BELLATOR 149
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
LIVE FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
Scott Coker’s vision for an MMA promotion in 2016 is on display tonight, as the “legends” fight between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, as well as the “fun” fight between “street fighters” Kimbo Slice and DaDa 5000 top the Bellator 149 event on Spike. We’ll have live round by round coverage of tonight’s fights as the event airs live on Spike beginning at 9PM ET, so follow along with tonight’s spectacle event with us right here!
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-As they open up the broadcast, they throw to some back and forth between Kimbo Slice and “DaDa 5000,” discuss the signing of Benson Henderson, and plug that Mike Tyson will be joining them on commentary tonight at some point. After that, it’s on to a quick video package for our first fight of the night.
FIGHT ONE: DANIEL PINEDA VS. EMMANUEL SANCHEZ (150 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Pineda walked forward and landed a hard two punch combo. He connected on several strikes as he pressed his pace, then shot in and scored an easy takedown at the cage. Sanchez tried to keep his back on the wall, but got dragged further down. He tried to roll out and Pineda rolled with him in the scramble to try to take his back. After some more scrambling Sanchez managed to escape and got on top in Pineda’s guard. He stood up and they traded some kicks. Sanchez dropped down with a right hand. Pineda worked up to his feet and scored a trip takedown, but Sanchez scrambled out. They reset on the feet, and Pineda moved ahead. He landed an uppercut to the body. They clinched at the cage with Sanchez landing some knees, then Pineda scored a nice takedown in the center. He nearly got to mount in a scramble but Sanchez brought him back to half guard, defending well. Pineda nearly scored a triangle in another scramble, but Sanchez wound up on top. He landed some kicks. In another scramble for Sanchez’s leg, Pineda nearly got him into a calf slicer position, using it to eventually get back on top. He worked to half guard and landed a few strikes from the top. He rode out the round on top.
Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Pineda. Good, competitive start. Nice work from Pineda offensively, while Sanchez’s ground defense was quite good as well.
ROUND TWO: Pineda opened with a few strikes, getting in a spinning back elbow. He landed a spinning kick to the body. Sanchez connected on a strike. Pineda wound up on his back after a hit off balance and Sanchez tried to take advantage. He got into half guard and landed some strikes, with Pineda attempting to lock him up. A cut opened up between Pineda’s eyes. He got full guard, but Sanchez stood up and landed some more strikes to pass. Pineda finally escaped and got to his feet. Sanchez got in a few knees in a Thai clinch while Pineda fired off a few strikes. Pineda then scored a solid takedown and looked to work from Sanchez’s guard. Pineda got in an elbow, but he was working at a much slower pace than the first round. Sanchez mostly locked him down, and they were stood up with 90 seconds left. Pineda went for a cartwheel kick, but it got caught and Sanchez immediately took him down and passed to side control. Pineda scrambled out to get him to half guard. He attacked for a knee bar and used it to stand. Pineda landed a strike. Sanchez returned with a right hand. Pineda shot in again and scored another takedown. He got to half guard, but did nothing with the position before the horn.
Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Sanchez. Very close round, and multiple takedowns from Pineda could have him steal it, but he did nothing with his position whereas Sanchez had the better positions and got in a bit more offense as well.
ROUND THREE: Pineda immediately scored another takedown. He tried to pass but lost position. Sanchez got to side control, then landed a few strikes. Pineda got him back to guard, but ate a bunch of strikes as he tried to scramble out. Sanchez continued to do damage from top position, staying with Pineda as the scrambles continued. He remained on top as he blocked a knee bar attempt. Pineda worked to his feet and ate a ton of strikes up against the cage. Sanchez kept the assault on for a bit before clinching. They traded some short strikes. He landed a spinning elbow. Pineda grabbed his back and tried a takedown, but Sanchez rolled out and got on top. More scrambles with Sanchez continuing to hold better position. He got Pineda’s back with both hooks in. He rolled briefly to mount, but Pineda got to his feet and landed a strike. Sanchez backed off and let Pineda moved forward. Pineda threw a wild spinning kick that put him on his back, and Sanchez once again got back on top. Sanchez ended the round in Pineda’s guard.
Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Sanchez. Pineda completely blew threw his energy bank in that first round, and Sanchez continued to get stronger throughout the fight. There’s still a chance he loses this because of a close second round, but the third was very clear in his favor, and could be close to a 10-8.
WINNER: Sanchez via split decision (28-29, 29-27, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) Solid fight. First round was a lot of fun and was quite competitive, second saw Pineda fade considerably as Sanchez started getting stronger, and the third was mostly one-sided without coming anywhere close to a finish. Good win for Sanchez over the UFC vet in Pineda.
