BOSSIER CITY, La. – Bellator 61 takes place this evening at the Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, Louisiana, and will feature Bellator Fighting Championships’ season six middleweight tournament quarterfinals. A heavyweight rematch between Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos which was scheduled for the main event has been moved to Bellator 62 due to Prindle suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Bellator 61’s 185 pound tournament bouts include Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy, Vitor Vianna vs. Brian Rogers, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O’Donnell and Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos. Bellator 61 also features the return of reality TV veteran Jeremiah Riggs to MMA competition following a brief stint in professional wrestling after appearing on WWE’s “Tough Enough”.

Bellator 61 will air LIVE on this evening starting at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST on MTV2. The preliminary card will start at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST and streamed LIVE on Spike.com. ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) will provide LIVE results and play-by-play commentary throughout the event.

Bellator 61 quick results:

MAIN CARD

  • (185 Tournament) Maiquel Falcao def. Norman Paraisy by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • (185 Tournament) Brian Rogers def. Vitor Vianna by knockout (flying knee) Rd 1 (4:14)
  • (185 Tournament) Vyacheslav Vasilevsky def. Victor O’Donnell by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • (185 Tournament) Bruno Santos def. Giva Santana by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • (165) Josh Quayhagen (164.2) vs. Brent Taylor (165.2)
  • (180) Trey Houston def. Jeremiah Riggs by submission (armbar) Rd 1 (3:30)
  • (170) Derrick Krantz  def. Eric Scallan by submission (brabo choke) Rd 1 (3:01)
  • (140) Jason Sampson def. Jeremy Myers by submission (rear naked choke) Rd 3 (2:25)

Bellator 61 play-by-play:

Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinals

Vitor Vianna vs. Brian Rogers

Round 1 – Touch gloves. Leg kick from Rogers. Left connects by Rogers. Front kick from Vianna followed by a straight left on the chin. Rogers backs him up with a one two and connects with a left hook. Vianna shoots, pushes Rogers to the cage, looking for the double, lets it go. Clinched, knee from Vianna. He backs out and they square up. Nice right to the body from Rogers. Inside leg kick from Rogers. Left to the body from Rogers connects. He catches a leg kick, counters with a right and Vianna falls to his butt and Rogers lets him up. Vianna shoots, stuffed, Rogers gives him a hip toss, then lets Vianna up. Leg kick from Rogers. Vianna with a front kick. Inside leg kick from Rogers. Outside leg kick from Rogers. Right hand wobbles Vianna and Rogers follows up with a jumping knee, lands right on the chin and this fight is over folks. Vianna falls to his back out cold. Amazing picture perfect finish for Brian Rogers!

OFFICIAL RESULTS: Brian Rogers def. Vitor Vianna by knockout (flying knee) Rd 1 (4:14)

Rogers moves on to the Bellator season six middleweight tournament semifinal round.

Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos

Round 1 – Touch gloves. Overhand right from Santana backs Santos up. Big leg kick from Santana. Misses a leg kick. Shoots for a single. Pushes Santos to the cage as Santos gives him some shots to the ear. Santana rolls backward taking Santos down but he pops up with Santana still holding on; repeat. Clinched against the cage. Santana takes a low blow and time is called. Time is started back in the clinch against the cage. They separate and square up in the center. Santana misses a high kick. Santana with a punch combo backs Santos up,  Santos clinches up, turns Santana to the cage, gives him a knee to the thigh. Knee from Santana. Knee from Santos to the thigh. Santana turns him around and Santos pushes him off. They square up. Straight left from Santos, inside leg kick barely connects. Big left hook from Santos. Huge leg kick from Santos. Again. Straight left. Left hand and big leg kick from Santana, then a couple punches before the bell.

Round 2 – Touch gloves. Leg kick from Santana. Counter right from Santos. Leg kick from Santana. Santana clinches up, Santos turns him to the cage. They separate and square up. Big leg kick from Santos. They tie up, Santos pushes him in to the cage, gives a big knee to the thigh. Left hand from Santos. Slam from Santos, kicks Santana’s legs. Santana goes for the arm but Santos breaks free. Santana is back up and they square up. Left hook from Santos. Leg kicks from both. Big leg kick from Santos. Left hand from Santos, they clinch up. Left hook from Santos, clinch, right hook. Right kick to the body, left hook from Santos and they trade punches before the bell.

Round 3 – Left hand from Santos. Clinch against the cage. They move to the center and square up. Big leg kick from Santos. Santana grabs a single leg, pushes Santos to the cage. Santos with some punches to the side of the head. They separate and throw some shots before Santos puts Santana on his back with a double leg. Santana shrimping. Santos with a left, moves to half guard, then stands up. Kicks the leg of Santana. Santana gets to his knee then stands. Left hand from Santos. Body kick from Santana. Less than a minute to go. Punch, shot, then takedown from Santos. He stands up, kicks the leg of Santana. Santana goes for a leg with under 10 seconds to go and time runs out. PMN scores the round 10-9 for Santos.

