Monster Energy Prelims | Bellator Euro Series 8: Edwards vs. Van Steenis

[Music] milan italy a capital of fashion and football tonight becomes the fight capital of europe bellator mma is in town for three back-to-back events and the long-awaited return of the european series covert restrictions mean there's no crowd allowed inside the allianz cloud arena but those fighters are straining at the leash after seven months away time to let them loose in our main event two men with world title ambitions in an enthralling main event birmingham's famous edwards is still unbeaten but faces his toughest test to date in costello vance dealers who will make a big step forward andy shepard here with you in milan and i can tell you the atmosphere here this week has been incredible all these fighters are quite literally chomping at the bit to get back to action tonight our main card is all about the middleweights as england's ken kalpen faces off against ireland's will fleury kaplan has fond memories of italy his first big bellator win was here also london's mike sebas shipman looks to rebound and show the middleweight division he can be a top flight contender but will have to go through italy's pietro panini to do so those fights coming up later tonight but we've got a stacked preliminary card for you here in milan tonight all these fighters step back into the ring after a long time off how will they cope with these situations we're about to find out here's dave farah and chris hoekstra thanks very much indeed andy yeah what a night danny nealon and claire lopez the much talked about danny neil and lopez is a late developer at the age of 31. they share the same height lopez with that big reach advantage but can she use it against dynamic danny let's get to craig stephen winner savanta good evening and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us on the bellator youtube channel bellator mma is very pleased to return with the euro series we are live from the allianz cloud here in milan italy and this is our opening contest this is three five minute runs in the strawweight division introducing first in the blue corner at five foot four and weighing in at 115.8 pounds her professional record four wins two defeats fighting out of london england claire the honey badger lopez and across the cage in the red corner also standing five foot four she weighed in 115.4 pounds so far perfect undefeated two-and-oh from mullingar fighting out of dublin ireland danny neylon and a referee for this one mr todd anderson so danny kneeland in those red gloves against claire lopez the honey badger in her bellator debut and we get what should be an enthralling evening underway i'm delighted to say that joining us here will be chris herchstra and already action here from lopez good right hand there chris excellent boxing so far i think danny neeland wanted a quick start in this fight she talked about having great cardio and being ready for three hard rounds clara lopez though looking for some punches there danny kneeland is tough but she is being tested by that lopez right hand early on she just can't miss what a journey claire lopez has been on to get this chance she's given up what she described as two comfortable lives to take up this sport and she has kneeling down early but neela did really well to bounce back to her feet this is proper raw stand up in the opening minute of the night and that was a good right hook from kneeling been off balance on a couple of other occasions here lopez certainly having the better of the opening 90 seconds but then a slip from her this time it's her turn to get back to her feet quickly [Music] excellent work there good solid left so far danny nealum is coming back into this fight and i think so far i'm sorry dave i think we had a little bit of a technical issue there with the sound but i'm back she was eating the right hand claire lopez just was doing a great job of getting that outside foot position that southpaw matchup was critical for her success and danny was able to get her up to the fence there a moment ago and claire circled off they're very very well prepared for this scenario i'm sure they would have known from danny's career thus far that's where she's often at her best and she talked about being ready for three hard rounds she said the cardio the energy management's gonna be a big difference in this fight [Music] danny is really strong at the weight as well there are a lot of people who feel this 115 division is one of bellator's best kept secrets and danny kneeland might just end up on top of it he's on top of lopez now in a good position here that was a critical takedown she got that with just about two minutes to go and more importantly even if claire lopez is able to get back to her feet because clara lopez is a really good wrestler danny can control her here she can wear her out she can start to sap the energy and already claire you know she had to work to get back to her feet and you can already see the guard is starting to drop a little bit more here this is where danny typically starts to take over in fights [Music] after that first round moving into the second she's landing her punches a little bit more cleanly compared to the first because i'm telling you in the first opening few minutes that was tricky business approaching the final minute of this first round neil and certainly looking the stronger [Music] they could go interesting to see claire actually hold her entire up in this position she found so much success with that right cross in the beginning of this round i would have thought she'd want to be back in space which is what we saw earlier in the round i would have thought the strategy was to kind of keep her back off the fence and stay away from the clinch because she clearly was finding some ascendancy but then again danny made some good adjustments too so already we knew this was gonna be a good matchup and we're getting some action so far in round one just a weariness about lopez she came out so strong how much has she got left needs the end of the opening round there's blood from the nose and the mouth as well and those legs are feeling heavy as we head for the final 10 seconds of round one interesting round to score as well because lopez started it so well but kneeling has come on strong towards the end yeah it was a great round i'm actually going to give that one probably just marginally to neil who came back at about three minutes but those first two minutes were very very very much claire lopez's she landed a couple of big strikes and clearly those were probably the most impactful and meaningful strikes but i think maybe nylon did just enough work to make that 10-9 but it was a close round and for sure it was a round where danny neeland had to make some adjustments because i'm telling you right now she got dropped a couple of times here we see some of the action there in the middle of the ring and a stumble from claire lopez and then neelan took opportunity and just worked her up to the fence there a great take down there for danny just running her straight through forced her into the turtle position and claire was holding on to that headlock but that's not going to do her much here and here we see another angle on that as danny was able to complete great round danny niela making some phenomenal adjustments after some turbulence there in the first yeah you learn and you learn so far it's been a great step along the road for danny kneeland lopez has had that time to regroup here it sounds crazy to say after a round but how much has claire lopez got left here so much went into those opening two minutes i think the first minute of this second round will tell us a lot that was one of the things that danny was very vocal about she didn't think that claire was gonna have anything beyond that first five minutes and the plan was always to drag her into deep water was always to test the cardio was always to deplete the gas tank and neyland's just got a busy style she can do this all day there's the southpaw rumbles forward again connected with that straight left hand i'm really impressed that danny just has not accepted what claire was trying to do in the beginning of the round in a sense that she wasn't afraid to get into there and take one to give one obviously lining up that left straight a few times and clara lopez goes for the shot she's a great wrestler she took her down in the middle of the cage as well i think danny was slightly surprised she maybe wasn't expecting that and therefore a good decision from claire yeah lopez promised us surprises and there's one straight away good elbow though from kneeling lopez in a vulnerable position despite the fact he's on top here it's the strength and the power of kneeling absolutely she's doing a good job here of mirroring the movements neelan's got both of those posts in play open guard now spinning for the arm lock lopez follows her and just mirrors the hips she's in nice and deep trying to shut her down i'd like to see lopez work a pass here it's not gonna be enough to sit in the guard and right now actually neelan's the busier more effective grappler at this point those elbows those punches those hammer fists lopez is suffering here chris she really is she's got into that position and she almost doesn't know what to do from there so impressive this from kneeling yeah for sure and she got cracked i mean to come back and to turn this fight and to make these adjustments it's just very impressive yeah here goes claire lopez that was a good elbow she landed nealon works away around actually had some opportunities there to maybe go for like a normal plot or something but she used it to stand up very smart it's great to see fighters stand up in the middle of the ring it's not an easy thing a lot of times we see people use the cage on the fence to get up but danny nealum looks exceptional here the one thing she'd like to add is a finish a couple of really impressive unanimous decision wins so far and she's sort of heading for another but with lopez tiring she knows she needs to add a bit of sparkle to all the grit and determination and can she start bringing that as well to make herself really saleable and right on cue right at two minutes they go for that takedown again very smart you can hear her corner giving very clear instructions that's one of the best things about these closed door no audience shows we can always hear the corners and danny is just listening to her coaching staff beautifully you can hear john cavanaugh this is just an exhausting pace to keep up i mean the amount of work that danny did from her back to get back up than to go on the offense here and the grappling lopez working now towards what looks to be maybe a turtle position to try to get back up but she almost gave her neck up there i think you saw a moment ago it looked like neil was going to sneak her left arm in she's going to go for the choke again here dave yeah lopez is fading and tiring and in trouble and gone and it is the win for danny neil in the tap from lopez she does get the stoppage and given the way that lopez started that storm of pressure what a response what a performance from danny neal and she is a star in the making danny neyland just looked outstanding here tonight and you know what so much credit to her for going in there listening to her corner turning all the little nooks and crannies of her ground game to not only work some defense but turn that defense into offense she is so well-rounded and you know what coming from that imap background you gotta look back at where she's also traveled to come into bellator she had the base she's had the training she's overcome adversity and you know what now i'm continuing that undefeated run against a tricky opponent a more experienced opponent as well yeah you feel for claire lopez her story is so extraordinary but this was kneeling at her best she ground lopez down just look at that ground and pound those short punches but not just that it's all about her weight it's about her float here in this position it was about her forearm framing her down to the mat to get those punches in even more and once claire lopez started to turn and try to work an escape neelan stayed with the position didn't even need to get the hooks in here you can see her get that full figure for stretching her out a little bit and flattened out there's only one way to go and that is tap with the feet see what it meant to danny kneeling it's just adding that the finish it's not highlight real stuff but you just feel it takes us somewhere else and as i already mentioned this 115 division one of bellator's best kept secrets and she right now is a major player in it even more so after that well let's get the fighters go to the middle of the cage nice moment between them with todd anderson and we can get now to craig [Music] referee todd anderson cause a halt to the contest to three minutes 45 seconds into round number two the winner by rear naked joke shireen's undefeated from malingar danny kneeland great performance from danny kneeland she is a fighter who is going places [Music] back to you andy well what a way to kick off the night here in milan look now there are no fans here in the alliance cloud arena but that doesn't mean i'm here by myself no no no i'm very pleased to be joined by someone who knows exactly what it's like to step into that cage indeed she headlined our last card in dublin it's the curse liam mccourt leah thank you for joining us here tonight and look you've been here all week you've been amongst the fighters what's the atmosphere been like the atmosphere is tense in the hotel the fighters are so excited to be here they've been waiting to fight for a long time now there's been some awkward exchanges we've been locked in the hotel together so it's gonna be exciting tonight and we're gonna talk about those awkward exchanges a little bit later on but look we're moving towards our main car tonight headlined by fabian edwards against costello van steenis what we expecting from that match-up such a high level fight bus guys are so skilled in both areas on the fate on the ground they're both very violent and they both want to come out and hurt each other tonight and look fabulous is coming in undefeated nine and oh can banstenus be the one to figure out the puzzle that is fabian edwards yeah if van stadius comes out he throws everything with intent i believe this is the first time fabian isn't in his opponent's head i feel like costello is confident he loses confidence and you'll see that's the knight in his performance and you can see here at the weigh-ins fabian edwards trying to get into the head of van steenis did he get there is he in his head we're going to find out later tonight favorite edwards looks to go 10 and 0 here in milan what a night we've got ahead of us but we've got more matches coming up here tonight the atmosphere here is a unique one there's no fans how will the fighters deal with that yeah it's strange some of the undercard i know have been in the big imaf tournaments they fought in empty arenas before all over the world the me and card guys i know they like attention that they like the hype so be interesting to see how they deal with it how they deal with just themselves in their own heads walking out and so many of them have had long layoffs um so much uncertainty during this time about when fights are going to happen how will that affect them yeah you know it is tough when you're trying to cut weight when you're trying to die you're trying to train and you don't know if the date's going to come up you don't know if an opportunity is going to come up so they they should have stayed focused throughout this time they should have kept training kept their weight down and waited for a big opportunity like this tonight let's talk about yourself for a minute of course last time we saw you was in dublin headlining a a spectacular card what's the situation with you right now um i just had shoulder surgery nine weeks ago so i had years of damage and the surgeon was like your shoulder is of that of somebody twice your age you know it was time to get it repaired i've got three screws in this shoulder during my rehab now and i'm aiming to be back in for december well we've got plenty more fights here tonight so let's hand back to our commentators chris hoekstra and dave farah yeah thanks very much indeed and ladies and gentlemen making her way to the cage from bulgaria alexandra tonjeva laminova so a bellator debut for the talented bulgarian alexandra tonkshiva who is a strong grappler and says that she's improving and wants to be a force in this sport she was a world and european champion in the same year as tonight's guest liam mccourt and so the skills are clearly there and she's gradually working out a way to translate those to the pro mma cage at some point she might just explode onto the scene yeah she's looked outstanding so far you mentioned amateur background i think again like some of the other athletes on the car tonight that is vital she's got a lot of ring time she also i think does a really good job with some technical kickboxing on the outside which is going to have the grappling chops to make this a competitive fight i think the wrestling is going to be vital look for her to use that [Music] [Music] and now from italy here comes kiara binko [Music] well she has one of the great nicknames in this sport there is no question about that but when she fought danny neal and kiara penco was a little more barbie than beasty and that needs to change here for the woman from livorno to remain relevant at this high level she was disappointing against neyland and she can't afford too many more performances like that one i think she needs to stay on the outside tonight she needs to dominate the ring she makes a lot of fighters look really poor when you see her training she's got so much technique but i want to see her get that kickboxing into play here tonight against tonshiva that's gonna be the question could she defend the wrestling so time to take a look at the tale of the tape kiara penco with that four and two record todd shiver four years her senior there is a slight reach advantage for kiara penko but can she use it well who knows [Music] so penko against ton shiva let's get to our cage and answer craig stephen ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the bellator cage here in milan italy this is our second contest this is three five minute rounds in the strawweight division introducing first in the blue corner at five foot four weighing in at 114.6 pounds her professional record two wins two defeats one draw as an amateur two times european and imaf world champion fighting out of varna bulgaria alessandra ton cheva plemenova [Music] and across the cage in the red corner at five foot five and 115.8 pounds her professional record four wins two defeats fighting out of levorno italia chiara beasty barbie binko a referee once again mr todd anderson we've already had some drama at one one five now we potentially have some more ready ready kiara penco in those red gloves needing a big performance here against alexandre toncheva good outside leg kick to start from the italian a bit of purpose and snap and sharpness is what's required from her i completely agree she's got to control the ring ring craft 100 now on the flip side you can see from tonshiva that she knows on the outside she's gotta put some threats out there whether it's the overhand right set up to take down whether it's even off some kicks there we go you can see the overhand that's gonna be to work into the clinch and usually she's good at taking fighters down off the fence and panko knows this which is why she's going to kind of control that outer third of the ring so the out fighting i think right now for panko you can see the leg kicks but that's what she didn't want to was just waiting for a chance tanko trying to do some damage from the bottom here yeah she's doing a good job working that rubber guard what she wants to do is go wrist to ankle here she wants to get that left arm behind the right ankle it's a good guard especially for mma because it breaks the posture now it's worth saying that panko and tonshiva actually were recently awarded their brazilian jiu jitsu purple bouts so they both know what's going on here they both certainly have some really good setups and i've been impressed with some of panko's grappling the problem is in some of the mma fights she's been matched up in it hasn't worked out but let's see what she's got here this is good she's gone high guard the posture is broken but tonsilva knew what was up and she stayed nice and deep nice and tight did not allow an arm to be isolated ooh that's good though goes into the crooked guard in the halfway position had a triangle she's still got a triangle here that's a wrap that's locked on that looks really tight she could finish this here excellent from tenko isn't it she's come out so strong she's going to go to the armbar she's done this before she's hit this submission before this will be a repeat she had a triangle on an armbar earlier in her career she's got time it's early in the fight the figure four is locked this is danger zone [Music] fight her way out of it tenko still