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BELLATOR 59 (not-so) LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round-by-round report on final Bellator event of Season 5
Nov 26, 2011 - 11:55:46 PM BELLATOR 59 (not-so) LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round-by-round report on final Bellator event of Season 5

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By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist:

Bellator's fifth season concludes tonight with two tournament finales, the Bellator debut of former UFC veteran Kurt Pellegrino, and the Bellator debut of Phillipe Nover. The bantamweight tournament concludes with a fight between 22 year old Eduardo Dantas and 40 year old Alexis Vila. The finals of the heavyweight tournament will showcase Thiago Santos against Eric Prindle.

FIGHT ONE: MARCIN HELD VS. PHILLIPE NOVER

ROUND ONE: The 19 year old Held comes out aggressive but gets dropped by a quick right by Nover 15 seconds in. Held pops back up. Held rolls for a spinning kneebar, and winds up getting Nover's back standing. Held gets a trip and goes for an inverted heel hook. Nover goes for his own leglock in defense. Dueling figure fours here. Held has a better kneebar, and Nover is trying to roll out. Held slides to a heel hook, doesn't get it, and we're back to standing. 2:30 left in the round. Held charges and eats a straight punch to the forehead. Nover's being patient here. Nover with a left kick to the ribs, and follows up with another kick. Held presses Nover against the fence. Nover going for the plum. Held pulls guard. Hammerfists from the bottom by Held, Nover walks away. Nover backs off, and Held is allowed to stand. Held rolls for a kneebar. Great stuff by Held here. Held standing in Nover's guard as the round ends. 10-9 Held

ROUND TWO: Held pulls guard looking for another leg lock. Nover in Held's loose half guard, but not doing too much. Held trying to roll out, and eats a big left punch, most effective strike of the fight so far. Nover winds up back in loose half guard, and Nover is willing to fight from that position. Held is active from the bottom, but I suppose that's a must if you're always pulling guard. Nover to his feet, throwing a couple of kicks to the legs of his prone opponent. This has been going on for a full minutes now before Nover backs off, allowing Held to stand. Held comes forward, eats a couple punches, then Held gets the takedown and winds up on top for the first time. Nover looking for a kimura from the bottom, uses it to sweep then lets it go. Nover can't get a dominant position so he stands up. Nover dives in with a left punch. A couple more decent shots from Nover to end the round. 10-9 Nover. 19-19

ROUND THREE: Held charges with punches, backs Nover into the fence and takes Nover down. Held gets to north south but soon gets caught in half guard. Nover has Held pressed chest to chest. Nover gets to his side, still in half guard. Kimmy smith has the fight 20-18 for Nover, for what it's worth. Held has a front face lock on the mat, Nover gets free and winds up on top with Held pressed against the cage. A couple short elbows from Nover. 2:30 left. Nover stands up, Held looks for an ankle lock, but Nover walks away before Held can get close. back to standing. Held comes charging in, catches a body kick, winds up on top and looks for yet another toe hold. Loses it, and now Nover looks for his own. Back to standing. Nover initiates a clinch but gets pressed against the fence. Nover with a double leg and gets to half guard. Held needs a submission to win this fight, not that Nover has done much, either. Nover throwing the occasional short elbow until the bell rings. 10-9 Nover. 29-28 Nover. 30-27 Nover would be acceptable, but overall it felt like a 29-28 performance.

WINNER: Marcin Held by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (**) It wasn't an exciting fight, but it was interesting because you don't see a lot of guys constantly pulling guard and rolling for leg locks like Held was doing. Nover was laughing at the incompetence of the judges.

FIGHT TWO: EDUARDO DANTAS VS. ALEXIS VILA (BANTAMWEIGHT TOURNAMENT FINAL)

Bellator bantamweight champion predicts Dantas by TKO or decision, for what it's worth. Dantas stands three inches taller, and has the same reach advantage as well. This fight could be a sleeper fight of the year candidate. Or it could suck if Vila bulls Dantas against the cage all night. High level analysis there, folks.

ROUND ONE: Vila comes out aggressive and gets the takedown against the fence. Vila stands, and eats an upkick. Vila stands in front of a prone Dantas for a solid minute and does nothing but eats two upkicks. Dantas back to his feet, and then lands a jumping knee strike. Vila initiates a clinched body lock, and presses the taller fighter against the cage. No action against the cage as Vila tries hard to take Dantras down. Vila drops for a single leg. They've been on the cage over a minute now. Dantas is doing a great job keeping his balance, even if it's not the fight he wants to fight. Vila finally gets teh takedown with 30 seconds left. Vila gets Dantas' back as they both stand. Knees to the thigh from Vila as the round ends. 10-9 Vila

