Bellator 212
December 14, 2018
Honolulu, Hawaii from Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Live on Paramount Network and DAZN (10 PM ET)
Prelim Results
Toby Misech def. Edward Thommes TKO (flying knee and punches) Round 3, 2:25
Tywan Claxton def. Kaeo Meyer TKO (punches) Round 1, 2:56
Robson Gracie Jr. def. Brysen Bolohao Submission (rear-naked choke) Round 2, 4:00
Chris Avila def. Brandon Pieper Submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1, 3:44
Main Card
Derek Campos vs. Sam Sicilia (Featherweight/145)
Round 1: Sicilia is scoring early with some hard shots. Sicilia is pressuring and landing uppercuts, and hooks. He lands a hard-overhand right! Derek Campos is taking some serious shots here. Sicilia throws up a Head kick, but Camps catches it and shoves him down. Sicilia is up though and lands a hard shot to the body. Right hand lands for Campos. Sicilia lands again and Campos is down! He recovers though and the round ends with the two trading shots. 10-9 Sicilia
Round 2: Sicilia is looking to land a left hook. He is patient with his approach tonight though and he’s picking his shots. Sicilia lands a hard-left hook! Campos is hurt! Sicilia is pouring on the shots as Campos backs against the cage! Campos circles out and reveres the position. He is looking for a takedown against the fence and he appears to have recovered from those hard shots that he took. Sicilia shakes the takedown though and connects with a hard uppercut! Campos is desperately looking for under hooks, but he can’t find them. Campos scores with a single leg! Sicilia recovers guard but Campos is maintaining control. He passes into half guard and then into side control! Campos moves into mount and Sicilia could be in trouble here! Saved by the bell. 10-9 Sicilia
Round 3: Campos ducks early for a double leg and completes it! Sicilia is looking to use the fence to regain his footing and does so. They are back in the center and Sicilia seems a bit more tentative after those take downs. Campos scores with a solid leg kick. Campos is looking for a takedown and completes it, but he doesn’t have much time to work. He moves into mount and lands a few solid strikes, but the round will end. 10-9 Campos (29-28 Sicilia)
Result: Sam Sicilia def. Derek Campos via Split Decision
Analysis: Sam Sicilia looked good early but faded a bit in the later rounds. Still though it was enough for him to earn his second Bellator win. This was the debut fight for Derek Campos at featherweight and this certainly isn’t the result he desired so it will be interesting to see if he deems cutting the extra weight necessary or if he will return to lightweight.
Alejandra Lara vs. Juliana Velasquez (Flyweight/125)
Round 1: Lara scores early with a leg kick. They clinch in the center of the cage and Lara is looking to land knees. Velasquez lands a nice right hand! Lara drops for a takedown, but she falls into a guillotine! She pulls out though and they are back on the feet. They’re clinched against the cage, but neither is having any success with finding a dominant position. Lara mistimes a spinning back kick and Velasquez lands a few shots before she can recover. Straight right lands for Velasquez! She shoots and completes a takedown with ten seconds left in the round! Lara is up though and that’s it for round 1. 10-9 Velasquez
Round 2: Lara throws a kick to the body, but Velasquez catches it and trips her opponent down to the mat. Lara is chasing with punches, but Velasquez is avoiding them. Velasquez completes a takedown and Lara is now working from her back. Lara is holding the cage and it is taking the ref a while to notice. Velasquez is starting to open up with come big punches! Lara is defending though and looking to recover he position. They are back on the feet and Velasquez lands with a solid jab and straight right! She follows it up with another hard-right hand just as the round ends. Velasquez is starting to put it together and she is starting to pull away with this fight. 10-9 Velasquez
Round 3: Velasquez is pressuring early. Lara doesn’t seem to have the room to set up any of her kicks as she is being forced to fight with her back basically against the cage. Velasquez moves in for a takedown and gets it. Lara is threatening for an ankle lock though it doesn’t look like she is going to get it. Meanwhile Velasquez is landing punches as Lara is leaving herself open. They scramble, and both are back on the feet and firing shots! Good fight. 10-9 Velasquez (30-27 Velasquez)
Result: Juliana Velasquez def. Alejandra Lara via Split Decision
Analysis: Velasquez has a background in Judo and is showed through out the fight. She completed some unique take downs and managed to control most of the pace of the fight with her grappling skills. She is now 4-0 in the Bellator cage. Lara looked good early but once Velasquez figured out her game and turned up the pressure, she couldn’t really stop it. I am not really sure about the judge that scored it for Lara…it seemed like a fairly one-sided fight but that’s why we have three judges.
AJ McKee vs. Daniel Crawford (Featherweight/145)
Round 1: Crawford attacks early with a flurry of punches. McKee circles out but Crawford lands a left hand in the process. McKee is pressuring Crawford against the fence, he has an under hook and Crawford is clearly struggling with it. McKee scores with a takedown and he’s attacking with a D’arce choke! Crawford is in trouble here and he taps. This fight is over.
Result: AJ McKee def. Daniel Crawford via Submission (Anaconda Choke) Round 1, 3:19
Analysis: Daniel Crawford thought he would have the advantage on the ground, but AJ McKee showed him otherwise. McKee is a very good fighter and maybe the best prospect that Bellator has outside of Aaron Pico. It’s interesting that they are in the same division but are also friends and have said they don’t want to fight. It’s about time that McKee gets a solid test because he is just making light work of everybody, they are feeding him.
