Bellator 116 took place on Friday night at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California and Blagoi Ivanov advanced to the heavyweight tournament with a submission victory over Lavar Johnson in the main event.
Ivanov was able to close the distance earlier and get the fight to the ground. He would end up going for a foot lock, but Johnson would be able to escape from the submission. Once again, Ivanov would close the distance and get another takedown.
With the fight back on the ground, Ivanov went for an americana submission and Johnson would eventually tap out to the submission. Ivanov (11-0) now has six wins as a Bellator and this is the second most wins in Bellator heavyweight division history
Beltran scores second career submission victory
The co-main event was a light heavyweight bout as Joey Beltran submitted Vladimir Matyushenko in the third round with a north-south choke.
The first and second round would be on the feet with the fighters exchanging strikes. Matyushenko would throw more than 200 strikes in the first two rounds, but was landing less than 30 percent of those strikes.
As the final round opened, Beltran seemed to have urgency and was looking to score a finish. After a striking exchange, Beltran would take the fight to the ground and immediately went for the north-south choke. After the hold was locked in, Matyushenko tapped out at the 3:06 mark of the final round.
The win for Beltran (15-10, 1NC) snaps a four fight winless streak and this is his second career submission victory. For Matyushenko (27-8), this was his retirement fight and this is only his second career defeat by submission.
McDonough punches his ticket to the welterweight final
The first semifinal in the season ten welterweight tournament took place on this card as Adam McDonough remained undefeated as he knocked out Nathan Coy in the second round.
As the fight opened, Coy made it known that his gameplan was to take the fight to the ground. McDonough was able to get back to his feet and landed a counter left that stunned Coy, who responded by taking the fight to the ground. McDonough would once again work back to his feet and clipped Coy with an uppercut.
McDonough went for the finish and it appeared that Coy may have went out for a second. However, Coy would recover and make it out of the opening round. As the next round started, McDonough would land a punch that clearly rocked Coy and dropped him with a left hand. Before McDonough could land anything else, the referee came in to stop the fight.
With this victory, McDonough (11-0) advances to the welterweight tournament final and he will wait three weeks to find out who he will meet in the final as Andrey Koreshkov meets Sam Oropeza at Bellator 118.
Volkov head kicks his way into tournament final
The opening bout of the card was the first heavyweight tournament semifinal as former champion Alexander Volkov kicked his way into the tournament final with a knockout over Mighty Mo Siliga.
The fight opened with Siliga closing the distance and looking to take the fight to the mat. Volkov would be able to stop the takedown attempt and landed several short strikes in the clinch. After a lack of action, referee John McCarthy separated the fighters and after the separation, Volkov landed a head kick that finished the fight. Volkov (21-4) now has twelve first round victories by TKO/KO and he is now 5-1 in Bellator.
The complete Bellator 116 results are below.
Main Card: (Spike TV)
Blagoi Ivanov def. Lavar Johnson via submission (americana) – Round 1, 4:08
Joey Beltran def. Vladimir Matyushenko via submission (north-south choke) – Round 3, 3:06
Adam McDonough def. Nathan Coy via KO (punch) – Round 2, :30
Alexander Volkov def. Mighty Mo Siliga via KO (head kick) – Round 1, 2:44
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com)
Dave Vitkay def. Keith Berry via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Poppies Martinez def. Josh Smith via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:50
Brandon Bender def. Mario Navarro via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:15
Brandon Halsey def. Joe Pacheco via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Karo Parisyan def. Ron Keslar via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:05
Rob Emerson def. Joe Taimanglo via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ricky Rainey def. Andy Murad via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:11
Philipe Lins def. Travis Clark via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, :40
Rodney Wallace def. Carlos Eduardo via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)