Ricardo Tirloni was a late replacement into the lightweight tournament and he took full advantage of the opportunity as he defeated Rich Clementi by unanimous decision to advance to the semifinals.
The bout opened with the fighters feel each other out for the first minute. They finally exchange with Clementi coming out of it bloody. The blood started to leak into his eyes and Clementi continued to put his hands down and taunt Tirloni. Out of no where Clementi lands an axe kick that didn’t have much on it. Tirloni was patient, picking his spots and using superior boxing during the opening round.
The second round opened with Tirloni landing a solid knee to the body. He following it up with clean combinations, which flustered Clementi; who fires back with combinations of his own. With ten seconds left, Clementi shoots a duck and and takes Tirloni’s back for a brief moment as the round came to an end.
In the final round, Clementi continued to pressure Tirloni, landing a spinning back fist to Tirloni’s chin. Realizing he is no longer winning the striking, Tirloni manages to get Clementi to the ground. Clementi started going to work, throwing up rubber guard and threatening with submissions. With 40 seconds left Clementi sweeped and got back to his feet.
Tirloni (16-4) won the fight on all three of the judges scorecards and the victory snapped a two fight losing streak. The victory secures his spot in the semifinals and this will be the second time he has made it to the Bellator lightweight tournament semifinal round.
Bellator 101 Results:
Ricardo Tirloni def. Rich Clementi via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Will Brooks def. John Alessio via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-25)
Saad Awad def. Martin Stapleton via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:46
Nathan Coy def. Andy Uhrich via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marcin Held def. Ryan Healy via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:12
Dave Vitkay def. Tyson Jefferies via sub (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:07
Brent Primus def. Scott Thometz via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:48
Austin Springer def. Zach Skinner via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)
Peter Aspinwall def. Jeremiah Riggs via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)