Bellator 109 took place on Friday night at the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Alexander Shlemenko made his second successful middleweight title defense as he defeated Doug Marshall by knockout in the first round.
As the fight started, Shlemenko was able to get the fight to the ground but Marshall was able to quickly get back to his feet. Marshall would escape from the clinch of Shlemenko and would stop the next takedown attempt by Shlemenko.
Marshall began to load up his strikes looking for a potential knockout blow and he would land a significant strike.
However, Shlemenko countered with a body shot that hurt Marshall. He would be able to survive the first body shot, but Shlemenko would land another body shot moments later and referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight as Marshall went down.
Shlemenko (49-7) has now won twelve in a row and has ten wins inside the Bellator cage as a middleweight, which is a Bellator record. His next title defense will come in season eleven and he will be challenged by season nine tournament winner Brennan Ward.
Hawn wins second Bellator tournament with knockout against Keslar
Rick Hawn became the third fighter in Bellator history to win a Bellator tournament in two different weight classes as he defeated Ron Keslar by knockout in the third round.
Keslar was able to get off to a good start in the fight as he was able to use strikes to get the fight to the ground. He appeared to have Hawn hurt and went in for the finish. Hawn would be able to survive and get back to his feet. With the fight back on the feet, Hawn began to get back into the fight by landing his jab.
Hawn would be able to carry his momentum into the second round as he landed his jab throughout the round. Keslar attempted to get the fight to the ground, but Hawn was able to stop the attempt and land his jab.
As the final round opened, Keslar closed the distance and got into the clinch. However, he would take several short strikes and Keslar was stunned. Hawn would break away and continue to land significant strikes. As Keslar was attempting to recover, he was backing up and Hawn landed a right hand that dropped him. As Keslar was falling to the mat, referee Dan Miragliotta came in to call the fight.
Hawn (18-2) joins Pat Curran and Joe Warren as the only fighters to win a Bellator tournament in two different weight classes. He will now face season eight tournament winner Douglas Lima for the now vacant Bellator welterweight title in 2014.
Brooks wins lightweight tournament
Will Brooks won the season nine lightweight tournament with a dominating unanimous decision victory over Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy.
As the fight open, Brooks exchanged punches with Sarnavskiy before going into the clinch against the fence. He would be able to secure a takedown but Sarnavskiy worked back to his feet. However, Brooks immediately took the fight back to the ground and landed several short elbows before the round came to an end.
He would continue to control the fight in the second round as he landed a head kick to set up another takedown. He would be able to keep the fight on the ground for the majority of the round as Tiger struggled to mount much offense.
The best round for Brooks would come in the final round as he had a striking edge of 49-1 in the third round. Just like the second round, Brooks used a head kick to set up a takedown. He would dominate Sarnavskiy in top position and opened up a cut on Sarnavskiy and ended up getting his back. He went for a rear-naked choke, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The round would come to an end with Brooks landing strikes while he was on the back of Sarnavskiy.
All three judges scored the fight for Brooks (13-1), who secures his title shot in the Bellator lightweight division. He will now get in line for his title shot as current champion Eddie Alvarez will have his trilogy bout with Michael Chandler and season seven tournament winner Dave Jansen is also waiting for his title shot.
Etim wins Bellator debut by unanimous decision
Former UFC fighter Terry Etim made his Bellator debut in the opening bout of the Bellator 109 card as he defeated Patrick Cenoble by unanimous decision.
Etim was able to get the fight to the ground in the opening round and was able to immediately pass to the full mount position. Cenoble would give up his back and Etim went for a rear-naked choke. He was able to survive the various submission attempts by Etim and make it to the second round.
At the beginning of the second round, Cenoble missed a right uppercut and Etim capitalized on the miss strike by taking the fight to the ground. Once on the ground, he passed to side control but referee Keith Peterson would stand the fighters up after a lack of action. The fight would end up back on the ground as Etim landed a head kick followed by a takedown. Etim would have side control but Cenoble was able to get back to his feet with 20 seconds left in the round.
Etim would continue to control the fight in the final round as he secured a takedown in the first 40 seconds of the round. He would end up getting the back of Cenoble and went for a rear-naked choke. Cenoble would survive the submission attempt. He would reverse the position with 30 seconds left in the fight, but was unable to land anything significant before the final bell sounded.
All three judges scored the fight for Etim (16-5) and this victory snaps a two fight losing streak for Etim. This is his first decision victory for Etim since 2008 and he will likely be a tournament participant in season ten.
The complete Bellator 109: Shlemenko vs. Marshall results are below.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Alexander Shlemenko def. Doug Marshall via KO (punch) – Round 1, 4:28
Rick Hawn def. Ron Keslar via KO (punch) – Round 3, :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)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
Mike Bannon def. Ahsan Abdullah 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 KO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:04
Bubba Jenkins def. Ian Rammel via TKO (strikes) – 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