Bellator 221
May 11, 2019
Rosemont, IL from Allstate Arena
Live on DAZN (6:30 PM ET Prelims, 9 PM ET Main Card)
Sign up now to watch only on DAZN!
Prelim Results
Josh Streacker def. Scott Writz
Jesse Bazzi def. Joey Diehl
Jason Belyew vs. Dave Latoria (Low blow) No contest
Cris Lencioni def. Adil Benjilany
Chris Gonzalez def. Charlie Radtke
Robert Morrow def. James Bochnovic
Christian Rodriguez def. Jose Leon
Khuukhenkhuu Amartuvshin def. Adam Ward
Rob Fenicle def. Bryan Bautista
Main Card
(1) Tywan Claxton vs. James Bennett (Featherweight)
Prediction: Claxton defeats Bennett via KO
ROUND ONE: Here we go! Axe kick misses for Claxton. Bennett throwing leg kicks. Claxton clinches, and lands the takedown. Bennett tries to get up, and rolls on to Claxton, but Claxton takes his back. Bennett stands, and gets taken right back down. Bennett tries for a gogoplata, but Claxton escapes. Claxton takes the back. Huge lefts landing for Claxton. Claxton hitting Bennett, but Bennett stands. Claxton lifts Bennett and tosses him back down. Claxton in full guard. Bennett has a nasty cut on his forehead. Claxton with some massive ground in pound. Bennett kicks Claxton off, but Claxton gets right back on top. Claxton throwing consistently, landing half the shots. Claxton misses a huge shot. Big hammerfists seem to stun Bennett, but Round 1 ends. 10-9 Claxton. Possibly 10-8
ROUND TWO: Big head kick just misses for Claxton. Flying knee for Claxton and Bennett looks stunned. Claxton lands a quick takedown. Hammer fists for Claxton. Elbow for Claxton. Claxton raining down on Bennett with punches. Claxton with a brutal elbow. More shots land for Claxton. Heavy elbows for Claxton. Claxton looks up and says “What up 50?” to ringside sitting 50 Cent. Claxton dominating. Bennett holds Claxton. Claxton continues with elbows. Claxton landing more big shots and elbows. Nice big shot from Claxton. Bennett stands. Claxton attempts a superkick and falls on his butt, but end Round 2. 20-17 Claxton
ROUND THREE: Bennett smiling and ready to go. Nice uppercut for Bennett. Claxton with a solid kick. Jab looks to rock Claxton. Claxton shoots and slams Claxton again. Bennett looks to have a choke, but Claxton escapes and gets in to top mount. Bennett gets Claxton into haf guard. Claxton raining brutal elbows, but the ref doesn’t step in. Claxton throwing tons of hammer fists. Ref steps in, that’s it!
Result: Tywan Claxton defeats James Bennett via TKO in Round 3 (2:09)
Analysis: Claxton looked dominate the whole fight, and despite one jab that looked to at max stun Bennett, i was domination. It could have been 3 10-8 rounds if the ref let the fight go, but the ref made the right call. Bennett wasn’t out, but the same thing was happening for all 12 minutes, and after one more hard right to the downed Bennett, the ref stopped it. We could definitely see Claxton in the Featherweight Grand Prix later this year.
(2) Jake Hager vs. TJ Jones (Heavyweight)
Hager defeats Jones via Round 1 Submission.
ROUND ONE: Here we go. Hager clinches quickly. Hager almost gets taken down himself, but Hager lands the takedown and takes the back. Hager gets into half guard. Hager trying for a kimura. Jones escapes, but Hager takes side control. Hager trying for an Americana. Hager takes the back. Hager landing big shots from the back. Hager puts in an Arm-triangle, and the ref stops it. Hager holds the submission for a few seconds and the ref upset, but that’s it.
Result: Jake Hager defeats TJ Jones via Submission (Head and Arm Choke) in Round 1 (2:36)
Analysis: Surprise surprise, Hager gets the win. Tension was pretty big after Hager held the choke for an extra 2 seconds or so, but Jones didn’t seem to mind, and the ref was angry, but seemed to understand. Crowd wasn’t happy, but impressive win for Hager I guess.
