Bellator 110 took place on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and the light heavyweight tournament final is set as Rampage Jackson will meet King Mo Lawal.
Jackson defeated Christian M’Pumbu in the main event of the fight card as he stopped him in the final minute of the opening round.
The fight opened with the fighters feeling each other out and Jackson put his hands down trying to get M’Pumbu to engaged. After a clinch battle against the cage, referee John McCarthy would separate them.
Jackson would end up getting the fight to the ground and landed a combination that would knock M’Pumbu out and McCarthy came in to call the fight.
Jackson (34-11) has now won back to back fights in Bellator and both of the victories have come by knockout in the first round.
Lawal advances to second straight tournament final
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal is one fight away from being the sixth fighter in Bellator history to win two tournaments as he defeated Mikhail Zayats in the co-main event of Bellator 110.
In the opening half of the fight, Lawal was able to use effective striking and takedown attempts to take control of the fight. In the second half, the fight would stay on the feet with Lawal staying away from attempting to get the fight to the ground.
All three judges scored all three round for Lawal and he advances to the tournament final and he will meet Jackson.
Bessette wins close decision in front of home town crowd
In what will go down as the most controversial of the four featherweight tournament bouts, Matt Bessette won a controversial split decision over Diego Nunes in his hometown.
Nunes was able to get off to a good start in the fight with effective striking in the opening round but the biggest strike of the fight would come in the second round when Bessette dropped Nunes. He would be unable to get the finish but it took a couple of minutes for Nunes to recover.
In the final round, the two fighters would exchange strikes for the entire round and Nunes connected 12 more times than Bessette. However, two of the three judges scored the fight for Bessette and one of the judges scored all three rounds for him.
Green wins second straight and advances to featherweight semifinal
In the first fight of the main card, Desmond Green was able to score a decision victory over Mike Richman to advance to the semifinals of the featherweight tournament.
In the opening round, Green attempted several takedowns and was able to get the fight to the ground once. When he did get the fight to the ground, Richman was able to limit the damage and get back to his feet.
However, Green would be able to get the fight to the ground early in the second and Richman was unable to get back to his feet. Green would control the entire round and the fight seemed like it was tied heading into the final round.
In the final round, Richman was able to keep the fight on the feet but struggle to land his strikes according to the fight stats on the Bellator app. The fight would go to the scorecards and all three judges had the fight for Green.
Martinez upsets Yamauchi by unanimous decision
In the final fight of the preliminary card, Will Martinez pulled off an upset as he defeated top Bellator prospect Goiti Yamauchi by unanimous decision.
A majority of the opening round would be on the mat with Yamacuhi on his back. Martinez has able to land strikes from the top and avoid the submission attempts by Yamauchi. Martinez would be able to continue to control the fight in the second round as each fighter landed several significant strikes.
In the final five minutes of the fight, Martinez would be able to control the fight and the scorecards would decide the winner. All three judges scored the fight for Martinez 30-27 and he has now won eight in a row.
Weichel claims spot in semifinal with first round submission
The first featherweight tournament bout marked the Bellator debut of Daniel Weichel and he submitted Scott Cleve by rear-naked choke to advance to the semifinals of this tournament.
The fighters opened the fight by exchanging strikes and Weichel would end up landing a right hand that dropped Cleve and he immediately went to work on the ground. He would end up getting the back of Cleve and locked in a rear-naked choke. Cleve would tap out to the submission at the 3:46 mark of the opening round.
Weichel (32-8) has now won four fights in a row and nine of his last ten. During this winning streak, his last four wins have come by submission and three of them have been by rear-naked choke. The defeat for Cleve (14-4) snaps a six fight losing streak and it’s his second career defeat to come by submission.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson def. Christian M’Pumbu via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:34
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal def. Mikhail Zayats via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Matt Bessette def. Diego Nunes via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Desmond Green def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
Will Martinez def. Goiti Yamauchi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Daniel Weichel def. Scott Cleve via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:46
Saul Almeida def. Andrew Fisher via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Egidijus Valavicius def. Atanas Djambazov via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, :48
Ryan Quinn def. Andrew Calandrelli via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Josh Diekman vs. Manny Lara declared a no contest (unintentional eye poke) – Round 1, :18
Marvin Maldonado vs. Rico DiSciullo declared a no contest (illegal strike) – Round 1, 1:53