· Seven Fights, Seven Finishes At Bellator 36
The results are in for the opening round of Bellator Fighting Championships’ season four lightweight tournament. The event took place live from the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, La., Saturday night, and included four tournament bouts and three local feature fights. Remarkably, all seven matches avoided the judges’ scorecards, with a total of three submissions and four technical knockouts for the evening.
In the first quarterfinal fight, Polish jiu-jitsu fighter Marcin Held faced the undefeated Michael Chandler in a battle pitting two distinct grappling styles against each other. In the end, the wrestling-based top-game of the former Division I All-American Chandler won out as he displayed a relentless ground-and-pound before submitting Held via arm triangle at 3:56 of the first round.
Bellator veteran Carey Vanier confronted a stiff challenge in an undefeated Lloyd "Cupcake" Woodard, with Woodard making his promotional debut. Woodard did not let the opportunity go to waste as he avoided several takedowns from Vanier and eventually caught him with a powerful left hook, before finishing the fight on the ground at 46 seconds into the second round. Woodard moved to an impressive 11-0 and recorded his ninth finish.
A last-minute replacement for Ferrid Kheder, Josh Shockley held the unenviable task of taking on two-time Bellator lightweight tournament finalist, and “2009 Submission of the Year” winner, Toby Imada. Originally planned to fight on the undercard, Shockley replaced Kheder when the latter fighter failed to make weight. Though Shockley was able to hold his own on his feet, when the fighters went to the ground Imada demonstrated a clear superiority as he finished his less experienced opponent by armbar submission (verbal tapout) at 1:19 of round one.
The headlining lightweight tournament tilt pitted two tough MMA veterans in an all-out war that did not disappoint. Both fighters making their Bellator debut, "Razor" Rob McCullough challenged a perhaps underrated Patricky "Pitbull" Freire in a contest where neither fighter held a clear advantage. After Freire hurt McCullough early in the match, McCullough made his case in rounds two and three with effective strikes and well-timed takedowns. However, a hard right from Freire in the third stanza dashed the former WEC champion’s dream as it sent McCullough to the canvas unable to recover. Freire won via technical knockout at 3:11 of the third round.
"We expected great fights tonight and we were not disappointed," stated Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney, following the event. "Our lightweights put on a spectacular show at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium tonight."
Lightweight Tournament Results:
- Patricky Freire defeated Rob McCullough by TKO at 3:11 of Round 3
- Toby Imada defeated Josh Shockley by submission (armbar) at 1:19 of Round 1
- Lloyd Woodard defeated Carey Vanier by TKO at 0:46 of Round 2
- Michael Chandler defeated Marcin Held by submission (arm triangle) at 3:56 of Round 1
Local Feature Fights:
- Booker Arthur defeated Javone Duhon by submission (verbal) at 2:31 of Round 2
- Kevin Aguilar defeated Matt Hunt by TKO at 3:02 of Round 1
- Chad Leonhardt defeated Kelly Leo by TKO in Round 2, (opponent unable to answer the bell for Round 3)
