Bellator 109 results: Shlemenko stops ‘The Rhino,’ Hawn and Brooks pick up tourney wins

Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko (49-7 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) flashed some improved wrestling skills, but it was ultimately his vaunted striking that earned him a win over hard-hitting challenger Doug Marshall (18-7 MMA, 4-1 BMMA).

The bout served as the headlining contest of Friday’s Bellator 109 event, which took place

Shlemenko took the fight immediately to the floor, but Marhsall crawled back up and looked to return to the standup game. Shlemenko stayed away from the heavy shots before moving inside with another takedown. Marshall showed resiliency again to get back to his feet, but Shlemenko proved capable there, as well.

As the pair started to exchange again, Shlemenko landed a clean left to the body, and Marshall doubled over in pain. He quickly collected himself as his opponent moved in for a finish, but Shlemenko was relentless with the assault and landed again to the body, sending Marshall to the canvas. The fight was waved off with 32 seconds left in the first round.

Rick Hawn (18-2 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) is once again a tournament winner, this time at 170 pounds. The judo expert used impressive striking skills to overcome a poor opening round, dispatching of fellow Season 9 welterweight tournament finalist Ron Keslar (11-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) with a third-round knockout.

Keslar attacked from the opening bell, moving forward and taking the fight to the floor before unleashing a bit of ground and pound from the top. Hawn eventually worked his way back to the feet, and he answered well in the standup department for the rest of the frame.

Hawn continued to claim some momentum in the second. Keslar appeared to slow a bit as the round wore on, and Hawn remained active, moving in and out of range and using his boxing to bloody up his opponent’s face.

Hawn took complete control of the fight in the third, finding range with a stiff jab and then wobbling Keslar with a pair of right hands. Sensing Keslar was rocked, Hawn moved forward with powerful, accurate punches, including a right hand that sent his opponent to the canvas and forced referee Dan Miragliotta to wave off the fight at the 55-second mark of the third round.

Hawn will now face Douglas Lima next year for the promotion’s vacant welterweight title, which was made available following Ben Askren’s release from the promotion.

Alexander Sarnavskiy (25-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) needed just two minutes and 48 seconds to dispatch of his first two opponents in Bellator’s Season 9 lightweight tournament, but the finals proved a different story. Underdog Will Brooks (13-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) simply outwrestled Sarnavskiy over the course of the 15-minute affair and was awarded a unanimous-decision win.

Sarnavskiy and Brooks engaged quickly and went back and forth in the pocket in the early going. At the halfway mark, Brooks moved inside and drug the action to the floor. Sarnavskiy eventually scrambled to his feet and looked again to exchange in the standup game, but Brooks moved forward again and brought the action to the canvas.

Brooks went to the takedown quicker in the second frame and took the action to the canvas early in the round. He would stay there for the entirety of the period, sitting heavy on his opponent and landing heavy punches late in the frame.

Looking to be up two rounds to none, Brooks rifled off kicks to open the third round and then drove immediately into another takedown. With Sarnavskiy fading, Brooks turned up the offense, bloodying his opponent’s face with a barrage of strikes from top position. Brooks looked for a choke in the final seconds but would settle for the judges awarding him a win.

In his first post-UFC appearance, English lightweight Terry Etim (16-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) controlled an overmatched Patrick Cenoble (9-3-1 MMA, 0-1-1 BMMA) throughout the 15-minute affair.

Etim wasted little time getting the first to the floor and immediately set up in Cenoble’s guard. From there, he swiftly passed the guard and looked to take the back before securing mount as his opponent rolled. Cenoble defended well and escaped mount, but Etim simply transitioned again to the back, where he spent the remainder of the opening round.

Etim had similar success in the second, taking the fight to the floor with ease. Cenoble showed capable grappling defense as he repelled Etim’s submission attempts, but he also failed to offer anything in terms of a counterattack.

The fight played out in a similar fashion on the third, with Etim securing a dominant position and remaining in complete control of the action until the final bell. The crowd didn’t necessarily appreciate the lack of action, but Etim dominated from start to finish. One judge shockingly scored the fight 29-28, while the remaining two judges gave far more appropriate scores of 30-27 and 30-26.

Complete Bellator 109 results include:

MAIN CARD

• Champ Alexander Shlemenko def. Doug Marshall via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:28 – to retain Bellator middleweight title
• Rick Hawn def. Ron Keslar via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:55 – Season 9 welterweight tournament final
• Will Brooks def. Alexander Sarnavskiy via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) – Season 9 lightweight tourney final
• Terry Etim def. Patrick Cenoble via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-26)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Mike Bannon def. Ahsan Abdulla via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:51
• Blagoi Ivanov def. Keith Bell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:59
• Goiti Yamauchi def. Saul Almeida via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:04
• Bubba Jenkins def. Ian Rammel via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:38
• Brent Primus def. Brett Glass via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:20
• Lester Caslow def. Jay Haas via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 2:44

For more on Bellator 109, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Alexander Shlemenko)