Bellator 115 took place on Friday night at the Reno Events Center and Vitaly Minakov retained the Bellator heavyweight title with a decision victory over Cheick Kongo.
Minakov started off the fight by pushing forward but would land an illegal groin strike early in the round that would pause the fight. He would end up landing another illegal groin strike later in the round and referee Herb Dean would deduct a point.
After the point was deducted, Minakov would drop Kongo and went for a leg lock submission. He would be unable to get the submission and the fight moved into the second round.
Kongo would get off to a good start in the second round by getting the fight to the ground. Minakov would work his way up and after a brief exchange of strikes, Kongo complained that he was hit in the groin. However, Dean said it was a legal strike and after an odd sequence the fight would continue.
Minakov would secure a takedown and ended up in the mount position. He would eventually end up on the back of Kongo, but was unable to get a finish before the round came to an end. As the third round opened, Minakov would once again take the fight to the ground and keep it there for the entire round.
The fight would then move into the championship rounds where Kongo had his best round by securing a takedown early in the fourth round. Just like how Minakov kept the fight on the ground in the third, Kongo was able to do that in the fourth round. However, Minakov would control the final five minutes of the fight as he scored a takedown early in the round and worked his way to a victory.
All three judges scored the fight 48-46 for Minakov (14-0), who now has the second most wins in Bellator heavyweight history with five. He joins Cole Konrad as the only heavyweight champions in Bellator history to make a successful title defense.
Terrado and Baesman battle to a majority draw
The co-main event of the fight card was a battle of former welterweight tournament competitors as Herman Terrado and Justin Baesman battled to a draw.
During the opening five minutes, Terrado was able to close the distance and have the type of fight he wanted. He was able to control the fight in the clinch and get the fight to the ground. As the round was concluding, Baesman was able to reverse the position and end the round in top position.
The second round would be all for Baesman as Terrado began to gas out and Baesman outlander him 62-4 in the round. During the final minute of the round, Baesman was raining down punches but referee Jason Herzog would not stop the fight and Terrado made it out of the round.
In the final round, Terrado was able to take control of the fight back and nearly scored an arm bar submission victory but Baesman would escape. The fight would end up going to the scorecards were the first judge scored the fight for Terrado, but the other two judges had the fight a draw.
Anundson submits previously unbeaten Oezdemir
In the only light heavyweight bout on the fight card, Kelly Anundson pulled off an upset as he submitted previously unbeaten and one of the best Bellator light heavyweight prospects Volkan Oezdemir.
Anundson would use his wrestling background to score nine takedowns in the fight and seven of those came in the first round. He would control the entire opening round and shut down the offensive striking game of Oezdemir. Anundson would get the fight back to the ground early in the second and ended up getting the back of Oezdemir and would submit him with a cross face crank.
Anundson (7-2) has now won five of his seven fights by submission and he has won four in a row, with three of the wins coming by submission.
Parlo uses ground game to easily win by decision
The opening fight of the main card was a catchweight bout of 195 pounds as former middleweight tournament finalist Mikkel Parlo used his ground game to score a decision victory over Bellator newcomer Johnny Cisneros.
Right from the start, Parlo closed the distance and took the fight to the ground. It would be one of four takedown attempts in the fight and Cisneros struggled to get back to his feet during the second and third round. Parlo would look for a rear-naked choke submission in the second round and ended up transitioning to the mount position to look for the victory. Cisneros would survive the position and make it to the end of the round.
Parlo would continue to control the fight in the final round as he got the fight to the ground and Cisneros would be unable to get up. The fight would go to the scorecards and all three judges had the fight 30-27 for Parlo (12-2), who is now 4-2 in Bellator.
The complete Bellator 115 results are below.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Vitaly Minakov def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)
Herman Terrado vs. Justin Baesman declared a majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Kelly Anundson def. Volkan Oezdemir via submission (cross face crank) – Round 2, 3:19
Mikkel Parlo def. Johnny Cisneros via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
Rudy Morales def. Jimmy Jones via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Rick Reeves def. James Terry via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Freddie Aquitania def. Josh Appelt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sinjen Smith def. Jason Powell via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:52
Benito Lopez def. Oscar Ramirez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)