(3) AJ McKee vs. Pat Curran (Featherweight)
Prediction: Curran defeats McKee via Unanimous Decision
ROUND ONE: Here we go! McKee misses a jab. McKee with a body kick. McKee head kick blocked. Spinning back kick missed for McKee. McKee lands a takedown. Curran stands, but McKee lands a knee. Leg kick for Curran. Spinning back fist misses for McKee. Left hand lands for Curran. Curran goes high, but McKee sweeps his leg. McKee rushes Curran, but Curran escapes. End Round 1. 10-9 McKee
ROUND TWO: Body kick for Curran lands. Leg kicks for McKee. Jabs for both. McKee with a body shot. Nice combo for McKee. Both land leg kicks. Nice right from McKee. Curran shoots and down McKee. McKee looks frantic and is throwing strikes off his back. Nice right from Curran. McKee landing elbows from the bottom. Curran bleeding. End Round 2. 19-19
ROUND THREE: Solid combo for McKee. Dancing from both. Combo from McKee blocked. Body shot for Curran. McKee throwing his legs out. McKee shoots, but is stuffed and eats a knee. McKee keeps missing hooks. McKee shoots for a takedown, but Curran stuffs him. McKee holding Curran against the cage. McKee lands a takedown McKee seems contempt to just sit the rest of the round out. 29-28 McKee
Result: Judges Scorecards- (30-27 x2, 20-26) for winner by Unanimous Decision, A.J. McKee
Analysis: The 30-26 made no sense, as no round contained much action, and McKee did a lot of throwing, but not much landing. Fight was incredibly disappointing, but McKee will see himself most definitely in the Featherweight Grand Prix later this year.
(4) Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page (Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Final)
Prediction: Lima defeats Page via Split Decision
ROUND ONE: Here we go! Page with a nice combo. Oblique kicks for Page. Lima with some leg kicks. Page with a solid jab. More oblique’s for Page. Superman punch for Page. Lima blocks and elbow and scores a takedown. Page blocking Lima from moving. Lima trying to throw but Page has control of the arms. Lima continues to be stuffed. Nice hammer fist for Lima. End Round 1. 10-9 Page
ROUND TWO: Page throwing wild kicks. Good superman from Page seems to stun Lima. Page goes for a jab, but Lima trips him and lands a huge strike and hammer fist and that is it.
Result: Douglas Lima defeats Michael Page via KO in Round 2 (0:35)
Analysis: A shot that Page didn’t even see coming. Page was tripped, and when he was trying to stand, Page ate an uppercut and that was all she wrote. Lima has been ridiculously underrated, and now there is no doubt. Disappointment for Page, but he’ll be back, and we could see Lima take his belt back and face off against Page again, but until then, put some respect on Douglas Lima’s name.
(5) Michael Chandler vs. Patricio Pitbull (Lightweight Championship Fight)
Prediction: Pitbull defeats Chandler via Unanimous Decision
ROUND ONE: Here we go! Pitbull takes the center quickly. Nice right from Pitbull. Jabs from both. Pitbull with an overhand, and Chandler goes down. Chandler getting hammered and that’s it!
Result: Patricio Pitbull defeats Michael Chandler via TKO in Round 1 (1:01) to become the NEW Bellator Lightweight Champion
Analysis: Possibly an early stoppage, and Chandler protested, but he was on his back, and was pretty obviously unconscious, and the ref stepped in, and Chandler seemed to wake back up as soon as the ref stepped in. Controversy aside, Pitbull becomes the second man to hold 2 championships in Bellator becoming a 2 division Champ Champ. Chandler was very respective, and admitted defeat, all be it claiming an early stoppage, but for what seemed like a blood feud, the two at least had a little respect for one another.
And that’s it. Bellator 221 comes to a close with highlights including Tywan Claxton’s dominates, Jake Hager’s potato walkthrough, A.J. McKee remaining undefeated, MVP tasting first time defeat, with Douglas Lima heading to the finals, and to close out the show, Patricio Pitbull cements himself as the face of Bellator, and the best fighter it has ever seen. A potential rematch in the future, but we’ll have to see what Patrico does with the Featherweight Grand Prix coming up very soon. Thanks for reading, and let us know your thoughts @MMATorch or @CoachCMmma on Twitter!
Leave a Reply