Bellator 113 took place on Friday night at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas and Emanuel Newton became the unified Bellator light heavyweight champion with a split decision victory over Attila Vegh. 
All five rounds would be on the feet and Newton was the more active fighter in all of the rounds. During the opening round, Newton was able to take control of the cage and limit the out of Vegh.
Newton would continue to control the fight in the second round and Vegh’s best round would come during the third round when he landed several significant strikes. After the third round was over, Vegh’s corner told him that he was up three rounds. However, most people felt that Newton won the first and second rounds.
In the championship rounds, Newton began to up his output and continue to land at a solid rate. He was the fighter that was pushing the pace and had to chase after Vegh. In the final five minutes, Newton was fighting like he felt he may be down on the scorecards and was looking for the finish.
The fight would end up going to the scorecards and two of the three judges for the Kansas Athletic Commission scored the fight for Newton (23-7-1). He has now won five fights in a row and his first title defense will come against either Quinton Jackson or Muhammed Lawal, who will meet in the final of the season ten tournament in May.
Pitbull advances with 2nd round knockout
The co-main event featured Kansas own David Rickels, but he was defeated by Patricky Pitbull in the second round by knockout.
During the opening round, the fighters battled on the feet with Rickels landing 43 strikes compared to just 16 by Pitbull. As the round was concluding, Pitbull did get the fight to the ground but Rickels landed more offense off his back that Pitbull landed in top position.
At the start of the second round, Pitbull landed a punch that stunned Rickels and would finish the fight on the mat with strikes. Pitbull (12-5) has now won back to back fights and eight of his career wins have come by TKO/KO.
Campos nearly finishes Welch in second, wins by decision
In the opening bout on the televised main card, Derek Campos nearly finished Tim Welch in the second round and cruised in the third round to win by unanimous decision.
The opening round would be on the feet for nearly all of the round with Campos being the agressor and having Welch on his heels. At the end of the round, Campos scored a takedown to seal the round.
Campos would end up rocking Welch early in the second round and appeared close to a stoppage victory. Welch would be able to survive and made it to the final round. Campos would secure a takedown in the early part of the third round and keep the fight there the entire round.
All three judges would score the fight 30-27 for Campos (14-3) and he has now won five fights in a row.
Held submits Cavalheiro in under two minutes
Season seven lightweight tournament finalist Marcin Held returned to the Bellator tournament on Friday night and needed less than two minutes to submit Rodrigo Cavalheiro.
Once the fight went to the ground, Held immeditately began to look for the toe hold submission. Once he looked in the submission, Cavalheiro would tap out at the 1:56 mark of the opening round.
Held (17-3) now has nine career wins to come by submission and two of his last three wins have come by toe hold submission.
Anderson KO’s Girtz at beginning of second round
The first lightweight tournament opening round bout took place on the preliminary card as Derek Anderson advanced to the semifinals with a knockout at the beginning of the second round.
The fight opened with Girtz scoring an early takedown but Anderson was able to get back to his feet fairly quickly. They would exchange strikes before Girtz closed the distance against the fence and went for a standing kimura submission. Anderson would escape the submission and ended up getting the fight to the ground and keeping it there for the rest of the round.
As the second round opened, Girtz walked right into a right knee that was thrown by Anderson and he immediately fell. He was clearly out and the referee came in before any potential unnecessary strike was thrown. Anderson (11-0, 1NC) is now 2-0 in Bellator and this is his fourth victory to come by TKO/KO.
The complete Bellator 113 Results are below.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Emanuel Newton def. Attila Vegh via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
Patricky Pitbull def. David Rickels via KO (strikes) – Round 2, :54
Marcin Held def. Rodrigo Cavalheiro via submission (toe hold) – Round 1, 1:56
Derek Campos def. Tim Welch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
L.C. Davis def. Tory Bogguess via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:58
Derek Anderson def. Brandon Girtz via KO (knee) – Round 2, :23
Israel Giron def. Cody Carrillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eric Wisely def. Donnie Bell via slit decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Gallemore def. Fredrick Brown via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:34
Bobby Cooper def. Marcio Navarro via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)