FIGHT TWO: EMMANUEL NEWTON VS. LINTON VASSELL (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Newton pressed in with a couple of kicks, but one went low bringing a brief halt. After the restart, Newton tried to paw out a jab to move in, but Vassell shot in and took him down. Newton got to his feet, but Vassell stayed heavy on him and scored a takedown into side control. Vassell moved to full mount and lost the arm triangle he attempted to set up. He stayed heavy in the mount, locking up Newton’s legs to keep him without an escape option. He gave up his back and got flattened out. Vassell threw some strikes, locked down another escape attempt, and threw several strikes. Newton turned back into him, ate a strike, then gave up his back again. Vassell continued to hold dominant position from mount to back-mount as Newton tried to continue scrambling. Vassell stayed patient as he looked for his openings. He got back to mount and landed an elbow. Newton finally exploded out to his feet. He took Vassell’s back but didn’t get hooks in, allowing Vassell back up to his feet. They briefly clinched before Vassell backed out. Newton pressed in and threw a spinning back fist. Newton grabbed a body lock and scored a late takedown into side control before the bell.
Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Vassell. Real close to a 10-8 and there’s an argument for it regardless of lack of near finish or Newton’s final minute of offense. Good round for Vassell.
ROUND TWO: They clinched early, and Vassell tried to drop for a guillotine, though he lost it and got back to his feet. Newton got in a body kick, with Vassell firing off a right hand in return. Newton landed a solid left hook. He landed a couple kicks, and again caught Vassell low as in the opening seconds of the first round. As they restarted, Newton came in wild and Vassell fired back in kind. Vassell landed a nice right hand. Newton landed some leg kicks as Vassell was throwing out punches. Newton missed a winging right hand. The striking exchanges were slow. They clinched and Newton scored a trip takedown. Vassell got to his feet, but Newton grabbed a body lock and scored a slam. Vassell tried to scramble, but Newton scrambled to take his back, and slammed him back down as they got to their feet. Newton tried to bully him, but Vassell worked back up. The scramble battle continued and Vassell saved himself from a takedown with a fence grab. Then Newton landed a knee to the groin. His third low blow of the fight. Vassell was in serious pain down on the canvas. Both that fence grab and the low blow deserve point deductions, but either only the low blow or neither will garner that here. The crowd briefly booed as Vassell remained on the ground. He finally got back to his feet and tried to walk it off. Multiple fouls of any kind have to bring point deductions, and that’s just what we get here as the ref takes a point from Newton before they restart. Newton came out slightly aggressive, landing a few kicks and punches before the bell.
Penick’s Scorecard: 9-9. Newton got only slightly screwed there. He absolutely deserved the point deduction, but Vassell’s extremely blatant fence grab that stopped a takedown needed one as well. Regardless, he’s got an uphill climb in this third round as he’s now fighting for a draw.
ROUND THREE: Newton pressed ahead, throwing a few strikes. Vassell caught a kick, but Newton then connected on the spinning back fist. Newton remained the aggressor before shooting in a minute into the round. He completed the takedown into side control. Vassell pulled him into guard. He scrambled out and worked to his feet, though Newton held a head lock and kept the clinch on the cage. Vassell tried to grab a headlock. He finally turned into Newton and scored a takedown of his own. He passed to mount, which was huge for a round without any significant offense. He landed a few strikes. Newton tried to escape, but Vassell held mount. Newton tried to escape, but just gave up his back. He turned back in and ate a few strikes as Vassell postured up. Vassell finished up with several strikes from the mount.
Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Vassell. Despite some offense from Newton, the most dominant position and offense came in that final minute from Vassell, rendering that second round and controversial single point deduction moot.
WINNER: Vassell via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)
STAR RATING: (*+) First round had good work from Vassell, but the fight got much worse down the stretch. The low blows were unfortunate, Newton was largely ineffective, and Vassell gave up momentum before finally taking back over in the final 90 seconds.
-After announcing Phil Davis vs. “King Mo” Lawal and Josh Thomson vs. Michael Chandler for an event on May 14, Mike Tyson is brought in to join the commentators in what quickly becomes an awkward interview spot. He’s going to stick around here it seems for Melvin Guillard vs. Derek Campos.
FIGHT THREE: MELVIN GUILLARD VS. DEREK CAMPOS (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Guillard came out firing and they went right to the brawl. Campos returned fire as good as he took and rocked Guillard. He drove him to the cage in the clinch, took him down easily, and looked to work from half guard. He wasn’t able to do much for the next couple of minutes, leading to some boos from the crowd. Guillard finally got his back to the cage and stood up, while Campos came up with his nose bleeding. Guillard landed a strike shortly after Campos ducked under an attempt. Guillard backed off as Campos threw a spin kick. Guillard barely avoided a few strikes in close. Things slowed considerably. Guillard threw a leg kick. Campos connected on a jab, then missed two winging strikes. Guillard whiffed on a head kick at the bell. Tyson sounded drunk/high/some-combination-of-intoxication on commentary throughout the round. And he’s sticking around.
Penick’s Scorecard: 10-9 Campos. Guillard was on his back a majority of the round, and didn’t do much on his feet there to make up for it.
ROUND TWO: Campos pressed in early. He hurt Guillard badly up against the cage and started firing off strikes. Guillard was out on his feet and kept eating punch after punch. Campos connected on about nine or ten strikes in a row in a final flurry to put Guillard down and out. Big win for Campos, and that’s one of the most brutal losses of Guillard’s career, right up there with the head kick and punches that put him out against Donald Cerrone.
