Bellator 122 results: Koreshkov dominates McDonough to earn welterweight title shot
Andrey Koreshkov made easy work of Adam McDonough and earned his second Bellator MMA welterweight title shot in the process.
Koreshkov (17-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) dominated Adam McDonough (11-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) for 15 minutes, getting a unanimous decision sweep in the main event of Bellator 122 on Friday. Koreshkov will meet champion Douglas Lima for the belt, likely this fall.
Bellator 122 took place at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. The main card aired on Spike TV following prelims that streamed on MMAjunkie.
Koreshkov had little trouble in the first round as he mixed up a wide variety of strikes. McDonough looked for several takedowns, but they weren’t there for him. And while his defense was good enough to keep Koreshkov from doing major damage, McDonough didn’t appear to be in the same league with Koreshkov.
In the second, Koreshkov tried another spinning back kick, and it was on the money in a big way, drawing the admiration of the crowd as McDonough went flying backward into the fence. Koreshkov moved in for the finish, but McDonough survived. He tried to shoot moments later, but again Koreshkov easily sprawled out of it. McDonough found himself on his back a couple more times in the round, unable to do anything offensively. Another spinning back kick for Koreshkov was good with 20 seconds left in the round, and he followed it up with more punches after that.
Two minutes into the third, Koreshkov had a short-lived guillotine choke attempt, and McDonough had his fest shot of the fight when Koreshkov let off of it. But Koreshkov easily moved out of the way. McDonough had one more takedown attempt midway through the frame, but again Koreshkov easily stuffed it and then landed a massive knee on the ground. The rest of the way was cruise control.
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Halsey makes quick work of Cooper to earn title shot
Brandon Halsey had a game plan, and he put it right to work against Brett Cooper. The result, ultimately, was a quick win, and now a middleweight title shot against champion Alexander Shlemenko. Halsey got the fight where he wanted it early, on the ground, where he got to side control. He quickly went after Cooper’s arm and rolled into position looking for an armbar. Cooper defended initially as it looked as if Halsey wasn’t in the right position. But he corrected his position mistake, and was able to straighten Cooper’s left arm out from the belly-down position. Cooper had no choice but to tap out to the armbar. Halsey (7-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) stayed unbeaten; Cooper (20-10 MMA, 7-5 BMMA) now has dropped three of his past four.
McGeary destroys Valavicius to move into 205 tourney final
Liam McGeary ontinued his brutal tear through whoever has stepped in front of him. He punched Egidijus Valavicius plenty, and punched his ticket to Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament final with a first-round TKO. McGeary will meet Kelly Anundson, a winner on the prelims, in the tourney final later this year. The two traded early, and it was Valavicius who landed hardest first. But McGeary worked his way through it and tied things up along the cage, where he landed good knees before bloodying Valavicius up with a few punches before the two went back to the center. Two minutes in, McGeary landed a massive uppercut, and then poured it on. As referee Stephen Davis warned Valavicius to defend himself, McGeary wouldn’t let up. He landed four heavy knees, and more than a dozen hard punches as Valavicius covered up. McGeary (8-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) stayed unbeaten and has all of his wins by stoppage. Valavicius (27-11 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) had a three-fight winning streak snapped.
Karo Parisyan tears through Phil Baroni in first round
Karo Parisyan had promised a violent end to his fight with Phil Baroni, and he delivered. Parisyan stopped Baroni, who was making his Bellator debut, with a first-round TKO to open the main card of Bellator 122. Both fighters came out swinging before clinching up 90 seconds into the round. It was Parisyan’s left hook and jab that seemed to do good work early, but it was a right uppercut that clipped Baroni, and then “The Heat†poured on the heat. He never let Baroni get his bearings and a couple handfuls of punches on the ground were enough for John McCarthy to shut things down. Parisyan (24-10 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) won his second straight by knockout. Baroni (15-18 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) lost his third straight and has dropped eight of his past 10.
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The official Bellator 122 results include:
MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET)
Andrey Koreshkov def. Adam McDonough via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Season 10 welterweight tournament final
Brandon Halsey def. Brett Cooper via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:09 – Season 10 middleweight tournament final
Liam McGeary def. Egidijus Valavicius via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:10 – Summer Series light heavyweight tournament semifinal
Karo Parisyan def. Phil Baroni via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:06
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 7 p.m. ET)
Augusto Sakai def. Matt Frembling via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:32
Bubba Jenkins def. Poppies Martinez via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:10
Kelly Anundson def. Philipe Lins via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 1:40 – Summer Series light heavyweight tournament semifinal
Fernando Gonzalez def. Karl Amoussou via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Saad Awad def. Joe Duarte via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 1:18
Sergio Rios def. Stephen Martinez via TKO (head kick, punches) – Round 2, 0:20
Linton Vassell def. Virgil Zwicker via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:07
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