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BELLATOR 137 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Halsey vs. Grove" event
May 15, 2015 - 9:00:00 PM
BELLATOR 137 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Halsey vs. Grove" event
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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

BELLATOR 137
MAY 15, 2015
LIVE FROM TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA


Bellator returns to Spike TV tonight with a card that nearly got blown up on Thursday due to both Brandon Halsey and Mike Richman missing weight. Halsey's miss means he's lost the Bellator Middleweight Title, as a win for him tonight will vacate the belt, while Kendall Grove can still capture the belt with a win. Richman's fight with Eduardo Dantas was briefly off on Thursday before Dantas finally agreed to take the bout. We'll have live round by round coverage of tonight's main card as it airs, so tune in here to follow along starting at 9PM ET!


FIGHT ONE: RAFAEL SILVA VS. DARRION CALDWELL (BANTAMWEIGHT)

- Caldwell comes into the cage with a 5 inch reach advantage. The referee for this fight will be Mike Beltran, with his beard doing an awesome Rapunzel impression.

ROUND ONE: Caldwell comes out with a high kick, followed by a straight kick to the chest. Heavy leg kick by Silva almost spun Caldwell in a full circle. Caldwell with a high leg kick just just missed the cup. Caldwell stuffs a shot from Silva and wins up on top in the middle of the cage. Nice scramble and Silva spinds into a foot lock. Caldwell fixed his position in a nice scramble and now is in full guard near the cage. Not much action now. Caldwell's staying close and Silva's patiently awaiting an opportunity to attack from the bottom. Caldwell pulled out to his feet and then dove back down and wound up in side-control. Silva worked him into half-guard, much to the consternation of the referee who immediately told them to work. Silva listened, as he responded by diving for a heel hook. Not there, and Caldwell is back in side control. Elbows from Caldwell. Knee on belly from Caldwell. Caldwell retains top position until the bell sounds. 10-9 Caldwell Good stuff, but very methodical.

ROUND TWO: Caldwell has absolutely thrown more kicks than punching during the standup portions at the beginning of each round. Jab from Caldwell, short. Might be his first punch of the night. Caldwell lands a head kick, and slips. Silva can't capitalize. High kick from Caldwell followed by a single leg shot. Silva grabs his neck and gets it to the ground. He's looking for the guillotine. Nice job by Caldwell to get out of the guard while stuck in the guillotine. Out pops the head, and Caldwell is on top. Silva wraps him back into guard quickly. I don't think the submission was ever close there. Nice short elbow from Caldwell. Shoulder strike; the foot-stomp of ground and pound. Silva is looking for another heel hook, but isn't selling out for it. He uses the opportunity to get on top of Caldwell, but his head is stuck. He pops free, and now Silva is on top with 45 seconds left. Silva isn't able to get any offense through Caldwell's defenses here. 10-9 Caldwell. 20-18 Caldwell Could score it either way, as I don't think either guy landed 10 strikes total in the round.

ROUND THREE: Caldwell would be wise to keep Silva on the outside while they're standing. Put that reach to good use. Caldwell is stalling on the feet, and would get a yellow card in Pride. Instead, we're in Bellator, so he gets exasperated expressions from Silva instead. Silva initiates a body lock, and they grapple along the cage. Caldwell with a knee to the guy, and a nice throw to get Silva on his back. Butterfly guard. Caldwell postures up and sits back down, now in half-guard. Caldwell's content to ride out the clock. Silva is trying desperately to get to his feet, but Caldwell is doing an expert job of staying heavy. So, what did you do to win the fight, son? I stayed heavy mom. I stayed heavy. We're all so proud. Beltran stood them up. 90 seconds remain. Caldwell is not at all tired, here. Silva with a tired looking haymaker that missed by 3 feet and 5 seconds. Caldwell dives in for a single leg. No setup whatsoever, but he got him down with it. 30 seconds left. Caldwell is staying somewhat busy on top, more for position that in an attempt to do, you know, anything. 30-27 Caldwell Yawn.

WINNER: Darrion Caldwell by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (**-) Caldwell is good at what he does. Unfortunately, what he does is boring as all hell.


FIGHT TWO: FERNANDO GONZALEZ VS. CURTIS MILLENDER (WELTERWEIGHT)

- Millender sports a whopping 10 inch... reach advantage. He's also five inches taller than Gonzalez. The referee is John McCarthy.

ROUND ONE: Millender looks two weight classes bigger than Gonzalez. Gonzalez lands a couple nice left hands, but can't get inside on Millender behind them. Millender isdoing a good job of both taking the center of the cage and staying at range. Hard charging leg kick from Gonzalez. Nice jab work from Millender now. High kick by him as well. Push kick by Millender, just to keep Gonzalez at bay. Gonzalez catches a kick and gets a body lock clinch. Failed takedown, and Millender's against the cage now with over under. They separate, and we've got just over two minutes left. Gonzalez' entire strategy seems to be log kicks and overhand left hands. Good left hook to the body from Millender. There's a punch we don't see often enough. Leg kick form Gonzalez. Millender is content to circle and jab. Doesn't needs more against his diminutive opponent. Every time Gonzalez charges in, he eats a jab. Millender is starting to bust out the push kick to the knee. Gonzalez catches a lazy kick and gets a takedown. Couple of hammerfists, and the bell. 10-9 Millender Takedown steals the round, Joe. NO Goldy, it doesn't.

