Emanuel Newton's kick-heavy offense earned him Bellator's
undisputed 205-pound title. | Keith Mills/Sherdog.com
Emanuel
Newton did it his way.Newton threw more and landed more, as he became the undisputed
Bellator MMA light heavyweight champion with a split decision over
Attila
Vegh in the Bellator 113 main event on Friday at the Kansas
Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan. Two of the three cageside judges scored
it for Newton by 49-46 and 48-47 marks; a third saw it 48-47 for
Vegh.
Neither man took the proverbial bull by the horns. However, Newton
(23-7-1, 6-1 Bellator) outworked and outmaneuvered the Slovakian in
every round but the third, attacking his lead leg with a steady
stream of kicks and keeping him unsteady with his unorthodox style.
Vegh (29-5-2, 5-1 Bellator) executed his punches with more oomph,
but the American Top Team fighter was plagued by long periods of
inactivity. The defeat ended his nine-fight winning streak.
“It was a tough fight,” Newton said. “Vegh was countering me real
good. I think I pushed the pace and put his back against the cage.
This is MMA. It’s not called the waiting game. He was just waiting
more.”
Newton will defend his title against the winner of the forthcoming
May 17 showdown between Quinton
Jackson and Muhammed
Lawal.
‘Pitbull’ Stops Rickels, Eyes Semifinals
Patricky Freire knocked out David Rickels with a left hook and standing-to-ground
right in the second round of their Season 10 lightweight tournament
quarterfinal. Freire (12-5, 5-4 Bellator) put away “The Caveman” 54
seconds into round two, bringing a dramatic and decisive close to
their encounter.
Photo: K.
Mills/Sherdog.com
Freire ripped Rickels in his own backyard.
Rickels (15-3, 9-3 Bellator) spent the first five minutes peppering
“Pitbull” with variety and volume, as he kept the Brazilian
off-balance with power punches, leg kicks, knees and some punishing
dirty boxing in the clinch. Freire was not deterred. Less than a
minute into the second round, he set Rickels on shaky legs with a
two-punch combination, pursued him with punches and floored the
Kansas native with a clean left hook. As a semi-conscious Rickels
lay supine, Freire finished him with one last jackhammer right to
the face.Held Toe Hold Submits Correia
Polish prodigy Marcin Held
submitted Rodrigo
Cavalheiro Correia with a first-round heel hook in a Season 10
lightweight tournament quarterfinal. Correia (14-3, 0-1 Bellator)
conceded defeat 1:56 into round one, his career-best 10-fight
winning streak a thing of the past.Held (17-3, 6-2 Bellator) ducked under winging punches from the
overzealous Brazilian and scored with a double-leg takedown inside
the first minute. After an extended struggle on the mat, the
22-year-old Pole dove on a heel hook and then transitioned to the
toe hold for the finish. Held has recorded seven victories in his
last eight appearances.
Campos Wins Fifth Straight, Eliminates Welch
Crisp standup, tactical takedowns and late ground-and-pound carried
Mohler MMA’s Derek
Campos to a one-sided unanimous decision over Tim Welch in
the Season 10 lightweight tournament quarterfinals. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Campos (14-3, 3-1
Bellator).
Photo: K.
Mills/Sherdog.com
Campos easily cruised past Welch.
Welch (10-5, 0-2 Bellator) was on his heels from the start, as
Campos controlled the exchanges from the center of the cage and
scored effectively with punches, both at a distance and in close
quarters. He nearly finished it in the second round, where he
staggered Welch with a right hook, drove the MMA Lab export to the
canvas and threatened him with an arm-triangle choke. Campos
punctuated his latest victory with a strong round three, as he
settled in top position after Welch misfired on a head kick and
assaulted him with thudding left hands from half guard.Campos, 25, has won his last five fights.
Prelims: Unbeaten Prospect Anderson KOs Girtz
Photo: K.
Mills/Sherdog.com
Anderson's counter knee obliterated Girtz.
Derek
Anderson (11-0, 2-0 Bellator) knocked out Brandon
Girtz (10-4, 3-2 Bellator) with a knee strike 23 seconds into
the second round of their Bellator Season 10 lightweight tournament
quarterfinal; WEC veteran L.C. Davis used
a guillotine to tap out Taurean
Bogguess at the first-round bell; Israel
Giron (18-3, 1-0 Bellator) took a unanimous verdict from
Cody
Carrillo (5-8, 0-3 Bellator) in a lightweight battle, sweeping
the scorecards with 29-28 nods across the board; Eric Wisely
(22-8, 1-0 Bellator) eked out a split decision -- 30-27, 29-28,
28-29 -- against Donnie Bell
(8-3, 1-1 Bellator) in a lightweight clash.Daniel
Gallemore (3-2, 2-0 Bellator) stopped Frederick
Brown (1-1, 0-1 Bellator) with elbows and punches 3:34 into the
first round of their heavyweight scrap; and Bobby
Cooper (9-3, 1-0 Bellator) captured a unanimous decision from
Marcio
Navarro (9-11, 1-2 Bellator) in a 159-pound catchweight affair,
earning 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the judges.