locked in though panko needs to pull down on the head i would look to finish the triangle here it's very clear that tonsilla is going to try to work with her and move and try to hide her arm [Music] i would go for the triangle finish you can finish it the arm doesn't need to be underneath the neck now you see how she's trying to actually pull the arm usually you work from the elbow there we go she stuffed the elbow that's a lot tighter now she should be able to finish this if she hits into it poncho is tough she really is isn't she back to her feet he's still fighting almost brushing it off here actually looking at it she may not be as deep as what i thought she was see the triangle relies on the not only the uh the pressure of your legs against one side of the neck but the shoulder as well which is obviously constricted as you pull the arm across and then lock that choke in but submissions like these especially at a slightly higher level they take time sometimes to go on it looks to me like tons of has some breathing space here yep there you go you can see her actually pulling out it's not the neatest of escapes or the most technical and that's to me why panko has gone back to the armbar here she is unbelievably tough to get out of there i mean she clearly found some breathing room and found those little inches it's that invisible jiu jitsu sometimes in these transitions it's not exactly evident when it's on or when it's off i'm blown away though at the resilience so far of tonsilva yeah that was tremendous should remember it's still a good round for kiara penko so far skill and calmness under severe pressure we saw it from liam mccourt tonight's guest against judith ruiz in dublin what feels like another world saw her escape early on different position but same idea mentally and what will that do to the psychology of this fight i wonder the fact that ton shiva managed to get out of that world of trouble she was in panko's still working the guard tonship are trying to find a way out here but she needs to open up this guard to pass she needs to go for something here it's not enough to hang out in the guard nice and deep and just shut down the offensive movements in my opinion the majority of this round has been on the ground therefore that we'll be looking at which fighter was more effective in their grappling because that's where the majority of this round is taking place and for sure at this point that's panko it doesn't matter who's on top it's in this scoring system about who is looking for those margins to win the fight the moves that have the potential to end the fight and in this case for sure it was panko great round it's taken a lot out of both of them conscious will be proud and relieved to still be in it after the trouble early on here are some of the highlights chris outstanding work from tantra to get that takedown going but she fell into this position the overhook for control you can see already panko sitting not reaching for her leg she knew exactly what to do here [Music] and let's see if we get that triangle set up yup it's the exact same one she used earlier in her career very basic stuff stops the wrist sneaks the leg through and it wasn't the first attempt it was the second and third try that is submission fighting for you it's all about chaining those things together panko able to get that high guard we didn't see her go for the triangle maneuvers but we certainly saw the entries and man salivating round two right absolutely here we go as someone once said round two alexandra tonship in those blue gloves against kiara penko surely took that opening round if anything is short and who came so close to the win now they start all over again how much has it taken out of them now panko's got some data here she knows for sure that ton shiva was happy to take her down off some of those overhand punches and she was backing off a little bit resetting you could see her a moment ago then a nice right cross because she knows that tantra wants to come in and get her hands on him so penko already executing the game plan on the feet and for sure the plan b as we saw in the last round on the mat wheelhouse right hand there just milling it in with no real guile yeah it's a good entry i mean that's all to set up her takedown game but what she wants to do is get her up to the fence i would say that's where she's going to find some success but penco commanding the reach advantage i think wants to get behind a nice crisp jab standing there and being a stationary target only or opens her up for this good work of pivoting off the fence but tons of is finding a mark a few times here nice kick as well why not throw the kicks it doesn't seem that panko is keen to take her down so if i'm ton shiva i'm throwing those kicks all day here she needs more movement here penco she's a real static target straight lines from her almost looked a little bit frozen there for a while penko she used some energy for sure in that last round i mean that's not an easy thing to do to work like that for several minutes straight she caught you know she clearly tried several different ways to finish that triangle and the different chains of attack i mean it's not that she's not trained for that but it's not exactly the most efficient way to spend three or four minutes of a fight especially when you don't finish somebody with it right if you throw all your cards on the table and all of a sudden you're tired in the second round because of that this can be the a terrific penalty that from uh tonshiva to get herself this position a nice pass attempt here from tonshiva up with the legs and she was ready for it [Music] she's shrugging the legs to the side getting some good leverage in as well as some punches she needs to be careful though stepping over the leg can she work to half guard here oh she's trying to tenko's good off her back she showed in that first round and we're right back to where we were in that crooked guard that one arm in situation when one arm is in things can become a little bit precarious here we go right back to it triangles locked up but there's some physiological differences right penco is a little bit longer tonship is a little stockier so sometimes you as a fighter might have a good triangle but you can face an opponent that might be a little bit less susceptible to it and so that's where township has been able to find some breathing room as we saw in the last round similar situation the triangle's on but she's clearly not as flustered i panko doing a good job of turning the corner and trying to get some angle on that and punching to stay busy but again if i were her i would really just try to pull her in a little bit deeper in that choke because it's on just looking up at the referee yeah start to protect yourself you can hear the message there anderson protect yourself tenko's almost trying to convince him here to stop it in my opinion is trying to find a way out here it's not the most educated defense there's a number of other ways to get out of this gotta get out of there start protecting yourself we can hear the message he's doing the commentary for us the thing is though if i'm the ref i've looked at that last round and i know that this is exactly what tancheva did to try to find her way out of there so but then again it's not quite as much effort oh no that's it there is the win he could only let her take so much and i said right at the start that kiara pinko needed a win desperately and look at the emotion now she gets the win unbelievable panko just enough work and you know what for sure tonship was trying but i totally understand that stoppage because panko it was one-way traffic the triangle was on the hammer fists were coming in and tonship was unable to find a way out or moreover and improve her position so i can understand that stoppage what a fight what a performance from panko and what an ability to be thrown into adversity and come out on top magnificent yeah here are the highlights wasn't it great as well to after such a hard time to see the emotion that what went into this performance for both of these women but for tenko in particular who was criticized so much after the defeat by danny nealon for her to get this meant the world to her absolutely and you know what she got her submission game going in the kneeling fight she wasn't able to do it she jumped guard she tried some stuff i figured she was gonna have to get up on her feet and strike but hey in the end off her back stand busy persistence patience listening to her corner it was all there great work from her this 115 division is alive i tell you because you'd watch the rematch of neelan and penco maybe after that winner fights win up we see that again tenko better this time anyway that's all for the future that's all for the matchmakers but big smile on the face of the woman from livorno the italian capital of anarchy livorno the clench fist salute and all that and she threw some anarchy in that cage tonight they'll be proud of her in her hometown well we're going to make it official in just a moment time for everyone to take a breath two sides to the story let's get now to our cage and answer craig's team ladies and gentlemen the official time is four minutes 27 seconds of round number two referee todd anderson stops the contest the winner by tko unanswered strikes from lavorno italia chiara beasty barbie binko but quite simply beasty barbie's back kiara pinko with a massive win and back to you andy two fantastic contests to kick off the preliminary matches here in milan but we are moving towards our main kite lots of anticipation around three fantastic middleweight clashes of course top of the card fabian edwards will face off against costello van steenis also will fury will go up against kent california but a match that many people are intrigued by is mike shipman and pietro panini uh leah that's a that's a really intriguing contest two fighters coming in at very different points of their career both physically and mentally what we gonna expect from shipment versus panini yeah panini's coming off a massive win over charlie ward he got so much confidence from that he said the longer the rounds went on the more punches he took he gained confidence he's like i belong here this is where i should be you know mike's coming off two losses but look he's lost he's lost to the two guys that are headlining tonight and i always say to be you have to be a champion to be a world champion at mma you have to know how to lose and come back and reflect on your performances yeah mike's sebas shipman is it's gonna knocked his confidence he only lost one contest before those last two fights now on a two fight slide how much is confidence key when you're a fighter yeah you have to believe in yourself and believe in your skills you know he is coming off two losses but he believes he's went away and went back to the drawing board and found where he's made his mistakes he's took more time for recovery more time to even implement his own thoughts and ideas in his training camp and his is fighting you know so i think he will be confident but he will have a point to prove tonight well that match coming up later tonight but coming up next is an intriguing affair many people are saying this could be one of the sleeper contests on this matchup it's a featherweight matchup with richie smolin versus harry hardwick oh my to the cage from middlesbrough harry hardwick well we're going to see cal elena in action against james gallagher next saturday night and this man harry hardwick knows all about cal pacino he spars and trains with him and comes here off the back of a win against nathan rose on his bellator debut a fearsome grappler who sets a relentless face he's going to be a big challenge love this guy great kicks great punches always comes forward always in shape and you got to watch out for that ground game [Music] and now from ireland here comes richie smullen [Music] defeat last time against albert diaz he felt he won that bike the determination here then is to make sure that he leaves nothing to chance he wants a bit more variety and dynamism in his work even a thought in some quarters he's never been the same since an epic fight with reece mckee but lockdown has given him rest and he hopes rejuvenation gotta love richie smalling always in entertaining fights excellent jiu jitsu maybe the better pure jiu jitsu for sure in this fight however against harry hardwick he's got another guy who's in really really really good shape so i'm excited to see richie small and push the pace because he's got a guy who's going to be all too happy to get into a big fight tale of the take then richie smalling and harry hardwick smiling four years old the hardwick is certainly fresh there's barely any difference in weight and reach and height they are very very well matched these two there is no question about that let's get now to our cage and answer to craig stephen ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the bellator cage here in milan italy the allianz cloud bellator mma is very proud to bring you three five minute runs in the featherweight division introducing in the blue corner at five foot ten weighing in at 145 pounds even his professional record five wins two defeats fighting out of middlesbrough england harry houdini hardwick and across the cage in the red corner at five foot nine weighing in at 145.2 pounds his professional record five wins two defeats one draw from arklow town fighting out of dublin ireland richie smallin and a referee for this one mr dan mergliatta that's a big fight for these two this where might it lead smelling raring to go here real quality on the ground from both of these men hardwick's brother features later on the card but now it's harry's turn and it's smelling with the early pressure here excellent from small and this is exactly where we wanted to get the fight early for me i was curious to see how the boxing was going to play out because i know smalling had worked an awful lot on it but this is his ace hardwick loves the ground fight and he's really game everywhere but i would have guessed he would want to stay behind a long jab stick and move maybe point fight for the first five minutes not going to do a dry grappling exchange because smullin is so dangerous particularly with the leglocks let's see what he can do here hard work holding on to a guillotine but i would say that's going to be futile as small and is able to clear the legs hardwood could have used that to get back up but smelling quite correctly has turned him away from the fence i think we always knew how this would play out in terms of geography and straight away that's where we are yeah 100 look at this though hard work trying to regard it looks to me like he did have his hands clasped but he's released it and re-gripped a couple of times i mean you can finish these submissions for sure but it can be a fool's errand unless you're really committed and able to get the bite that you need on the neck and i have a feeling that smolin's going to be able to fight this prior to that nathan rosewin he beat cameron hardy with it a guillotine tough man harry hardwick a little bit critical of smelling in the build up in a polite way in a classy way but he said there are mistakes there he does strange things in the cage and i'm ready to take advantage yeah the hardwick brothers are so much fun they're two of the guys from the uk scene i've just really fallen in love with but smalling did a great job there you can see he was working his neck quite straight to relieve the pressure eventually hardwick in between his regrips had to let go and that's allowed smullin to get a better position now we stand back up it's funny you know you talk about the hardwick brothers a lot of the fans have started calling them the thinking man's diaz brothers that is to say they're really aggressive they always come forward great cardio good boxing good jiu jitsu but a little bit more intelligent in their approach so a bit of fun there probably needs a bit of work as a nickname but i can see where it's going yeah yeah the thinking man's diaz brothers but smalling right now again you know in the clinch i think wants to get the grappling going again but probably not locked up like he was earlier maybe working the pass off the takedown he's got double unders hard work doing a good job of trying to frame and push away maybe open up an elbow or something but what smalling's done good is he's not just working with the upper body control you can see him walking around the back of the legs trying to destabilize hardwick and then we'll probably take him away off the fence i don't think he wants to take him into the fence because that will allow hardwick a better takedown defense if you will thing i loved about the build up to this is they both talked about the relentless pace that they set they try and outwork their opponents to that extent and when two fighters say that when they're meeting each other you know you're in for some fun it's going to be a real cardio test this as well as of course considerable skill [Music] hugely popular character richie smaller they'll be cheering him on an island no question this is better now for small and now he's finally cleared behind the hips he's got a lot of different options for a takedown here he's maintaining position though it looks to me like he wants to try to peel him in towards the middle of the ring by tripping out one of those legs that's what he's been going for a couple of times now hard work has reached in for a figure four counter so holding on to the kimura grip here smalling recognizes that and staying with him here to disallow that smalling's going to swap up now hi crotch beautiful excellent excellent excellent very smart decision making here from richie smallin he didn't stay with the one takedown he went to a different one and it's one i don't think that hardwick felt coming not to say you couldn't see it but you got to feel it in those clinch situations and now here away from the fence mullen can work some magic not much time in which to do it though of course yeah 20 seconds remain and remember you're dealing with a fighter here whose nickname is houdini harry hardwick series of escapes in his second professional fight against robbie fallon earned him that nickname he is very good in these positions but it's a good finish strong this from smelling here's the regard there from hard work and he slaps the triangle on that's what i'm talking about the jiu jitsu pedigree of richie smallin on paper is much better but harry hardwick can hang and that was always going to make this an entertaining fight you're going to be the one scoring this chris it could be one of those so start thinking yeah i'm right there with you buddy for me that was richie smallin's round but it was not around where hardwick was completely out boxed as of yet so interesting really really really interesting and here's some of the action we saw it start on the feet i thought we're gonna see some boxing to begin with but smalling just charged right in and more often than not was able to work from double underhooks that was the position [Music] falling here into guard hard work working really really profusely there on that neck just like a dog on a bone he didn't want to let go but he wasn't able to get anything from at the end smalling clearing that good defense from smallin not able to pass the guard but certainly able to do a couple bits of damage there and this year this was the most significant moment of the round smullin went from those double unders and he picked up the high crotch takedown take it hard work for a ride here we are at the start of round two of course richie smalling one of his main training partners is playing o'driscoll who has inflicted harry hardwick's first defeat so there'll have been a conference about that no question [Music] hard work reaching for the guillotine and smalling passes to the opposite side to relieve the pressure hard work force to let go turtling up here against the fence and smolin should just work him here he should just knee to the legs try to weaken the base i mean hardwick has been training every day since quarantine with his brother so you know what it's like they probably just sit in their bedroom talk about fighting and and train so he's ready for a fight but smalling so far the more methodical grappler and that's been the difference i'm not sure it was quite as nice as sitting in the bedroom and talking they describing each other as a pain in the backside and there was some pretty nasty spas on the patio apparently after a while they're okay for a bit absolutely probably an argument about what to watch on tv that kind of thing but he's having quite the argument here with richie smalling at the moment harry hardwick is there hard work trying to work the butterfly hooks smalling shutting it down though he's just shutting down the the hip movements if you will john kavanagh calling for him to try to step over into half actually it looks to me like they want to do some damage here from this guard position and it's a good position to do it but i feel like hard work having a little bit more reach and maybe a little bit longer of a frame it's not as efficient compared to as