Bellator 168 results: Alessio Sakara scores quick TKO of Joey Beltran to cap off night of finishes

Alessio Sakara started slow the last time he fought in front of his Italian countrymen. At Bellator 168, he made sure to finish fast.

Bellator 168 took place at Mandela Forum in Florence and aired on Spike.

Sakara (19-11 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) took little time dispatching of fellow UFC veteran [autotag]Joey Beltran (17-14 MMA, 2-5 BMMA). He came out quickly, throwing his trademark powerful punches, only stopping briefly after Beltran took a poke to the eye.

When the action resumed, Sakara flurried again, landing a heavy right to the top of Beltran’s head and sending him to the canvas. Follow-up punches brought the fight to a close at the 1:20 mark of Round 1.

Fast finishes would be a trademark of the five-fight card. The entire event featured only 16:48 of total fight time with four first round stoppages and one fight ending in the second round.

Yamauchi scores comeback submission

Goiti Yamauchi (21-3 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) was in serious trouble in the opening seconds of his bout with Valeriu Mircea (13-4 MMA, 0-1 BMMA). However, Yamauchi’s veteran instincts allowed him to survive and come back for a triangle choke victory in the lightweight co-main event.

Mircea dropped Yamauchi with big shots in the opening moments of the ground. Yamauchi appeared to go out but came to as he hit the ground. Mircea’s attempts to finish the fight on the ground fell flat and Yamuchi was able to sweep to mount.

With elbows being dropped on his face, Mircea tried a desperate sweep attempt only to land in a triangle choke. Yamauchi scored the tap at the 3:33 mark of Round 1.

Following the bout, Yamauchi admitted he didn’t remember much of the fight and survived and scored the win almost purely on instinct.

Ruth impresses on short notice

Ed Ruth (2-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) took a 190-pound catchweight fight with Emanuele Palombi (5-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) on just one weeks’ notice, but his wrestling skills didn’t require any sharpening.

Ruth quickly took Palombi down and slid direcctly to mount. After battling for a little bit of control on the ground, Ruth posted one hand on Palombi’s chin and dropped machine gun right hands to Palombi’s face until the fight was called off at the 1:33 mark of Round 1.

Ruth won his pro debut at Bellator 163 on Nov. 4. He’s now scored two first round knockouts in the Bellator cage in slightly over one month.

Light heavyweights Kleber Raimundo Silva (13-7 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Philipe Lins (10-2 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) were willing to throw heavy leather from the opening minute of their fight. With Lins moving on the outside with his guard tight, he exploded with winging shots whenever Silva attempted to punch or kick his way inside.

In Round 2, Lins switched strategy and began cutting off the cage, forcing Silva’s back against the fence. When he trapped Silva in those positions, Lins landed some heavy shots.

However, Silva badly rocked Lins when he got careless. With Lins’ legs betraying him, Silva pounced, landing a flurry of heavy punches and opening a nasty cut.

After Lins collapsed to his knees in an exchange, the referee jumped in to call a halt to the action at the mark of Round 2.

Salter storms through Annicchiarico

John Salter (13-3 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) wasted no time putting Claudio Annicchiarico (1-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) on the ground in the first round of their middleweight fight. Once the fight hit the floor, it was effectively over.

Salter quickly moved to mount before dropping punch after punch while Annicchiarico did little more than cover up.

With Annicchiarico giving no reason to allow the fight to continue, the referee called off the bout at the mark of Round 1.

Complete Bellator 168 weigh-in results include:

• Alessio Sakara def. Joey Beltran via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:20
• Goiti Yamauchi def. Valeriu Mircea via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:33
• Ed Ruth def. Emanuele Palombi via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:33
• Kleber Raimundo Silva def. Philipe Lins via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:42
• John Salter def. Claudio Annicchiarico via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:40

For more on Bellator 168, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.