Bellator 215 went down on Friday night and was the first of two straights nights at the Mohegan Sun Arena for Bellator in Uncasville, Connecticut.
QUICK RESULTS:
*Austin Vanderford def. Cody Jones by arm-triangle choke at 4:49 of Round 1
*John Douma def. Mike Kimbel by triangle choke at 2:51 of Round 1
*Eduardo Dantas def. Toby Misech by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Logan Storley def. Ion Pascu by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
*Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov ended in a no contest at 0:15 of Round 1
Austin Vanderford (6-0) vs. Cody Jones (6-2) – Catchweight 175 pounds
Vanderford competed on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series last summer and is married to Paige VanZant.
In the first round, Vanderford had top control through most of the round. In the final minute, he had Jones’ back and Vanderford secured an arm-triangle with knee-on-belly control. Jones tapped in the final seconds of the round.
WINNER: Austin Vanderford by arm-triangle at 4:49 of Round 1
Vanderford remains undefeated as he makes a successful Bellator debut. It was his fourth consecutive stoppage victory.
Mike Kimbel (2-0) vs. John Douma (3-1) – Bantamweight
Kimbel and Douma are young prospects at ages 21 and 22 respectively. Kimbel has a large reach advantage of 7.5 inches.
Kimbel got a pair of takedowns at the beginning of the fight. Douma was on his back and went for a triangle choke, Kimbel lifted and tried to slam Douma, who kept the submission locked and Kimbel tapped.
WINNER: John Douma by triangle choke at 2:51 of Round 1
Douma was making his Bellator debut after fighting for the CES promotion and was coming off a stoppage loss last June.
Eduardo Dantas (20-6) vs. Toby Misech (11-6) – Bantamweight
Dantas is returning after breaking his leg in his last fight against Michael McDonald last July.
Dantas got a trip takedown off the cage and was on top in half-guard. Dantas was the aggressor for the entire round from that position.
Dantas pressed towards Misech and went for his back and got him down against the fence. The audience began to boo the inactivity. Dantas continued to control the back while Misech defended his neck while losing another round.
Dantas circled the cage in the third round, he was selective when throwing kicks as he awaited Misech to take a risk. The crowd was heavily booing as so little was happening. Misech could not find openings and had no answers. It would say it’s 30-27 for Dantas, although the third round was a toss-up.
WINNER: Eduardo Dantas by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Dantas ends a two-fight losing streak as he earns his first win since April 2017. If anything, this was a mental victory for Dantas to test out his leg, which required a steel plate to be inserted after the break last summer.
Logan Storley (9-0) vs. Ion Pascu (18-9) – Welterweight
Pascu displayed great resistance to the takedown, but Storley held on and finished it. Storley lifted Pascu with a high crotch and slammed him down. Storley used hip pressure to hold down in half-guard while attacking Pascu with elbow strikes. This as a strong round for Storley.
Storley went right back to the same attack as the second round began, getting on top in half-guard and landing strikes. Storley didn’t allow Pascu to do anything this round and should be 10-8 for Storley.
Pascu landed with a right but allowed Storley to take him down. Pascu tried to hold onto the arm for a kimura but was unsuccessful. Storley went back on top in half-guard and ended the fight on top and dominated this fight. I have it 30-25 for Storley.
WINNER: Logan Storley by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Storley called that “Division 1 wrestling” and no one can do that at this weight class. Storley is now 5-0 in Bellator and he looked excellent as a blue-chip prospect that has high expectations.
Matt Mitrione (13-6) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (29-7, 1 NC) – Heavyweight
Mitrione threw an inside leg kick and Kharitonov was hit low and he was in severe pain. Kharitonov was on his back and said he could not continue so it’s ruled a no contest.
An obviously disappointing end to the card and the main event barely got underway.
It was ruled accidental and referee Leon Roberts is ruling it a no contest and not a disqualification.
WINNER: No Contest at 0:15 of Round 1
Mitrione invited the audience to go get drunk and apologized. He wants to run it back with Kharitonov.
