Bellator 94 took place on Thursday night at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida and Emanuel Newton won the season eight lightweight tournament with a decision win over Mikhail Zayats.
Newton was able to use his striking along with his takedowns to secure the victory on the judges scorecards as he won two of the three rounds on all of the judges scorecards.
In the opening round, Newton was able to land more strikes with a 32-14 advantage and likely took the opening round. The next round would be razor close as neither fighter was able to create much offense.
In the final round, Newton was able drop Zayats and immediately looked for a choke. However, Zayats would escape and get back to his feet. In the final ten seconds of the round, Newton was able to get a takedown to secure the victory.
With the victory, Newton earns a light heavyweight title shot against Attila Vegh, which will be a rematch of their 2012 tournament semifinal bout.
Rickels win lightweight tournament at end of second round
David Rickels won the lightweight tournament on Thursday night with a controversial TKO victory at the end of the second round.
Awad was able to control the fight with his strikes and his wrestling. In the opening round, he was able to keep Rickels on his back and use his ground strikes to control the action.
He was able to continue to control the fight in the second round until the final ten seconds of the round. At this point, Rickels and Awad began to brawl against the fence and Rickels landed a combination that dropped Awad as the bell sounded.
After the bell sounded, Awad laid on the mat and referee Troy Waugh decided to call the fight. With the victory, Rickels wins $100,000 and a guaranteed lightweight title shot.
Melo and Lima secure spots in upcoming tournaments
The Bellator 94 main card saw two tournament qualifers as Luis Melo secured a spot in the next welterweight tournament and Rodrigo Lima qualified for the next bantamweight tournament.
Melo (29-11) won his sixth straight fight as he defeated Trey Houston by arm triangle choke in the second round. He was able to control the fight from the opening bell with his strikes as he had a 142-55 advantage in total strikes.
Houston did have an opportunity to finish the fight in the second round when he had a rear-naked choke locked in on Melo. However, Houston would not be able to finish the fight as Melo escaped. After he escaped, Melo was able to get back to his feet and then would take the fight to the ground.
Once on the ground, he used his ground strikes to set up the arm triangle choke and Houston tapped out. Melo secures a spot in the next welterweight tournament, which is likely to take place in the fall during season nine.
In the opening bout of the night, Rodrigo Lima was able to secure a spot in the Summer Series bantamweight tournament with a decision victory over Ronnie Mann.
Lima (11-1) was able to his his jab to keep Mann away and controlled all three rounds to get the unanimous decision victory. He won all three rounds on the judges scorecards and out landed Mann 94-34.
Main Card:
Emanuel Newton def. Mikhail Zayats via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
David Rickels def. Saad Awad via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 5:00
Luis Melo def. Trey Houston via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 3, 1:09
Rodrigo Lima def. Ronnie Mann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card:
Julien Williams def. Kenny Moss via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:19
Augusto Sakai def. Rob Horton via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:01
Jessica Aguilar def. Patricia Vidonic via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Joe Taimanglo def. Ronnie Rogers via submission (north-south choke) – Round 2, :33
Edson Berto def. Bruno Carvalho via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:27
Patrick Cenoble vs. Tony Fryklund declared a draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28)
Felice Herrig def. Heather Clark via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)