UFC Events
BELLATOR 116 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Johnson vs. Ivanov" event on Spike TV
Apr 11, 2014 - 10:00:00 PM BELLATOR 116 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Johnson vs. Ivanov" 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

(Note to iPhone Safari users: To return to main menu listing, do a quick downswipe to make the back button visible on the bottom of your screen.)

BELLATOR 116
APRIL 11, 2014
LIVE FROM TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA

- As always, the show opens with the first fight ready to begin. Jimmy Smith and Sean Wheelock introduce the card, and we’re off.

FIGHT ONE: ALEXANDER VOLKOV VS. SIALA-MOU “MIGHTY MO” SILIGA

- Volkov is 6’7” and 235 lbs. Mighty Mo is 6’1” and 264 lbs. Volkov is a former Bellator Heavyweight champion.

- Samoa vs. Russia. Yay, multi-culturism.

ROUND ONE: John McCarthy is the referee. Mo catches a front kicks and presses Volkov along the cage looking for a clinch takedown. It took 35 seconds, but Mo got the takedown. It took 5 seconds, but Volkov got back up. Both fighters must be pressed up against a microphone, because the audio on any movement on this part of the cage is atrocious. Take that for what it’s worth. Mo continuing to press Volkov against the wall, but McCarthy says this isn’t enough getting it on, so go stand in the middle of the circlular fence structure. Mo’s gassing out already.

And now he’s dead, not literally, because Volkov’s left foot connected with Mo’s face. Mo went down like Terry Etim to Edson Barboza.

WINNER: Alexander Volkov by KO (head kick) at 2:44 of Round One.

STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) Good fighter beats bad fighter. What, you want more than that from me? OK, fine. Style points to Volkov for walking away after Mo fainted.

- Volkov will face the winner of the main event fight between Blagoi Ivanov and Lavar Johnson in the finals of the Heavyweight tournament. The winner gets that Anderson Silva money (*) and a title shot against Vitaly Minakov.

* - Anderson “Braddock Silva money


FIGHT TWO: NATHAN COY VS. ADAM MCDONOUGH

- Apparently this is a Welterweight tournament semifinal fight. I know. Right? I had to look it up myself, too. But anyhoooo, the winner gets Andrey Koreshkov or am Oropeza. Koreshkov and Oropeza get it on on May 2.

- Am I allowed to write the word ‘on’ back to back like that? Because I totally just did.

-Coy and McDonough are the same height, but McDonough is at a seven inch reach disadvantage. A 66 inch reach on a welterweight is the shortest I remember ever seeing.

- Mike Beltran and his braided beard is in charge of the action.

ROUND ONE: Coy ducks under a punch and takes McDonough down near the cage. Coy’s trying to take the back as McDonough struggles to get back up. McDonough maneuvers himself free, and we’re back to the middle. Coy lands a nice hook, but Coy clinches and pushes McDonough back to the cage. There is a palpable silence in the building. Bellator mics their cage well, but they’ve mic’d it too well tonight, as you can feel the silence. McDonough works free. Back to the middle. Coy grabs a single, but McDonough twists free. Coy fakes a jump knee and gets clocked. Coy eats a head kick while shooting a double and McDonough is pounding away on a grounded Coy. Coy gets to all fours and briefly gets back to his feet. Coy’s almost out on his feet, but he has enough instinct to shoot a double and get McDonough down with a double near the cage. Beltran stops the fight with 19 seconds left in order to get Coy’s mouthpiece. restart with Coy on top. Nothing happened upon restart. 10-9 McDonough

-Upon replay it was an uppercut that dropped Coy.

ROUND TWO: Coy gets staggered with a single punch early in the round. McDonough clinches Coy and lets him go. Immediately upon letting him go McDonough crumpled Coy with a sharp left hand and Beltran has seen enough. That was fantastic refereeing by Mike Beltran.

WINNER: Adam McDonough by KO at 0:30 of Round Two.

STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) The KO punch was the end result of McDonough beating on Coy in the last part of round one, combined with the hard jab to start round two. Referee Mike Beltran did great to put a bullet in Old Yeller. A lot of referees would have forced Coy to take a dozen more shots. Coy was D. U. N. Dun.

-Highlights are shown of Brett Cooper’s previous victory over Kendall Grove. He will face Brandon Halsey, who defeated Joe Pacheco earlier tonight, for the Middleweight tournament championship.

- That’s right. They had a 4-man tournament so Brett Cooper could get a third fight with Alexander Shlemenko. Brett Cooper, ladies and gentlemen.

-Spike replays the 180 lb. Catchweight prelim fight between Ricky Rainey and Andy Murad. Rainey won by TKO (strikes) at 1:11 of Round one.


FIGHT THREE: JOEY BELTRAN VS. VLADIMIR MATYHUSHENKO

-Mayushenko has announced that this will be his final MMA fight, win or lose. Height and weight differences between these two fighters are neglible.