Frank Mir vs. Javy Ayala (Heavyweight/265)
Round 1: Sling TV is giving me problems as always and I missed most of the first round. Looks like Mir won, and the commentators seem to think the same thing.
Round 2: Both guys are bloody as the round begins. Mir has blood in his eye and he clearly doesn’t like it. Mir just dropped for a single leg, but Ayala went down with him and he is landing some shots to the body of Frank Mir. Mir is trying to grab hold of a leg, but Ayala is keeping him down. Mir is up but Ayala is laying in some hard elbows and Mir is taking a beating here. Ayala is attacking the body and Mir looks exhausted. Mir lands a big knee! He is turning it up and Ayala is covering up! Mir drops for a takedown, but Ayala defends it! Mir just tapped standing…I think it was to punches. The blood was really giving him problems but it’s a shame he couldn’t make it out of that round. The replay shows that it was a grazing elbow that damaged Mir and caused the blood.
Result: Javy Ayala def. Frank Mir via Submission (Strikes) Round 2,
Analysis: I am bummed that I missed the first round, but I will save my rant for a different venue so that none of you have to read it. Mir looked exhausted in the second round, and once he suffered the cut he seemed to be out of the fight. He kept wiping his eyes and showing obvious signs of discomfort and really it was a disappointing thing to see. Mir has been around for ages and he has been a main stay of the division, but it defiantly seems like the hour glass is running out of sand for Frank Mir’s career. Javy Ayala continues to pick up wins over former heavyweight greats and he is turning into a fun fighter to support.
©Brent Primus vs. Michael Chandler (Lightweight/155)
They’re doing the national anthem before the fight starts, with both fighters standing in the ring. Not sure I’ve seen Bellator do this before.
Round 1: Michael Chandler is landing early, he connects with a right hand and then they appeared to clash heads. Both fighters are on the mat, but Chandler is in top position. Primus is a BJJ Blackbelt, so he should be okay from here. He is controlling the posture, but Chandler breaks the grips and he is starting to land some big shots. Primus is looking to spin for an armbar, but Chandler isn’t allowing it. Chandler is continuing to land punches and elbows from the top. Primus is looking to isolate an arm, but Michael Chandler is just relentless with his top attack. Chandler is just hammering him here. Primus will survive the round but that was fairly one sided once Chandler got the takedown. 10-9 Chandler
Round 2: Primus is looking to land low kicks. Chandler is a bit faster though and he is landing punches every time Primus throws a kick. Chandler lands a nice shot to the body! Primus is starting to land some kicks here and he lands a huge shot, and Michael Chandler is rocked! Brent Primus takes the back and he has a rear naked choke! Michael Chandler escapes the submission and reverses the position! He is now in top control! This just turned into a fight! Chandler is landing big shots from the top position and Primus is just doing what he can to control posture. Primus is looking for any submission that he can find but so far nothing is there. Chandler is bleeding from his forehead, not sure what caused it. 40 seconds remain in the round. 10-9 Chandler but it could go either way.
Round 3: Primus is targeting the midsection with kicks. Chandler appears just as fresh here as he did in the first round. Chandler moves in with a flurry and drops down for a double leg. Primus is down, and Chandler is back in top position. Primus is working from his back, but Chandler isn’t leaving any openings. Chandler is continuing to land punches from top position. Primus is looking to set of a triangle, he has wrist control, but Chandler just keeps pushing forward. Hard elbow lands for Chandler. Primus scrambles for a better position but Chandler moves with him and maintains top control. Chandler is starting to throw elbow after elbow and Primus is working to control posture. 10-9 Chandler
Round 4: Chandler shoots in and completes a takedown right out of the gate. Chandler is looking to pass but Primus is controlling his guard well. Primus is looking to isolate an arm but that just hasn’t worked for him tonight. Chandler lands an elbow from the guard, and another. Primus has a body triangle from the bottom. Chandlers pressure seems to have slowed a bit, but he is still firmly in control of this round. Primus is throwing up all sorts of submission attempts, but nothing is sticking. 10-9 Chandler
Round 5: Probably safe to say that Primus needs a finish here. Chandler grabs a leg and takes the fight down to the ground. He has 4:30 left to work in the round. Primus is looking for an Omoplatta, but Chandler is moving to side control. Primus looked like he almost had something, but Chandler pulled out and landed a hard-right hand from top position. Primus has three minutes to figure something out. Chandler is landing right hands to the head and body of Brent Primus. Chandler is pressuring and landing punches. Primus briefly gets up, but Chandler takes him right back down. 20 seconds remain in the fight. Primus is still fighting to get up and eats a hard knee for his efforts. 10-9 Chandler (50-45 Chandler)
Result: Michael Chandler def. Brent Primus via Unanimous Decision for Bellator World Lightweight Championship
Analysis: Brent Primus is a good fighter, but Mike Chandler is a bit better. Big John said it best, Chandler was just a bit faster, stronger and a bit too explosive. Chandler is now a three-time Bellator World Lightweight Champion. Brent Primus tastes defeat for the first time in his career but he showed tonight that he was a worthy champion.
Leave a Reply