Bellator 179 rolled into London last night, in front of a sellout crowd, and it didn't disappoint. The company put on a hell of a show, delivering four finishes on the main card, with Cheick Kongo's points victory being the exception, but I predicted that one anyway in preview/prediction piece.
The main story of the night was the impressive return of Rory MacDonald, in his impressive win over the UK's own, Paul Daley. Daley posed a serious knockout punch, however, he was fully neutralised and unable to land a significant shot during the fight.
The first round was utterly dominated by MacDonald, who looked in a different league to Daley. The second round played out pretty much the same way, but this time, Macdonald went in for the kill. MacDonald mounted Daley, where he landed a right hand, followed by the Rear-Naked Choke, submitting his opponent just 1 minute and 45 seconds into round 2. This impressive win is likely to set MacDonald on a collision course for Bellator’s Welterweight Title.
Following the loss to MacDonald, Paul Daley gave credit to his opponent before turning his attention to Michael Page, who withdrew from fighting on the card. Daley challenged Page to a fight in an expletive-laced post-match interview. Daley then confronted Page, resulting in a brief scuffle between the pair, before Daley was taken away by security.
In other results from the Spike Main card, Linton Vassell won the battle of the two Light Heavyweight Brits, beating Liam Geary by Arm-Triangle Submission, halfway through the third round.
Cheick Kongo, typically, almost sent the fans at Wembley Arena to sleep, with his points victory over Augustine Sakai. Alex Lahore was dominant in his second round TKO victory over Dan Edwards. And finally, Baby Slice, the son of the late Kimbo Slice, looked very impressive in his first round TKO win over D.J Griffin.
Full results from the Spike Main Card:
Rory MacDonald def. Paul Daley by Submission (RNC) at 1:45 in round 2: Welterweight
Linton Vassell def. Liam McGeary by Submission (Arm-Triangle) at 2:28 in round 3: Light Heavyweight
Cheick Kongo def. Augusto Sakai by split decision. Heavyweight
Alex Lohore def. Dan Edwards by TKO at 56 in round 2: Welterweight
Baby Slice Kevin Ferguson Jr. def. D.J. Griffin by TKO at 3:40 in round 1: Catchweight 165 pounds
Preliminary Card results (via MMA Fighting)
Stav Economou def. Dan Konecke via submission (guillotine) (R1, 1:05)
Amir Albazi def. Jamie Powell via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26 x2)
Nathan Jones def. Umer Kayani via submission (RNC) (R1, 4:35)
Fabian Edwards def. Rafal Cejrowski via first-round KO (3:44)
Jeremy Petley def. Chase Morton via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)
Mike Shipman def. Marcin Prostko via first-round TKO (2:39)
Salih Kulucan def. Diego Barbosa via submission (heel hook) (R1, 2:18)
