Bellator 103 live results and fight recaps

Patricio Freire made a little Bellator history on Friday, which will have to do for now until he has a chance to work his way back to another title shot.

“Pitbull” became the first three-time tournament finalist in Bellator history with a cautious, but effective unanimous decision sweep of Fabricio Guerreiro at Bellator 103. The win advanced him to the Season 9 featherweight tourney finals, where he’ll meet fellow winner Justin Wilcox next month.

Bellator 103 took place at Kansas Star Arena at Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, just south of Wichita. The main card aired on Spike TV after prelims at Spike.com.

Guerreiro tied things up early and wanted to get the fight to the ground with a judo throw, but it was Freire who reversed things nicely to wind up on top against the fence. From Guerreiro’s half-guard, Freire wasn’t able to fully commit to a kimura. “Pitbull” managed to jump to full mount, but Guerreiro nicely got back to his feet out of immediate danger before Freire drove him back to the ground. Freire did decent work offensively with Guerreiro on his back, but the taller Brazilian survived to see the second round.

Guerreiro tried to land a takedown early in the second, but Freire nicely elevated to make sure he wasn’t going to be on his back. He spun around and took Guerreiro’s back on the feet, then slammed him to the ground next to the fence. Guerreiro tried to land knees back on his feet, but after a stalemate, referee John McCarthy split them up. With 90 seconds left in the round, again after not enough work, “Big” John again split them up. Guerreiro kicked twice, and Freire didn’t like it – so he answered with a left hand that had Guerreiro on the canvas. He popped up quickly and wasn’t afraid to trade. Right at the bell, Freire landed a takedown to try to seal the round.

Guerreiro got a good takedown 30 seconds into the third, but with perfect timing, Freire reversed it and went to work out of half-guard. He tried to jump to mount, but Guerreiro recovered to half-guard. McCarthy warned them to work. When Guerreiro got back to his feet, Freire tried to kick his legs out to go back to the ground. But instead, he stayed tied to him on the feet before scooping him up for a takedown with two minutes left in the round. WIth less than a minute left, Guerreiro got back to his feet and had to go into desperation mode, trying to stalk Freire down to land a fight-ending punch. But it wasn’t to be, as “Pitbull” took the sweep with a trio of 30-27 scorecards.

Freire (20-2 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) won for the third straight time since losing a title fight to Pat Curran. Guerreiro (19-3 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) had a two-fight winning streak snapped with the loss.

Wilcox grinds his way past Taimanglo into tourney final
Justin Wilcox found early that his key to beating Joe Taimanglo was to take him off his feet, so that’s what he did. On the feet, Taimanglo appeared to be the superior striker. But when he couldn’t keep himself there, it was Wilcox’s top game on the ground that won the day.

Taimanglo quickly took the center of the cage in the first, then worked a couple of kicks. Wilcox tried to answer with a quick low kick of his own before moving in close, but finding nothing there. Taimanglo landed a pair of punches in tight, then a few more moments later. Wilcox fired back with a punches in a row, then just ducked away from a wild Taimanglo left hand. Two minutes in, Wilcox finally went after a takedown and got it, then went to work from half-guard. He briefly had an arm-triangle, but he let off of it without burning too much energy. Wilcox wasn’t able to pass to side control, but he kept Taimanglo under control from on top.

Taimanglo tried a spinning back kick early in the second, then tried to take advantage of a Wilcox slip. On the feet was where Taimanglo wanted things, and he tried to work his boxing before he was forced to defend a Wilcox takedown attempt. But ultimately, again two minutes in, Wilcox dropped down and got the fight to the canvas, again in half-guard. Taimanglo tried to work his way back up, and he got back to his feet, where he had to keep Wilcox from taking his back standing. He did, but it didn’t last long before Wilcox again put him on the canvas, where he kept him through the rest of the round.

In the third, Wilcox’s takedown came quickly, which kept Taimanglo from being able to do any damage on the feet. Wilcox didn’t do much on the ground, the same as when he was there in the first two frames. But finally he was able to pass to side control. Once there, he tried to step over to mount, but Taimanglo was able to get back to half-guard. Wilcox increased his volume of offense on the ground as the round started to wind down, just in case there was any question.

Wilcox took the fight by unanimous decision with a pair of 30-27 scores and a 29-28. The win punched his ticket into the Season 9 featherweight tournament final, which will take place next month.

