Bellator 170 took place in Inglewood, California last night and Tito Ortiz managed to end his career on a high when he took on Chael Sonnen in the main event.
Ortiz shot for a single leg takedown almost immediately but Sonnen grabbed a guillotine and used it to sweep. Sonnen tried to transition to a D’arce choke but he lost the position and allowed Ortiz to get on top.
Ortiz took the back and applied a rear naked choke; with Sonnen’s face turning purple he had no other option but to submit, and Tito even held the choke for a little longer just to make sure.
A great way for Tito Ortiz to end a legendary career
In the co main event, welterweight contenders Paul Daley and Brennan Ward met in a slugfest. Both men had won four of their previous five fights carry huge knockout power. Daley got the better of the early exchanges which led Ward to try and take the fight to the ground but Daley was able to keep things standing.
As they broke from a clinch Daley landed a spinning back elbow which made Ward stagger backwards. Daley then lunged at him with a flying knee which put him completely unconscious. Incredible shot from Daley and an early contender for knockout of the year.
Elsewhere on the card, Hisaki Kato met Ralek Gracie in a middleweight fight. Gracie had gone six years since his last MMA fight and built up a 3-0 record from 2007 to 2010, which included a decision victory over Kazushi Sakuraba.
Kato shot to prominence with a spectacular knockout of Joe Schilling and he is currently coming off a first round stoppage victory over AJ Matthews. This was a cagey contest with Kato content to score with strikes from the outside and Gracie unable to get the fight to the ground.
Kate won the first two rounds without much action and the fans were starting to get restless. Gracie got on top in the third round, but he ran out of time to find a submission. Kato got the unanimous decision victory, 29-28.
Emmanuel Sanchez just about came out on top against Georgi Karakhanyan. This was an incredibly close fight with a lot of debate surrounding the scorecards. Both fighters had success standing and on the ground at various stages of the fight.
Both fighters were able to achieve back mount for instance, and there was a lot of extended periods of clinching. Sanchez was deducted a point in the second round for landing a knee to the head of a grounded opponent which could have cost him the fight. Ultimately he won a majority decision, with scorecards of 28-28, 28-27 and 28-27.
In the opening fight of the main card lightweights Derek Campos and Derek Anderson did battle. Both men were throwing hard shots from range and in his close and it was a very tight and competitive fight. Campos was ultimately named as the victor by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bellator announced during the broadcast that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal will rematch as the main event of Bellator 175 on March 31st at heavyweight. The two fighters originally met at light heavyweight back at Bellator 120, which saw Rampage defeat King Mo via unanimous decision.
Full Results:Tito Ortiz beat Chael Sonnen by 1st round submission (Rear-naked choke)Paul Daley beat Brennan Ward by 1st-round KO (Knee)Hisaki Kato beat Ralek Gracie by Unanimous DecisionEmmanuel Sanchez beat Georgi Karakhanyan by Majority DecisionDerek Campos beat Derek Anderson by Unanimous Decision
