By: William Holmes
Bellator MMA put on a live event at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut and featured a main event of former UFC fighters Matt Mitrione and Roy Nelson, with the winner to advance to the semi finals of the heavyweight Grand Prix.
For boxing fans however, the main event was between Heather Hardy and Ana Julaton. Hardy had a record of 20-0 as a pro boxer and Julaton had a record of 14-4-1 in boxing. However, they decided to meet first in a MMA cage.. Hardy held titles as a boxer in the featherweight and super bantamweight divisions while Julaton held titles in the super bantamweight division.
Both Julaton and Hardy are coming off of a loss in their last MMA fight.
Photo Credit: Bellator MMA Twitter Account
The opening bout of the broadcast was between featherweights Tywan Claxton (2-0) and Jose Perez (0-2). Claxton is considered by many to be a high ceiling prospect and he easily disposed of Perez by TKO at 3:39 of the second round.
Former b=Bellator champion Liam McGeary (13-2) returned to his winning ways with a third round TKO at 4:02 over Vadim Nemkov (8-3).
Ana Julaton (2-3) and Heather Hardy (1-1) met in the flyweight division and displayed that they have been training in all facets of mixed martial arts, including the grappling.
Julaton landed the first jab of the fight and Hardy answered with a leg kick before being placed in a body lock by Julaton. Julaton was able to land a few knees on Hardy when in tight, but Hardy had a decent whizzer placed in. Hardy finished the first round while attempting a side choke.
The second round started off with some brief exchanges, but Julaton’s punches appeared to lack any snap. Hardy and Julaton were clinched for much of the round again, but Julaton was able to attempt a can opener submission. Hardy landed several hard hammer fists on Julaton while she was attempting to finish a low single takedown. Hardy finished the second round by taking the back of Julaton and landing some ground and pound
Julaton looked like the more tired fighter in the third round and forced a body lock after taking two good punches by Hardy. Julaton attempted a spinning back kick when the referee broke them up but Hardy again landed more strikes when they were standing. The third round featured Julaton and Hardy locked in grappling positions, but Hardy was able to finish the round with a takedown attempt that resulted with Julaton finishing on top.
A MMA rules fight between two boxers turned into a mainly grappling affair.
Heather Hardy wins by decision with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27.
There has been talks of them re-matching in the boxing ring instead of a MMA cage and the fight was close enough for fans to want to see it.