control. He would then landed several right hands and got the back of his opponent and slammed him. After the slam, Straus locked in a rear-naked choke but Robinson would survive this attempt. Straus would continue to look for the rear-naked choke and would get the submission victory with nine seconds left in the round.
Result: Daniel Straus def. Alvin Robinson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:51
Andrey Koreshkov vs. Marius Zaromskis
Round 1 – Koreshkov opened up with a left hand, which force Zaromskis to back of his aggressive stance. Koreshkov looked for a spinning back kick, but the kick missed. He would get back to his feet and they would continue to circle around each other. Koreshkov landed a left hand that dropped Zaromskis and landed multiple spots before the referee came in to stop the fight.
Result: Andrey Koreshkov def. Marius Zaromskis via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:14
Michail Tsarev vs. Lyman Good
Round 1 – Good immediately started the fight with a takedown and landed in side control. Good would be able to transition into top position and began to work his ground and pound. He would then get in the half guard position and pounded away at the body of Tsarev. He would continue to work his ground game until the end of the round.
Round 2 – After struggling on the ground in the first round, Tsarev elected to strike with Good at the start of the round. After striking for nearly the first three minutes of the round, Good went for the takedown, which was successful. While on the ground, Good would start in side control and would then stand above Tsarev before the referee stood Tsarev up. While standing up, Tsarev complained that he was poked in the eye but the referee did not see the poke. Good went straight after his opponent and finished the fight with strikes.
Result: Lyman Good def. Michail Tsarev via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:54