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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
BELLATOR 141
AUGUST 28, 2015
LIVE FROM TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA
Melvin Guillard makes his Bellator debut tonight on Spike, taking on Brandon Girtz on the four-fight televised main card. We'll have live round by round coverage tonight of those televised bouts, so tune in here to follow along as the card kicks off at 9PM ET!
-We're getting a change to tonight's main card, as an injury to heavyweight Lorenzo Hood has led Bellator to shift Marloes Coenen's bout with Arlene Blencowe to the televised main card. They're in the cage as Sean Grande and Jimmy Smith welcome the audience to the event.
FIGHT ONE: MARLOES COENEN VS. ARLENE BLENCOWE (WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Coenen came forward with some strikes but got hit with a few herself. After a brief clinch, Coenen shot in and scored an easy takedown into side control. Blencowe tried to scramble, but Coenen held her down. She snuck around and took Blencowe's back, getting both hooks in and trying to attack for an arm initially. She locked on a body triangle and tried to get some strikes in. She picked some spots to throw strikes as she tried to find an opening. She finally rolled over and held position, but she lost it. Blencowe briefly turned into her, but couldn't take top position, and Coenen quickly scrambled back to controlling position. Blencowe again tried to escape, only for Coenen to take back mount again with hooks in. The round ended with Coenen in back mount.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Coenen. One-sided round, though she didn't do a ton offensively on the ground despite the positional advantage.
ROUND TWO: Blencowe landed several strikes early on, and held off an early clinch attempt. Coenen snuck around her back standing and dragged her to the ground, getting her hooks in. Blencowe tried to turn into her, nearly got caught in an armbar, then stepped out and made Coenen stand. Coenen got in a right hand. She went for a throw out of a clinch but wound up on her back with Blencowe in side control. Blencowe landed a right hand, then stood. Coenen was forced to stand. Coenen got in an inside leg kick. Blencowe landed some hard punches, then a nice knee to the body, but as she tried to rush to follow up, Coenen easily took her down. Coenen attacked for an armbar, but Blencowe tried to defend. She got the arm loose and Blencowe tried to tap immediately, but her free hand was in a bad spot. She finally got that loose to tap and briefly held her arm in pain after it was stopped. She seemed to be alright after the fact, though. Nasty armbar.
WINNER: Coenen via submission (armbar) at 3:23 of the second round
STAR RATING: (**) Blencowe wasn't anywhere close to Coenen's level there, but nice, nasty looking submission for the former Strikeforce Champ to kick things off.
-Justin Wren relays the story of his last several years, and says his win bonus will be going to the pygmy tribe he's been trying to help in the Congo.
FIGHT TWO: JUSTIN WREN VS. JOSH BURNS (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Burns cracked Wren with a few strikes early, but Wren clinched up to slow it down. He tried to drag Burns to the ground to no avail. Burns got in a few strikes in the clinch as Wren threw a couple of knees. Things ultimately slowed in the clinch, and the two were separated. Burns was bleeding from his right eye. Wren landed a couple of combinations, then drove Burns to the cage in the clinch. Wren landed a low knee but the ref didn't see it and didn't separate them. Wren added a couple more knees to the body and head. They traded punches to the body in the clinch. Wren briefly backed off with a couple of strikes then clinched again. Burns got separation with a couple of strikes. Wren shot in, got stuffed, then landed a right hand. Burns landed a hard leg kick. They traded punches near the end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Wren. Close round, may have gone the other way, but Wren landed some decent strikes and had more control in the clinch. Not a good fight right now, though.
ROUND TWO: They traded strikes, then Wren pressed Burns back. He tried for a throw but failed to get Burns down. Wren landed a hard strike. He couldn't follow up much. He landed another combination and Burns was breathing heavily. Burns got rocked by a knee to the head. Wren backed Burns up to the cage and started unloading knee after knee after knee. Burns absorbed tons of damage but stayed up somehow and pressed him back with a punch. Wren pointed to Burns' toe to get him to look down and threw a punch. Asked Jimmy Smith, "Who falls for that?" Wren landed a couple more strikes, then grabbed another Thai clinch and drove Burns to the cage. He landed a few more strikes and knees. The action slowed significantly once again. Wren got in one more knee, then Burns got free with a short combo. They traded punches before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Wren. No question that was his round, and close to a 10-8. This is a grueling, ugly fight, but Wren appears to be ahead into the third.
ROUND THREE: So very little is happening in this round. A few clinches, a brief low blow delay, Wren landing a few strikes. Just very, very little actually happening. Wren finally started landing strikes in the final minute. Burns tried to connect late, but wasn't able to do a ton. They traded punches again late and Burns landed a late strike inadvertently.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Wren? So very little actually happened it doesn't matter who won this round. Wren's likely to win, but could easily edge the other way here.
WINNER: Wren via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
STAR RATING: (*) Look, it was an ugly heavyweight fight. Wren hadn't fought in five years and it mostly showed. Still, it's a feel-good story, he comes off as a very good person doing some admirable work outside of the cage, and it's good to see him get a win here.