ROUND TWO: Gonzalez needs to figure out how to get inside, or he's going to be lose this fight. Gonzalez ducks under a jab, but then doesn't follow up with a shot. Nice straight left from Gonzalez, and Millender circles away in a hurry. Millender with a jab to the body and a right hook. Millender is having his way with just a jab and his footwork. Gonzalez gets a clinch and puts Millender on the fence. Millender muscles Gonzalez to the canvas and is in an open half-guard. Gonzalez gets back to his feet, but ate a couple of hard punches in the process. He's busted open over his right eye. High kick from Gonzalez, mostly blocked. Outside leg kick from Millender. Gonzalez is getting more aggressive, but Millender keeps shucking him off. 20-18 Millender

ROUND THREE: More of the same to start the third. Jab, circle, angles, etc. Gonzalez is more aggressive in that he's walking straight forward with every step he takes. Gonzalez hits a leg kick that drops Millender. As Millender springs to his feet, Gonzalez grabs a guillotine. He adjusts, and I think he's got it. Wow. Millender tapped. Brutal choke (read that any way you want).

WINNER: Fernando Gonzalez by submission (guillotine) at 1:14 of Round Three

STAR RATING: (**) Millender doesn't have enough MMA skills at this point of his career. I mean, he knows the basics that a lot of fighters never master (Stefan Struve, I'm looking at you), but all he did was circle left, jab, kick the knee, repeat. Gonzalez was all heart, and was completely unsuccessful for 11 minutes, but he got one opening and that was all he needed. If he fights Paul Daley, he might die.


FIGHT THREE: EDUARDO DANTAS VS. MIKE RICHMAN (139 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)

- Mike Richman missed weight, hence the catchweight designation. He has been fined 20% of his purse, half of which will go to Dantas. Dantas originally declined to take the fight against the bloated Richman, but was eventually persuaded to take the fight.

- The referee for this fight is the bookish Michael Bell.

- No touch of gloves. No surprise there.

ROUND ONE: Dantas charges with a flying kick and immediate takedown. Richman gets back up but takes a knee to the body. unfazed, Richman reverses position and puts Dantas along the cage. Dantas reverses position. Dantas drops down and gets a takedown. Dantas is staying heavy. He has to, because Richman has a good 20 pounds on him right now. Nice elbow from Dantas. Dantas is relying on good wrist control to keep Richman at bay. Richman is up, and they're back to standup now. Dantas has a cut near his left eyebrow. Dantas grabs Richman and gets Richman down again. Richman is on his backside, sitting against the cage. He's up. Richman is in his range, but hasn't found his opening yet. Richman misses with a weird looking lunging uppercut. Dantas with an unsuccessful half-hearted shoot from the outside. Dantas shoots, gets stuffed again, and Richman almost grabbed his neck. Straight left to hte chin by Richman. Richman misses with a left and right, Dantas circles away. The round belongs to Dantas, 10-9.

ROUND TWO: Sharp body kick from Dantas at the outset of the round. Dantas gets stuffed, and again left his head out there. Sloppy. And again. He got to the leg, but was fully stuffed. Richman lands a straight left. Dantas got in on a single leg, but really is daring Richman to grab his neck. And another single. This time he manages to push Richman into the cage. Dantas lets go of the leg, but then shoots another unsuccessful single. This is weird. Nice uppercut from Richman. Dantas' nose is red. Body kick from Dantas. Richman is starting to flail with ugly right hooks. I think Dantas is trying to tire Richman out, but Dantas is mouth-breathing now as well. Ugly fight. Dantas is on his bike, but Richman isn't doing anything himself, either. Nice left from Richman. Straight right from Dantas finds a home. Single leg from Dantas, but Richman sprawls and easily slides out. Another right from Dantas. The round ends, and I have no idea what I just watched. 10-9 Richman, I guess.

ROUND THREE: Richman comes out coming forward flicking the jab out there. Both fighters trade leg kicks. Richman continues to throw leg kicks and Dantas continues to circle, but he circles towards Richman's power side. Dantas follows up a blocked spinning back fist with a successful single leg takedown. Dantas doing nothing in Richman's open guard. Dudu is fighting like DooDoo, but not like Good Dudu. Richman is landing a lot from the bottom, but nothing with power. Maybe he'll find that cut. Dantas gets Richman towards the cage, which allows Richman to get back up. Dantas' left eye is busted open now. Must have been a short shot from Richman on the mat. Bell pauses the fight to - no. I thought he was going to check the cut, but he just separated them in order to get them to try to fight. Dantas shoots a single, Richman sprawls. Richman is trying to come forward, but he's gassed. Richman eats a right and stuffs a single leg takedown attempt. 10-9 Dantas. 29-28 Dantas The round was there for Richman, but how do you give a guy a round for doing nothing but stuffing takedowns?

