Bellator Fighting Championships 59: Pitbull Retires Pellegrino, Dantas Wins Tournament

By: William Holmes

Newly Viacom owned property Bellator Fighting Championships comes back to Atlantic City to close out their fifth season. After last week’s thrilling lightweight title upset of Michael Chandler over Eddie Alvarez, tonight’s card will have a lot to do to top Bellator 58. Featured on tonight’s MTV2 broadcast is the heavyweight tournament final of Thiago Santos vs. Eric Prindle, and the bantamweight tournament final of Eduardo Dantas vs. Alexis Vila. The undercard quick results, and main card full results are as follows.

Undercard Quick Results:

Brandon Saling (5-4) vs. Gregory Millard (1-2); Middleweight

Gregory Millard wins by decisions, with official scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 30-27.

Brylan Van Artsdalen (5-2) vs. Scott Heckman (8-2); Featherweight

Scott Heckman wins by standing guillotine choke at 1:38 of round one.

Lucas Pimenta (4-0) vs. Doug Gordan (11-11); Welterweight

Lucas Pimenta wins by KO at 0:40 of round 1.

LeVon Maynard (11-8) vs. Chris Wing (3-1); Welterweight

30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 for LeVon Maynard.

Karl Amoussou (12-4-2) vs. Jesus Martinez (6-1)

Karl Amoussou wins by TKO at 2:20 of round 1.

Main Card Round by Round Results:

Marcin Held (11-2) vs. Phillipe Nover (5-3-1); Lightweight

Round 1:

Nover and Held come out to the center and touch gloves. Held lands a quick jab, and Nover answers with a right hand that knocks Held down. Held is back to his feet and flicks out his jab to try and keep Nover at bay. Nover throws a high left leg kick. Nover touches Held with a check left hook, and Held rolls into an ankle lock submission attempt. Nover is able to get back to his feet and Held locks in a body lock. Held drops for a toe hold and Nover tries to answer with a toe hold of his own. Held and Nover are exchanging foot locks and Held gets in a deeper knee bar attempt. Held is really pulling on that knee and twisting it now. Nover is rolling out of danger and gets back to his feet. Crowd gives an applause of approval. Held lands an inside leg kick, and Held touches Nover with a short left hook. Nover tages Held with a straight right hand as he comes in. Nover with a quick body kick. Nover lands an inside leg kick. Fighters clinch by the cage and Nover has his back to the cage. Nover gets in a muy thai plum and lands two knees to the bdy. Nover landing some hard ground and pound, and Held throws some hammer fists from his back. Held is fighting off his back and Nover stands above him. Referee stands Held back up to his feet. Held rolls into another leg lock submission attempt and gets into full guard position. Nover is on his back and is going for a kimura lock and the round comes to an end. A very action packed first round and a tough one to call, 10-9 Nover.

Round 2:

Held tags Nover with a straight right hand to start round 2. Nover flicks out a jab, and Held grabs onto Nover and drags him to the floor. Nover is in half guard position on top and smothers Held. Nover lands a few short elbows to the body of Held. Held is trying to roll into another Knee bar attempt and eats a few shots as a result. Nover lands a very hard right hand from top position. Nover not really doing too much from top position and stands back above Held. Held is refusing to get off of his back and the referee is taking his time standing the fighters up. Held is finally forced to stand up. Nover lands a qwuick check hook, and Held shoots in and drags Nover down. Nover locks in a kimura attempt and the fighters are now wrapped in a pretzel on the mat. Nover stands back up as Held stays on his back. Nover lands another hard right hand on Held from the top position. Nover wins this round 10-9.

Round 3:

Last round, could be one round a piece if left up to the judges. Held throws a few punches and rushes in on a double leg takedown. Held completes the takedown and is in Nover’s full guard. Held is able to scramble into half guard position on the top. Held lands a short right elbow. The crowd begins to chant for Nover. Nover is able to scramble and Held locks in a front headlock. Nover easily shrugs off the front headlock and gains top half guard position. Held tries to grab onto a kneebar, but Nover is able to shake out of it. Fighters are back to their feet, and Held jumps in and knocks Nover down. Held locks into another leg lock attempt but Nover bends his knee to stay out of trouble. Back to their feet, and Held rushes in again and tags Nover with a right hand. Fighters are clinched by the fence and Nover drops down for a double leg takedown. Nover lands a few short right hands from top half guard position. Nover drops a short left elbow on Held. Round ends with Held going for a leg lock and Nover dropping a few hammer fists. 10-9 round for Held.

Official scores are 29-28 for Nover, 29-28 for Held, and 29-28 for Marcin Held. Some fans from the crowd start to boo the decision.