if smalling were to pass say and start doing some ground and pound or even work in a half half is a good position to do it but you won't be able to generate the kind of fight ending power but maybe it's just to open up further positions of course hardwick trying to stay cool on his back here chris was saying already it's fascinating to listen to the corners and the instructions i'm sure you can hear it at home nice use of the elevator hook there hard workers using that to try to stifle the pass and stay with this but i feel like holding on to that neck is just a poor use of energy i mean okay smalling is in some jeopardy here he may have what looks to be like a barbell grip but again small is just able to find breathing space and is able to try and work and open up here a pass as he plays his hips here you can hear john kavanagh calling for that yeah it's always that equation in terms of the use of energy what does it take out of them but what does it take out of you as well you have to get that right in these tight fights especially with the pressure passing that smalling is using here and hard work has tried to control the posture and sort of see-saw back and forth [Music] but smalling right now i think is just showing that he's maybe a little bit stronger a little bit more ahead of defending and attacking as far as these absent flows look at that beautiful going for the 100 percenter here smolin's got options excellent he's got a lot of different options here let's see where he goes with it he could slide into mount hardwick knows this and he's defending by trying to hold on to the back of that elbow smalling now cradling him here wow final minute now of this second round work proving it can hang but this is dangerous territory smalling is a wizard he's got a knee bar option potentially oh and hardwick able to twist the leg now smalling will probably drop for a heel hook yep that's the one yeah two wins by he looked for richie smiling he was looking for it he's got good control of the knee line he's reaping the knee here he's in deep enough hard work is in some tricky tricky spaces just 10 seconds though nice backspin here from hard work now we can go inside heel hook but i think the clock is his friend right now and it's smalling's enemy yeah there's the end of round two good stuff this richie smalling and harry hardwick i'm not gonna put any words in your mouth in terms of the scoring i know what i think i know what a lot of people at home will think what do you think i've got smalling ahead i've got them ahead uh it's been a more competitive round i would say this past round but at the end of the day i think small is up 2018 and at the end of the day i think hard work's going to come up with a different strategy here let's take a look at some of smullin's handiwork that was gorgeous just rolling with it staying with it hardwick with some persistence here but smelling was able to capitalize i believe from here eventually ending up in half you can see him there step that right leg through and here here was the leg lock transition there would have been a knee bar but hardwood back spinning and then again turning back the other way to make sure he couldn't get that the key feature was that he was deep in along the knee right he was deep in enough to get that leg reap in that control so it's a good space for small and it's a space he's finished fights in mma many times gets us underway for our third and final round you do feel that hardwick needs to completely change the tide of this fight smiling not definitively two up but surely he is every chance anyway right hand there from hardwick and then switching momentarily trying to make smelling think trying to stay on his feet trying to use those long levers here this is exactly what i would have said that hardwick was going to do from the start straight punches and bunches be elusive on the feet cut the angles but this is what i mean about the diaz thing right it's the third round and he's as fresh as he was in the first and if smalling is tired at all hardwick gets a good round in here those are going to be the steps to success he's got to try to open something up he needs a really big round you know he needs a 10-8 or a 10-7 or a stoppage in my opinion just getting that jab into smalling's face then a left hook and a right hook now that's better from hardwick trying to make a dead tear in richie smelling who swings and misses suddenly hardwick looks like he's where he wants to be here yeah smelling is just getting beat to the punch right now not a ton of head movement the hands are starting to fall a little bit hardwick finding his timing his rhythm and most importantly the extension on his shots [Music] there was a smile from richie when he landed that leg kick but that's not a good smile what hardwick mustn't do here is rush his work too much just a sense that he might have smelling where he wants it needs some quality striking here [Music] another good left hook little uppercut as well there from hardwick excellent from him yeah really tidy boxing from hardwick i love always showing the body shots and then going upstairs with those hooks he's finishing his combinations with those hooks as well as even starting them as you see but that left hook is landing over and over and over cannot miss chris he can't miss with the left hook at the moment but smalling is tough yeah there's no doubt about it smalling's been through a lot of stuff in his career a lot of experience one of the irish boxing coaches richie's smelling trying to work on his boxing he might just need it here although he's trying to close hardwick down i like the fact that he's crowding hard work here nice and tight to disallow any reach advantage or any power in the clinch with those short shots now try to take him down below the waist here you could drop for something he might drop for a single run the pipe away from the fence you can see how he's got those um the knees pinched around the leg a moment ago with the single leg hardwick adjusts and frames it on the leg now pushes away look at that nice work from hardware that's good he got off the fence snapped him down both guys are really feeling the pace here this has been an exhausting fight for sure yeah we knew they would they both promised it smelling looking for a sweep he had a sweep option there he dropped for the leg lock but he couldn't get it so he was looking for a sweep now he may revert to the leg lock country they just shouted last minute richie and i think he was relieved to hear it if nothing else if he can tie hardwick up here that's going to make it i think a 10-9 round for hardwick and 29-28 for smalling you took the words out of my mouth the one thing you needed to avoid was a 10-8 or worse and if it had carried on that way landing that left hook well it could have been a different story but this just ties things up a bit unless hardwick can find something in this last 30 seconds plus and this is a situation where hardwick has to pay attention to every single detail the nuances of the leglock game are a maze for many but it's home turf for richie smalling and this is that that knee line control that was a real problem for hard work in the last round smalling wasn't quite as deep as he'd like to be there so he's aborted now going to the take down the pass hardwick holding onto the figure four but again the clock is going to be the issue so there you go smalling will be nervous whatever he feels he felt he won last time bellator 240 against albert diaz you have smelling 29-28 i have smelling 29-28 for what it's worth i think many of you will but he'll still be nervous richie smalling isn't that great though the spirit between the fighters both honest men they'll both have a feeling of how this went down and hardwood will be honest whether it goes against him as it likely will or goes in his favor yeah they're pleased with richie smalling in that corner john cavanagh there big smile behind the mask i'm sure let's take a look back at some of the action here chris hardwick promised that his striking endurance were going to be a major advantage and you know what it seemed that in the third round that was almost going to be the big difference punches and bunches great combinations finishing not only to the body but upstairs with that left and richie smallin looked out of his comfort zone here as hardwood just poured on the pressure but an outstanding matchup 15 minutes later we're gonna have to go to the judge's scorecards and you know what it was one of those that you'd like to see another round from totally agree with that just doing the calculating i think craig stephen has a score somewhere in his left hand well it's time to find out in which way it has gone let us get to craig stephen ladies and gentlemen we go to our judges score totals judges douglas crosby salvatore d'amato and jaren vale all see the contest 29-28 the winner from our club town richie smallin he gets it this time 29 28 smalling winning the opening two and hardwick too little too late it was every bit as good as we'd hoped and for richie smelling he's back with a [Music] whip [Music] very happy for this victory here tonight hey three fights three crackers so far here in milan but we are building towards our main card later tonight headlined by fabian edwards stepping in against costello van steenis also mike sebas shipman looks to rebound against pietro panini also will fleury takes on kent kaplan and leah that's an intriguing fight kent versus what can we expect from that battle i think you can expect fireworks i don't think that fight's gonna go the distance kent has a heavy heavy hand you know he's went the distance with the legend and his own hero he he said melvin manuel he's knocked out unless he was sakara uh but will's gonna be coming into the prover point and really elevate himself in this middleweight division you see all 12 of ken's wins have come by or submission this is a man who's had 19 professional boxing matches and he told us earlier this week that it was less than a year ago that he started going well full time in mma he kind of split himself a little bit too thin in his mind yeah he said back when he was fighting the likes of fabian he was only training two three times a week he says it's only the last 18 months that he's actually focused only on mma he was spent spending time doing five different sports i think he was a bit didn't know where he wanted his career to lie and it's going to be really interesting to see the developments and that's going to be the real ken tonight he's got a tough challenge against will fury that match coming up later tonight but coming up right now the bellator debut of a man who's had a very unique journey to get here broadcaster and journalist gareth a davies caught up with luke traynor gareth davis here i'm with luke trainor luke it's your bellator debut how does it feel amazing say it again say it again yeah it feels good yeah a pleasure to be here you got here by dint of a one night tournament tell us about it yep i had three fights in one night i fought for the efn tournament and uh yeah i smashed three guys and got a life-changing contract with bellator you say life-changing what does this mean to you to be facing alex o'toole in the first card back since the pandemic lockdown it's everything man it's my debut on the world stage so yeah i'm ready to ready to make a statement ready to earn my salary with bellator and now i can you know provide a better life for me and my family with the with the money i'm gonna get so yeah i'm excited my friend yes well you're a huge guy you're six foot six you're a light heavyweight you're 23 years old but you've got another job outside fighting haven't you yes sir yep i am a fully fledged nanny outside of fighting uh i'm nanny mcphee with a thicker beard but uh but yeah uh so when i'm not in a cage fighting i'd i look after children and i also do some work with children in care so yeah so there's no one being naughty around you no they do they still play about but uh but yeah it's all good man i love it i love it it's a good balance best of luck on your debut thank you sir appreciate that what a story up next is a light heavyweight bout as luke trainor takes on alex o'toole [Music] ladies and gentlemen an all english contest coming to the cage from south end alex all tool [Music] well alex o'toole at the age of 29 may just have earned himself gatekeeper status dance partner for the likes of luke trader but he has that status for a reason he is rock solid has a strong winning record he will test trainer here don't worry about that far more experience and he knows it and he's had time to think in lockdown we may yet see a fighter reborn here tonight he's got a great team he's got some good guys like walter cahadza stav economy a lot of veterans he's been out of the game a little bit more frequently in the past few years but he's got a lot of experience so curious to see what's going to happen here tonight i know from stevenage look trainer well luke traynor has some story a very different kind of mma fighter who wants to be known as the gent and one who came close to losing his mum mandy to kovid19 she is watching him tonight proudly and nervously and we send our very best wishes to you and hope you're doing well he won an eight-man tournament to get this dream bellator chance and isn't it exciting chris for him and emotional that that journey starts here yeah he's a technician he is an uber prospect for sure the one thing that really struck me about trainer is he took training he was an amateur like a pro he's good everywhere on the feet on the ground he's athletic he's got a veteran though in the test tonight and alex o'toole [Music] tail of the tape looks like this look at the advantages here for luke trainer in fact let's focus on one of them the one right in the middle of that list height six foot six luke trainer against five foot eleven alex o'toole and that means a reach advantage of 78.5 against 72 experience for o'toole trainers favorite though let's get to craig stephen ladies and gentlemen we're back in the bellator cage from milan italy and this is three five minute rounds in the light heavyweight division introducing first in the blue corner standing six foot two and weighing what two hundred and four pounds even his professional record four wins three defeats one draw one no contest from south end on c england he is the chi master alex o'toole and across the cage in the red corner standing six foot six and weighing in at 205 pounds even his professional record so far perfect undefeated at three and oh fighting out of stevenage hertfordshire england tonight making his bellator debut luke the gent trainer referee for this one mr todd anderson well every day luke traynor says he's trying to become a well-rounded savage sums up his approach to this sport his approach to life as well as we heard from him before this trainer in the red gloves against o'toole who potentially has his hands full here the man from south end on scene interesting alex o'toole goes straight for the takedown i figured he had to make this a really messy aggressive fight right away because luke trainor's got reach probably speed and certainly athleticism in some positions especially on the outside so good stuff here from alex but he's giving up his back this is bad news luke traynor is so so good in these positions and i think that what he really wants to do here is make sure early in the fight that he establishes control and alex o'toole is going to have a real big struggle here on the cards looks so powerful at the weight doesn't he luke trainer says that o'toole does not belong in there with him it's a sort of refreshing arrogance confidence from trainer and look at this o'toole already under pressure here covering up not anderson wants him to get out of there and trainer is piling it on he needs to protect himself trainer going for the early finish here he is just hanging on o'toole but only just and it's over and trainer makes it 4-0 someone said to me before this guy could be a poster boy for bellator for years to come and that was a star performance luke trainor was able to get that position cinch up the body triangle and alex o'toole was never in this fight for sure o'toole's been in the mma game for a decade but luke trainor the new kid on the block has been super active lately just looked phenomenal tonight that was a perfect fight he got there got the ground and pound going cinched up the position stayed in control let's take a look at it here now o'toole actually initiated the grappling and i think that was probably smart considering the reach advantage that trainer had but trainer took his back like a ninja locked up that body triangle already disrupting the breathing and implementing control with authority here o'toole holding on two on one to disallow the rear naked choke but once oh trainer was able to force him to his chest the ground and pound came in you notice the way that trainer postures there and just punch after punch picking his shots on top of the guard underneath the guard and alex o'toole had nothing left [Music] that was quite something and a nice little bit of class at the end there's a classy guy really fascinating individual luke trainer i look forward to hearing much more about him and following his story it could be quite a journey for the gent for luke trainer but for now he bides his time he moves to 4-0 one thing is for sure you'd watch him again and again won't it be interesting to see what level he gets to we can make it official now it didn't take long let's get to craig stephen ladies and gentlemen the end comes out one minute 22 seconds of round number one when referee todd anderson stops this contest the winner by tko unanswered strikes still undefeated on his bellator debut from stevenage luke the gent trainer watched by his proud mum and watched by a legion of growing fans luke traynor moves to four and up standing here with the winner luke cage look congratulations congratulations yeah we will get you some water you're still undefeated congratulations how do you feel about it oh listen this life is so beautiful i am so blessed 4-0 bellator the world state i'm standing on a monster energy sign right now this is incredible i'm trying to shout out to my mom and my sister whatever camera you're on i love you both i know you can be here tonight but you were here thank you guys i love you both very much ma mom lj mwah sorry no it was good it feels great yeah it was really good it was an amazing performance uh you were starting to end up with the jabs can you please elaborate on on that for sure the plan was to keep it long the plan was to to work the job and to work more tools in my striking since my last fight i worked so hard to improve that skill set i didn't get it off but if i'm honest i didn't think i'd be able to just because i knew he was going to panic shoot as soon as i land a couple my coach mickey pappas to be game plan perfectly um and then he took a shot and titan wrestling i know stuff that heads up on my hips and just get some ground and pound and it was over so game plan to the t i just wish i had a little more striking but hopefully in my next fight i'm gonna be able to showcase that a little bit more but listen i don't know the time but that went perfect quick night and go out with my team now and go get some food and enjoy and get back to celebrate my family and my loved ones but yeah enjoy the food and hope to see you back thank you very much thank you everyone watching at home my loved ones i love you all so much life is so good it's a blessing let's spread that love guys oh son to the next jeez let's get it yeah he's quite a character loving every single moment luke traynor watch out for him let's get back to andy does anyone else want luke trainer to be their new best friend what a performance there but of course we are pushing towards our main car tonight baby edward's top of the bullet put his undefeated streak on the line against costello van steenis but plenty more action come up here on the prelims but before we get to that i want to hand back to gareth a davis who yesterday caught up with edwards to get his thoughts ahead of this big clash with headliner fabian edwards fabian what kicked off at the weigh-in with you and vance dennis nothing kicked off nothing kicked off i was just telling him what i thought of him you know um he's very stiff when i see him he don't say nothing i mean i walked past him in the restaurant looking up all scared you know i mean and then he's trying to talk that talk that when i see him i don't say nothing i don't i want to see him in a restaurant and he looks scared then so let's see on saturday when i go forward let's see what he says then did you take something from that face-off i think he's nervous i think he's nervous he's going to come out explosive and gass himself out i've said it it's a separate stoppage on my part he said that he's going to shut you up for the rest of the division because all the middleweights don't like you that's all right that's cool i don't like none of them either you know i mean um i found the main card it's all middleweights and i fought a few of them i'd be a be i beat all of them and um