Bellator Events
BELLATOR 128 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Dantas vs. Warren" event on Spike TV
Oct 10, 2014 - 11:00:00 PM BELLATOR 128 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Dantas vs. Warren" event on Spike TV

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

BELLATOR 128
OCTOBER 10, 2014
LIVE FROM THACKERVILLE, OKLAHOMA

- Big title fight tonight, as Joe Warren tries to upend the reign of Bantamweight champion Ediardo Dantas. Tiger Sarnavskiy and Michael Page are featured tonight as well. But the night starts off with Bubba McDaniel. Le sigh.

FIGHT ONE: BUBBA MCDANIEL VS. EMILIANO SORDI (MIDDLEWEIGHT)

- Jason Herzog will referee this fight.

ROUND ONE: The Argentine Sordi lands a quick right and stuffs a McDaniel takedown. He grabs for a guillotine, but it's not there until McDaniel jumped into guard for some reason. He's got it. That was very charitable of Bubba to hand Sordi a guillotine like that.

WINNER: Eniliano Sordi by submission at 0:58 of round one.

STAR RATING: (*) It was Bubba, who is a real Bubba.


FIGHT TWO: ALEXANDER SARNAVSKIY VS. DAKOTA COCHRANE (160 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)

- Hi Big John! Welcome back. Don't screw this up like you did the Kennedy fight, ok?

ROUND ONE: Cochrane lands some big knees from a thai clinch. After they separate, Sarnavskiy lands a big spinning backfist that staggered Cochrane. Left hook, right uppercut, and another left from Sarnavskiy, and Cochrane is forced to shoot. Sarnavskiy's stuck against the fence while Cochrane drops to his knees (hey now) in an attempt to get the takedown. McCarthy is getting impatient. Big knee from Sarnavskiy forces Cochrane to lose his balance briefly. Nice elbow from Sarnavskiy bloodies Cochrane. Knee. Big jab. There's a jump knee. Cochrane is down and Sarnavskiy takes his back. Here comes the fat lady!

WINNER: Tiger Sarnavskiy by submission at 2:32 of round one.

STAR RATING: (**) Meh. This was never in doubt.


FIGHT THREE: MICHAEL PAGE VS. NAH-SHON BURRELL (WELTERWEIGHT)

- Jason Herzog is the referee for this fight.

ROUND ONE: Page has to be seen to be believed. What a stance. Burrell charges inside, which is where he needs this fight to be. They grapple back and forth along the fence. Eventually Page disengages. Burrell continues to press forward, and occasionally grazes Page, but nothing that really counts. Most of what he's been throwing has missed by a yard. Page lands a nice punch to Burrell's left eye, and it caused a cut. Burrell continues to pressure forward, and has Page on the cage yet again. This has been tremendously dull, not gonna lie. Burell is obsessed with staying inside and not letting Page do, well, anything. Page dodges a reckless shot from Burrell and he takes Burrell's back as the round ends. 10-9 Burrell Both fighters were wholly ineffective, but at least Burrell was doing at least one thing that he wanted to do.

ROUND TWO: Page landed 4 strikes int he first round, to Burrell's 12. But Jimmy Smith gave Page the round. Ridiculous. Burrell comes out the same way, desperately trying to sty in the phonebox. This fight is just dreadful, but it isn't the wrong strategy for Burrell. Anyhow, 2 minutes in, still wall and stalling. The commentators are so deep in the tank for Page that they need scuba gear. This is the worst fight of the year so far. It's Burrell's fault for implementing this strategy, and Page's fault for not having a counter to it. Page hits a takedown with one minute left. Burrell takes two soft punches and gets to his feet. Burrell and Page trade spinning back kicks, neither of which landed. They apparently like that energy drink commercial. 19-19 this really sucks.