Eduardo Dantas (12-2) vs. Alexis Vila (11-0); Bantamweight

Round 1:

Dantas and Vila come out and touch gloves, Vila shoots in on a double leg takedown and drags Dantas to the ground. Dantas tries to lock in a kumura attempt from the bottom, and Vila stands above him. Dantas refuses to get off of his back again, but finally gets to his feet. Dantas throws out a flying knee attempt and partially lands. Dantas with a jab high kick combination. Vila ducks under a Dantas punch and tries to lock Dantas up by the fence. Vila is pressing up against Dantas, and eats some knees to the body from within the clinch. Vila drops to a single leg attempt but quickly lets it go. Vila drops to a single leg takedown again and Dantas is doing a good job fighting it off. Vila finally gets the takedown with about thirty seconds left. Dantas gets back to his feet and Vila gets a body lock in from behind. Round ends with Vila holding on to the back of Dantas. 10-9 round for Dantas, you should get points for a takedown if you subsequently do damage, not if you hold onto a leg for a whole round.

Round 2:

Dantas throws out a front kick, and Vila stays away from it and shoots in on a single leg takedown attempt. Dantas backs up to the cage and Vila is in on a very low ankle pick. Dantas attempts to spint out of the way and lands some body blows on Vila. Fighters separate and are back to their feet. Dantas lands a hard overhand right on Vila. Dantas lands an outside leg kick to the thigh of Vila. Dantas comes forward throwing a hook to the body of Vila. Vila lands a hard outside leg kick. Vila charges forward with a three punch combination then ducks into a double leg attempt. Dantas spins out of the way and lands a knee to the body of Vila. Dantas lands a jumping knee on Vila. Dantas with a jab to the body and an outside leg kick. Vila shoots in on another single leg takedown and gets a body clinch by the fence. Dantas fights wrist control and turns and faces Vila. Dantas may have a guillotine licked in, and Vila eats a knee as he backs away. Vila shoots an overhand right, and Dantas circles away. Vila shoots in on a single leg again and Dantas locks in a standing guillotine choke. Dantas does not appear to have enough leverage to really threaten with a tap. Vila drops to a low single and Dantas fights it off. Vila presses Dantas against the cage again, and Dantas turns him around and lands some knees to the thighs of Vila. Dantas lands a knee to the body of Vila. 10-9 round for Dantas.

Round 3:

Fighters touch gloves and Dantas lands a jab and an outside leg kick. Dantas throws out a front push kick, and Vilas answers with an outside leg kick. Dantas lands another outside leg kick and throws a two punch combination. Dantas throws Vila to the ground but Vila pops right back up. Dantas lands another outside leg kick. Vila ducks under a Dantas hooks but is unable to get a tie up. Dantas has Vila backing up with a knee attempt. Vila throws an uppercut and shoots but Dantas is able to avoid the takedown and take the back of Vila. Dantas is attempting to sink in both hooks and has the chin or Vila wrapped up. Vila is holding on to the left wrist of Vila. Dantas is very close to sinking in the rear naked choke, and has a body triangle locked in. Dantas is really cranking in on the neck of Vila and has Vila in a very bad position. Vila is throwing strikes at Dantas while Dantas has his back but they are doing no damage. Easy 10-9 round for Vila.

Official scores are 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 for Eduardo Dantas.

Patricky “Pitbull”Freire (9-2) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (16-6); Lightweight

Round 1:

The crowd is strongly in the corner of New Jersey native Kurt Pellegrino. Pellegrino and Pitbull come out to the center of the cage and don’t even touch gloves. Pellegrino is circling to his right and throws out a few jabs. The end of a double jab lands for Pellegrino. Crowd is chanting for Pellegrino. Pitbull hits Pellegrino with a hard right hand and drops Pellegrino. Pitbull now on top and raining down blows on Pellegrino and the referee stops the bout. Some fans are irate at the stoppage and it may have been early. Right hand from Pitbull definitely hurt Pellegrino but it was a bad stoppage as Pellegrino was in grappling position.

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire wins by TKO at 0:50 of round 1.

After the fight Pellegrino tells the crowd that he lost fair and square, and announces he is retiring from MMA. Glad to see a fighter decide to hang it up when it’s the right time.

Thiago Santos (10-1) vs. Eric Prindle (9-1); Heavyweight

Round 1:

Prindle looks to be the more muscular fighter of the two. They both come out to the center of the cage and Prindle is staying light on his feet. Prindle throws two wild left hooks and Santos ducks under them and gets the double leg takedown. Santos is raining down blows from top position and keeps his forearm in the face of Prindle. Pridle is able to get back to his feet, but Santos shoots back in and gets another takedown. Santos is in half guard position and tags Prindle with short right hand shots. Santos rains down some more blows from top position, and Santos kicks Prindle in the groin area while Prindle is on the ground. Very blatant low blow from Santos, and Prindle is given time to recover. Prindle seems to be taking full advantage of the five minutes available to him, and the ring side doctor is talking to him.

Eric Prindle is unable to continue and the referee stops the bout and is ruled a no contest. The referee called it an accidental blow, though it looked blatant from cageside.