This past Friday saw Bellator and the World Series of Fighting both present their latest events, with the Bellator 136 card and WSOF 20 events providing some marquee fights.
For Bellator, Will Brooks retained his lightweight belt with a unanimous decision over Dave Jansen. Brooks entered the fight a favorite at the sport books and he dominiated the action throughout the five round bout, with Jansen perhaps winning one round. Marcin Held of Poland was a slight underdog but rose to the occasion and knee barred Alexander Samavskiy in the third round.
The win likely gives Held the next shot at Brooks and the lightweight belt, as Held has now won six in a row and holds an outstanding 21-3 record. Held was Poland’s most talented MMA athlete competing this past weekend, despite the UFC’s presence in his homeland.
Also making his case for a lightweight title shot was Saad Awad. Awad beat the United Kingdom’s Rob Sinclair via unanimous decision, and he is the only person to have ever defeated the champion Brooks.
Making a return to Bellator amidst much hype was kickboxer Joe Schilling, who defeated the feared Melvin Manhoef in his Bellator debut. In this particular case, he was out-gunned by Brazil’s Rafael Carvalho, who took him the distance and won the second and third rounds.
At the WSOF, light heavyweight David Branch made short work of Jesse McElligott, submitting him in the early going of the second round. Branch overcame a late opponent change to come through and advance to the finals of the Light Heavyweight title tournament, where he now faces Teddy Holder. Should Branch win the tournament it would give him the light heavyweight and middleweight titles at the WSOF and it would be a sign that he may be ready to compete with anyone in the world.
Not living up to the hype was “Phoenix Jones” aka Ben Fodor. Fodor was aggressive throughout, but opponent Emmanuel Walo exposed wrestling as the gaping hole in Fodor’s game, taking him down throughout the fight. Amateur wrestling stud Steve Mocco made short work of Brazil’s Juliano Coutinho, who faded fast when he got hit and offered little resistance leading up to the stoppage.
The World Series of Fighting 21 is scheduled for June 5 in Alberta, Canada and is headlined by Yushin Okami. Bellator 137 is set for May 15 and features the first title defense for middleweight champion Brendan Halsey as he faces UFC veteran Kendall Grove.