Wilcox (13-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) now has back-to-back wins for the first time since a six-fight winning streak between 2009 and 2011, five of which came for Strikeforce. Taimanglo (19-5-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) had a 10-fight winning streak snapped with the loss.

Rickels makes easy work of Ambrose
Fighting in front of his home fans brought out the best of David Rickels. “The Caveman” was dominant against J.J. Ambrose on his way to a third-round TKO stoppage.

Rickels came out to a huge ovation from his home crowd, and he kicked high early, then inside. After Ambrose tried to tie him up, they swung wildly for a few seconds before Ambrose pinned Rickels along the fence. They traded positions there and traded body shots before Ambrose dropped down looking to bring the fight to the canvas. Rickels finally broke off and landed a left hand before going back to the center. And there, he landed a front push kick, then a pair of big hands. With Ambrose in trouble, he landed a knee that brought Ambrose back to his knees, where he had to hold on to try to recover. When they finally reset one more time, it was Rickels again landing the type of shots that had Ambrose backing up and in trouble. On the ground, Rickels went to work with ground and pound, and with a minute left, he took Ambrose’s back and went after a rear-naked choke. He survived the attempt, and when Rickels tried to transition to mount, Ambrose found himself on top, where he was able to survive the round.

The knee worked again for Rickels about a minute into the second, but Ambrose went after a single-leg takedown and got it. But at the halfway point of the round, not seeing enough action from Ambrose on top, referee John McCarthy stood the two up, and that was what Rickels needed. On the feet, he landed a perfectly placed kick to the liver that dropped Ambrose. Rickels rained down with punches, but Ambrose covered up and survived the flurry as McCarthy looked in. In fact, in short order, Rickels was back on his back with Ambrose on top. He survived a triangle choke attempt, but couldn’t get any more offense off before Rickles pushed his way back to his feet. He kicked out Ambrose’s ankle, then landed more punches and elbows on the ground. Again, Ambrose survived a round that was mostly Rickels.

Ambrose came out swinging in the third, knowing he had to finish Rickels to win. But Rickels answered right back. Ambrose was able to get top position on the ground just 45 seconds in, which was nothing new as he spent time on top in both previous rounds. But again, Rickels easily pushed his way back to the feet. Rickels landed a right hand, and then tried to work on punches to the body with Ambrose covering up on the ground going after a single-leg. But Rickels locked up his head in a mounted triangle, and despite Ambrose giving McCarthy thumbs up, he wasn’t able to get out. And finally, McCarthy shut things down at the 2:37 mark of the third. – and watched as Rickels immediatley hopped the cage and ran through the crowd.

Rickels (15-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) is back in the win column after his title fight loss to Michael Chandler in July. Ambrose (19-5 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) had a three-fight unbeaten streak snapped.

Zayats quickly taps UFC vet Rosa
Mikhail Zayats was looking for some redemption after his light heavyweight tournament final loss to Emanuel Newton in March, and he got it courtesy of Aaron Rosa. Rosa closed the distance right away and put Zayats near the cage, but Zayats got a takedown and started to go to work from Rosa’s halg-guard on a kimura. Although Rosa defended initially, Zayats kept pulling on it till he got it the arm loose, and Rosa was tapping immediately. The stoppage came just 47 seconds into the first round in the Spike TV opener. Zayats (22-7 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) is back in the win column after the loss to Newton and now will look toward a future tournament. Rosa (17-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) was making his Bellator return after being released by the UFC. He now has lost back-to-back fights and three of his past four.

Complete Bellator 103 results:

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Patricio Freire def. Fabricio Guerreiro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Justin Wilcox def. Joe Taimanglo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• David Rickels def. J.J. Ambrose via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:37
• Mikhail Zayats def. Aaron Rosa via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 0:47

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Carlos Eduardo def. Wayman Carter via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:06
• Remy Bussieres def. Blake Pool via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Maurice Jackson def. Matt Uhde via TKO (doctor stoppage, cut) – Round 1, 0:52
• Donnie Bell def. Marcio Navarro via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 2:06
• Jeimeson Saudino def. Jesse Thornton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Ricky Musgrave def. Cody Carrillo via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 2:59

For complete coverage of Bellator 103, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Patricio Freire)