and there's one that want to fight me so i don't like any of them anyway so you ain't going to do that and how important is victory for you for your march towards the title fight it's very important but each fight is important you know um my first fight my amateur debut was important just as much as this is for me personally you know i mean i don't treat any fight different and that's all that's how i've always kept it and are you already ready for the likes of douglas lemur and gegar musasi yeah they're similar styles if you if you watch their style compared to his if they're very stimula dodge slow on the legs so that's why i started perfect for me baby edward's not looking to make any friends in the middleweight division that's our main event tonight but right now bantamweight action as franz malambo takes on corey tate [Music] ladies and gentlemen making his way to the cage from england corey tates well corey tate makes his bellator debut and faces a test of level potential big fights down the road if he impresses a long road back if he fails he feels he's been overlooked a lot he wants to entertain and prove he can finish he is a singular man who trades himself only he knows deep down whether he truly belongs here with franz for lambo he's got slick kickboxing super scrappy always looking to sneak something in really strong work rate i think this fight is going to be a barn burner this is one of the best ones on the undercard for me [Music] i know from south africa here comes franz malumbo [Music] so right now we believe that franz velambo's level must be somewhere between that of dominique wooding and ricky bandejas but he feels that even in defeat against bandai has he showed that he belonged and feels he's still the fighter to watch out for in this division born in joburg dublin based i wonder where the smiling friends of alambo will go next you know i remember when he blew onto the scene in the 2015 amateur world championships and he got a gold medal at 145 now he's at 135 how he makes 135 i'll never know but much like his opponent he's really smooth on the feet kind of different i think the way he's gonna approach the stand up in this fight i expect him to try to get a counter or maybe be a little bit more laid back at the start but you know what between these guys there's only one decision when and that's from france so i think this is going to be a really really crazy fight will it last and franz looking happy to be here tonight tail of the tape looks like this then malambo is eight and five corey take ten and five three years the age advantage height advantage for malambo that translates into reach advantage as well they look really well matched it could be one of the fights of the night let's get to our cage and answer craig stephen ladies and gentlemen from the allianz cloud here in milan italy bellator mma is very proud to bring you three five minute runs in the bantamweight division introducing in the blue corner at five foot seven inches tall weighing in at 135.2 pounds his professional record ten wins five defeats fighting out over london england he is capcom corey tate and across the cage in the red corner at 5 foot 10 and 134 pounds even his professional record eight wins five defeats from johannesburg south africa fighting out of dublin ireland he is the zulu irishman franz the black mamba malambo and a referee for this one once again mr dan bergliotta yeah this could be good really see how it won't be corey tate had a nice line smile on his face he said he comes to entertain and to finish fights and the only judge that he wants to hear decisions from his judge judy you're gonna like his style it could be that kind of fight southpaw orthodox but both guys are self-described switch hitters so they're going to be competent in both positions i feel like malamba is going to look to counter more i mentioned it during the walkout for me tate preempting already here on these exchanges and uh and landing nice lead left hook there from tate yeah ruthless response he saw that tate was a little bit heavy on that lead leg and he booted him look at that malambo spinning realized he was kind of out of space and actually dipped down to pick up the takedown if it was there he's got really good wrestling we don't see it very often but when it's there they can get it out but look at tate man tate can bang tate can really throw a lot i mean at this weight class he's got power and there is such a thrill when you get two come forward fighters who fight at such speed as well malambo caught by bandejas in round two last time he'll be a little bit more wary here said he's learnt from that mistake very bread and butter combination so far from tate nothing too flashy they call him capcom because he throws a lot of things out of a video game and he's got a front kick to the face knockout before it was fashionable before anderson silva made it fashionable so he's got the moves but right now it's just very basic stuff and he's landing got a kick somewhere else then which is why we have the pause for him to recover yeah small offsides play there up to five minutes on the clock yep he's just gonna make sure that he's gathered himself and he's fine thumbs up nice spirit between these two there always seems to be when friends for lambo fights gets on with everyone it'll be interesting to see if malambo does try to get the grappling going because i think that's going to be a way that he could shut tate down tate has been in some fights where he's been out muscled in the clinch for example like in these positions where it seems malaba is backing him up into return of the favor yeah not quite sure what you call that but an exchange of blows between the two that make every man watching around the world wins a little bit and then seconds later once again he'll be fine both a little over eager need to take all the time he has yet all right yeah both guys are throwing combinations quite often at the same time as well on the same beat if you will just like this both guys are throwing simultaneously so no one's looking to try to pull a counter maybe the beat after somebody throws something for example because that's sometimes the way that we see these striking matches play out there we go take kicks malaba throws the right and there's the takedown this might be the path of least resistance for malambo because he probably has the edge in wrestling in my opinion over tate particularly you know given who he trains with and moreover who he's trained with through this pandemic let's not forget many of these guys haven't been able to get their regular training in and i know for sure that that was a problem for tate i think he said he coached himself if i'm not mistaken yeah that's right yeah he describes himself as his own head coach those two things might not be the same but that's from his mouth trains out a wizard mai tai in london but doesn't name a head coach nice malambo going to that chin strap adjust his hips trying to pry his way out of half pivots his hips to avoid being put into this position oh but now he's had to concede guard does kate does tate want to stand here or stay here rather he's on the end of some elbows there from the lambo excellent stuff here malambo uses the butterfly hook to create some space and stand right back up we've seen that a couple of times here tonight and i feel like that's a really important thing that fighters are now doing with more proficiency these days standing up in the middle of the ring [Music] great moves just since they're back where they both want to be really oh what a fantastic leg kick there from malambo and those will start to take their toll 100 again like earlier in the round tate was coming forward and malambo just caught him with that pressure on that lead leg and literally took the leg out i'd like to see him do that more and maybe even kick below the knee so it's more difficult to check there's that front kick tate has literally knocked someone clean out with that technique so you got to watch out i mean he's a veteran he's been in the game for a long time he's 10 and five but two of those defeats were early in his career against james lutman and spencer hewitt he's built up a a good record since as we head for the final 20 seconds of this opening round it's going to be a hard one to score this we'll get chris's view round about 10 seconds time can anyone make a significant move in these closing moments [Music] interesting stuff i mean i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say malambo got that 10-9 he landed several very clean kicks some of the most significant strikes of the fight for sure tate landed some strikes as well and did the dance very nicely in the middle but i think also that combined with malambo's takedown might have been just the difference and of course let's not forget those yeah they were one all and malambo doing a good job i think a couple of times even at the end of that round he was boxing tate up to the wire in order to maybe get another takedown to steal the round more definitively very nice counter striking and patience from malamba against a tricky guy in tate a guy who gives you a lot of looks so sometimes those five minutes of data are really critical in a fight because you got to be prepared to go into the second and third and i think that malama is ready for that so too is tape for sure they fight this for franz malambo really good wins those against nathan grayson and dominique wooding really impressive too but then lost his way a bit against bandai house amazing story as well so many incredible stories in the this sport mother originally came to ireland for work and he followed her on his own left south africa to follow his mum follow that journey found his way to spg in ireland spinning kick there from taking good response from malabar this is some high-class stuff here absolutely olambo's picking his shots really well sometimes i've seen him in some fights take some unnecessary risks and that's not a good thing against corey tate but for me although tate is looking good he's coming in in a straight line the line of attack is often very predictable and malamba's been able to catch him out been able to time him either boot him with the kicks on the outside or straight punches as he comes in constantly switching malambo and you always have to be careful when you do that you don't end up too square on talk about timing the shot if tate could time him when he's halfway through doing that that's a route for tate pretty good quick feet though malambo so he does it okay all the faints they almost both fell over yeah exactly there's a lot of fainting going on they both reset and they both kind of smile as if to say okay tate going for a hook kick there but that's a tall guy to get over the top of the guard in malambo but take and do it i mean no doubt i've seen him do it i've seen him do that stuff so and no doubt so too is malambo he's ready he will have seen those tricks again this game of quick faints dazzling feet waiting for your moment another kick there from malambo and they will start to have an impact you'd like to see him use those a little bit more absolutely he did it low below the knee again so it makes it more difficult to check but this is the game this is all negotiation here these are both high level strikers and like any negotiation nobody wants to say the first number nobody wants to throw something down on the table right away and end up with a worse offer or poor trade nice check hook again the counter striking from malambo has been the biggest difference very smart malambo is in my opinion an intelligent fighter for making that decision there he saw it he took him down halfway through the round and the gulf is beginning to widen here as we're now over the midway point of this fight tate is a tricky tricky dude he's been in there with a lot of tough guys so no shame in getting that takedown even if the fans wanted to see a striking match he has to make sure the win after what happened last time of course he cares about his fans but he cares more about his career he does say he's just happy to be fighting again it's true of all of these fighters tonight and indeed over the next week in milan that is happy to be back in the game back in the cage [Music] nice recovery here tate's doing a good job to get some space holding onto a heel hook and then of course letting go to protect your face that's the difference in mma the leg lock game is a fun one but when you're holding on to that you're not protecting your dome now looks like franz may actually may drop for something is he pulling on to the achilles lock i couldn't tell work into the body anyway in the meantime they're both working aren't they absolutely tate now going to a figure four that toe hold is good but he's not gonna be able to get it here he doesn't have the right control he needs to reap the knee a little bit better and actually let's see what kind of grip he's got if we can get a better angle i can tell you what he needs to do to finish it right now though malambo now has disallowed that torque and more importantly it's just punishing him here it's a few dial attempt right now for tate [Music] in fact he's left himself open to that punishment and take you just sent his weakening a bit here final 10 seconds of this second round he's let go of the figure four toe hold he has an inside heel hook if he can expose the heel but you notice the way that franz was keeping his feet together he wasn't allowing that heel to be exposed so great defense and you know what with that defense some nice hammer fists just to stop the position another round for malambo i've got him up yeah it's the judges have scored it as we have hard to see how tate finds her way back in this third round he obviously needs a massive round preferably needs a stoppage that said malambo may not have won that opening round on all three of those scorecards it might be closer than we have it and therefore tate may yet have a chance of course it's all second guessing but corey tate certainly needs a big third and final round however it's been scored so far yeah i completely agree the second though definitively i think for milambo okay final round gentlemen ready all very friendly isn't it third and final round tate's starting with a leg kick of his own the thing is that malamba has shown that takedown is there so that's going to make those leg kicks a little bit more tentative from tate i mean he's more worried about being taken down like he has been in the last round not to say he didn't create some offense of his own yeah okay did go for a couple of submission attempts but he ate some body shots you know he had a little bit of ground and pound and malamba was able to defend and control the position that's good nice quick chambering that's the thing tate is such a good kickboxer i mean that kick comes out and it's straight back it comes up at a 45 degree angle not a ton of telegraphing he's very good he's very technical but the counter maneuvering i think from malambo has just been remarkable so far this time tate just switching clearly told him to target those kicks in this third round he's thrown three of them now enjoying it in there isn't he friends with lambo big smile on his face yeah he's waiting to hand fight here i mean you can see that tate was showing the jab but he's not committing to it yet he's trying to get a response nice shoulder roll there from tape backing off bonds moving forward may be looking to get the fight to the floor again where he feels that he's dominant i believe john kavanagh was calling for a three and a four which would be a hook and an uppercut a left hook and a right uppercut so for sure the hook is landed a few times they must see the uppercut there as take comes forward especially if he cuts the angle right because a lot of times again like we've said earlier in this fight tate's been coming straight in which is good i mean you can fight aggressively like that against some guys but when a guy like malambo is as good of a striker and has as good of a read on the fight that he has you've got to come up with a slightly more intelligent or more sophisticated strategy for lack of a better word [Music] just dangerous moments for friends if it did go the distance he's putting himself in a little bit of peril because tate has had the best of this round so far not definitively but needs a strong finish here malambo as we just have the slight delay there's a bit of tape loose there yeah i mean the last thing you want to do is let tape back into a fight especially as you started to accelerate and take away in the second it's like running a race and you've got three laps and you were so far ahead in the second and all of a sudden the guy's catching back up that's the last thing you want to do and the fainting and faking that we're seeing here is not only coming from the hands and the shoulders but it's also from the hips and the legs even that throwaway kick just a moment ago you could see fans actually change stances trying to get tate to move out of place and that also that switch up can load up power but as good as malambo is at countering tate hasn't taken all of the bait every time so there's credit there too good contact there from the lambo needs a busy finish here looks the superior man melambo but don't want to leave that glimmer of light for your opponent i think he's just doing that at the moment you might disagree with me and it might change in this final minute one minute 60 seconds yeah i totally hear you especially if that first round was closer than what we think the last thing you want to do is have two really close rounds especially when you were so far ahead in the second like we talked about nice kick there good dig to the body like the doubling up there from tate that's really slick go to the body and then go down he could go to the head too as well with a head kick he could go 360 on one of those spinning techniques it's open because malambo kind of drops his hands which is good you know the the hans low approach is a good technique especially in mma we don't have the coverage of big gloves like in kickboxing or boxing spinning backfist there from corey tate this one looks like it is going to go to the judges of course my sense of jeopardy might be wrong malamba might get it 30-27 but we'll see kg really from both men it's never quite caught fire as we would have liked contact at the end from malambo but we will go to the judges scorecards and this may get interesting chris i i never like to pre-empt things like this because you build it up and it's 30-27 milambo but you know what i mean it's one of those isn't it this yeah it was a very very crazy fight as far as kind of the intrigue from both guys trying to find openings and find counters and wait who goes first do i follow um i think the success story though is going to come out in favor of malambo particularly from the countering and the more significant shots in the first couple of rounds i did have him up and if tate won that last round it was nothing more than ten nine so both guys had their hot and cold moments for sure but i believe the more successful strategy was incorporated by malambo so i've got him up i'm with you i'd have malambo 2928 but round one let's see comes down to that probably yeah that's nice plenty of respect corey tate heads over lambo explains one or two of the things he did right and wrong they're both so watchable you'd always queue up to watch my lambo fight in particular and uh i'm not surprised this is taking a while for craig stephen to get the cards in could be a split you know it could be one of those well he is ready will he announce a split we will find out let's head over to craig stephen judge douglas crosby 30 27 salvatore d'amato 29-28 jaren vale 27-29 all for the winner by unanimous decision the zulu irishman franz the black mamba of course after we built up the intrigue of course he got it by unanimous decision of course one of the cards was 30 27 but it was intriguing enough and it was very very watchable smiling irishman franz malambo gets the win great win there for franz malambo and we are edging towards our main card later tonight and it's an intriguing fight i mean they're all intriguing fights but this one in particular pietro panini versus mike shipman super high stakes for both competitors pietro perrini is a competitor who's shown he can swim in deep deep waters indeed he did that in his last fight yeah uh pietro went three rounds and took the uh decision against charlie ward uh a lot of people haven't been able to do that you can see he fought a smart fight he kind of landed his shots moved he had a nice job as well and it was yeah getting good take down throughout that fight he was he dominated most of the round and it's gonna be interesting to see if he can bring that confidence tonight into the fight with mike shipman mike shipman is a powerful exploit explosive fighter that he's gonna have to bring his egg in for i mean going all the way with charlie ward is no mean feat mike shipman though he announced himself with the bellator well with a bang he's looking to recapture that momentum here tonight yeah mike shipman he's a phenomenal fighter look at his um most of his fights