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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
BELLATOR 143
SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
LIVE FROM HIDALGO, TEXAS
Less than a week after their "Dynamite 1" event on Spike, Bellator returns with a four-fight main card on the network tonight from the State Farm Arena. Tonight's event is headlined by the bantamweight bout between former champ Joe Warren and LC Davis, so follow along here throughout the broadcast!
-We kick off the night at heavyweight with our fighters already in the cage.
FIGHT ONE: EWERTON TEIXEIRA VS. VINICIUS "SPARTAN" QUEIROZ (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Spartan did some damage early and brought the fight to the cage. He got in a few knees to the body in the clinch. Teixeira scored a few strikes with some space, but Spartan took him down and passed to side control. Spartan got in some elbows and tried to open up to pass. After getting him back to half guard, Teixeira eventually reversed and got on top. Spartan tried to attack for a sub from the bottom, but Teixeira stood up and out. He threw some wild strikes that didn't really hit their mark. Neither did much effectively down the stretch.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Spartan. The takedown and more ground control along with some better strikes landed gave him the frame.
ROUND TWO: Spartan connected on a hard knee during the opening minute that did some damage, but neither was doing a ton as they stood across from each other. Spartan ducked under a telegraphed strike and scored an easy takedown. Teixeira tried to escape but got held down. Spartan tried to attack an arm but gave it up. He continued to work from the top, though Teixeira wasn't giving him many openings. Eventually he went for the arm triangle choke and he finished it from half guard. Wow. That's not how you see that hold finished, as he was on the opposite side. Teixeira perhaps too tired to fight it off.
WINNER: Spartan via submission (arm triangle choke) at 4:00 of the second round
STAR RATING: (**-) Nice enough finish to what was just not much of a fight. Seemed either a lack of energy or technique led to the submission while it was held from the wrong side and in an awkward position.
FIGHT TWO: EMMANUEL SANCHEZ VS. HENRY CORRALES (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Corrales connected on an inside leg kick early. He went there again. Sanchez got in a body kick. Corrales scored a couple of punches. They traded some strikes in the center. Corrales landed a hard right hand. Sanchez looked a bit awkward as he was throwing strikes. Sanchez got in a couple of knees in a clinch, but Corrales landed some hard punches before separating. Sanchez was cut open from another exchange. Sanchez landed a hard kick to the body. Corrales scored a couple more strikes. Sanchez locked on a flying triangle after a high kick got caught on Corrales' shoulder. He locked on the hold and threw down some significant elbows and hammerfists from the bottom. Sanchez wasn't committing to a hold, and as he tried to go for the arm he lost it entirely. Poor technique from Sanchez cost him the comeback win. Corrales didn't do much in Sanchez's guard, and eventually they stood. Corrales landed a few strikes, avoiding a couple from Sanchez. Sanchez landed a hard uppercut, but got countered almost immediately. Corrales landed a few more strikes.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Corrales. Sanchez may have stolen it with the sub attempt and elbows, but it wasn't really close to being finished and he took a lot more damage otherwise.
ROUND TWO: They traded punches early. Sanchez got through with a right hand. They traded again, neither really getting through clean with all that much. Just as I type that Sanchez scored a nice head kick. He followed up with some more punches and kicks. As Corrales tried to get away, Sanchez jumped on his back, but he lost position and got taken down himself. He worked to his feet on the cage. Sanchez separated with a knee. Corrales landed a strike right after to separate. They traded again. They accidentally clashed heads and the fight was briefly halted. As they restarted, Corrales came forward swinging. Sanchez swung and missed himself. They traded kicks. Corrales landed a nice combination. Sanchez got in a couple of kicks. Sanchez got in a couple of knees, but ate several punches while attempting to do so. More sloppy strikes. The ten second bricks were clacked and there was 1:10 left on their clock. Sanchez scored a takedown while taking Corrales' back and he was going for a choke when the round was called. Something went wrong there.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Sanchez? Could go either way here with that late takedown, but he seemed to take a lot more damage. Hard to call this fight because Corrales seems to have been landing more while Sanchez misses quite a bit.
ROUND THREE: They traded several strikes again early. Corrales connected on another combo. Sanchez pressed forward and landed a couple of kicks. They both swung wildly, neither entirely hitting the mark. This has been an ugly, sloppy fight, and I'm not sure I agree with Jimmy Smith's assessment that Sanchez has been doing better here on the feet. He's been missing a lot throughout the fight while getting tagged by counters. Corrales seemed to be slowing down regardless, but neither was connecting much. Corrales landed a few strikes, ate a knee, then landed another. Sanchez shot in, but got stuffed. Corrales landed, but Sanchez countered well with a short combo. Sanchez got in a short, slightly ineffective hook late. He scored a takedown with a second left and took Corrales' back.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-10? Corrales again seemed to get the better of some exchanges, but got taken down late while Sanchez mostly pressed pace. Neither was scoring a ton offensively for it to be clear either way, and these scorecards could be all over the place.
WINNER: Sanchez via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28
STAR RATING: (*+) Sloppy fight. Can't disagree with any of the scorecards, really. Each round had an argument both ways depending on what each judge was weighing, so and this is the rare fight where 30-27 for either fighter isn't completely ludicrous.
