Bellator 144 Results: Rafael Carvalho Finishes Brandon Halsey, Wins Middleweight Title

After being dominated in the first round, Rafael Carvalho came back to finish Brandon Halsey in the second round of the main event at Bellator 144 on Saturday.

Carvalho landed a kick to the midsection that sent Halsey falling to the ground, finishing the fallen fighter at 1:42 of Round 2 and winning the Bellator middleweight title.

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Halsey had the clear advantage in the early stages of the fight, putting Carvalho on his back and controlling nearly all of the opening round. For a time, Halsey held an arm triangle that put his opponent in trouble, but Carvalho was able to escape after consecutive minutes of fighting off the hold.

In the second round, Halsey looked to do more of the same of what he did in the first, but Carvalho found distance and landed a left-mid kick that left Halsey gripping his ribs in obvious pain. Carvalho landed three more punches on the ground before the fight was stopped.

With the win at Bellator 144, Carvalho earns the 185-pound title and improves his record to 12-1.

To open up the main card, Bellator welterweight Michael Page earned himself yet another first-round finish with a stoppage of Charlie Otiveros.

The two fighters measured each other for much of the opening round, but Page was able to secure the takedown and land a number of elbows to Otiveros’ face. Page broke his opponents jaw, according to the announcers on the broadcast.

Following the stoppage, Page celebrated by doing a “What are those?” pose in a clip that made its rounds on social media shortly after.

Other main-card winners included Brennan Ward with a TKO due to strikes over Dennis Olson, and Goiti Yamauchi with his rear-naked choke over Isao Kobayashi.

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Image courtesy of Bellator MMA