Lyman Good edged Jim Wallhead at Bellator 74. | Keith Mills/Sherdog.com
A potent left jab and some savage clinch work carried the former Bellator Fighting Championships titleholder to a one-sided unanimous decision over “Judo” Jim Wallhead in the Season 7 welterweight tournament quarterfinals at Bellator 74 on Friday at Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J.
All three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-27 for Good (13-2, 6-2 Bellator). A third-round point deduction for a pair of low blows amounted to little more than a bump in the road for the Team Tiger Schulmann standout. His efforts left Wallhead (23-7, 1-2 Bellator) with visible damage to both eyes.
The Team Rough House veteran was a sitting duck for much of the 15-minute encounter, as he found himself at a disadvantage in close quarters and on the outside. Good peppered him with short punches and knees from the clinch and later attacked with a stiff jab, right crosses and kicks to the leg from a distance. Outside of the two strikes below the belt, it seemed Good could do no wrong.
“I feel great,” he said. “This is the first step to regaining what was once mine. It’s just a matter of getting back to the drawing board and training just as hard for my next opponent.”
K. Mills
Zaromskis outdueled Taleb.
Taleb (8-2, 2-1 Bellator) was the more consistent fighter but, in a closely contested battle, found himself on the wrong side of two knockdowns. Zarmoskis floored him in the first round with an exquisite spinning back fist and again in the second with a straight left hand. Taleb recovered on both occasions, but the damage was done.
Zaromskis, who has won five consecutive bouts, also turned the tide with a strike in round three, as he wobbled his foe with a head kick with less than half a minute remaining on the clock. Taleb had not lost in nearly five years.
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Tsarev upped his record to 24-2.
Welch (9-4, 0-1 Bellator) broke even in the clinch and on the feet, but he had no answer for his 22-year-old opponent on the ground. Tsarev fought through visible fatigue in the second round, as he secured a single-leg takedown and moved into side control. From there, the Russian transitioned beautifully to Welch’s back and immediately locked in the fight ending choke.
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Koreshkov (left) remained undefeated.
Smith appeared to be closing in on victory in the second round, when he secured back control during a standing scramble and threatened his 22-year-old opponent with a rear-naked choke. However, the opportunity came and went. Koreshkov closed with a flourish in round three, as he delivered kicks to the body and straight, accurate punches to the head, all while keeping himself upright against Smith’s attempted takedowns.
“My opponent was very tough,” Koreshkov said through his translator. “The fight was very tough, but I won. That’s most important.”