Pat Curran made his second Bellator featherweight title defense and he retained the title with a first round submission over Shahbulat Shamhalaev.
The fight opened with each fighter circling around each other and Curran would look to take the fight to the ground as he went for a guillotine choke. He would lock the choke in and referee Keith Peterson stopped the fight when Shamhalaev appeared to go to sleep.
Curran (19-5) has now won six in a row and this is his sixth career win by submission. His next title defense will take place later this year when he is expected to meet season six tournament winner Daniel Straus. This is the second career defeat for Shamhalaev and his first defeat inside the Bellator cage.
Khasbulaev wins featherweight tournament with decision win
Frodo Khasbulaev won the season eight featherweight tournament with a decision victory over Mike Richman as all three judges scoring the fight gave all three rounds to Khasbulaev.
Khasbulaev and Richman would strike with each other for all three rounds with Khasbulaev being the higher volume striker. Khasbulaev landed 102 total strikes to 63 landed by Richman.
Richman’s best round came in the second round as he was patient with his strikes and Khasbulaev appeared to be slowing down. In the final round, Khasbulaev was able to get the fight to the ground and landed several key punches as he was standing over Richman.
Khasbulaev (21-5) will now wait for his chance at the featherweight title as season six tournament winner Daniel Straus is the next fighter scheduled to get a title shot.
Marshall wins the middleweight tournament by knockout
Earlier this season, Doug Marshall stated he comes to the cage to knockout his opponent and that is what he did on Thursday night in Atlantic City. Marshall was able to knockout Brett Cooper at the 3:39 mark of the opening round to win the season eight middleweight tournament.
Cooper (19-8) was able to take the fight to the ground in the opening 30 seconds of the fight and began to work his ground attack. Marshall would work his way back to his feet and would land a right hand that dropped Cooper and landed one more punch before referee Bill Bookwalter came in to stop the fight.
With this victory, Marshall (18-6) wins $100,000 and will face Alexander Shlemenko for the Bellator middleweight title.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Pat Curran def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:38
Frodo Khasbulaev def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Doug Marshall def. Brett Cooper via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:39
Rick Hawn def. Karo Parisyan via KO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:55
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
Lyman Good def. Dante Rivera via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Sam Oropeza def. Shedrick Goodridge via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:22
Tom DeBlass def. Carlos Brooks via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
Phillipe Nover def. Darrell Horcher via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Jimmie Rivera def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Will Martinez def. Michael Hass via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:15
Kevin Roddy def. Brylan Van Artsalen via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:04
Liam McGeary def. Anton Talamantes via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:18