Liam McGeary retained the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship on Saturday night, submitting Tito Ortiz with an inverted triangle choke from the bottom in the first round of their fight at “Bellator: Dynamite 1”.
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As the tourney favorite, it wasn’t shocking to see Davis emerge triumphant from the four-man bracket.
Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz will be appearing live on tonight’s episode of A Los Golpes at 6 p.m. ET to discuss his world title fight and the new ESPN deal.
“It was a big task putting on a big event like that, but that’s what I wanted to do”, Coker said after the card. In his second fight, Davis did the unthinkable and got a knockout.
So Phil Davis opts for the same direct approach when asked why he switched organizational ranks this year from UFC to Bellator.
Yep, it’s a good place for him.
. You saw my damage to him. I’m ready to go.
Conceptualized by Bellator President Scott Coker as the next level of combat sports entertainment, Dynamite 1 is meant to be more than just a novel display of martial arts. But he felt they made the wrong call because he was willing and able to fight.
“The victory was wonderful “, McGeary said. When he did, he liked the offer he got from Bellator best. “Not me, though. Not my thing”. That could have been accomplished had Fedor signed with the UFC.
“My goal is to just get out of the first round”. “I’m super pumped up to be on this card and to be on a card that’s going to be making history”. I got away from the armlock.
The potential bout is a win-win for Bellator.
At least, that’s how it looked on night one. He’s a former UFC light heavyweight champion and in 2012 was only the ninth person inducted into their Hall of Fame. That allowed Tito to turn his attention back to fighting.
On one hand, it has already proved mutually beneficial. But also potentially a new star for the United Kingdom in the sport. He put Bronzoulis in compromising positions over the first two rounds until an opportunity to secure a fight-ending arm-triangle choke arrived in the third. That perception will ultimately be one Coker’s fun-loving little company can’t escape unless it can lure more Octagon veterans across the aisle during 2016. “And when I’m happy, I’m a unsafe fighter”. “That’s how I grew up competing in martial arts tournaments – that’s just how it was”.
Naturally, there were some unexpected (or entirely expected?) plot twists. Newton was controlled from the beginning to the end by Davis. Only if both fighters in a match were unable to continue would the victor of the alternates fight, Carmont, be in the finals.
The Frenchman was also in the midst of rebuilding himself since coming to Bellator earlier this year.
In the tournament final, Davis made quick work of Carmont when he caught him with a left hook that knocked Carmont back against the cage and off his feet.
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On the opposite side of the one-night, four-man tournament, Phil Davis (14-3, 1 NC) utilized a kimura to force the tap out from his opponent and former Bellator MMA 205-pound champion Emanuel Newton (25-9-1). Lawal’s future, meanwhile, remains unclear.