FIGHT THREE: PATRICKY "PITBULL" FREIRE VS. SAAD AWAD (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Slow start given the emotions from both into this fight. Awad threw out a couple of leg kicks. Pitbull got in a hard outside leg kick a minute in. Awad landed a solid counter-left as Freire tried to press in. Really slow pace from both. Awad landed an outside leg kick. Pitbull got in a decent body combo. Freire went for a wild spinning back fist that was way out of range. Awad slipped on a head kick that grazed Freire. Things still didn't really pick up. Awad landed a decent left hook. Freire tried to walk him down, then threw a flying knee that didn't quite connect. They clinched, and the round wound down against the cage.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-10. So very little happening from either guy, and not enough clear offense from either to offset the other.
ROUND TWO: Freire tried to close the distance, but ate a couple of punches to get there. They traded strikes. Freire landed a brief combination. Awad got in a couple of kicks. Awad landed a couple of hard punches. Awad landed another strike. Freire scored a takedown, avoiding a scramble attempt by Awad to take his back. Nothing much happened, and Awad eventually made his way back up. Freire landed a couple of punches to the body, but they weren't very effective. Awad landed a few punches. They both swung wildly. Awad landed a right hand. They both pawed out jabs. Freire shot in to no avail late. Awad ended the round with a strike as Freire missed.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Pitbull. Barely. This just isn't a good fight, neither's having much success anywhere.
ROUND THREE: Pitbull landed a leg kick. He tossed out a few strikes in combination and backed Awad up. Things slowed down again for a while. Freire tried to pop in with a combo but didn't really connect. Freire connected to the body, but couldn't land with a half-hearted jumping knee attempt. Freire landed a few strikes and backed out. He landed to the head and body. Awad not doing much of anything this final round. Awad finally landed a right hand. Awad kept spitting out blood from his mouth. Freire landed to the body. Awad tried to close distance, but wasn't really connecting on anything. Pitbull added a takedown attempt late, but didn't quite finish it.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Pitbull. This was just not much of a fight at all.
WINNER: Pitbull via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (*) Just really not much of an actual fight. There was so little offense from either guy through the 15-minute duration of that bout; dull.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: MELVIN GUILLARD VS. BRANDON GIRTZ (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Girtz sat low in his stance and tried to press forward. He landed a hard left hand, shot in, picked Guillard up, and dropped him down. Guillard got to his feet, but Girtz stayed on him, turned back to the double leg attempt, and took Guillard down again. This time he got right into side control. Girtz landed some knees to the body. He tried to get in some elbows, but Guillard blocked some of them. Girtz continued to patiently work, but the crowd booed some inactivity despite the positional advantage. Girtz looked for the Americana a couple of times, then went back to knees to the body after losing the hold. The action stalled out some more. Not much more happened as Girtz held side control to the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Girtz. He had a great position the entire round and did very little with it. Still, he's ahead right now.
ROUND TWO: Slow start to the second, with no strikes thrown in the first 50 seconds. Girtz popped in first but missed. He landed a strike, countering a couple from Guillard. Girtz connected again as Guillard missed. He caught Guillard with a couple of strikes, shot in, and again slammed Guillard down. Guillard tried to get back up, but got dragged down again. Girtz tried to attack for an armbar, but lost position off the attempt and Guillard stood. Guillard's left eye was messed up badly from something earlier in the bout. Girtz landed another combination. Girtz connected again after a while. Guillard finally got in with a couple of strikes. That was his first real offense of the bout with only a minute and a half left in the second round. Girtz landed a counter right as Guillard missed. Guillard landed a hard right hand as they traded punches. He ducked under a punch and then scored another takedown. Guillard worked up and they separated. Guillard tried to walk him down but didn't connect on much. Girtz landed another right countering punches from Guillard. Girtz landed another hard right hand before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Girtz. Guillard's just not looking good in this one at all, and he's five minutes away from a fifth loss in his last eight fights.
ROUND THREE: Girtz went from the left hand to the takedown yet again and planted Guillard. Girtz passed to half guard and tried to improve position early. Girtz didn't do much from the half guard, simply holding position which got him a warning to work from "Big" John McCarthy. He tried to attack for a kimura but Guillard easily got out and put him back into his guard. Guillard threw some elbows off his back, but they weren't really doing much damage. They were stood up with 95 seconds left. Guillard tried to rush Girtz and landed a few strikes. Guillard landed a hard body kick. He got in a jumping knee. Girtz looked to be reeling late and he ate a hard knee to the head. Guillard kept attacking. Girtz fired back barely. Guillard rushed again with a couple of knees. Girtz caught a kick and grabbed a body lock. Guillard went for a throw but Girtz wound up on top. Guillard kicked him off just before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Girtz. Guillard might take it off the rushes, but this was just another not very good fight, and Guillard looked bad for most of it.
WINNER: Girtz via split decision (29-27, 28-29, 29-27)
STAR RATING: (*) Just not much of a fight. Too much inactivity from Girtz on top, little overall offense, a laughable scorecard, and that just fits with how tonight went for Bellator.
-Thanks for joining us tonight, we'll be back with live coverage next Saturday night for UFC 191 from Las Vegas!
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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