OFFICIAL RESULTS: Bruno Santos def. Giva Santana by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) Rd 3 (5:00)

Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O’Donnell

Round 1 – Leg kick from O’Donnell. One two from O’Donnell. Left jab from Vasilevsky. Left hook from O’Donnell. One two from Vasilevsky. Leg kick from O’Donnell. Left jab from O’Donnell, inside leg kick. Left jab from O’Donnell, shoots in and picks up Vasilevsky for the slam. O’Donnell in half guard, trying to walk into mount. Vasilevsky with his back to the cage. O’Donnell standing over him. Vasilevsky stands shoots in at O’Donnell as they go all the way to the far side of the cage and O’Donnell ends up putting him on his back. Ref warns for action. Stands them up. Jab from O’Donnell. Vasilevsky puts him down. They trade knees from the clinch. PMN scores it 10-9 for O’Donnell.

Round 2 – Leg kick from O’Donnell, again, again, again. Jab from Vasilevsky puts O’Donnell down and Vasilevsky swarms trying to finish. O’Donnell gets to his knees, rolls for a kneebar and Vasilevksy punches away. O’Donell goes belly down and stretches out the knee. Vasilevsky escapes and lands some nice shots to the face then to the body. O’Donnell gets full guard. Punches and hammerfists from Vasilevsky. This continues for quite some time. Just over a minute to go and Vasilevsky pours on the heat, landing several shots as O’Donnell covers up and rides out the round. PMN scores the round 10-9 Vasilevsky.

Round 3 – O’Donnell is hurt early with a left hand and goes down after Vasilevsky swarms again. We’re right back where we left off last round with Vasilevsky inside full guard laying on the ground and pound. O’Donnell turns up his back and is in pure defense mode right now. O’Donnell gets to a knee and his feet, eats punches all the way up. They square up. O’Donnell bleeding, eyes swollen. Big right from Vasilevsky. Two minutes to go. Nice left from Vasilevsky. O’Donnell trying to box but getting beat to the punch. Big right from Vasilevsky turns the head of O’Donnell. Left from Vasilevsky, right. Right left from Vasilevsky, left to the body, right to the body. Vasilevsky can’t miss, leg kick, left to the face, jab, right left. PMN scores the round 10-9 foor Vasilevsky and the fight 29-28 for Vasilevsky.

OFFICIAL RESULTS: Vyacheslav Vasilevsky def. Victor O’Donnell by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Rd 3 (5:00)

Vasilevsky advances to the Bellator season six middleweight tournament semifinals.

Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy

Round 1 – No touch of gloves. Paraisy backs Falcao up. Falcao catches a kick and puts Paraisy on his back. Falcao gets full mount very briefly and Paraisy explodes to his feet where Falcao drives him to the cage. Clinched, knee to the thigh from Falcao. They separate and square up. Leg kick from Paraisy. Body shot from Falcao. Nice right from Falcao, pushes Paraisy to the cage. Knees from Falcao to the thighs, another one. Another, again, again. Paraisy backs out, jab. Falcao catches a kick, lets it go. Big leg kick from Falcao. Paraisy gives him one back. Big leg kick on the end of a punch combo from Falcao. One minute to go. Falcao pushes Paraisy to the cage, knee to the thigh. Falcao picks up a single, lets it go, clinched against the cage where they trade knees. Just before the bell Falcao picks up Paraisy for a slam but he breaks the fall. PMN scores the round 10-9 for Falcao.

Round 2 – Leg kick from Falcao. Again. Again. Again with a big leg kick, again. Again, punch combo and a big leg kick. Another leg kick and he is tearing Paraisy up. Paraisy shoots, stuffed. Clinched, knees from Falcao to the thighs. They square up and Falcao goes back to destroying Paraisy’s legs with more big kicks over and over and it’s noticeably bothering Paraisy. They trade punches. One two push kick from Falcao. Paraisy calls him on and Falcao lands a couple punch combos then a big right that drops Paraisy. Paraisy gets up talking and Falcao tears him up with more punches and kicks until the bell sounds. PMN scores the round 10-9 for Falcao.

Round 3 – Touch gloves. Left from Falcao. Big leg kick. Front kick. He catches Paraisy’s front kick and trips the back leg. Falcao on top now in half guard. Big right hands from Falcao as Paraisy makes his way to his feet. Leg kick from Falcao, right from Paraisy. Paraisy is one tough customer. Paraisy shoots from outside, stuffed, Falcao gives him several punches to the body and face, he pushes Paraisy down flat on his back and lays on him in half guard. Tries to move to full mount. Paraisy tries to sweep, eats several punches but gets the sweep. Falcao has his head in a guillotine but lets it go. Paraisy on top now for the first time in this fight. Paraisy inside full guard. Falcao landing short shots from the bottom. Paraisy tries to work from top but Falcao’s defense is superb and lands several punches from off his back, big hammerfists from Falcao off his back. He blocks almost every punch from Paraisy until ref stands them up. Paraisy calls him on with 10 seconds left. They swing for the fences until the bell sounds. Awesome fight. PMN scores the round 10-9 and the fight 30-27 for Maiquel Falcao.

OFFICIAL RESULTS: Maiquel Falcao def. Norman Paraisy by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Rd 3 (5:00)

Maiquel Falcao moves on to the Bellator season six middleweight tournament semifinal round.

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