Bellator 81 results and recap

Bellator 81 took place Friday night at the Ryan Center in Kingston, RI. and featured a main event between Rich Clementi (45-22) in his 69th professional MMA fight against Marcin Held (15-2) in a season 7 lightweight tournament semifinals match-up.

It seemed Held prophetically announced his win in the pre-fight interview when he stated that if Clementi did not tapout he would be on crutches for a long time.

The match went to the ground fairly quick in round 1. Held immediately went for a toe hold but Clementi did not seem to be worried by the attempt at all, pushing with his free foot to defend against the move.

In their attempts to place one another in different leg locks both men ended up in some very awkward angles.

Clementi gained the upper hand briefly before Held rolled out and placed Clementi in a knee bar that was far too low to achieve a submission. Clementi freed himself from the knee bar and attempted to place Held in a guillotine which only proved to be unsuccessful.

In round 2 Clementi took Held right to the mat. He tied Marcin up and kept him spread out. Marcin was eventually able to roll out and used the momentum of the roll to place Clementi in a toe hold. That resulted in Clementi’s tapout and Held’s victory.

The match-up between Dave Jansen (18-2) and Ricardo Tirloni (15-3) was highly anticipated and also proved to be one of the more vigorous fights of the evening. The two opponents seemed content with matching blow for blow. Neither of them held back as they continued to strike one another with a determined purpose and drive.

Tirloni delivered a barrage of rights and opened a cut under Jansen’s left eye. Jansen worked away on Tirloni’s legs with kicks and then dropped Tirloni to the mat with a suplex. Tirloni got back to his feet almost immediately, if only momentarily, before Jansen once again dropped him back to the mat. Tirloni, determined not to play the ground game, got back to his feet moments before the round ended.

Tirloni landed plenty of big rights during round 2. He attempted a kick which Jansen caught and attempted to use for his advantage as a takedown. Tirloni recovered, but only after Jansen landed some nice blows of his own. Jansen attempted to take Tirloni down again which almost ended with Jansen locked in a choke hold. Both men got back to their feet and started to pummel one another before the 2nd round ended.

Jansen came out aggressive in the third round and looked for a ground game but Tirloni was unwilling to have it that way. He locked onto Jansen’s rhythm, defended his area with right jabs and was able to keep Jansen at bay for a short time. Jansen, not intimidated, continued to work on getting inside the range to land his own blows.

Tirloni attempted a single leg takedown which almost resulted in his being locked into a guillotine. He quickly abandoned the takedown but Jansen grabbed him from behind and executed a suplex. Tirloni was able to get back to his feet as the match ended.

Many commentators scored Tirloni better overall. Everyone seemed surprised as the final call announced Jansen the new champ via split decision.

I messaged Jansen on Twitter after the fight to ask him about the match. He responded, “That was a close one that could have gone either way, but I felt my wrestling tipped the scales in my favor. Ricardo is a warrior and it was an honor for me to compete against such a talented, driven athlete.”

Dustin Neace (23-19) and Marlon Sandro (23-4) met in the cage for a brief match. Sandro threw a strong left hook before clenching. Neace answered back with an attempted guillotine as the pair fell to the mat. Neace was forced to let go and seek a different approach.

While the two struggled to gain the upper hand on the mat Sandro appeared to give up on the ground game and attempted to stand to his feet. Neace saw an opportunity to go for a heel hook and really threw a lot of torque into it. Sandro did not seem worried about the hook, he worked to free himself from the hold.

Sandro momentarily lost wavered while trying to free himself and grabbed the fence to try remaining balanced. Sandro was warned by the ref and he let go. He then made a smooth transition to end up behind Neace and executed a rear naked choke hold for a technical submission.

Perry Filkins (7-1) and Jonas Billstein (10-3) faced off in the cage. Filkins came into the match with a 4 win streak.

Filkins stayed close to Billstein as the match started. Billstein, not afraid to engage, traded blows with Filkins before he rushed in for a takedown attempt. Filkins clenched and Billstein pushed him against the cage. He used his forehead under Filkins’s chin to control him while he delivered multiple shots to Filkins’s ribs with his knees.

