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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Nearly four years after Joe Warren took a controversial decision over Marcos Galvao in a non-title bout, Galvao got some revenge in slightly contentious fashion himself on Friday night at Bellator 135 on Spike TV.
In the second round of their bout, Galvao countered a takedown and rolled for a knee bar. He caught it on tight, and once he had it locked on, he gave a violent wrench on the hold which caused Warren to shriek in pain. It was certainly an involuntary reaction to the pain, but absolutely constituted a verbal submission, and referee "Big John" McCarthy stopped the bout.
Warren immediately complained, and continued to do so after the bout because he didn't tap out to the hold. Unfortunately for him, McCarthy made the right call, as commentator Jimmy Smith relayed that McCarthy had made it clear to the fighters prior to the event that screaming in pain would be considered a verbal submission.
Prior to the title change, fellow bantamweights LC Davis and Hideo Tokoro put on one of the greatest fights in Bellator history.
The 15-minute matchup was the definition of a back and forth fight, and it happened at a furious pace for its entirety. Both Davis and Tokoro hurt one another at different points in the fight, with Davis controlling the second round with a strong, sustained series of offense, while Tokoro took the third with some brutal strikes that left Davis missing several of his bottom teeth afterward.
It came down to a very close opening round to determine the victor. Davis was a bit more active overall, but Tokoro buckled Davis' knees with a couple of brutal punches late in the round that could have given him a damage edge. It was such a close frame that the round could have gone to either, and could have been scored 10-10 as well. Ultimately, two judges saw it in Davis' favor for the split decision victory, and it's in the running for "Fight of the Year" for 2015.
Also on the main card on Spike TV, Francis Carmont won his Bellator debut in a decision win over Guilherme Viana, while Ryan Couture submitted Dakota Cochrane in the first round
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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