ROUND THREE: Page lands a leg kick. Burrell grabs a body lock and puts Page on the fence. Page gives up on a takedown and disengages. Back to the middle. Even when they've been in the middle, Page has been content to feint with spinning jump kicks. Dreadful from both fighters. Nice jump kick from Page. Burrell gets clipped coming in, but walks through it and puts Page back on the fence. They separate and Page lands a big right hand. Burrell catches some spinning junk and takes Page down. Page scoots to the fence as Burrell tries to stay heavy. Page gets up and takes a short right hand. Thank God this is over. 29-28 Page From Jason Floyd's Twitter feed: Overall Fight Striking Stats: Page (23/72 31%), Burrell (34/77 44%)

WINNER: Michael Page by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

STAR RATING: (0*) - I hated every second of this fight. Nah-Shon Burrell singlehandedly killed Michael Page's hype train. Worst fight of the year. Burrell needs to be cut, Page needs to learn how to fight on the inside. They're both to blame, and both aren't any damn good.


MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: EDUARDO DANTAS VS. JOE WARREN (BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

- Fortunately, Bellator followed proper protocol and introduced Warren before the champion Dantas.

- Big John is back for the main event duties.

ROUND ONE: Touch of gloves, and we're off. Warren shoots immediately and gets Dantas' back on the fence. Warren almost threw Dantas to the mat but couldn't do so due to a Dantas fence grab. Jose Aldo approves. McCarthy calls for work. No action at all. I'm surprised McCarthy hasn't broken this apart. Herb Dean would have done so five times by now, and Yuji Shimada would have given them red cards by now. Nice knee from Warren after Dantas gets free, and then a missed cartwheel kick. Dantas opens up with his hands, but eats another knee from Warren. Dantas gets inside and presses Warren into the cage. Big elbow from Dantas as he disengages. Warren misses badly on a jump knee. Dantas working the jab as Warren circles. Overhand right from Warren misses. Throws another and comes in behind it with a bodylock takedown. Warren takes his back, but Dantas gets to his feet, with Warren still on his back. Warren gets him down again for like half a second. Dantas continues to avoid the throws by grabbing the fence. 10-9 Warren Semi-entertaining.

ROUND TWO: Dantas flicks out a jab, and a standing knee a few seconds later. Warren eats a knee then shoots a double and gets a takedown. Dantas gets back up, and Warren gets his back. Dantas gets free. Warren flicks a job and circles away from Dantas' right side. Clinch in the middle of the cage, and Dantas pushes Warren into the fence. Warren gets taken down by a slick foot-sweep while he was throwing a kick. Dantas steps into full mount, but it's an awkward position as Warren is seated on his butt against the fence. Dantas is punching away until he loses wrist control. He's also being warned continually about grabbing the fence. Apparently we don't take points until the millionth warning. Warren explodes to his feet and we're back to the middle with two minutes left in the round. Warren eats a left hand. Warren drives in and gets a body lock. McCarthy warns Warren about grabbing the glove. Dantas lands a spinning backfist flush. Warren shoots, and presses Dantas into the cage. Warren gets warned about grabbing the fence. Dantas just hurt Warren with a big knee to the face, but Warren continues to press forward. Warren shoots a desperate single leg, but gets stuffed. Dantas worms free, and then gets taken down from a Warren double leg. Dantas gets back up and takes Warren's back. Had he one more minute he would have gotten the choke he hit on Anthony Leone. 19-19

ROUND THREE: Dantas lands a nice combination and then spins Warren with a really hard leg kick. Nice jab from Dantas. Warren lands a nice knee. Hed kick by Dantas, blocked by the glove of Warren. Dantas is starting to press forward now, as if he has Warren figured out. And then Warren hits a double leg takedown. Closed guard near the fence. Warren is staying chest to chest as Dantas looks for a triangle. He's got Warren's left arn, but Warren stacks his way out. Elbows from Warren, trying to cut Dantas open. Dantas squirms to his feet, but he has Warren on his back now. Dantas looks for a standing kimura, and Warren responds by disengaging. Warren shoos a single, but misses. Fighters each land an uppercut. Warren caught a kick but couldn't turn it into a takeodwn. Warren's starting to become a little more one-dimensional, but it's still kind of working. Warren with the takedown. Nice scramble on the canvas almost leads to Warren getting mount, but just half-guard. Short elbows from Warren. He thought about an arm triangle, but let it go right away. Dantas is trying to get to his feet, but Warren's got good leverage in the middle of the cage. Warren gets warned again for holding the glove. 29-28 Warren