are either finished by some missions or by strikes he's dangerous look at the power in his hands and he his killer instinct and i think his last couple of fights he didn't get to show that tonight he believes he's going to be able to show it we see him there with a 10 second chaos the fourth fastest tko in bellator history but also mike shipman a competitor very happy on the ground yeah look at his slick slick submissions he's highly skilled on the ground he sets up his takedowns lovely with strikes and he gets that finish well can mike shipman rebound and pick up a victory here tonight someone else who's here tonight we've seen him already tonight but broadcaster and journalist gareth a davis is soaking up the atmosphere cage side gareth what are you expecting from that mike shipman pietro panini fight guys uh well it's great to be back for a start and a little fact for you if you're in the red corner you've won five times tonight and shipman's in the red corner maybe it's a sign i don't want to jinx him listen two losses in 2019 to the headliners fanstinus and edwards it's almost two years since he's had a victory in the cage he went away in lockdown he took canonical ownership he said he was relying on this great team of trainers too much he is back he is focused you're right he's a brilliant former rugby player great at wrestling heavy-handed he's going to get hands on this guy today because as you say against ward panini showed that he's a very deft mover so he'll want to close the distance land heavy hands and take him down ground and pound victory for tonight for shipment he's got to look impressive because that middleweight division is then there for him to climb he's falling down the snake it's time to climb back up the ladder well that match coming up later tonight thanks gareth will know that talk to you later on tonight but right now it's time for more action here on our preliminary card it's a fantastic featherweight matchup as aiden lee takes on jeremy petley ladies and gentlemen coming to the cage from canada jeremy petley [Music] so the ninja jeremy pentley has a solid range of skills 3-0 in bellator and believes that he belongs at a higher level than this at worst he's an exceptional gatekeeper he'll test aidan lee to the limit and at best he may just grab a win he may just beat him here this is not a fighter who'll be easily beaten which is exactly why he's here chris yeah he's very solid very solid very durable very good on the ground i think in particular he's gonna want to get the takedown in this fight i suspect being at a reach ditch advantage so watch out for that and now making his way to the cage from england aidan lee [Music] well aidan lee was given a tough test on his bellator debut in birmingham one that he failed to pass when he was beaten by saul rogers but he's back in the groove now got to win at wembley against damian francois and says he feels stronger and more athletic than ever post coving his range makes him fascinating and if he can find consistency then he becomes a really interesting fighter he's got a great team as well being from team renegade that performance against damian frankowitz was outstanding i think he's going to be on the outside tonight use his reach uses physical gifts because for sure pat lee's looking for that takedown [Music] remember this was aidan lee against frankowitz and this was just a sign of where he might go he was excellent on the night tetley against tom means hadn't fought in nearly two years before this and got that unanimous decision that interesting sense of their styles here and talking of styles kentley's unrecognizable tonight having grown the hair here's the tail of the tape aidan lee and jeremy petley the age difference is 10 years the height difference is all for aidan lee and look at the reach advantage as well 75 versus 68. it's going to be intriguing can he use that range aidan lee let's get now to craig stephen well once again a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us around the world live on the bellator youtube channel we're in the allianz cloud here in milan italy and this is three five minute runs in the featherweight division introducing first in the blue corner standing five foot nine weighing in at 144.8 pounds his professional record 13 wins he defeats one draw from victoria british columbia canada fighting out of london england jeremy ninja petlay and across the cage in the red corner standing six foot tall weighing in 145.6 pounds his professional record eight wins four defeats from birmingham england aidan lee and a referee for this one once again mr dan marigliotta [Music] so jeremy petley looking to become the first fighter from the blue corner to win tonight initially went to the uk to try and have a professional football career or soccer career for those of you watching stateside he ended up working as a waiter started mma casually and then got more serious about it and now at his age he's very serious a real potential star of the future but you just sense he needs to switch on and put a real run of wins together now absolutely i think in this fight pat lee wants to use intelligence to set up that takedown i mean it's no secret for sure he wants to drag lee into the deep end of the pool and by doing that put him on his back lee right now just circling beautifully using lateral footwork showing the jab and using a long guard you see him kind of put his arm up there to post that'll help him in a lot of different things not the least of which to defend the takedown and line up punches by having a good understanding of exactly where headspace is they're working on his striking with joby clayton aiden lee and when you're that high at this weight you need to you need to use that range patley exhibiting the level change here that kind of up and down bounce and i like the way that he's bouncing on the balls of his feet as well because lee has really good kicks and for sure patley is aware of that yet smart so far from petley this is the first big question oh he's gonna go for the ninja choke nice he went for that modified guillotine locked up the figure four appear patley had to let go but that's important that's a really important exchange pate is confident from the southpaw position they can get that single leg pickup and lee is confident that he can get away so let's see if either can strike gold again first rangey kick from aidan lee trains with fabian edwards and leon fabian top of the bill tonight looks like some marking there on the right eye of petley just above it petley is chasing a lot right now which lee is starting to get a better read on he's not really committing super hard to his punches yet because he knows the penalty could be catastrophic if patley gets a really big takedown and passes guard in the middle of the ring early can you pass the test again patley working super hard here he's gone from the single he may look to hook up to a double here and dump him against the fence it's a good test of lee's defense it's actually a great test all around this philly patel's corner was calling for him to change the level that would be to go below the waist and take him down there conversely of course aiden lee's corner was calling for the left underhook to negate that and you can see the battle already unfolding and they want the underhook a little bit deeper so you can see i'm reaching kind of deeper along the waist and i'll kind of shuttle that arm in deeper aiden lee patley knows this and is tying it up behind the elbow to pull it in to disallow him to get that pummel underneath the armpit back to the ninja choke that's a nasty technique hayden lee's got that choke on and petley gets away but he was fazed by those knees i think pat lee was hurt a little bit there that cut he's not pretty on the right eye of pet league trying to ninja choke the ninja eh got a sense of humor as well beautiful petley got him to cover with the 1-2 and tried to pick up the takedown but aidan lee has been able to get away thus far he's passed those tests several times pat lee's had a hold of him several times he's been unable to get him down to the candace very impressive from aidan lee great leg kick there from lee as well likes to entertain i'll tell you one thing he looks tonight is super relaxed and loose isn't there about it tonight yeah absolutely everything's been on point he's not overstepping and conversely that's what pat lee suggested was going to be the difference he actually thought his footwork was better and not only his footwork for the stand up but his footwork to set up the grappling but so far he's not been able to get it nice very good work for mayden lee what a round yeah that was really impressive from aiden lee there's that marking on the eye of petley [Music] and here's what went down aidan lee just able to gauge the distance land the straight punches never get caught out of position too badly yes jeremy patley was able to get a hold of him but no he did not go down to where patlie would have liked this fight to be and there that inside leg kick i mean that was just brutal aiden lee caught jeremy patley flush and i think it's one up to the good yeah that cut under the eye isn't so bad it's just the one on the eyebrow that we could see there it's where that blood ends up so round two aidan lee not flawless but very impressive in that opening round he's in the red gloves here against jeremy petley from victoria in canada who comes into this on a three-fight winning streak pat let's get him some looks slowly cutting off the cage little stutter steps here and right about when aiden gets his back up to the fences i think is where you'll see pat lee give him the ball rush look for that penetrating step not quite yet i think he wants to work him up to the cage again oh that was good very nice counter there for maiden lee patley overreached with the left it's when you really commit to a power punch like that that you're open to being countered especially when you already have a reach advantage like aiden yeah it was a stinging shot there from aidan lee [Music] nice again the uppercut he was showing the rear knee as well there we go oh what about that from aiden lee tremendous power with that right knee and that is it pentley didn't see it coming super performance from aidan lee on what a talent he is and what a run now that he's starting to put together that was a massive shot there from aidan lee the way that he threw that knee a moment ago and actually converted it into a kick i believe he i believe anticipated it was gonna be a knee but then actually chucked the shin into the body let's take a look at it here [Music] there was where he popped petley earlier [Music] yep it was a kick he was showing the knee earlier that's the thing those rear tools are really key when you know a guy is going to shoot on you there was an uppercut there there was a knee he was fainting and then he actually whipped it into a kick excellent vision remarkable timing as well here from aidan lee and he stopped pat lee and walked off he knew it was done great stoppage as well [Music] he's pumped isn't he aiden lee great win another great win man to watch let's make it official now and get to our cage and answer craig stephen [Music] ladies and gentlemen at one minute 22 seconds of round number two referee dan the murloc leota cause a halt to the action the winner by k.o from birmingham aidan lee highlight reel finish aiden lee moves to nine and four a winner by chao winner aiden lee congratulations that was a dominant performance was it the footwork and your decent management that got you to win it's uh it's being part of the best team in the world team renegade we've got some of the best fighters in the world we've got some of the best cultures we're all too loose too heavy we've got too much rhythm too much flow let's go i'll fight anybody anybody in the division put some respect on my name me and jeremy to be the most experienced fighting on the card what the [ __ ] we doing on the prelims come on man let's go okay let me get me a fight i want the boat let's go well you're pretty clear about that is there anyone [Music] can you take it off okay um and uh well congratulations again on an amazing win um my question was was it your footwork and your dis management that got you to win it was everything you know we've we've been out for 11 months i've been working hard that whole time um and i think i showed the improvements i was a little bit slow at the start but i've been out for nearly a year so you know it took me a bit longer to find my range but once i got comfortable in there i think you could tell i was comfortable so yeah man we work hard and it paid off great congratulations your winner aiden lee thank you best team in the world team renegade thank you to all my coaches all my sponsors on to the next one i'm cold i'm out well he's still going aidan lee i think he could uh go again right now he's so pumped and full of energy aiden lee then with the victory can't wait to see him fight again and maybe he will be further up the car hey bellator nation follow us across a large array of digital platforms and stay up to date on everything you need to know like us on the bellator facebook page and see exclusive videos follow us and get instant updates on twitter at bellator mma and get a chance to have your tweet live on the broadcast see amazing pictures on instagram at bellator mma join bellator nation today we are in milan italy often known for fashion and football but tonight it's the fight capital of europe as bellator mma are taking over the over the alliance cloud arena stack preliminary card underway but we are moving towards what is shaping up to be a fantastic main card later tonight you can catch it in the uk at 10 p.m fabian edwards puts his undefeated streak on the line against costello van steelers also mike shipman against pietro panini and will fury versus ken calvin three incredible middleweight bats coming up that's tonight 10 o'clock on channel 5. but up next it's an intriguing lightweight matchup as gavin huge takes on danielle ladies and gentlemen from england here comes gavin hughes [Music] well the big tasty gavin hughes might be 32 now but this is a fighter who still has the potential to light up this division he has a win against chris bungard on his record so there's nothing hollow about his claim that he could just be the most underrated fighter around consistency can be a problem with him but if he impresses here and then backs that performance up there could be some really exciting times ahead yeah he's a very dangerous fighter comes from a great camp as well with tom blackledge and all those guys he's calculated picks his shots has a really mean guillotine i think he's a danger anywhere this fight goes [Music] i know from italy here comes daniele [Music] witnessing a new phenomenon as people leave what seems like an ecstatic grin on their face or just a look at pure innocence which reminds me of a newborn child struggling to deal with the skill set of alfie davis at wembley and falling to a fifth defeat of his career he's roe born and dublin based and says he doesn't know too much about his opponent here that might change over the next few minutes as this looks a really difficult mission for the man they call scat his cage awareness is one of the best things about him he's got intelligent pressure a lot of good footwork a lot of good entries he's going to need it tonight against the guy who's going to come straight at him [Music] well there's the match-up nine and five takes on ten and one and here are some highlights here's the big tasty in action great win of bellator birmingham against the hamid yaya round two that was [Music] taylor the take then between danielle scottisi and gavin hughes hughes with a great record he's five years older but he's super fit he has a slight height advantage to be honest they look very evenly matched from that but i think most people see hughes as a big favorite here time now for us to get to our cage and answer it's the one and only craig stephen ladies and gentlemen the action continues here at the allianz cloud as bellator mma brings you three five minute rounds in the lightweight division introducing first in the blue corner at 5 foot 10 and weighing in at 154 pounds even he brings an impressive record 10 wins only one defeat fighting out of liverpool city england gavin big tasty huge and across the cage in the red corner at five foot eleven he weighed in 155 pounds even his professional record nine wins five defeats fighting out of dublin ireland from his hometown roma italia daniele scott referee for this one mr todd anderson well there's always a good deal of interest when we see gavin hughes his only defeat came against martin van staden in march 2018 lost by tko in that pro debut lasted 11 seconds he's got a round one guillotine win against chris bunga he means business and he normally takes care of business as well and hughes starting here as the aggressor this is what i would have expected from hughes he gets straight down to business all of his wins are generally in the first and second round bar one on points so he tends to get you out of there real early and skates he has a good takedown game he's got a good judo base but i don't know how much he's gonna want to come in here at close range into the clinch against hughes i could see him probably trying to point fight maybe for the first round or so but then again hey here we are in the tie up he's a three-time italian cup grappling champ doing judo since he was 17 scottish [Music] he did say his game plan after the frustration of lockdown was to enter the cage and punch everything that he sees but that's proving a bit harder than he maybe thought i'm sure he was kidding anyway look at this from yeah excellent love it cleared the legs to the side passes straight off that takedown and gavin going straight for that signature guillotine but skittissi having none of it great maneuvering here from daniele so far wow and he's gonna go to a guillotine of his own he's got that barbell grip and you can see the look of concern i mean for sure hughes has been here a lot of times but he's hand fighting he knows he's got to make sure that prevention is the cure at this point because if it gets worse he could get him he's got a hand fight i think hughes has got a grip but oh no there's a tap that's brilliant from teensie brilliant the home fighter the rope fighter with a massive win for him he goes to two and one in bellator and that is a result that not too many people saw coming i'll tell you what as well chris the feet were great weren't they the positioning he knew what he was trying to execute and boy did he do it it looked to me like hughes was going to be able to hand fight there but what a remarkable outcome there for skates who would have seen that coming i'm telling you right now that is gavin hughes signature submission and skittish made him look ordinary with it here we go double leg skates just dumps him down whipping the legs to the side the beautiful flare there very efficient maneuvering was able to pass straight off that let's take a look at the grappling this is where it all started hugh started turning into him and he gave up his neck sketchy follows thought about the yeah that was it he follows and thought about the back take but then actually aborted and went back the other direction grabbing the neck falling in for the choke hughes tried to defend that was really tricky stuff from and good timing as well to grab that neck stay with it pin him to his back get the grip you can see already hughes trying to hand fight here trying to find some respite but that was all she wrote nice moment there with john cavanaugh as well popular guy skating another win for the red corner by the way that's seven fights seven wins for the red corner akong wellness iron pascu and nicolo solly coming up in that corner in these prelims let's make the surprise official craig ladies and gentlemen referee todd anderson's calls a halt to the contest one minute 41 seconds off for round number one winner by guillotine choke from roma italia daniele scadizi we thought it might be early but not like that not to him and he moves on to another test and he will be worth watching in the future we are inching towards our main car tonight 10 o'clock on channel 5 in the united kingdom headlined by the undefeated david edwards takes on costello van steenus who can take a big step forward in the middleweight divisions also tonight two other intriguing middleweight fights mike shipman versus pietro panini and will fleury of ireland takes on england kent kalpen now that main event is one that we are all waiting to see will fabian edwards lose his own tonight costello van stinis has a lot to cerna mata and gareth a davis caught up with him yesterday at the weigh-ins this beef is real between you and fabian edwards yeah it is 100 real this is 100 real what is it about him that you don't like everything is his attitude his character his him as a human being is is just it's it's garbage it's yeah what happened at the weigh-ins i don't know what happened he just he just he just he just came at me he's been talking beef all the time already at breakfast he tried to