Bellator 194 results: Matt Mitrione survives tough third to outpoint Roy Nelson

Matt Mitrione survived a rough third round to outpoint Roy Nelson and advance to the semifinals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Mitrione (13-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) earned two scores of 29-28 over Nelson (22-15 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) while one judge saw the bout even at 28-28.

The heavyweight tournament opening-round bout was the main evnet of today’s Bellator 194 show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. It aired on Paramount following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Mitrione had two goals headed into his rematch with Nelson: avoid the right hand and stop the takedown. Early on, he did just that, peppering “Big Country” with lead-hand punches and tenderizing the lead leg with kicks. When Nelson tired of the volume and shot, Mitrione got out of the way and poured on the offense, utilizing his sizable reach advantage.

Sucking wind from the first round, Nelson tried in vain to land his favored weapon while Mitrione chipped away with jabs and straight punches. By the end of the round, Nelson’s left eye was reddened, and he exploded into a takedown that put him on top at the end of the frame.

Mitrione kept up his attack in the final frame, and yet he was unable to stop Nelson from again taking him to the mat. It was in those final moments that momentum shifted severely to Nelson, who advanced to crucifix position and peppered Mitrione to the point where the referee closed. Mitrione did his best to ensure his opponent wouldn’t gain a positional stoppage and hung tough, getting to his feet once more before being smothered against the cage.

In the end, though, Mitrione’s early work allowed him to keep his lead on scorecards and meet the winner of an upcoming matchup between light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

Mitrione also avenges a knockout loss to Nelson in the UFC in 2012 and picks up his fourth straight win, remaining unbeaten under the Bellator banner. Nelson suffers his first promotional setback and continues to hopscotch between wins and losses in his past seven outings.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 194 results include:

• Matt Mitrione def. Roy Nelson via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Patricky Freire def. Derek Campos via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:23
• Heather Hardy def. Ana Julaton via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Vadim Nemkov def. Liam McGeary via TKO (injury) – Round 3, 4:02
• Tywan Claxton def. Jose Perez via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:39
• Ross Richardson def. Ronie Arana Leon via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:41
• Mike Kimbel def. Geoffrey Then via knockout (slam, punches) – Round 1, 1:03
• Regivaldo Carvalho def. Tom English via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:17
• Jarod Trice def. Walter Howard via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Marcus Surin def. Dean Hancock via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:50
• Kastriot Xhema def. Peter Nascimento via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:52
• Pat Casey def. Tyler Hamilton via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete coverage of Bellator 194, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson contributed to this report on site in Connecticut.)