ROUND FOUR: this is now the longest fight of Dantas' MMA career. Hard leg kick by Dantas. Dantas gets taken down and Warren's on his back. Dantas tries to scramble and got to the top position with a nice cage walk. Warren explodes to his feet. Nice grappling exchange from both fighters there. Warren with an overhand right. Dantas just took a poke to the eye. thirty seconds later, and we're back. Deemed unintentional. Warren shoots a double as soon as they touch gloves. Not dirty, just fast. Warren has Dantas on the cage, holding Dantas' left leg. He gives it up. Dantas lands a stiff left, which might have been the best punch of the fight. Warren shoots and gets on Dantas' back, right along the fence. Dantas spins out and trips Warren. Warren scrambles into dominant position and back to standing. Nice right from Dantas. Warren shoots in again and gets on Dantas' back. Sound familiar? This round is the first round that will be hard to score. McCarthy getting impatient. Warren tries to trip Dantas, but winds up letting Dantas get free. Spinning back kick by Dantas. And a big knee which hurt him. Right hand from Dantas. The round ends, and Striking steals the round. 38-38 That was barely Warren's round until the final 15 seconds there.

ROUND FIVE: Warren throws a 1-2, but surprisingly didn't shoot in behind it. Nice right from Dantas as Warren was throwing a step knee. Warren eats a knee, but drives through and gets the takedown. Dantas is digging for a triangle, but loses it after ten seconds of trying. Closed guard. Warren is getting warned repeatedly for grabbing the shorts. Triangle! No, Warren gets out. Nice scramble up against the fence. Both fighters are down, and Warren kicked the head of Dantas. That cut Dantas open, and McCarthy stops the fight because Dantas was down. Warren is continually trying to walk into his corner, and McCarthy is screaming at him to get to a neutral corner. The doctor is examining Dantas and clears him to continue. McCarthy tells Warren that if he does anything illegal again he'll take a point. Because, you know, 23rd time is the charm. Big knee from Dantas, but Warren takes him down anyways, and gets the back. Dantas gets up, and back down, and back up, but now Warren is riding his back, looking to sink the hooks. He get too high and got dumped. Dantas jumps on his back and is looking to stretch Warren out. But Warren explodes out and gets on Dantas' back. Standing now, with Warren on his back. Dantas hits a switch and separates. 90 seconds remain in a really interesting fight. Not exciting, exactly, but really intriguing, high quality stuff. Warren lands a knee and shoots in. Nothing there. Warren shoots again in the middle of the cage, and gets Dantas down. He's on the back of Dantas up against the cage. Warren keeps Dantas up against the cage to end the fight. 48-47 Warren Don't be surprised if this is a split decision.

WINNER: Joe Warren by unanimous decision (48-47 x3)

STAR RATING: (**) It was more interesting than exciting. The mystery lies in why McCarthy didn't take a point for the intentional kick to Dantas' face when both fighters were on the ground. Well, the other mystery is why Warren gets pushed so hard when he's so dull to watch fight, and so annoying to listen to. Dantas had his moments, but never once tried to press the action. Warren 48-47 was the right decision, and I have zero problem with that scorecard.

- That's it for Bellator 128. Next week's Bellator 129 card will be headlined by Josh Neer and Paul Bradley, so come back next week as anyone else o the staff writes up that lovely main event pairing.