act cool like 10 meters having distant with me tries to bark a little bit with six seven other friends of him i'm just there with my trainer it's bad okay well suddenly he came walking past my chair staring me in the eyes and i don't know what he wants but of course he's not going to do anything because there's no cameras but that's just him as soon as there's cameras he's all talk what does victory mean to you against him oh that i think it's not it's not only for me but i think it's for the whole middleweight division i'll do everybody a big favor just by shutting his big mouth up not only i hate him i believe that the whole division hates him and not only the whole division or all the fans as well they're all messaging me saying please ko this guy just shut him up so that's what i'm going for what's your prediction for the fight i'm gonna go for the first round if not the first round he's gonna go for he's going down for the second second round and if you manage to survive third round it will be but he'll he'll have a big beating best of luck thank you very much thank you that is on our main card tonight that's ten o'clock on channel five a lot of people looking forward to seeing that fight and according to costello the entire middleweight division will be checking it out because they want to shut up fabian edwards um what do you make of costello's comments down leah does fabulous needs to stop being so cocky uh i think costello as i said before i think it's the first opponent that fabian hasn't really rattled outside the cage we eat castell did get a wee bit emotionally yesterday you could tell you know obviously they're cutting weights they're at the weigh-ins he did sort of bark back but you know fabian plays it cool he likes to talk outside the ring but when he goes into the cage he's calm and collected and has a very good fight iq and i think castell needs to not be emotional go in and fight with uh his game plan that he's talked to us about he wants to fight intelligently he needs to fight and um try and capitalize on phoebe's mistake so it's going to be interesting to see can he compose himself and and do his game plan tonight now now they talked about instead there in the dining room you were there when costello walked in and eyeballed fabian edwards just tell me about the feelings in the room when that happened yeah you know it was tense we're all in the same hotel that we can't leave the hotel there is an interesting environment and obviously you know fighters do have awkward exchanges and you know breakfast we've seen a couple of exchanges between the two guys you know costello isn't backing down he's stereotyped but he wants to hurt him tonight well and as you say about the hotel it's a unique environment often fighters are in hotels together but they can go out they can get away we are all locked down everyone's been tested a lot of precautions have been taken because of the global situation right now um so you know they are really locked into this fire chamber now another man who's been in the hotel with us all week he's been getting the lowdown from everyone i've seen him do it it's mr gareth a davis um gareth that main event has true repercussions across the middleweight division yeah totally look both these guys costello vanstinus and fabian edwards they are the young studs of the division look at the giant names who they could fight guys douglas lima gegard moussasi lyoto machida the kind of names you dream of having victories against it's a 50-50 fight tonight this is the moment the crossroads when one of these two guns rises up that ladder and headlines in america or headlines on a new in a new territory in europe it means so much and when there's a beef like this when there's real animosity we all rub a neck we all crane because we want a decisive finish and they both said as we've heard them already they're gonna lay down and they're both going for the knockout i cannot wait for this guys honestly i'm getting goosebumps just having you talk about that guy that is our main event tonight ten o'clock on channel five but right now it's time to continue with the prelims here in milan it's a very well it's highly anticipate a lightweight matchup as akon onelist takes on alfie davies ladies and gentlemen coming to the ring from england alfie davis well alfie davis is extremely skilled and accomplished and he's 4-0 with bellator but now is the time for him to show he can do a little more than just win he is of course a kickboxer extraordinaire but knows that realistic progression in mma will rely on him doing a lot more than that and upping the level of excitement too surely he must engage tonight put a talented opponent under pressure and maybe take a risk to see where that might take him he's so talented at moving around the ring competent at picking the right shots knowing where and when to commit and no one's really been able to figure out that puzzle so far so the big question is can akon wallace unravel the rubik's cube here tonight and alfie davis that's the big question and now from jamaica acorn onelist [Music] akon onelist has been described by some very good judges as the most improved lightweight in europe and his win against tim burnett in london probably the performance of the night tonight he gets another test another step up another different style will he be good enough and think quickly enough to deal with it what a prospect we have on our hands if he can and you know what chris what a fight we've got here yeah he's very big for the way you mentioned the demolition job of tim barnett that was a remarkable performance he's also got a great bjj pedigree he's very opportunistic with that ground game so maybe he'll look to get alfie davis into some positions where he can get that going here tonight um i feel like he's not going to want to play alfie davis game so space is his friend to a point i think he's going to want to cut down the ring here tonight against davis [Music] eyeballing each other two outstanding fighters here's oneless against barnett outstanding the way that he hit that japanese necktie as well was just gorgeous amazing technique floored barnett put him down to his back that's my favorite submission and he made it look good davis with a great movement great kicks did his job really well too and that teased this up i know a lot of people think this is going to be the most intriguing fight of the night here's the tail of the tape then akon onelist in fight number six against alphy davis in fight number 17 onelist with that height advantage he's enormous at the weight and look at the reach advantage as well but watch two for the alfie davis kicks he isn't called the axe man for nothing let's get now to our cage and answer craig stephen live around the world on bellator's youtube channel bellator mma are very proud to bring you three five minute rounds in the lightweight division introducing first in the blue corner at five foot eleven inches tall winging at 155.2 pounds his professional record 13 wins only three defeats fighting out of north london england alfie the axe man davis and across the cage in the red corner standing six foot one and weighing in at 155.4 pounds his professional record four wins only one defeat fighting out of birmingham england by way of jamaica montego bay he is the jedi aikon oneless referee for this one mr todd anderson well before we get going with this one of the things that made me smile most in the build up to this was a con one list wanting to give a big shout out to his neighbor pete who was his only sparring partner during lockdown good on you pete i'm sure you're watching i'm sure you believe that's over as well quite a chore keeps you busy though safari with acorn onelist but i hope you're doing well so onelist in the red gloves davis will look to be on the back foot in the blue clash of styles and clash of real quality as well wandless already starting to try to chase him down get a hold of him davis is so elusive though he's got the perfect rear-view mirror for mma he knows exactly when he's about to run out of space no one to uh cut out of there and avoid getting tied up it can kick at a lot of different distances as well if oneness can shut that down that would be the first step to success to hit his three defeats have all been by decision his last three wins by unanimous decision as well but one this has closed that gap and now he's applying the pressure [Music] the battle here is for the pummel right now you can hear the corners both calling about it elbows tight alfie though able to get it looks like double underhooks here and that's helped him reverse position very good this is important now he wants to disconnect wandless obviously wants to hold on which is where the overhook is on the right hand side this is the chess match right here because for sure there's a lot of tape out there already on guys like alfie davis you already know what he's going to do you already know he doesn't want to be here you already know that he doesn't lose rounds when he's able to do the dance and i'll point you and akon wonders has to come up with an answer for that so right now he's on that path great short elbow there from alfie davies just to remind oneness that he's got some power too famous axe kick much-watched against nick baker in a kickboxing event hence the nickname away here at the base that's also a good technique because alfie davis thrives on mobility if you can slow his movement down and you know you've gotta in the back your head be ready for this fight to go into the later rounds davis is a tough customer he's never been stopped as you said dave so that's also another thing that they will have prepared for and thought about he's elusive but he's gonna need to be really elusive for 15 minutes here this is another big question i had about this fight is wallace is not at a reach disadvantage he's not going to be in a position where he cannot have the ability to fight competently on the outside now it's not to say that you know if you don't have a reach advantage you can't fight the outside but it certainly helps so we're seeing here if he can already pose some threats to alfie davis little smile on the face of davis he's a clever fighter great balance yeah where's the jab i agree he should be spamming that right now open stance southpaw plays orthodox [Music] davis going with the uh the rear toe kick the snap kick to the midsection that's a really good technique comes out quick comes back quick more difficult to catch encounter like a round kick for example again deployed very good that landed a little bit more cleanly and for a third time real thinker of course alfie davis is a teacher and teaching online during lockdown and now he swapped it up throw it three times set a pattern make the guy think it's gonna come again and then whip it upstairs now dig to the body now he's starting to get his game going i talked about the kicking game in the beginning part of this round now you're starting to see it unfold here great combination as well to follow from davis exactly yeah you stole the words out of my mouth i mean leading with the kicks and following with the punches that's something he can get away with [Music] and oneness not gun shy but backing off a little bit more or a little less hesitant to come straight in cage iq of alfie davis might just have won him this opening round interesting round for sure got into the clinch davis did reverse it with double unders then juan less gained the ascendancy for a little bit but back in space davis landed multiple kicks a couple of clean punches those were the most significant strikes of the fight let's take a look at some of the action here i think we're gonna get on the replay some of the uh i think the dynamic kicks or was this maybe when he swapped it up let's take a look yep it's when he went up to the body and then followed with the punches very clean punches as you alluded to dave that was a good connection for alfie davis here another angle on that exact same combination and wandless wanted to respond he wanted to come in and land something and davis was prepared and timed it beautifully he's loving it he's really enjoying it and that's part of it too he's often criticized davis for fighting on the back foot and picking apart a sort of perceived weaker opponent but he won't be criticized for this because this is really clever it's the way to do it against oneness so far of course absolutely so part of the story from the first round was was able to find a way to tie him up but he couldn't keep him there that was a good right hand though from wallace he caught davis circling straight into the power now davis does this sometimes he can circle into the strong side because he's just so confident in his footwork and his head movement see there the way he throws the left and moves his head off the center line while throwing he's just such an aware guy he can get away with things like that but wandless did kept yeah there we go he's reaching for the right again he didn't catch him with the right feels like one of those fights in which onelist only needs to get it right once davis needs to be pitch perfect all the way through beautiful right excellent again firing it right down between the guard davis has kind of got his guard down at times and that's that hanzo approach you know you'll see it from mvp his teammate and it's good but he's got to be really careful against juan less because he cannot take for granted the things he's often able to do against guys against a very athletic and powerful dude at 155 and wandless davis fighting a slightly different fight here in round two and it looks a dangerous one he's having some success but potentially vulnerable as well yeah two things are happening here uh number one he's been on the back foot a little bit more frequently and number two he's had the ring caught a little bit more effectively from wandas now that's changed now back in space he can weave chaos going 360 on that wheel kick now the tables have turned this is exactly like the last round after a couple of minutes for wandless davis got back to it let's see if the pattern continues lovely language style from davis when he gets into that rhythm that was good davis was looking for that kind of looping left a few times it's risky to really commit to it but it found its mark a couple of times there previously he didn't come up came up a little short on it now that was better work but here now backing off was when wildness is at his best if davis doesn't have space to move and maneuver he's a much less effective fighter and there we go that's the x factor between these two it always was going to be if oneness could do it i think you would have i wouldn't have guessed that davis would go to it but hey this is the mma game certainly surprising 90 seconds remaining just over anyway in round two very tight contest so far that's the best time to do it though you shift gears when your opponent isn't quite expecting it and davis got a really clean takedown can catch a breather here and can maybe open something up while this now opening up his guard difficult to play guard when you're stuck up against the cage like this but we'll see what he can do with it i can hear josh thompson screaming at me he can't just be in that position and not do anything he has to work in that position alfie davis yeah i agree i mean i mean he's going to look for something here maybe to open up a pass right now he's just controlling with the the collar tie he maybe use the can opener to open up the guard and posture that's i think what he was looking to do juan is able to recover full guard alfie's staying just busy enough to keep it here though for the moment [Music] final seconds then of this second round every bit as good a match as we would have hoped but oneness is gonna need a big final round here blood to the nose of wandless davis with a flurry to finish round two nice connections there nothing super clean but that's all gonna help you know i'm gonna go out on a limb and say davis is narrowly up i've got him up 2018 at this point but there's been some bumps in the road for sure and juan list has made this a messy fight at times and has disallowed the movement in the beginning of both rounds one and round two and here's how he did it just crowded davis up against the fence like you saw here but when davis is in space he can operate with the best of them he's just got fantastic footwork loading up and moving and setting up power shots and spectacular techniques like you saw and here was a surprise getting that takedown the double leg controlling the legs walking forward shutting down wandless it wasn't pretty but i think that helped contribute to winning that round for him just looked a bit sorry for himself a bit slow to rise there aikon onelist not going as he would have predicted this [Music] huge star wars fan believes in the the jedi philosophy likes to throw lightsabers he said one of those would put alfie davis's lights out well he hasn't managed to land one not cleanly so far davis thinking about that takedown but the most effective shot so far where that left kick to the body and then the left he loads up the power there he did it again he actually kicks from the southpaw stance to load up that punch straight left hand there from davis he's starting to time his shots really well and he's judging the distance superbly as well right on cue he swings and misses yeah but he's got to put enough out there in the headlights for wandless to open up those shots right you can't just throw everything and just expect it to land you've got to be able to get a reaction you got to make a guy back off or freeze or think all right what am i doing here and then he gets caught need to overload not only the physical side of things of the fight game but the mental things too and that's the thing that makes alfie davis so good guys just can't keep up with what he's doing and i think even the takedowns contributed to that because then there's some uncertainty if you're acon wallace about what you got to do to get a hold of the guy i want to see more leg kicks from wandless i mean he should be blasting that leg there we go but there wasn't a lot in it i think he's tired at this point to be honest with you i'm with you kick to the head from davis has one list got left davis is just starting to show off of it here as well and drops him with the left this has been exceptional from alfie davis excellent connection there from alfie davis and very smart i think to go to the ground he's had to be really smart about his energy use wandless is a scary dude to be in there he's big he's physical he's athletic alfie had to be ready for three hard rounds in this matchup well he said he wanted to show tonight that he's the most exciting and skilled lightweight in the world not sure about that but he's certainly exciting and he's certainly skilled looking for the cross face there a moment ago with the shoulder pressure to open up the pass getting the knees sliced this is massive more than two minutes here alfie davis is in side control and he cut out of that guard like a hot knife through butter [Music] beautiful breaking the posture pulling him in using the butterfly hooks here let's see what he does he may try to rock him and sit up to his butt i think he's going to be tough to sweep him but i might be wrong yup he was thinking about it let's see what he can do mom this is fighting that has cleared alfie's right leg trying to pry himself a little bit deeper here now alfie's gone to double unders hiding his face trying to disallow anything meaningful from this position wandless is tired at this point i mean for sure both guys are feeling the pace of this fight [Music] but it's one less who needs to make something happen because our feeling anyway is that from now on in neutral wins davis to fight if nothing happens it might be enough for alfie i agree he's thinking about the butterfly sweep can he get it nope oh wellness with a short left there davis concedes and goes to his back maybe looking for a toriendo pass here oh look at that lumberjack sweep there from alfie davis beautiful excellent excellent timing from alfie davis i mean nearly 15 minutes into this fight to be able to pull that off and get back up to his feet excellent that's not by chance that's by design hard work and training i love seeing guys be able to do that now davis can dance can get on that back foot he thought about the spinning back kick there but thought better of it he stays mistake-free he's surely gonna get a huge win here one is trying to finish on the front foot davis with his hand in the air it has been a master class from alfie davis and it was every bit as intriguing and dramatic as we hoped it would be yeah absolutely akon wandless was a guy not many people were super excited to face and although he had nearly a fifth of the experience of alfie davis he went out and showed he belongs in this division but i believe alfie davis showed off why he's the veteran fighter in this matchup and he was able to just to outfox him really he was able to move around the ring when he needed to he was able to take him down when he needed to he was able to get back up to his feet when he needed to so