FIGHT THREE: JOEY BELTRAN VS. KENDALL GROVE (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Grove scored an early inside leg kick. Beltran circled around. Grove got in an outside leg kick. He scored a jab. He was using his length pretty well early. The pace was quite slow in the early going. Beltran tried to find a way in close but Grove kept him at bay. Grove ducked under a punch and shot in. He got stuffed and missed a knee as he separated. Beltran finally connected and tried to close in. Grove covered up well and avoided too much damage. Grove connected on a short combination. Grove landed a couple of jabs. He landed a hook. He got in a leg kick after avoiding some strikes. Beltran connected on something somewhere as Grove was bleeding from the lip. Grove landed a combination. They traded right hands late.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Grove. Not much to the round, but Grove was doing slightly more overall.
ROUND TWO: Beltran tried to swing wildly to get in close. Grove landed some jabs and covered up as Beltran tried to close in. The crowd booed as this began feeling like a poor sparring session. Grove shot in to no avail. Beltran finally scored a strike, but he missed a few at the cage and couldn't take advantage. Grove pulled guard up against the cage and Beltran almost immediately stood up and out. Beltran tried to walk Grove down and both missed strikes. Beltran connected on a right hand. Grove landed a few jabs and Belgtran reset. This is just not a good fight. Grove got in more jabs. Grove checked a few kicks. Grove landed more jabs and avoided the counters. Beltran kept throwing the kicks, but Grove was checking most of them. Grove threw out some strikes. Both swung and missed. The crowd booed as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Grove. I guess. Could go the other way, but that was just a bad round regardless.
ROUND THREE: Beltran opened with a leg kick. He missed a few strikes. Beltran kept trying to press forward. Grove landed a body kick up by the cage. Beltran missed some strikes. He got in a kick. Grove landed a hard leg kick but continued letting himself get backed up. He got hit, but returned fire with a solid combination. Beltran missed another strike. He got Grove to the cage and finally started landing some strikes. Grove fired back and circled out. Beltran landed a few strikes. Grove then floored Beltran with a right hand that connected to the jaw. He landed a few more strikes standing over Beltran and got the referee to step in. Alright then. That's a thing that happened.
WINNER: Grove via TKO at 2:27 of the third round
STAR RATING: (*+) Nice stoppage from Grove, but it wasn't a good fight for the 12 minutes that preceded that sequence.
-James Thompson, who fights Bobby Lashley at Bellator 145 in November, is interviewed cageside briefly.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: JOE WARREN VS. LC DAVIS (BANTAMWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Warren tried to grab an early clinch, but Davis got free. Davis landed a short combination. Warren continued trying to press forward, but missed a few jumping knees. Warren scored a takedown just over a minute in, and dragged Davis down. Davis got his back on the cage and tried to get some space. Davis was doing a solid job for a bit trying to avoid a worse position, but Warren eventually passed to side control. Davis got him to half guard. He tried to pop up and Warren briefly got to mount before Davis escaped and pulled him back to half guard, then full guard. Warren got in an elbow from the top. Davis got his back to the cage again, but Warren continued holding him down. Davis briefly got to his feet but got pulled back down. Warren landed an elbow as he passed back to half guard. The crowd booed the grinding nature of Warren's top work here. Davis got him back to guard. He ate a few elbows before the bell.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Warren. Davis is going to have to find a way to stay standing or this will be a long 15 minutes.
ROUND TWO: Davis got poked in the eye during the first exchange and there's a break in the action. Massively blatant eye poke, and it's done because Warren knows he's not going to get punished for it. As they restarted Warren rushed ahead and landed a strike, then scored a takedown. Davis got back to his feet this time, though. Davis threw an inside leg kick. Davis scored a few strikes out of a clinch, then side-stepped a shot. Davis landed a nice left hand. He connected again. Warren shot in. Davis stuffed it again this time and turned Warren around on the cage. He landed a nice elbow to separate. He blocked an overhand right, then stuffed another takedown attempt at the cage. He continued to defend, and got in a solid knee to the head. Warren finally backed off. Davis came forward and landed the left hand again. He connected once more as he backed Warren up. Warren scored another takedown and passed to half guard. He just held Davis down. Davis pushed him off but Warren came right back ahead. Davis got to his feet, but Warren took his back standing and threw him on his head. Warren tried to pass again. Davis held him in half guard, but Warren rode out the round again on top.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Warren. Davis was doing a better job on the feet, but he let himself get taken down again and Warren remained relentless.
ROUND THREE: Davis pressed in with a hard body punch. He tried to press in. Warren tripped him up, but lost it, and Warren threw almost a soccer kick that went uncalled. May have gotten to the body, though. Davis was briefly down again, but worked back to his feet. Warren had his back standing and dragged him to the ground, sneaking back around on top into half guard. Warren tried for an arm triangle but lost it. Davis got to his feet with three minutes to work. Warren ducked under a strike and scored another takedown. Warren stepped over and snuck behind Davis' back. The crowd booed Warren. Davis got to his feet again, but Warren held a body lock. Davis tried to get free, but Warren brought him back down again. Warren's playing the role of blanket tonight and not much else, but Davis can't stop it. Warren got in a short elbow. Warren passed to mount. Davis escaped back to guard. Warren tried to posture up but didn't land any strikes. He rode out to the bell again. Massively dull night tonight.
WINNER: Warren via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (*) Bad fight. Warren out-wrestled Davis, but didn't do much else. Davis couldn't stop it, but he wouldn't give Warren much on the ground. It was a grounded stalemate essentially and Warren played the blanket game.
Thanks for joining us here tonight, we're back with live coverage tomorrow on MMATorch for UFC Fight Night 75!
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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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