Bellator 142 Quick Results: McGeary Submits the Legend

The hybrid experiment of Bellator 142 - Dynamite saw plenty of action, drama and surprises interchanging between the Bellator cage and the Glory ring. Midway into the card, Pride founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara made an exciting announcement for a New Years Eve show headlined by none other than The Last Emperor, Fedor Emelianenko in Tokyo. Overall, it was night of solid action and successful setup to combine two formats of combat fighting into one night. They could really use a new ring-walk announcer though.

Here's a recap for those that missed the action!

The Main Card:

Liam McGeary finishes Tito Ortiz in the first round

MMA legend Tito Ortiz made an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone Liam McGeary in the final bout of the evening. Ortiz came out the aggressor, looking noticeably slow in his punches and takedowns attempts, but managed to remain in top position during their time on the ground. Things were seemingly going Ortiz's way as he landed a number of troubling blows from upstairs until McGeary caught the legend in an inverted triangle to force the tap. McGeary attempted at a number of unorthodox submissions beforehand and showed an impressive mastery playing from the bottom.

In the post-fight interview Ortiz gave no excuses for his performance and told McGeary he beat the best version of Tito Ortiz. Phil Davis was brought into the ring and him and McGeary give competitive verbiage for their future bout against each other.

Phil Davis scores brutal knockout against Francis Carmont

Phil Davis faced off in the penultimate bout of the night against Francis Carmont for the right to face off against the main-event winner. Carmont replaced King Mo who was forced to opt out due to a post-fight injury. The first two minutes saw no real action as Carmont posed and danced around in a strange monkey-style stance, which caused major boos from the crowd. Davis changed the atmosphere by stepping in and landing a devastating left hook to put Carmont on the seat of his pants. Davis followed it up with a solid right hand to the chin, and pounds to the ground before the ref stepped in to stop the match. In the post-fight interview, Davis said he'd hope to face McGeary for the title, but would be fine in facing off against the legend Ortiz.

Saulo Cavalari edges Zack Mwekassa in majority decision

Zack Mwekassa looked for redemption against Saulo Cavalari for the vacant Glory Light-Heavyweight title, but came up short in the final decision. Mwekassa moved forward nearly the entire fight, landing and receiving heavy blows in the process, but impressed audiences with his relentless determination. Both fighters were put on the ground plenty of times throughout the fight, but more as a result of trips, slips and pushes rather than legitimate knockdowns. Cavalari landed hard meaningful blows fighting off the back-foot, though Mwekassa played aggressor throughout the match. Despite announcers having Mwekassa up on the cards going into the fifth round, Cavalari managed to escape with the decision by scores of 48-46, 48-46, and 47-47 to become the Glory Light-Heavyweight Champion.

Josh Thomson dominates Mike Bronzoulis in Bellator debut

Josh Thomson made his Bellator debut against Mike Bronzoulis in what would be a dominate inside fight by Thomson. Both men showed great technique in the opening moments, but largely missed most of their shots standing up. Thomson took the fight to the ground where it remained in Thomson's favor. Bronzoulis defended effectively for a couple of rounds before being body-slammed in the third and caught almost immediately in an arm-triangle from Thomson. Bronzoulis managed to tap before momentarily falling unconscious. Thomson showed great sportsmanship by lifting the legs of Bronzoulis, ensuring no significant damage resulted from the choke.

Paul Daley defeats Fernando Gonzalez in a technical fight

Bellator fighters Paul Daley and Fernando Gonzalez entered the squared circle to face off in their first Glory contest. Action exploded quickly through a number of hard kick exchanges, but Daley would dominate the match both upstairs and downstairs with a show of technical superiority. Though both men showed great technical ability, nothing devastating landed for either man, and heated exchanged were kept to a minimum. Trailing into the third, Gonzalez opened the final stanza with a spirited performance, but fell short on the final scorecards as Daley snatched the UD by scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.

Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez outboxes Hadley Griffith in Glory debut

Bantamweight MMA fighter Hadley Griffith and Muay-Thai fighter Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez made their Glory debuts in the third fight of the main card. Melendez was the busier of the two throughout the fight, showing expert ability in the discipline by keeping intelligent distance and imposing a consistent pressure. Melendez was also the aggressor, pushing Griffith from post to post with solid leg checks and punches upstairs. Griffith showed a bit a life in the last 20 seconds of the fight, but it was certainly two little, too late. Melendez captured the UD by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 and plans to make her Bellator MMA debut early next year.

Phil Davis submits Emanuel Newton with excellent ground display

Second round of the Light-Heavyweight Tournament saw Phil Davis taking on Emanuel Newton. Davis had never been stopped in 16 fights and Newton hadn't had a fight end before the final round since 2009. Fight opened up tentatively with both fighters throwing leg checks and measuring jabs. Davis then took the fight to the ground and absolutely dominated, almost locking in a rear-naked and a number of kimuras. Newton made a spirited effort to break-free and return to his feet, but Davis' superior hip movement kept him in dominate position to lock the final kimura and force the tap. Excellent display of ground fighting from Davis as he advanced to take on King Mo in the finals.

King Mo dominates Linton Vassell in first round of tournament championship

Opening the card was Muhammed Lawal taking on Linton Vassell in the first round of a four-man light-heavyweight tournament to be contested through the night. Fights were limited to 2 rounds, significantly changing the strategy and approach a fighter takes to the match. King Mo dominated the majority of the match with superior boxing skill, dropping Vassell a number of times, but oddly not capitalizing on it. Towards the end of the second, Vassell pulled off an impressive WWE-style power-bomb, but didn't manage to make anything of it as King Mo returned slammed him in return and finished the fight on top. Lawal went on to win a unanimous decision.

The Prelims:

Serhiy Adamchuk def. Anvar Boynazarov via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Gabe Carrasco def. Joe Neal via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Adam Piccolotti def. Salvador Becerra via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:47
Jose Palacios def. TJ Arcangel via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
Ousmane Thomas Diagne and Mike Malott fight to majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 29-28 Diagne)
Francis Carmont def. Anthony Ruiz via Decision.