WINNER: Campos via KO at :34 of the second round
STAR RATING: (**) Kind of a dull first round after the opening 30 seconds, but really good work from Campos up against the cage to finish that fight off. Extremely accurate flurries, and a nice KO finish against a fighter who hasn’t really been stopped by strikes often throughout his career. Now, Guillard seems clearly shot at this point, but that’s still a good win for the 27-year-old Campos to bounce back from two straight losses.
FIGHT FOUR: KIMBO SLICE VS. DADA 5000 (HEAVYWEIGHT)
Yes, it’s 2016, and we’re watching this on a nationally televised cable MMA show. That’s… something alright.
ROUND ONE: Slice moved forward. DaDa (kills me to write that) tried to throw some low kicks to Slice’s clearly shot knees. Slice then scored a takedown, and worked right into full mount. So there’s that. So much for the “street fight” vibe. DaDa tried to lock Slice down, holding onto his head and arm, but he was still mounted. The crowd booed. As they should have when this fight was announced. This is terrible. Honestly I’m not sure if Bellator’s put on anything worse than this. I suppose the main event hasn’t started yet. John McCarthy warned them to work from Slice in the mount. Ok then. They worked out to their feet somehow and clinched, and Slice seems exhausted already. They were separated and already blown up. This is an embarrassment, but that was to be expected. Mr. 5000 moved in with a few punches and they clinched. Slice landed a jab after a brief separation. He got in a right hand and moved in. Clinch again. It’s times like these I question the line of work I’ve taken up. They were separated once again. Slice landed a right hand, then got hit by one.
Penick’s Scorecard: 0-0. This isn’t a real fight, right? Ok, fine, 10-9 Kimbo. Bellator deserves this fight.
ROUND TWO: They started wildly flailing their arms, but I’m not sure if any of that could be construed as “punching.” Slice got in and took Mr. 5000 down again. He got up and let him up. Seriously. Then he immediately took him down again. Seriously, Bellator deserves this debacle for putting it together in the first place. They were stood up again due to inactivity. Senor 5000 could barely make it to his feet. Slice landed several punches that actually had some type of effect, then let Sir Knight 5000 come in to clinch and stall once more. They were again separated, with John McCarthy angrily pushing them apart. Kimbo dropped to a knee in a clinch because he was so tired, then the Exalted One 5000 just rolled over and let Slice mount him. McCarthy then STOOD THEM UP FROM MOUNT because of inactivity. Again, 5000 Maniacs could barely get to his feet. Slice came in and they kind of pawed at each other to the end as boos continued to rain down.
Penick’s Scorecard: Screw this fight. Screw Bellator for booking it. This is the worst possible thing one could have expected with zero expectations coming in.
ROUND THREE: Slice landed a few, the (dis)Honorable Judge 5000 fired back. They clinched. Rinse, repeat. Slice landed a few on the cage. Slice backed off and Mistress 5000 stumbled around the cage until falling down, technically meaning a win for Slice. Jimmy Smith called it “surreal.” “Completely embarrassing” would have been more accurate.
WINNER: Slice via TKO (nap time) at 1:32 of the third round
STAR RATING: (n/a) Seriously? I’ll let Tom Lawlor handle this one.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: KEN SHAMROCK VS. ROYCE GRACIE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
-Might this be an even bigger debacle than the co-main event? Stick around to find out!
ROUND ONE: Gracie tried to throw out some tentative kicks to keep Shamrock at bay a bit. Sean Grande says Royce didn’t have his hands wrapped, and the Texas commission allowed that. Unbelievable. Very tentative, which I suppose gasses neither of them out as bad as the last fight. Some boos rain down, but honestly, if you bought tickets to this tonight, it’s on you. Very minor striking exchanges through two minutes. Shamrock finally rushed in and Gracie clinched. He got in a knee. Shamrock claimed a groin shot and Gracie stayed on him in side control. Shamrock was clearly reacting to a groin shot, but the ref let Gracie land hammerfists until the ref stopped it. The first replay missed the low blow, but it was there on the second, and that’s just a major fuck up on the part of the ref. Of course, given how the night was going, that’s an appropriate way to end it.
WINNER: Gracie via TKO at 2:22 of the first round
STAR RATING: (n/a) This was expected to be a complete shit show, and that’s exactly what we got here. But hey, bright side, Shamrock-Gracie 4 can now come on the 23rd anniversary of their first matchup this November! Shit, is that giving Scott Coker an idea?
-Well, thank you for checking out the report here tonight. I sincerely hope you simply followed along with us rather than subjecting yourself to that, but if you tuned in, my condolences. On to UFC Fight Night 83 Sunday night.
Note for App Users: For fastest refresh rate on our fight result updates throughout the event, we recommend you visit our mobile-friendly browser-based website at http://www.mmatorch.com. Our App unfortunately doesn’t update article changes in real time, but our mobile site does, so there will be delays in live results on our app but not on our mobile site during the event.
Also for App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.
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