-Speaking of negligent, Jason Herzog is in charge of getting someone maimed tonight.

ROUND ONE: The first minute sees Beltran circling a flat-footed Matyushenko, with the occasional trading of jabs and slappy leg kicks. The crowd is certainly noisier than they were earlier, so there's that. Matyushenko has missed badly on at least three overhand rights now. If Joey Beltran could time a step-knee, this fight could be over by now. Beltran goes to the body, and then upstairs with a nice right hook. Matyushenko is having a modicum of success with his straighter punches. Beltran's right hand is having success as the round nears an end. Matyushenko gets inside, but Beltran lands a hard right. After they disengage, Matyushenko lands a decent right of his own. Matyushenko misses a couple more right hands.

10-9 Beltran. As good as can be expected from these two. That was not a compliment.

ROUND TWO: Jimmy Smith gave a close first round to Matyushenko. Decent uppercut from Matyushenko. He's having success when he gets inside. Beltran again to the body. First guy to throw, much less land, a combination will win this fight. Well, maybe not. I just want to see a combination. Beltran lands a big right, but doesn't follow up (SEE?!?!?) The crowd is in to this fight, mainly due to Beltran being a local favorite. Which is fine. I'd cheer for my family to win a crappy fight instead of booing. I'm just super nice, that's all. Beltran lands a right left to the stomach. See, I AM nice. I didn't call it a beer-belly, even though it clearly is. Matyushenko's jab has been more effective than I'm crediting. Both guys are throwing with high volume, but they're Just. So. Bad.

10-9 Beltran. 20-18.

ROUND THREE: Jimmy Smith has it 20-18 for Matyushenko, for what it's worth. Beltran again goes right left to the body, but it took Beltran a good three seconds to extricate his hands from Matyushenko's belly. Both guys are throwin a ton of one-off punches that occasionally land. Beltran clearly has more energy, and Matyushenko has a mouse near his right eye. Beltran caps off a sloppy combination with an overhand left that somehow found a home. Matyushenko is still landing sharp left jabs, but not much else. Beltran is throwing more combinations, finally, capping off that one with a left kick to the ribs. Matyushenko shoots a weak double and gets stuffed badly. Beltran has a North-South choke. It's over. What in the holy hell just happened?

WINNER: Joey Beltran by submission (North South choke!?!??!) in Round Three.

STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) Technically that was a North-South choke from Joey Beltran, but it really looked like half arm triangle, half Von Flue. That was just the damnedest thing.

-Matyushenko confirmed that his time as a fighter is done. Classy reaction from the Temecula fans. Even though they were cheering for his opponent, they understand what's important.

-Tito Ortiz is being interviewed. Apparently he had a stem cell injection in his neck during his rehab. I didn't know that was legal here. So, either some doctor is about to go to jail now that Tito sold him out, or he went overseas for treatment.

-Tito confirms he's fighting Shlemenko on May 17, live on Pay-Per-View. Tito has a massive size advantage, and is being very respectful towards Shlemenko. He needs to stop talking about Rocky Freaking IV, though.


FIGHT FOUR: BLAGOI IVANOV VS. LAVAR JOHNSON

-Johnson is 3 inches taller and has a 7 inch reach advantage here. He's 12 pounds lighter than Ivanov.

-The referee for this fight is John McCarthy.

-I'm very interested in this fight. Johnson is a good dude, and everyone knows the story of Ivanov's recovery.

ROUND ONE: Ivanov takes the first opportunity he can to put Johnson along the fence. He needs to be inside or on the canvas. He won't win if Johnson can control the range. Ivanov pursues a single and he gets it. Full guard. Ivanov pulled back for a footlock, but wound up with Johnson on top of him, and he lost the footlock. Johnson starts wailing away on Ivanov, who has to let Johnson stand. Johnson pushes Ivanov into the fence. Ivanov reverses position and is looking for a front choke. Doesn't get it. Johnson picks up Ivanov and powerslams him. Johnson looking for a Von Flue (who ever LOOKS for a Von Flue), it isn't there, so he gets up. Back to standing. Ivanov backs Johnson into the cage and lands a left haymaker to the chin of Johnson. Head and arm throw lands Johnson on his back, with Ivanov in side control. Ivanov is looking for an arm, but gives up up. Keylock! Keylock! Johnson holds out for 5 seconds, but has to tap! BLAGOI IVANOV! BLAGOI IVANOV!

WINNER: Blagoi Ivanov by submission (keylock) at 4:08 of Round One.

STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***-) This was the best fight of the day, be it UFC or Bellator. Mind you, if this went, like, thirteen minutes, I wouldn't be so generous.

(Note to iPhone Safari users: To return to main menu listing, do a quick downswipe to make the back button visible on the bottom of your screen.)