WINNER: Eduardo Dantas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (0*) Worst fight of the year. Not only bad, but confusing, disappointing, and unintelligent. Everything bad about modern MMA fighting was encapsulated in this fight.


MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: BRANDON HALSEY VS. KENDALL GROVE (188 LB. CATCHWEIGHT - TITLE ON THE LINE FOR GROVE)

- So, Halsey had an easy weight cut. Of course, I mean he had an easy cut to 190. So he's going in to the fight as a lame duck champ. If he wins, the title is vacated. If he loses, Grove is the champion. So really, Halsey has to decide if he wants to lose the title to a human being, or to a scale. Fingerpoke of Doom?

- That said, Kendall Grove has talked so much shit, I think Halsey would rather lose to anyone on earth, or a scale, before losing to Grove.

- Mike Beltran and his fabulous dueling beards and best voice ever are in charge.

ROUND ONE: Halsey talked the middle of the cage. Body kick and a single leg from Halsey. Grove's down. Half-guard. Halsey stepped over to mount very easily. Arm triangle. Grove's in trouble. Grove squirmed out by giving up his back. Halsey is on his back, and is pounding away. Eating huge right fists and forearms here is Grove (Sorry for the Goldy). Halsey stands up in open guard and unloads. Halsey dives for a leg lock, which is a stoopid decision. Now he's on his back and Grove is standing over him. Grove is down, and powers through to get Grove back down. Halsey clears the legs and gets on Grove's back. One hook in. I would say how bad Grove looks here, but that wouldn't be revealing at all. Dozens of hammerfists to the the ear of Grove. Halsey stands, hoping to clear the legs of Grove. Can't do it, so he goes in to guard. Nice upkick from Grove, and Grove stands. Grove comes out firing. He's bad at fighting, but he has heart. 10-8 Halsey

ROUND TWO: Jimmy Smith scored the "complete wipeout, total domination" of Halsey because Grove isn't bruised or cut up. Note to self, only punches to the face matters in Himmy Smith's world. Halsey was 42-47 in strikes in the first. Grove was 5-16. Slower start for Halsey in the second, no surprise there. Halsey is working for the takedown on the very active Grove. He's got it. Big right hand from Halsey. Halsey keeps trying to stand in guard, he needs to be aware of the triangle. Halsey is off-center a little, so he needs to make sure Grove doesn't squirm out the side here. Halsey's not doing nearly as much now as he didn in the first. Setting up another arm triangle from side control. Halsey uses the position to punch Grove in the skull. He's looking for a crucifix now. Grove is trying to cage walk to get off his back. He's not strong enough to get Halsey off of him without cage leverage. The round ends. 20-17 Halsey

ROUND THREE: Halsey hits a single. Grove is down with Halsey on top in half-guard. He's grinding his forearm in Grove's face, but isn't landing strikes as effectively as he did early on. Halsey is trying hard to get his leg out. Grove looked for a triangle and Halsey stood out of it. He looked for another after Halsey dove in, but he lost it. Halsey is fishing for Grove's back. He's got a neck crank. Grove turns out of it, but that was painful. Halsey is pounding away from behind. Grove is on his back now, with Halsey in half-guard. Grove's got his feet on the cage, again trying to push off the cage to get out of this position. Instead, Grove closes up the full-guard. Beltran stands them up. Halsey gets a takedown literally 0.000000000 seconds after they restart. Halsey stands up in the guard of Grove, but can't find a big punch and goes chest to chest. Grove looks for an arm, but too sweaty, and Halsey powers out. Half-guard to end the round. 30-26 Halsey Enough rope-a-dope for Grove. time to fight or lose.

ROUND FOUR: Grove eats an uppercut, but manages to take it rather well. Halsey with a big right to the ear of Grove. Grove is dazed. Halsey shoots, but backs off when Grove goes for his neck. Halsey drops down and hits a double leg takedown. He's got mount on Grove. Beltran is thinking about ending this fight. Halsey is landing right hands at will. After about 40 of them Grove grabs an armbar. Halsey rips his arm out of danger and goes back to the right hands. After another 15 or so he gets on Grove's back. Halsey is throwing lefts to Grove's face, going behind the armpit. Another dozen right hands, and Beltran stops the fight. That was a lamb, a foul-mouthed lamb, to the slaughter.

WINNER: Brandon Halsey by TKO at 2:25 of Round Four

STAR RATING: (**) Halsey damn near killed Grove. No interview, and no belt, to end the night. If you were to ask 100 MMA people how this fight was going to play out, unless one of those people was Kendall Grove, 100 people would have nailed it. Grove knew, he KNEW how this would play out, so he ran his mouth to bring attention to himself. Good for him, and I mean that. He just isn't good enough at his chosen profession when opportunity knocks.




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