Anyone who didn’t catch the Bellator 163 card on Friday night really missed out.
A new light heavyweight champion was crowned in the main event as former UFC fighter Phil Davis (17-3) completely dominated Britain’s Liam McGeary (11-1) over five rounds to walk away with the unanimous decision win and that coveted golden strap.
Davis handed McGeary his first loss as a professional by utilising his superior wrestling. He consistently scored takedowns and transitioned to mount while punishing the Brit with his striking. Two of the judges awarded scored it 50-45 to Mr Wonderful, with one judge seeing the one-sided bout as 50-44.
Arguably the most entertaining fight of the night was the co-main event as Brennan Ward (14-4 ) took on Saad Awad (19-9) in a welterweight contest.
Both warriors seemingly had a gentleman’s agreement to swing for the fences and see what happens as a firefight In ensued in the first round, Both fighters landed heavy shots in the chaos, but it was “Irish” Ward who landed the coup de grace, securing the knockout at the 1:26 mark of the opening round.
Brennan Ward wins by spectacular knockout over Saad Awad in Rd 1 #bellator163 #mma pic.twitter.com/jAnccsWQoI
— Frontproof Media (@FrontProofMedia) November 5, 2016
If there was an award for most devastating finish, it probably would have went to Javy Ayala (10-5). The American took just 16 second to knock out Sergei Kharitonov (23-6), sending the man who has knockout victories over Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem to the shadow realm with a thunderous overhand right.
https://twitter.com/regaldy/status/794709609579692032?lang=en
Further down the bill Tyrell Fortune (1-0) scored one of the toughest finishes to watch against fellow debutant Cody Miskell (0-1). Fortune caused Miskell to turtle up against the fence where he kept landing rib-crunching knees to the body until referee Big John McCarthy had seen enough.
Who are the winners of the much-coveted 2016 Wooly Awards? Find out in our GAA Hour Special