Well, that was boring.
In a less-than-entertaining main event at Bellator 157 in St. Louis, a fleshy Quinton "Rampage" Jackson took a split decision over Satoshi Ishii. The bout drew boos from the Scottrade Center crowd and was the worst fight of the night on a card that featured mixed martial arts and kickboxing.
The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 28-29.
In the first round, Ishii's background as an Olympic gold medalist shined through. He took Rampage down twice, but he couldn't keep him there. Ishii also didn't do any damage when he was in top position.
Still, it appeared as though the Japanese fighter deserved to take the opening round.
Rampage found a bit of a rhythm in the second. He landed some knees and elbows inside the clinch, but Ishii was able to secure two more takedowns in that frame. Like in the first round, he did nothing with the position, and Rampage worked his way back to his feet with little issue.
The third round was all Rampage.
He landed knees and elbows and thwarted a takedown attempt from Ishii. In the minor scramble, he landed in top position and remained there for most of the final round.
It was close, but the decision to award Rampage the win was plausible. After the bout, the 38-year-old dropped the Captain Obvious line of the night: "This is the oldest I've ever been in the cage."
Well, all right, then. We'll give him a break because he was tired.
This fight was contested at heavyweight, and Rampage didn't carry the extra pounds well. His midriff had a mind of its own, which makes you wonder how physically prepared he was for the fight.
Ishii's takedown skills are undeniable, but he has a lot to work on if he's going to become a true mixed martial artist. He had no other weapons to threaten Rampage with, and that's why he lost.
Rampage gave us a hint about his future, per MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani:
Rampage: I got a surprise for all you Bellator fans, I'm going to take a short vacation and come back.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 25, 2016
Hopefully, whatever he does next will be more exciting than this fight.
Thankfully, the rest of the card was, indeed, dynamite.
MMA: Chandler Muzzles Pitbull to Take Title
Will Brooks left Bellator and vacated the lightweight title. On Friday night, and in his hometown, Iron Michael Chandler reclaimed the title in a demonstrative way.
With one sickening right hand, he knocked out Patricky "Pitbull" Freire to again become the Bellator lightweight champion.
Pitbull was out before he hit the canvas. Bellator came through quickly with congratulations for the new champion:
And new...@MikeChandlerMMA #DYNAMITE2 pic.twitter.com/JgeJZPtD30
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 25, 2016
Chandler and the Scottrade Center went to pieces.
Patricky's brother, Patricio, seemed to take exception with Chandler's double-backflip celebration—or he was just salty that his brother got starched. In either case, he and Chandler got into a shouting match as the new champion sat perched on top of the cage.
Could Patricio come up from 145 pounds to avenge his brother? Stay tuned.
After the fight, Chandler talked about his next challenge. Benson Henderson called out the champion in an earlier interview on the Spike broadcast, but while Chandler didn't downplay a fight with Smooth, he seemed more interested in a fight with Josh Thomson.
Chandler and Thomson both talked about the fans wanting to see them clash. Who are these fans? They surely don't speak for the entire MMA community.
We'll see what happens down the road, but Henderson vs. Chandler is a more intriguing fight.
MMA Results
- Matt Mitrione defeats Carl Seumanutafa by KO in first round.
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defeats Rebecca Ruth by submission (rear-naked choke) in first round.
- Michael Chandler defeats Patricky "Pitbull" Freire by KO in first round.
Kickboxing Results
- Gloria Peritore def. Denise Kielholtz by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
- Kevin Ross def. Justin Houghton by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 30-26).
MMA: Mitrione Gets a Break
Within the first 20 seconds of the first round, Carl Seumanutafa decked Matt Mitrione with a clean right hand on the nose.
Most who were watching had to be thinking, "Oh man, Mitrione is going to get stopped in his Bellator debut."
However, referee John McCarthy was generous and didn't stop the bout.
Seumanutafa didn't help his cause. Instead of pounding on Mitrione, he tried to take his opponent's back.
Seumanutafa is no submission artist, so the strategy was perplexing. Mitrione recovered, and minutes later, he stopped Seumanutafa with a downward punch on the chin.
McCarthy stepped in relatively quickly to stop the bout as Seumanutafa partially rolled over in pain, though Seumanutafa was in no worse shape than Mitrione was after he got clipped.
During the post-fight interview, Mitrione was still rocked. He didn't even remember being hit. There's no question that he is fortunate to be 1-0 with his new organization.
Bellator quickly announced that Mitrione will face Oli Thompson in his next fight, but many, including Dr. Patrick Wyman of Bleacher Report, feel the organization should pump its breaks:
Concussed Mitrione is fighting in a month? Seems pretty much in line with the rest of what Bellator is doing now. #DYNAMITE2
— Dr. Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) June 25, 2016
Let's hope we hear an amendment on that next bout.
Kickboxing: Peritore Edges Kielholtz
Despite a great performance in the second round from Denise Kielholtz, a listless display in the first and third rounds cost her the fight against Gloria Peritore in the first kickboxing bout of the evening.
In her best moments, Peritore kept finding a home for her kicks. Peritore was more active, and her movement gave Kielholtz a problem that she seemed to solve in the second.
The resolution was temporary, though, and Peritore regained control to take the final round and the fight.
MMA: Ruth Is Not Human, but She Lost
Rebecca Ruth is an alien, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. In more than 20 years of following MMA, I've never seen a fighter escape two rear-naked chokes as deep as the ones Ilima-Lei Macfarlane had sunk in on Ruth.
How deep were the chokes?
We're talking under-the-chin, mouthpiece-hanging-out-of-the-mouth deep. Not only did Ruth get out of two of the choke attempts, but she also stood to her feet with Macfarlane pasted to her back—with both hooks in—like a Marvel character.
Ultimately, she was forced to submit, but her stock didn't take a hit with the loss. Macfarlane executed a superb game plan. She knew she was no match for the powerful Ruth in stand-up, and thus she looked to take her opponent down at every chance until she picked up the hard-earned victory.
Kickboxing: Ross Smokes Houghton
In a wipeout, Kevin Ross destroyed Justin Houghton over three rounds. Punches, kicks and well-placed knees smashed the game but overmatched Houghton.
One of those aforementioned knees found Houghton's solar plexus. Houghton tried to play it off as though the shot was low, but it wasn't. The referee stepped in and gave Houghton a brief break.
No matter, Ross put Houghton down with a straight right hand to the body seconds later. Houghton made it through, but Ross earned the decision with a dominant performance.