enough of the things there i think should seal the deal for alfie davis would you score it 30-27 is that how you had it that last round was closer it was certainly closer for sure 29-28 if not maybe 30-27 but i'm gonna go 29-28 and here just all of the stuff we talked about coming to fruition for alfie davis the left straight i'd have to watch that third round again though to give you an answer dave if i'm honest i'll forgive you there's that left hook that dropped him and alfie just was able to create power into the right shots never overstepping never over committing gorgeous left hook just fading away and here's the thing aikon wandless is a proficient striker alfie davis is just that little bit better though with that timing and being able to time and not only time his punches but know exactly where he needs to throw them right it's not about where your opponent is it's where he's gonna be alfie davis is a sensational striker he really is says he's a cheeky chat with a cheeky fight style it was outstanding tonight let's see if it was enough and get to craig ladies and gentlemen referee todd anderson brings both the fighters together i have the judges score totals judge douglas crosby 30 26. both judges salvatore de mato and jaren vale 30-27 all for the winner by unanimous decision from north london alpha the x-men david he got it unanimously and then some alfie davis moves to 14 and three we thought it would be tight it was dominant and brilliant and it moves him on back to the drawing board for acorn oneness showed davis gets the win lib fantastic fight yeah brilliant fight you can see akon with pressure and the whole time he was coming forward alfie was leaning clean the strikes on the back foot uh a hard fight hard right to score but um what a fantastic match oh look these these entire prelims have been fantastic to see how much everyone wants to make a statement here tonight in milan but hey we've still got our main car to come here tonight 10 o'clock on channel five and will fleury versus ken kaplan that's a very intriguing matchup both competitors believe they're fighting at a higher level but both bring a very different skill set will fleury he likes to stand standing back but he knows he can't do that against someone like ken calvin yeah will is a fantastic uh grappler and he is not as good good knockouts before but he knows with kent he can't stand he said he wants to get at the ground he wants to get a big finish you can see his tape down to schlick he's aggressive and he's explosive on the ground as you can see a nice head and arm choke and he'll look to use that side against kent he wants to finish it on the floor these two haven't made any secret of their game plan stuff will floyd he says look i love to stand up as much i like to go to the ground but when you've got someone like kent cavern compared to who's got 19 professional boxing matches on his resume the guy's got dynamite in his hands you don't want to stand and train yeah we've seen kent before he's he's been in there with the best and he's knocked out absolutely dangerous look at that big knock against leslie zakara he has went three rounds with melvin manohar one of the only people to ever do that he can take a punch and he's got raw part and we'll we'll lose that will doesn't want to stand and bang look he's dropped the likes of melbourne manohar he took his punches and he's confident from that and ken calvin said that melbourne manhunt was his hero that's going to be a strange fight to be yeah yeah i would say so he says i just can't believe i'm getting in there i'm going to stand i'm going to feel his punches he's going to feel mine and whoever goes down goes on well that fight coming up on our main card and i know a man who's got an opinion here of course mr gareth a david who's been soaking up the atmosphere here gareth that's an intriguing fight to kick off our main card later tonight definitely on channel five of course i'm look the key is with kent kalpen he is a modern day road warrior a modern-day prize fighter very heavy-handed we saw it in that b-roll there with melvin manhoff what he has on the feet which i don't believe will fleury has is stand-up iq you saw how cute he was against one of the greatest berserker stand-up fighters of all time yeah manhoef was 43 but he really held his own i seriously believe i seriously believe and i put my neck on the block kent calpinen could be a headliner and a potential middleweight titleist with a couple more victories it's his fight to lose tonight for me against fleury because unless fleury does get it to the ground unless calpinum is reckless i don't think fleury gets the victory tonight even though by the way the blue corner finally won a fight it's 7-1 to the reds corner guys and gareth bale dave not mint in his words ken cameron and his books is a future superstar if he can show what he's made of here tonight that coming up on our main card tonight 10 o'clock on channel 5 but right now time to crack on with our preliminary matches a welterweight contest as eon pascal takes on stefano paterno ladies and gentlemen coming to the cage from italy stefano paterno [Music] we learned a lot about stefano paterno in his brave and bloody battle against ashley reese in the land last year as he experiences something of a second coming in what has already been a long career his 18th professional fight may just be one of his most important he tries to back up that win against reese with another against the man who's used to making life difficult for those trying to do just that you cannot fault this guy's spirit gotta love him i mean that fight against ashley reese was phenomenal what a amazing atmosphere to do it too paterno's got big power throws himself into shots most guys genuinely want to take him down and i think that's what's going to be the case in this fight [Music] i know from romania juan pasco well it's a 29th professional fight for the romanian bomber ian pesco who is fantastically tough and intelligent and might have lost three of his last four but did so against quality opposition he was frustrated after his bellator fight in march was called off late so he's more than ready to try and be the dream breaker here one tough guy yeah the fights against lorenz larkin and you mentioned also the logan storley fight he couldn't get his wrestling going for different reasons i think that's essential here against paterno let's see if we can convert here this evening [Music] so here's the tail of the tape ian pascu and stefano paterno 13 years is the age difference apart from that they look evenly match these two quite a test for paterno time for us to get to our cage announcer craig stevens ladies and gentlemen bellator mma i'm very proud to bring you our penultimate prelim here at the allianz cloud this is three five-minute rounds in the welterweight division introducing in the blue corner at five foot eleven weighing in at 170.4 pounds his professional record 13 wins only three defeats one draw fighting out of milano italia stefano paterno and across the cage in the red corner at five foot nine and 171 pounds his professional record 18 wins 10 defeats fighting out of dublin ireland from his homeland of bucharest he is the romanian bomber young busco [Music] referee in charge dan bergliota a feeling i think that this one might just go the distance it will be very very tough between the massive eon pascu in those red gloves and stefano paterno you ready that battle in this very cage in this very arena against ashley reese was something else i'm looking for a fast start from paterno here tonight he doesn't want to allow pascu to get him into his zone pascu wants to slow it down and set up that single leg from the southpaw stance that is his game he has good kickboxing but for sure it's all about picking up the takedown from the southpaw position paterno knows this and frankly paterno style matches up well because like a lot of the teammates there at atletico boxer um like walter pulasi for example a lot of them fight very similar they're good on the feet they like to bang and they only want to want to sprawl and brawl so if you take them down they're good at getting back up but they want to keep it in the upright and throw hands there we go closing the distance and getting just what he wanted and getting it early too and getting it away from the cage yup spot on lazy single kick pascu gets the take down beautiful reaction from pascu he's a legit black belt in brazilian jiu jitsu too so it's not just the wrestling chops you gotta watch out for but here we go this is the game this is why this match was made paterno's good at getting back and recovering positions and back to his feet let's see if he can do it full guard very nice but pascu loves to grind he'll slow you down and just win round after round in these positions so the onus right now is on paterno to get back up to his feet of course the size of pascal is relevant as well he can he can wear you out from that top position if you allow him to good wrist control here all of these things are good but paterno can't hang out here and i don't see him submitting pascu off his back it's not to say it's impossible but the likelihoods of kind of where you'd want to be in the mma game against pascu are a not on your back and b not being taken down a minute in it's had a lot of time to prepare for this liam pascua took on lorenz larkin as a late replacement as he did ed ruth very much seen as that kind of fighter and he's a stepping stone for paterno here of course he wants to be a lot more than that thought about the spinning arm lock a moment ago did paterno but the elbow wasn't even close it was well beyond the fulcrum of the hips so again i mean it's just further evidence of my point that i don't believe that paterno wants to hang here and try to play bjj he's back up to the fence though so he can use this to get back up to the upright pascu knows this and just shuts him down smothers him it's not where paterno wants to be i do like the fact that paterno is creating a dynamic problem though for pasco he's not just accepting the takedown and hanging on but then again maybe he would be smart to just close up the guard pull him in hold on tight and look at the ref and say hey how long get the stand up because you can always ask that question can't you how much has tasker actually done in that in that dominant position paterno yeah he's working the past i like the standing and passing that's something i wish more fighters would do i don't like to hang out and tight but pascua's now using the fence to try to land and maybe open up some punches rather say land he hasn't really landed much besides a few shots to the body good work from paterno to kick him away i like the post on the hip but pascu is just so good here i mean i've just seen him win so many rounds like this quite a few fights have gone the distance as of late so it's not like he's not comfortable in this office he improvised a heavy bag in a field near his house during lockdown training in romania it went viral the pictures of that there was something incredibly old school about it which everyone loved yeah we've heard all sorts of stories right rooftop gyms training with your neighbor yoga all sorts of things fighters have been doing but hey you know everyone's been in shape tonight everyone made weight pascu looking to stand again and try to throw the legs to the side he's not landed any big strikes beyond some of those body shots but if nothing else this is an exhausting pace for paterno and that will only up open up further opportunities as this fight goes into later rounds yeah pasco spent much of that opening round in that position and paterno didn't offer enough to suggest that he had a claim to the round good start for pasco i think paterno's now really got to think about his striking game how he deploys that in this next round it does start on the feet it's a fresh start but what he doesn't want to do is throw something that allows pasco to get a hold of that take down because you know the writing is on the wall it's not like there was a mystery as to what this guy was going to try to do to you so i wasn't able to get any corner audio but i'm guessing that's to some extent what his corner has advised him to do here so round two iron pascu in those red gloves against stefano paterno home fighter from milan who needs to keep this upright if he can in this second round and give himself some confidence here get himself back into this big night for him again able to get the clinch some good kicks there from paterno but again he was throwing single kicks i don't know why he was doing that i mean for sure it's a good thing to attack the body for sure it's a good thing to set those up but this is really what you don't want because pascu can do this all day and i guarantee you if he's able to do this in the second round in the next round it's just going to be a clean sweep he'll stay busy enough as we saw in the last round and paterno doesn't have an answer and a lot of people criticize this in mma i mean we were talking about this earlier here tonight sometimes people look at these styles of fights and say why is the guy able to do that why won't the ref stand them up like why is this allowed and i'm of the opinion that if you go out there and you have the kind of wrestling to take a guy down and he doesn't have an answer he can't get back up then that's effective you know this is mma this is the mma game wrestling is the glue that holds all of these things together and right now paterno is stuck in misery for the second time in a row yeah it's the first m that's key it's mixed he can do what he wants within the laws that's what pascua is doing paterno is trying to find an answer here and he needs one it looks like pascua is maybe thinking about trying to use the can opener and pry on the back of the head to open up the guard a bit more short punches to the body all of this can open up the pass but i'd like to see him stand like he did earlier here we go getting his base up paterno thinks about going for an armbar you know sometimes guys do that too to bait the guy into going for a submission and that will open up a pass just like this [Music] stefano holding on to the figure four not gonna be able to finish it but you know you can use it to create a scramble in these positions but he's had to abort as pascua yeah this is one of the things he really loves the crucifix nice work from paterno did not accept that but then pascu just slides into mount windshield wipers right over with the left leg nice time escape there paterno bucked and pushed past quebec i think he caught pascua resting sometimes guys do that they they take an advantage they move from position to position and then they take a breather that's the time to escape nice stuff then paterno thinking about the heel hook a moment ago [Music] resets yeah still not able to get back to his feet still he's in that punishing position this is the game that pascu couldn't get going against lorenz larkin this is the game he couldn't get going as you alluded to against logan storley this is the game that a lot of guys just really struggle with and i mentioned during the walkout that for sure stefano and his teammates are really are well schooled in kind of that stand up and bang and defend the takedown style but there's levels to the game and pascu is a veteran he's 38 you know he's been doing this for a long time absolutely huge experience great fitness as well former romanian national wrestling champion remember this is a guy who who knows what he's doing on the floor is blowing a bit here as well [Music] well he's got big problems anyway but if pasco could get it to the ground in the final round that's it almost certainly that's it yeah absolutely that's a sentence he doesn't really want to see he's been able to recover guard i mean these haven't been completely uncompetitive positions you know he bucked him off when he got mount he attacked with the leg lock but pascu has done just enough here ooh nice that's a better attempt that's a much better attempt the elbow wasn't quite deep enough but it was deeper than the previous attempts again pascu maybe didn't quite expect it and those are often the best times you can feel it when you're grappling with guys you can feel when they maybe start to relax or when they maybe start to hesitate and those are the times to make the moves that was a better attempt i'll tell you what paterno has gone fishing a few times but pascua ain't letting nothing up he needs an immense final round here paterno there's john cavanaugh proud of what pesco has done so far [Music] just encouraging him for this final round now turn this into his kind of round pascus so far able to just completely shut down that game there's a method right to the madness and there's a reason why he's taking the fight into the space repeatedly not only because he has the upper hand because that just disallows what paterno is so good at nice sidekick very good pasco's got all those tricks too for sure but you know if if you're a good kick boxer and so is he but the gulf between the wrestling for example is what is much wider that's where you want to take the fight bear in mind that eight of pascu's ten defeats have been by decision ko'd once submitted once sense of the size of the paterno task here that's presuming he is 2018 down as i always say as far as judging in fight sports is concerned i'm presuming nothing pasco has his take down though and it was another single kick again that's exactly how he got taken down in the previous rounds that for me is one of the most important takeaways of the fight you've got to set those things up against a guy like pascu you should set them up all the time in my opinion but you can't just chuck it out there you have to mask it what you really can't do is make the same mistake three times you could do it once and learn from it but three times is crazy and it might just have cost him the fight i mean for sure sometimes those shots are wide open you can catch a guy cold but one would take a look at the data and one would see those patterns logically and probably think all right i'm not going to do that again half guard pascal nice and deep look at that head pressure and the shoulder pressure here that should open up the pass if he's staying with it here pascu is just so gifted at shutting down all four corners the hips the shoulders and it's all at a glacier's pace it's all kind of creeping and crawling forward sometimes grappling is is super dynamic and there's big moves or what seems like big moves are often lots of little things put together but pascu is just able to waltz his way forward here at a snail's pace but once he gets going once his pass gets going it's very difficult to defend he's already almost out of the way out he's going to slide out here i think he's almost pretty much in a quarter guard yep there we go that's the pass amazing that is pressure passing right there folks desperately trying to get back to his feet final two minutes of what has been a slow burner certainly and you see you see the way he stayed with it he was really deep with the underhook he controlled the shoulder and people say it all the time position before position or excuse me position before submission that's exactly what he's doing here right he's not attacking out of risk for anything unnecessary just staying with the flow that being said back to a leg attack see if stefano can do something here he's not quite deep enough on the lean the knee line it looks to me like pascal's gonna be able to walk out of it and spin yep there we go will that be the decisive spin if we head for the final 80 seconds it would be a first win in bellator for ian farsco and at the age of 38 it would be hard to deny him underdog in every fight but might just have caused the upset here the way he crowds the hips the way he walks forward just disallowing stefano any opportunities and he certainly had a few good moments here like you know he's gone for those leglocks he's gone for a few maneuvers but pascu has played things safe for sure in this fight and i think it's gonna be a clean sweep some dominant rounds here be hard to argue hard to see another way of scoring it paterno's into miracle territory i'm afraid here i think pascua's a bit too clever and long in the tooth to allow for any miracles yeah that punch there that short little punch it was all just to get a hold of him again he's got a one-track mind this fight but it was the right game plan it was the right thing to do and styles make fights we say it all the time it's a cliche for sure in mma but nothing um could be closer to the truth here in this one absolutely with his arm in the air and he won't find too many arguments about that this was the story of the fight pascu just entering getting in close getting a hold of stefano i think we're gonna see a kick here yep this was also key this was a key feature kicks like that pascu reading it like an open book and getting him straight down to the mat and a wink there as if to say yep i heard you coach game plan to the team yeah disappointing for paterno we haven't had the decision yet but i suspect it'll be disappointing the heavy bag in the field