Bellator kicked off their ninth season last night and we’ve got all the results for you below.
In the main event Alexander Shlemenko successfully defended his middleweight title against Brett Cooper with a unanimous decision victory after an intense, hard-hitting encounter.
Shlemenko was rocked a couple of times in the opening rounds, but he showed a good chin and was able to keep fighting at a high, aggressive tempo that Cooper couldn’t match in the later rounds and had him badly hurt at times, particularly early in the fourth after dropping him with a left hook.
Meanwhile, Mikkel Parlo advanced to the semi-finals of the next middleweight tournament after almost stopping Brett Cooper late in the third round with strikes, and he’ll now meet Jason Butcher who TKO’d Giva Santana with ground and pound after initially dropping him with a combination of punches.
Also qualifying for the semi-finals was Brennan Ward who was clinical, if somewhat brutal in his targeting of Justin Torrey’s swollen left eye which had initially been damaged following a ground and pound assault in the first round. He went right back to that same spot in the second round, leaving Torrey’s eye a bloody mess and forcing the referee to end the fight giving him the TKO victory.
He’ll meet Perry Filkins who surived some early scares to tap Jeremy Kimball with a third round rear-naked choke.
In the final main card fight Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire dropped to an unexpected upset decision loss to Derek Anderson .
See all the Bellator 98 results from last night below.
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Main Card:
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brett Cooper via unanimous decision (48-47×3)
Mikkel Parlo def. Brian Rogers via unanimous decision
Jason Butcher def. Giva Santana via TKO (punches) at 1:12 of round two
Brennan Ward def. Justin Torrey via TKO (punches) at 3:28 of round two
Perry Filkins def. Jeremy Kimball by submission (rear naked choke) in round three
Derek Anderson def. Patricky Pitbull via unanimous decision
Prelims:
Jeff Nader vs. Mike Mucitelli ends in a no contest (accidental eye poke) Ryan Quinn def. Brylan Van Artsdalen via submission (arm triangle) at 2:34 of round one
Matt Bessette def. Nick Piedmont via TKO (punches) at 1:41 of round one
Rico Disciullo def. Glenn Allair via knockout (elbows) at 1:21 of round one
Josh Diekman def. Parker Porter via TKO (strikes) at 1:12 of round one
