Bellator 53 Results and Play-by-Play

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Round 1
Nogueira quickly looks for a single-leg takedown, but he can't get it. Instead, he elevates Laird and slams him to the mat. Laird quickly looks for a triangle, but Nogueira passes his legs, forcing a scramble. In the scramble, Nogueira locks up a guillotine, pulls guard, and grabs his wrist to finish. Laird can't extricate himself, and he's forced to tap out just 51 seconds into the first round.

Round 1
Avera flashes his hands early, bulling into a clinch and pushing Rickels against the fence. Rickels shuts down his attempts at a takedown, which prompts the Marine to pull guard, giving Rickels top position. Avera continues to look for an armbar, but Rickels continuously breaks his posture and elbows him to the face. Referee Jasog Herzog stands the pair up from full guard with under two minutes to go in the round. Avera shoots again immediately, pushing Rickels into the cage. A cut in the hairline of Avera is pouring blood onto Rickels' chest. Avera can't get the double, and Rickels gets double underhooks, flipping him over and taking top position again. Another elbow from Rickels cuts Avera open across the forehead this time. Rickels continues grinding away from half guard until Jason Herzog stands the bout up for a doctor check. The physician cleans the cut over Avera's left eye, and as the bout restarts, Avera dives for another takedown. Rickels easily defends.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Rickels
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Rickels
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Rickels

Round 2
Avera immediately shoots on Rickels, and again, the Kansas native defends. Rickels spins out the backdoor, and as Avera turns to grab his legs again, he eats an illegal knee which prompts a pause in the action. Avera walks it off, and Jason Herzog calmly tells Rickels that he has to take a point, and Rickels seems to agree with the ref's assessment. On the restart, Avera finally gets his takedown, but Rickels immediately elbows him and locks up a loose triangle. Rickels switches to an armbar, the blood from Avera spilling onto his chest. Avera freezes up, which allows Rickels to smoothly switch back to a much tighter triangle that ends the fight at 1:06 of the second round.

Keith Mills

Davis knocked Dennis out cold.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Davis
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-10
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Davis

Round 2
Dennis and Davis exchange hooks on the feet, but neither can make gain a major advantage on the feet. Davis ducks his shoulder and comes up with a lunging left hook that instantly knocks Davis silly, unconscious before he even hits the mat. Davis follows with a hammerfist to punctuate the bout just 29 seconds into the second round.

Round 1
Matthews rushes with punches, pushing Bears into the cage, and getting a takedown with double underhooks. Bears escapes back to his feet, and looks for his own takedown. Matthews looks for an outside switch to defend, but Bears shuts it down. Matthews breaks Bears off of his leg, and they clinch along the fence again. Matthews digs low and elevates Bears, but Bears breaks his fall and looks to scoot up the cage. Matthews lands two hard knees to the chest, but Bears does regain his feet with just under two minutes to fight in the first frame. Matthews is the aggressor standing, winging with hooks that just glance Bears. Bears attempts a jumping switch kick that misses, and Matthews tags him with a right hand. Hard low kick and a jumping knee for Matthews land before the bell.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Matthews
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Matthews
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Matthews

K. Mills

Matthews outpointed Bears.

Bears explodes back to his feet, but Matthews smacks him with punches and another jump knee before completing another takedown. With just seven seconds to go, referee Kevin Nix stands them up, but there's too little time left for any real offense.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Matthews
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Matthews
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Bears

Round 3
Sensing he might be behind, Bears is the aggressor early, stepping forward and attacking Matthews with heavy kicking offense. Bears sitting down on punch combinations now, but can't land clean on Matthews. Matthews swings two hooks, but Bears smacks him with a left-handed counter. A left head kick by Bears is blocked, but he drills Matthews with a right kick to the body just after. Bears lands a trio of inside low kicks on a stationary Matthews. Matthews looks for another takedown along the cage, but Bears shrugs him off this time. A Matthews head kick is blocked, and neither man can land with their late punches.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Bears (29-28 Matthews)
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Matthews (30-28 Matthews)
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Matthews (29-28 Matthews)

Official result: All three judges -- Jim Lambert, David Sutherland and Gary Ritter -- score the bout 29-28 for the winner by unanimous decision, A.J. Matthews.

K. Mills

Santana armbarred Cobb.

Round 1
Santana begins with a stiff outside low kick. Santana drops for a low single which makes Cobb stumble, but "The Arm Collector" can't complete the takedown. Another heavy outside low kick by Santana. The Brazilian shoots a double-leg and gets it easily, before moving to side control. Cobb gives up his back, and Santana dives over it, looking for his trademark armbar. Cobb tries to yank his arm out, but he ends up falling belly down and tapping out at two minutes of the first round.

