Bellator 114 took place on Friday night at the Maverik Center in West Valley Center, Utah and Alexander Shlemenko retained the Bellator middleweight title with a second round guillotine choke submission over Brennan Ward.
In the opening round, the fighters exchange strikes before Ward was able to get the back of Shlemenko. After a lack of action, referee John McCarthy separted the fighters but Ward be able to get the fight back to the ground.
Once on the ground, he got on the back of Shlemenko again and began to look for a rear-naked choke. He would be unable to secure a submission and the round would come to an end.
As the second round opened, they started to have a back and fourth striking battle before Shlemenko went for a guillotine choke and Ward would immediately tap out to the submission.
Shlemenko (50-7) now has the most wins in Bellator history with twelve and he becomes only the second Bellator champion in history to make at least three successful title defense.
Weichel wins fifth straight, advances to tournament final
Daniel Weichel continued his winning streak on Friday night as he defeated Matt Bessette for his fifth straight victory.
Weichel was able to get the fight to the ground early in the fight and would keep it there for a majority of the round. Bessette would get back to his feet with one minute left in the round and the fight moved into the second round.
The best round for Bessette would come in the second as he was able to keep the fight on the feet and score with his punches. However, Weichel would get the fight to the ground in the final round and Bessette was unable to get back to his feet. All three judges would score the fight for Weichel (33-8) and he has won ten of his last eleven fights.
Green advances to tournament final with decision victory
Desmond Green secured his spot in the season ten featherweight tournament final as he defeated Will Martinez by unanimous decision.
Green was able to score early with his takedowns as he scored three of his five takedowns in the opening round. He would continue to control the fight in the second round as he used the aggressive style of Martinez to take the fight to the ground and keep it there.
In the final five minutes, Martinez attempted to get Green to exchange in a striking battle but Green would stay away from any wild exchanges and would win the fight on the scorecards. Green (12-2) has now won three of his four fights in Bellator and both of his wins in this tournament have come by unanimous decision.
Cooper advances to middleweight final
The opening bout of the main card was the first middleweight tournament semifinal as Brett Cooper scored a come from behind victory as he knocked out Kendall Grove in the second round.
Grove had a tremendous opening round as he got the fight to the ground and got on the back of Cooper. He would attempt a rear-naked choke three times, but Cooper would defend the attempts. As the opening round came to an end, Grove nearly scored a stoppage but Cooper made it to the bell.
In the second round, the fight would stay on the feet and Cooper would land a right hand that dropped Grove. He would land multiple strikes on the ground before referee John McCarthy came in to stop the fight. Cooper (20-9) advances to the middleweight tournament final and will have to wait one week to see who he faces as Dan Cramer meets Jeremy Kimball next week at Bellator 115.
The complete Bellator 114 results are below.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brennan Ward via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:22
Daniel Weichel def. Matt Bessette via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Desmond Green def. Will Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Brett Cooper def. Kendall Grove via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:33
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
Rad Martinez def. Edson Berto via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Justin Wilcox def. Jason Fischer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bubba Jenkins def. Sean Powers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Linton Vassell def. Trevor Carlson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:54
Gavin Sterritt def. Mike Estus via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:29
Joe Rodriguez def. Eric Wahlin via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:06