Filkins reversed the tables and pinned Billstein against the cage momentarily. The two then exchanged blows before Billstein attempted to rush in. Filkins stayed on top of Billstein and the two ended clenched up against the cage with Filkins achieving a takedown before the round ended.

During round 2 both fighters managed to accidentally poke one another in the eye. Billstein turned up the aggression once the match restarted, after he had poked Filkins’s eye, and the two contenders seemed content to trade blows once again. Filkins attempted a takedown but Billstein defended and eventually took Filkins to the mat before the second round came to a finish.

A great exchange of punches between the two fighters launched the fans into the final round. Billstein attempted to take Filkins to the mat and continued to once again use his forehead to control the clench. Filkins attempted to knee Billstein in the ribs but landed a low blow instead. Time was called to check on Billstein, who affirmed he was fine after taking a brief moment to breathe, and the match resumed.

Billstein threw a snap kick, catching Filkins square on the chin. Filkins visibly became more aggressive and the opponents once again squared off to exchange blows. Billstein opted to go for a takedown but drove in too hard.

Filkins bounced off the fence and land on top as the pair crumbled to the mat. Both fighters jumped to their feet where Billstein attempted and failed another takedown. Filkins ended the round in a full mount and with a wild flurry of blows with his right hand and elbow.

The winner of the match was Perry Filkins by unanimous decision.

Andrew Callendrelli (6-3) squared off against Eric Brown (5-8). Very little action took place in the first minute as the opponents felt each other out. Callendrelli took Brown to the mat where Brown defended for half guard. Callendrelli broke free and achieved full mount for a moment before Brown was able to regain half guard. Callendrelli then attempted to get an arm-triangle choke while in half guard.

In an extremely rare moment for MMA fans, Callendrelli got out of full mount to try and pull off a north-to-south choke. However, Brown broke free and got to his feet just as the first round was winding down.

In round 2 Brown tried to tie up with Callendrelli, throwing a variety of blows, but Brown was taken to the mat once again with an outside trip. Callendrelli drilled Brown’s head as Brown worked his ribs in the half-guard. Brown tried to maintain the half guard and prevent Callendrelli from freeing his leg from being entangled in his, it proved to be a hard task.

Callendrelli broke free and gained full mount. He delivered jackhammers to Brown’s head and face. Callendrelli then tried to work on an arm-triangle but just could not get his arm through. He opted instead to go for an armbar and successfully submitted Brown at 3:10 in the 2nd round.

Mike Mucitelli (4-0) won against Matt Uhde (3-1) with a tapout by armbar in first 26 seconds of the first round.

Brennan Ward (5-0) won a first round KO against Sam McCoy (4-1). McCoy was desperate for the ground game and could not hide his attempted takedowns. Brennan took advantage of McCoys telegraphing and delivered a short right and a few more as McCoy lay on the mat before the match was called.

Matt Bessette (10-4) faced Paul Barrow (5-3) for a full three round fight. Bessette won by unanimous decision

Murad Machaev (10-1) went toe-to-toe against Lorawn-T Nelson (6-2). The two went the distance with Machaev winning by unanimous decision

Dan Cramer (9-3) won against Joe Lamoreux (3-2) via a first round TKO with three huge right hands to the temple.

Bellator 81 Full Results

Main Card:

• Marcin Held def. Rich Clementi by Submission (Toe Hold) at 3:04, R2
• Dave Jansen def. Ricardo Tirloni by Split Decision, R3
• Marlon Sandro def. Dustin Neace by Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:05, R1
• Perry Filkins def. Jonas Billstein by Unanimous Decision, R3

Preliminary Card:

• Ruben Rey def. Robbie LeRoux by Unanimous Decision, R3
• Andrew Calandrelli def. Eric Brown by Submission (Armbar) at 3:10, R2
• Dan Cramer def. Joe Lamoureux by KO (Punches) at 3:26, R1
• Murad Machaev def. Lorawnt-T Nelson by Unanimous Decision, R3
• Mike Mucitelli def. Matt Uhde by Submission (Armbar) at 0:26, R1
• Brennan Ward def. Sam McCoy by KO (Punches) at 2:49, R1
• Matt Bessette def. Paul Barrow by Unanimous Decision, R3