Bellator 175 results: 'King Mo' Lawal evens score with decision over 'Rampage' Jackson

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Muhammed Lawal admitted after his win over Quinton Jackson that his game plan went out the window once “Rampage” hit him.

Lawal (21-6 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) used a takedown and clinch-heavy attack to take a unanimous decision from Jackson (37-12 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in their rematch, evening their series at a win apiece. “King Mo” won with a trio of 29-28 scores from the judges.

The heavyweight bout was the main event of Bellator 175, which took place at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., near Chicago. The main card aired on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

After the win, Lawal was told his next fight will come against UFC standout and recent free-agent signing Ryan Bader at “Bellator 180,” the Spike-televised portion ahead of the promotion’s “Bellator: NYC” pay-per-view card on June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Jackson peppered a jab out early in the fight, but Lawal was right behind it with a combo and pushed Jackson to the fence. Jackson landed a left, but ate a left from Lawal right after. Both men tried to punch to the body, but it was Lawal more active in the first 90 seconds. He just missed a left, then got inside with the bigger Jackson and pushed him to the fence. Lawal punched to the body, then dropped dwon for an easy takedown.

Jackson tried to work back up, but Lawal stayed on him and took his back standing. Lawal landed easy left hands while draped on Jackson’s back, and the crowd booed its disapproval. But Lawal was active in the position, working knees to the legs, then punches. With a minute left, he scooped Jackson up for a heavy slam and worked on top from half-guard. Jackson got back to his feet with seconds left and landed a punch, but it was a decisive round for Lawal.

Jackson worked left hands early in the second and nearly connected with the type that might have ended the fight. But Lawal got inside and landed a pair of punches of his own, then a jab, then a shot to the body before tying “Rampage” up again a minute in. The crowd finally got something to cheer about when the third fight of the night broke out in the stands. But with 2:40 left, referee John McCarthy broke up the stalemate clinch between the fighters getting paid for their work.

Lawal touched Jackson up with lefts, then nearly lost his footing when Jackson lit into him. Lawal went into defensive takedown mode and ate a few punches, but stayed in the fight and again tied Jackson up. Jackson broke things off with 50 seconds left and tried to land the shots that could finish teh fight. But Lawal clinched him up with 40 seconds left. Jackson landed a trip takedown with 20 seconds left, but Lawal got back to his feet and survived the round.

Jackson appeared rejuvenated by his second-round output, and the crowd started a “Let’s go Rampage!” chant. Again, Lawal went to work in the clinch and tried to pick “Rampage” up for a takedown. He ate elbows to the head for his troubles. With three minutes left, they broke apart – but only briefly before Lawal wetn after the takedown again.

With two minutes to go, Jackson turned the tables and went for his own takedown. But Lawal sprawled out of it and landed punches on Jackson’s back. Lawal started winging punches with 1:20 left and was connecting when Jackson appeared to be gassing out. The two threw punches down the stretch, but neither man went down before the bell.

Bellator 175 results include:

MAIN CARD

• Muhammed Lawal def. Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Emmanuel Sanchez def. Marcos Galvao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Sergei Kharitonov def. Chase Gormley via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:55
• Noad Lahat def. Lloyd Carter via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:50
• Steve Kozola def. Jake Roberts via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:28

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Joaquin Buckley def. Justin Patterson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Tim Cho def. Joshua Hardwick via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:43
• Manny Vazquez def. Nate Williams via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-28) – 130-pound catchweight
• James Bochnovic def. Matt Paul via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:30
• Damian Norris def. Tom Shoaff via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mike DeLaVega def. Brian Akins via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Adam Maciejewski vs. Prince McLean
• Tom Holder vs. Josh Streaker
• Cory Galloway vs. David Garcia
• Asef Askar vs. James Esposito
• Max Fuentes vs. Brandon Shelhart

For complete coverage of Bellator 175, check out the MMA Events section of the site.