ROUND TWO: Vila shoots for a single, and winds up pressing Dantas against the fence. He's on it like, um, like something relentless on something it really wants. I'm all about metaphors, folks. Back to standing. Dantas with a nice jab and body kick combo there. Vila with punches backing Dantas into the fence. Again. Dantas reverses, and then separates. Nice knee by Dantas who is starting to loosen up. Dantas with a push kick. Vila shoots a double, Dantas turns away, and Vila gets hic back up against the fence. Dantas spins as Vila drops down for a single. Dantas has a front face lock, tris for a guillotine, but Vilas escapes easily. Back to the middle, 90 seconds left. Another big knee by Dantas, best shot of the night by either guy, but Vila manages to shoot in yet again. he drops down, and Dantas grabs his neck. Standing guillotine, but Dantas isn't trying to submit him with it. Vila drops down, gets back up, and presses Dantas against the fence. Dantas separates. Another flying knee, but it didn't hit hard. 10-9 Dantas. 19-19 Vila controlled most of the clock, but Dantas did a little bit of damage.

ROUND THREE: Dantas with a snappy leg kick. Another jab leg kick combo by Dantas. Dantas drops Vila, or maybe it was a slip. Vila back up right away. standing knee to the chest by Dantas. Vila misses by a mile with an uppercut, but it backs Dantas into the cage. Vila tries for a double leg against the cage, but Dantas slips it and takes Vila's back against the fence. He's got one hook in and is trying to slip his arm under Vila's chin. Vila's in trouble here, but is defending well so far. The round is half over, so Vila needs to not only defend, but to escape. As I write that, Dantas gets the body triangle. Vila's throwing backward punches blindly. Dantas rolled Vila over, and then back. He's lost the body triangle, but still has one hook in. 45 seconds left. Dantas is content to ride this one out. 10-9 Dantas. 29-28 Dantas

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

STAR RATING: (*+) Meh. I'm not saying either fighter was bad, just saying that the fight itself was bad.

FIGHT THREE: KURT PELLEGRINO VS. PATRICKY PITBULL FRIERE

Pitbull is an inch shorter than Batman, but possess a 3 inch reach advantage. It's strange to see Pellegrino with his natural hair color. Pellegrino has home turf advantage, but I don't think that's gonna do him a drop of good here. I have a bad feeling about this fight.

ROUND ONE: Friere takes the center of the cage right away. 15 seconds before either guy throws a strike. Friere drops Batman with a right. Pellegrino grabs on to a single leg, eats a ten shots, most of them were illegal punches to the back of the head, and the ref stops the fight while Pellegrino is trying to roll away from all of the illegal strikes to the back of the head that the referee decided to change the rules of the sport in order to allow. Yes, that was a run on sentence, but it was loaded with indignant rage.

WINNER: Patricky Friere by TKO (illegal strikes to the back of the head that the referee decided to deem legal, one night only) at 0:50 of round one.

STAR RATING: (N/A) And now you know how to win a fight by landing only one legal punch. To be fair, replays showed that it was a two punch combination that dropped Pellegrino. the partisan crowd is booing and chanting obscenities, and rightfully so. Why have rules if the referees are unwilling to enforce them?

Pellegrino was classy in defeat, and then retired. He's a credit to the sport, and society for that matter. He is so classy that Mike Goldberg would call him classy. And as you know, Goldberg doesn't call ANYBODY classy. Wait, what?

FIGHT FOUR: THIAGO SANTOS VS. ERIC PRINDLE (HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT FINAL)

ROUND ONE: Santos gets the takedown, lands a couple heavy strikes, but Prindle gets back up. And back down just like that. Half guard for Santos, up against the cage. Santos stands up, and kicks Prindle in the cup. That was as intentional as intentional gets. The strange thing is that Prindle didn't react for about 2-3 seconds, but he then reacted like he got shot in the face with a shotgun. Replays make it look like he got kicked in the, um, well, about 2 inches below the cup. Prindle is going to take the whole 5 minutes. This would be such a bad way to end the season if he cannot continue. The doctor is talking to Prindle from outside the cage now. That can't be good. Doctors and commission members are in the cage now, and Prindle was overheard saying that he feels like he's going to vomit. Wheelock announces that they are going to replay the fight of the year at the conclusion of this show, but then announces they are going to replay Chandler versus Alvarez. So, which is it?

The bell just rang, and this fight is over. As they cut to commercial, a commission member is heard saying, "It falls under no contest."

WINNER: No Contest.

STAR RATING: (N/A) The groin kick from Santos was as blatant a shot as you will ever see. Somewhere in Paris, Cheick Kongo was overheard saying, "Holy crap, I didn't know we could do that! And here all I thought I was allowed to do was pull on the other guys' shorts and knee him in the balls from a standing clinch."

(That may not be a direct quote...)

Cole Konrad is going to be 42 years old before he gets a chance to defend his title.

Follow me on Twitter, @MMATorchRich