K. Mills

Brooks beat Scott down.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-8 Brooks
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-8 Brooks
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-8 Brooks

Round 2
Brooks and Scott exchange punches without much heavy content. Brooks stops toying around, and bulls Scott into the fence with double underhooks. He throws his foe to the ground and takes mount for a moment, but Scott manages to reclaim half guard. Scott is inert on the bottom, turning away as Brooks punches. Brooks postures up and begins to punch with more force, stepping into full mount and finishing the fight at 2:40 of the second round.

K. Mills

Santos stopped Burns in round one.

Burns walks Santos down with slow punches, and the two large heavyweights clinch along the cage. Santos lands some tough punches inside and gets a waistlock on Burns, dragging him to the mat. Burns is on his knees, and looks exhausted already, just two minutes into the fight. Santos isn't putting his hooks in, but Burns looks helpless. Burns reaches behind himself inexplicably and grabs Santos' leg, and the Brazilian casually sinks in a rear-naked choke that earns him the W at just 2:23 of the first round.

K. Mills

Mann caught Foster with a triangle.

Mann climbs for another triangle, and this one is on in a hurry and cinched up. Foster is trapped and taps out at 3:51 of the first round.

Round 1
Lima is aggressive from the outset, walking down the heavy-hitting Lozano. Both men lob punches and low kicks to now effect. The first heavy shot is a low kick form Lozano that lands low on Lima, and the Brazilian walks it off without an official pause in action. The two now trade stiff outside low kicks. Lima closes in and Lozano cracks him with a right hand that wobbles him, but the Brazilian roars back, landing uppercuts and low kicks. Tense moments halfway through the first round. Jabs land for both fighters. Lima sticks Lozano with a few more stiff ones that have his nose and mouth bloodied. Lima gets to his legs and sucks him to the floor. The Cleveland native tries to jump to his feet, but Lima gets his back standing with one hook in, threatening until the bell.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Lima
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Lima
Joe Ortiz scores the round 10-9 Lima

Round 2

K. Mills

Lima Dropped Lozano.

Sensational knockout win for Douglas Lima, who advances to the Bellator Season 5 welterweight tournament final.

Round 1
Saunders is all over Santos quick with a body kick and a head kick. Santos gets in a double-leg, but Saunders stands up along the cage. Santos tries to lift the taller Saunders off the ground, but the UFC veteran maintains his balance on his tiptoes in impressive fashion. Santos lifts him up again, and this time, Saunders defends it illegally, grabbing the top of the fence and getting warned by referee Jason Herzog. The Brazilian finally sucks Saunders to the floor, and Saunders instantly moves to rubber guard. Saunders locks up a triangle from mission control position, but Santos gets his head out. However, he gets stuck in an omoplata, and he's forced to work out while Saunders punches him in the mouth from the bottom. Santos is trying to hide his chin, as Saunder is throwing legitimate straight punches form his back and cracking him in the chin. Santos looks totally stuck in the omoplata, despite not being in immediate peril. Saunders shifts off the fence and tries to sit up to finish the omoplata, but the Brazilian won't let him. Saunders turns his hips and tries to transition into a triangle, but Santos blocks it. Santos escapes and gets back into full guard, but he's ensnared in Saunders' rubber guard again. With 30 seconds to go, Saunders throws up a tighter triangle, and grips behind his knee to finish it. Santos gets his head free again, and Saunders punches away on the Brazilian until the bell. Total dominance by Saunders despite being on his back for almost the whole round.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Saunders
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Saunders
Joe Ortiz scores the round 10-9 Saunders

Round 2
A quick Santos counter puts Saunders on the ground, but it's just a flash knockdown as Saunders instantly has his wits back. Santos dives on him, but ends up in the exact same rubber guard triangle set-up again. He gets his head out, and again, ends up in an omoplata. Saunders tries to turn it into a kimura and he rolls Santos, who escapes, but the Brazilian ends up fighting another triangle. Santos has had almost zero offense in the fight, simply because he's stuck in a variety of grappling attacks from Saunders for prolonged periods of time. Saunders sits up on the omoplata this time, and he has it in deep, pushing his hips forward and punching Santos with his free arm. Santos tries to roll forward, but Saunders traps him halfway and tries to crank his arm down. Santos finally escapes, but he gives up top position with a minute to go in the second. He overhooks Saunders' arms to slow his attack. Saunders chips away with short punches until the bell.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Saunders
Jesse Denis scores the round 10-9 Saunders
Joe Ortiz scores the round 10-9 Saunders

K. Mills

Saunders tapped out Santos.