Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell made it an easy night defending his belt for the first time at Bellator 195 on Friday night.
Caldwell wasted no time at the WinStar Resort & Casino in Thackerville, Okla., engaging Leandro Higo, finding his range, and then shooting and taking him to the canvas.
Higo got back to his feet, but Caldwell was relentless, keeping him up against the fence and taking him back to the mat. As they hit the canvas for the final time, Caldwell locked up a guillotine choke from the top position, forcing Higo to tap out just past the midway point of the opening round.
In his post-fight comments, Caldwell had some pointed words for Higo’s teammates Patricky and Patricio Freire, who were in his corner on Friday night.
“Hey, I’m not calling none of you chumps out, if you want some, come get some,” said Caldwell, adding that he would fight whomever Bellator president Scott Coker had in mind before he took direct aim at the Pitbull brothers, who Bellator stalwarts.
“I’m gonna beat your ass too,” he said directly to them. “I’m lining the Pitbull brothers up. One, two, three. I just beat the little protégé.”
In the Bellator 195 co-main event, Joe Taimanglo scored a split-decision victory over former Bellator bantamweight and featherweight champion Joe Warren.
Taimanglo started uncharacteristically by taking Warren, a wrestler by trade, to the canvas. Warren, however, reversed the scenario and looked to take control early, and he did for a time, but Taimanglo wasn’t willing to stay on his back.
After regaining his feet, Taimanglo lit Warren up on the feet, hurting him several times in the opening frame.
Warren kept searching for the takedown, but had a difficult time finding it, outside of the couple of occasions in the first round. The remainder of the bout was fought primarily in Taimanglo’s wheelhouse, where he frequently outstruck Warren on the feet.
The former Bellator two-division champion came on strong in the final round, getting Taimanglo back to the canvas, where he ground and pounded him and worked for submissions. Taimanglo turned the tide in the last few moments of the fight, getting two of the judges to score the bout in his favor.
Earlier in the night, Kristina Williams improved her record to 2-0, also taking a split nod from the judges in her fight with Emily Ducote.
The main card opener saw Juan Archuleta dominate William Joplin en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Bellator 195: Caldwell vs. Higo Results
- Darrion Caldwell (12-1) defeated Leandro Higo (18-4) via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:36 of round one
- Joe Taimanglo (24-8) defeated Joe Warren (15-7) via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- Kristina Williams (2-0) defeated Emily Ducote (6-4) via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Juan Archuleta (19-1) defeated William Joplin (17-15) via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-24, 30-23)
- Aaron Webb (2-0) defeated Thomas Lopez (1-4) via TKO (punches) at 3:11 of round one
- Kevin Holland (12-3) defeated Teagan Dooley (6-3) via submission (triangle choke) at 2:59 of round one
- Daniel Carey (4-2) defeated Cris Williams (4-1) via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
- Romero Cotton (2-0) defeated Justin Reeser (1-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) 4:35 of round two
- Fernando Gonzalez (3-0) defeated Armando Servin (4-6) via submission (arm-bar) at 2:24 of round one
- Justin Patterson (10-4) defeated Brian Grinnell (10-8) via TKO (knee to body) at 4:49 of round one
- Ky Bennett (1-1) defeated Morgan Solis (2-1) via submission (Americana) at 3:37 of round two
