Bellator’s massive pay-per-view event happened this past weekend. It was the promotions first time in Madison Square Garden, and it certainly delivered. The night had no shortage of talking points. Let’s go over the Bellator NYC results and hit some of these talking points:
Bellator NYC Results
Chael Sonnen outpoints Wanderlei Silva
The main event featured a grudge match between “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva. These two have had a violent past with one another, including getting in a brawl on set of The Ultimate Fighter. They finally met at Bellator NYC, and Sonnen took home the win.
Even though both fighters are much past their prime, they didn’t look too bad. Sonnen did what he does best and that’s shoot double legs, and beat his opponent up from top position. Meanwhile, Silva did wha he does best and that’s find moments to flurry with big punching combinations. Silva dropped Sonnen in the first round, but couldn’t finish. A large portion of the fight was spent with Sonnen on top, landing shots and attempting submissions on an immobilized Silva.
I don’t think this is the end for Silva, and definitely not the end for Sonnen. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they rematched a year down the road.
Matt Mitrione KOs Fedor Emelianenko
MMA royalty Fedor Emelianenko once again displayed the negative effects of a long and brutal career. After several moments of feeling each other out, the two heavyweights collided on right hands. Both fell to the ground, but Mitrione recovered quicker and pounded Fedor into unconsciousness.
This is a big win for Mitrione who is now 3-0 under the Bellator. I expect he’ll contend for the heavyweight title next. At this point though, I’m pretty in favor of Fedor calling it quits. I’m sure he wants to end on a high note, but the damage he has sustained throughout his career is serious. I guess a fight with Chael Sonnen makes the most sense. He doesn’t have to worry about KO’d by a ruthless heavyweight. We also might see some of Fedor’s grappling which he has basically abandoned recently. I could see this headlining Bellator’s next pay-per-view event.
Brent Primus injures Michael Chandler
Bellator has a new lightweight champion and his name is Brent Primus. He was a massive underdog going up against one of Bellator’s finest fighters. In fact, some say Chandler is Bellator’s best. Nevertheless, a series of low kicks to the calf/ankle (not the thigh like typical low kicks) caused Chandler to have complications with his ankle. Even though it looked like Chandler was winning the fight (badly hurting Primus at one point), the fight was ruled a TKO after the doctors were brought in.
It’s an unforunate ruling to what would have been a fantastic fight. I really hope Bellator books an immediate rematch. After all, Chandler is one of their biggest posterboys, so having him regain his title would be huge.
Zach Freeman upsets and starches Aaron Pico
Bluechip prospect Aaron Pico fell short on his MMA debut. Pico had all the hype in the world surrounding him coming into the fight. He almost made the US olympic team in boxing, and is a national champion freestyle wrestler. However, a knee and an uppercut from Zach Freeman was all he needed to drop Pico and submit him with a d’arce choke. This all happened in the first few sequences of the fight.
This is big for Freeman, but the big moral of this story is to not rush someone into the spotlight – no matter how talented Pico is. I’m sure we’ll see Pico back in the Bellator Cage, and hopefully against a less experienced fighter.
Douglas Lima defeats Lorenz Larkin
Larkin’s Bellator debut had big intention behind it. After a successful streak in the UFC, he was given the chance to contend for the Bellator welterweight title. Unfortunately, he didn’t pull it off as Douglas Lima shut him down after 5 rounds. It was a back-and-forth fight, but Lima was able to out-strike and out-point Larkin in the end.
This was a big statement as far as the Bellator vs UFC theme is concerned. Larkin was a top 5 fighter, but Lima can probably comfortably claim he is a top 5 welterweight in the world. The next fight to book is Lima vs Rory MacDonald for the welterweight title. That might be one of Bellator’s best fights to book after these Bellator NYC results.
Ryan Bader defeats Phil Davis
Bellator NYC results turned in a new light-heavyweight champion. Coming over from the UFC, Ryan Bader made it 2-0 against Phil Davis. Ironically, Davis also came from the UFC and quickly became Bellator’s light-heavyweight champion. Unfortunately, this fight was just as boring as the first one. Both fighers just seemed unable to do much to eachother. This fight headlined Bellator NYC’s prelims (Bellator 180) live on Spike TV. Let’s hope Bader and Davis never fight eachother again!