worked kept him fit pascua kept him on track and we just wait now for the announcement of the decision then we've got one more really interesting preliminary fight nicolas solly and george hardwick thinks he's won it maybe even feels that he knows he's won it craig is ready so to dan leota let's get there for the announcement [Music] ladies and gentlemen we go to our judges score totals judge saldamato 29-28 both judges doug crosby john vale 30-27 the winner from bucharest the romanian bomber on bus goal eon pascu then with a win by unanimous decision one of the judges scored it 29-28 but we'll leave that behind us it was the right result big win first in bellator for this immensely likable romanian and closer to um cracking fight there but we are getting closer and closer to our main car tonight ten o'clock on channel five headlines of course by the undefeated fabian edwards and he goes against costello van steenis i'll tell you what it got very heated yesterday at the weigh-ins [Music] middleweight division i'll do everybody a big favor just by shutting his big mouth up not only i hate him i believe that the whole division hates him that's all right that's cool i don't like none of them either you know i mean um i found the main card it's all middleweights and i fought a few of them be a be a beat all of them and um and everyone that want to fight me so i don't like any of them anyway i think he's nervous i think he's nervous he's gonna come out explosive and gas himself out i've said it it's a second round stoppage on my part i'm gonna go for the first round if not the first round he's gonna go for he's going down for the second second round and if he managed to survive third round he will be but he will he'll have a big beating there is so ex so much excitement surrounding that main event we are edging closer and closer to it fabian edward says he doesn't want to make any friends here in the middleweight division that could be smart i mean he's got a job to get dylan is that is moving closer and closer to a title opportunity yeah he wants to come in and and finish all these militaries no question that he is the best in the division and to do that he has to get through costello he's a smart fighter he's he's clinical he's dangerous from the ground he's dangerous striking and he sets up a lot of his shots and finishes with fence and then he jumps in with some explosive power big knees uh yeah it's going to be an exciting fight i mean fabian edwards is an exciting fighter undefeated no no right now can he walk out of milan 10 and oh it's going to be a big test for him though tonight it's going to be a step up in opponents favorite edwards there has been a lot of hype around this man a lot of excitement and he stepped through he succeeded against every challenge that's come we saw him there against mike sebas shipman who's also on our undercard tonight him looking to come back with the feature of both of the competitors in our main event costello van steenis though he is icy cold and he believes edwards has not gotten his head and he's going to shut him up yeah uh costello is ice cold he he's a killer as well he he wants to come out and hurt his opponents he's he's finished he comes everything he throws is with intent you can see him here against that finish against mike shipman it came out of nowhere those elbows and finished him so he's dangerous as well and it's gonna be a great fight yeah castella vance dennis you can tell from that weigh-in there's a lot of anger inside him this match has been building up for months and months it was supposed to take place earlier this year costello's had all this time to think about what he's gonna do he wants to rebound from that loss to john soldier he wants to show that he is a true contender in the middleweight division that is top of the card tonight ten o'clock on channel five but right now it's time for our final preliminary match here in milan it's gonna be a cracker as nicole osoley takes on george hardwick in a featherweight bout ladies and gentlemen our final prelim of the evening please welcome from england george [Applause] hardwick [Applause] tough night for his brother tonight the turn now of george hardwick two guillotines and those submission wins four wins in his last five big win against richard kiley last time he is a tough guy george hardwick and this one of the more eagerly awaited fights of the night our final prelim chris excellent kickboxing love is attacking jiu jitsu he's a really smart fighter very well trained well-rounded and always takes the fight where his opponent is weakest so i think in this one he's going to look to fight everywhere and probably take it down to the mat i know from italy nicholas solly [Music] thrilled us all with that remarkable triangle choke against dan cassell i know it had a lot of people purring in this very arena last year and solly is a thrilling talent as well 2-0 with bellator he says mma is his life he's everything and this would be a highly significant win if he could pull it off tonight he's emotional he's entertaining he's got lots of wild techniques throws things from odd angles the big question for me is can all of that explosive maneuvering overcome the very fundamentally sound george hardwick here tonight it's a big contrast of styles i think he's gonna go out there and try to get a quick start in go for broke the question is can hardwood weather the storm and expose it patriotic hairstyle quite a character taylor the tape then looks like this solid 3-0 hardwick five and one both young at the starts of their careers now stolley uses those long levers six foot two so well he's got a slight reach advantage as well it's a brilliant match this let's get to our cage and answer craig stephen ladies and gentlemen we are live around the world on bellator's youtube channel coming to you from the allianz cloud here in milan italy and this is our final prelim of the evening three five minute runs in the lightweight division introducing in the blue corner standing five foot eleven weighing in at 155 pounds even he has a record of five wins only one defeat from middlesbrough england presenting george hardwick the cage in the red corner standing six foot two and weighing in at 155.6 kilos he remains undefeated three and oh fighting out of dublin ireland by way of his hometown biella italia he is a nicolo the monkey king sully [Music] referee for this one mr dan murgliotta so nicolo soli and george hardwick here ready the monkey king crawls out of his corner and is ready to do battle he is a unique talent but hardwick is exceptional as well and it's already an explosive start on the feet hip yeah fast exchanges so far from both guys hardwick actually has a really strong background in kickboxing and muay thai so he will not feel uncomfortable here but i think we're going to see the ground game maybe looking to expose the back he's got a really good back take and a phenomenal rear naked choke attack so that would be a good option solu is a risk taker though he loves to entertain loves to be flashy and he's promising a performance here this evening foreign good lead kick there from hardwick wild isn't he solid great to watch yeah every single one of these shots so far has been thrown with uh evil intentions for lack of a better word the problem is solely was punching really nicely there in the end of his shots but he went in a little bit too deep here and now george gets the ground game going double unders we'll see if he can do something with it [Applause] george hardwick said that sorry fights immaturely and leaves large openings he's gonna take advantage of those excellent solely they're playing a little uchimata with the overhook hard work recovers thought about a foot sweep this is a great matchup this was always going to be a really fun fight the the pace that solely can put out is something hardwick was always going to be too happy to engage in and you're seeing that here both guys just working everything in the clinch we saw in the kickboxing to start the knees the exchanges of positions back and forth really entertaining stuff to see slowly creeping around here but hardwick with an underhook isn't going to allow him to get to the back i don't think did that mean sully's never gone past round two in his combined amateur and professional fights and here comes the back take this is one of the best positions for hardwick i thought in this fight he's got one hook in john kavanagh talking about the triangle you could hear it there i don't think hardwood's going to go for that i think he's going to try to stay a little bit deeper yep and then re-grip either for a body triangle there makes the correct adjustment with his hips and then gets the connection with the figure four he's got to maintain the position and not get dropped off as solely teepees up here smart from hardwick to hold on to the leg and collapse the frame that solely has put in place now stretching back out it's the back and forth sometimes you have to kind of go backwards a couple steps in jiu jitsu to regain the position that you fought so hard to get [Music] and asoli now tripods up and tries to shake him hardwick has to address that and that's what you're seeing here now he's going to go for the choke it looks to me like he's got the arm underneath the chin now he's had to re-uh lease it's fascinating to watch them upside down isn't it looking at their options hardwick in particular trying to work out the right way to break this man down there's a submission here if he can get a hold of that lag solely knows that squats back down hard work though that body triangle is a key lever in this position yeah hardwick just sticking to him it's a very very tiring position this for solly as well never underestimate that nice punches here from hardwork he's staying busy this isn't just a pure grappling matchup this is mma and he knows it so he's trying to do everything he can now he goes back to that leg i believe that's called the sulya of stretch someone on the internet is going to correct me if i'm wrong but that's the submission he could finish this there we go wow seconds to go such a thinking fighter isn't he hard you can see the process there from him and he's still thinking about it there he looks in absolute control of everything that he wants to do here george hardwick and sully needs to find some answers [Music] here [Music] [Applause] very interesting round so far cardiff was able to get the back like i thought he was going to go for and for sure neither father looked uncomfortable on the feet so solely i think he needs to get back to basics make sure he stays on the end of his combinations and doesn't allow hardwood to get that body locked because that was where it all went around hardwood was able to get him up to the fence and then of course get into that takedown scenario where the back take [Music] [Music] unfolded in the red eagerly awaited matchup they said it's not let us down hardwick on top in round one sully needing to respond here again another electrifying start i like how sully is mixing it up here giving some different looks staying behind that jab hardwick is walking him though to try to get to that fence for sure [Music] excellent jab there for and i want to [Music] using that reach for the first time almost in the fight i'd like to see him throw the uppercut a little bit more as well if he could set it up with those long arms [Music] hardwood continually walking forward he's got a very disciplined guard i mean that comes from that background and kickboxing and muay thai oh nice dig to the body there from hardwick solely's throwing back though i mean this is a fun fight because both guys were never going to feel uncomfortable trading in the middle in the pocket kick as well there from solly this is the differentiator hardwick went for the level change now looks to take him down out of the clinch and he passes cleanly here not quite actually no there we go solely regarding got that inverted donkey guard and attacking the leg now of his own hardwick stays with it and then gets the back take beautiful he avoided the leg lock attack now has both hooks in it's a dangerous position now this for solid this is where he found magic in the last round this is where he was able to really shut down solely it was the least competitive position hard work punching to try to open up that neck for the choke very smart and you see the way that he pulled the wrist stand to collapse the base of solely all of these things are a methodical dismantling if you will to open up that choke credit to sully though he's defending so far he defended a number of different attempts in the last round and and so far has proven he's able to do it again he really needs to turn hardwood to his right to relieve the pressure on that body triangle the figure four side of the lock if you will this is better now we can start to work it open there's a bunch of ways to do this one of the ways is you can step over the leg you can see now with the right leg he's stepped over hardwick's right leg he can hip in to make it uncomfortable and force the guy to release it but punching here to a guy who's on your back there's more efficient ways to do it in my opinion hardwick stays now with it going to the mount slowly bucks tries to roll he might be able to get out of the back here he nearly found a way didn't he sully [Music] hardwick now has an armbar he can roll through if he maintains control of that leg and kicks through he can go into an arm lock but he may opt to actually go for a triangle both are possible here he's just crossing his ankles and this crooked guard of sorts yep now he's going to go to the arm lock looking for it here hardwick [Music] he was going to kick through for the triangle couldn't achieve it now retains the guard the back and forth exchange of positions in this fight has just been awesome i was just gonna say what we're watching here is seriously good yeah very technical and scrappy but both guys just flowing back and forth hardwick couldn't get the hook in solely able to get the stand up you can see their minds racing as well yeah i'm struggling to keep up here speeches all of that said hardwick feels like he's having the better of it here closing seconds now of the second round here we go hardware cable to get him down off the fence nice very very nice i love the way he did that as well by sweeping out the back foot great round but a strong round for hardwick and i think sully has to come up with something a little bit more efficient because right now he's up the river and quite frankly he's losing this fight no paddle at the moment needs to find one surely hardwick 2018 and sully needs a massive final round here both so impressive in their own way [Music] there's something almost robotically good about hardwick yeah i agree he's such a well-trained guy and he's so good in so many different ways like he could kickbox in this fight if he needed to he could do a lot of different things because he's just so well-rounded and i think that's been the difference here is he's always prepared to take the fight wherever he needs to based upon how it unfolds in front of him because a guy like sully is so unpredictable and you just need to be able to have those things in your back pocket [Music] third and final round solly needs something massive here against the seemingly imperturbable george hardwick the moment he's heading the monkey king for his first ever defeat [Music] nice counter right there from hardware solely's going for broke here he's throwing some big shots which is good but i want to see him set those up nice right that was good good counter right hand there from solely the jab is going to set everything up but the thing is one of the things that i figured was going to be an issue with solely committing so hard to every single strike i don't want to say he's punched himself out because it's been a tricky pace as well on the mat it's not an easy thing when a guy's got your back for that much of two rounds at this point sully knows he needs something massive and decisive and momentum but my point is is he needs to set it up he needs to let that unfold yes time is your enemy at this point and the clock is running but throwing every single shot with all you have is just a recipe for hardwick to time himself and bide his time and get in and get to this position which is what he's done in the last two rounds i'm with you when the winning moment comes the moment you turn it around it may only take a split second but it's the minutes that you've spent building towards it but how many fighters do we see knowing that but still panicking and still trying to make things happen too quickly right hand from solly but great response from hardwick with that work to the body and then an elbow as well excellent body work there from hardwood you saw that wide open when suli's guard was high but make no mistake i think he's going to get him up to the fence and then get a hold of him just like this level change gorgeous beautiful takedown sucks his hips away from the fence puts him straight down to the mat this is what has won hard with this fight the willingness to adapt the willingness to go out there and not be one-dimensional little warning there to get your toes out of the cage to solly [Music] i'm liking the consistency of the work weight from hardwick he's never been too far ahead of himself the footwork follows everything whether it's his punches or his kicks or his wrestling everything is set up he's never out of position very fundamentally correct and he's been prepared for a tricky fight against the guy who's unbeaten you know a guy who's not been stopped that dig to the body again it was so well placed from hardwick and that too slowly went for a takedown he's tired i don't want to call it a lazy or a desperate takedown but hardwick read it nice sprawl and then now he's able to find himself in a dominant position on the mat so solely went in and hardwick sprawled and then converted now to a dominant grappling position himself and solely can go for these things like that you can box them in the ears but hardwick now just playing for time i think and why not you know you're clearly up on the scorecards you're up against a dangerous guy a guy who is tricky a guy who does have power and probably carries that power late in the fight just dismantle him piece by piece stay methodical follow the blueprint stick to the game plan keep doing enough he's done more than enough so far and take the back again here we are i said it during the walkout i felt that the back take was gonna be a vital thing in this fight [Music] he's trying to find a way out here even thinking about giving his back to open up an escape but hardwick is just all over him in the way that he goes up that's a good escape but hardwick then just skydives and stays super heavy feeling sorry for himself there sorry i think feeling his left eye and feeling that the world's against him as we head into the final 30 seconds [Music] by the looks of things he knows the way the wind is blowing and it's blowing the way of the man from middlesbrough [Music] hardwick back in seconds to go here a few good punches for good measure a dominant performance and i believe a dominant win on the cards for george hardwick here tonight sully's really disappointed you can see there the little shake of the head but hardwick knows sully knows he got better as the fight went on absolutely and for sure some 10-8 rounds i would say on the scorecards we'll see what the totals are but just great rounds here from george hardwick tonight and a tough test and some lessons learned i believe for solely here we see the exchanges on the feet and solely absolutely did have his moments you see the right hand landing there hardwick now responding with the body shots but i believe one of the key themes for this fight was hardwick's ability to close the distance take him down off the cage and get to the back here we see that double leg just bouncing them off the fence sucking the hips away very efficient performance from george hardwick here tonight super efficient and a winning performance as well surely yet another really good match on these prelims but one in the end that isn't that hard to score sorry the leaguered and beaten and i think he knows what's coming hardwick will move on and we'll be very gentle all three judges see this the same way 30 points to 27 going in favor of the winner by unanimous decision from middlesbrough england george hardway 30-27 was probably the best that solly could hope for george hardwick the winner of the final preliminary fight by unanimous decision he goes to six and one it'll be interesting to know where he goes next you

Channel: BellatorMMA

Views: 309,190

Rating: 4.849412 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: Cy4x3B_tZMo

Length: 226min 1sec (13561 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 26 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/0fiuco]

wait a minute are they in Milano?

[u/I_am_darkness]

It's really weird how the middleweight headliner is a buff white guy vs a skinny black guy.

[u/I_am_darkness]

Due to both timing and quality. Bellator Prelims feel like UFC early early early prelims. With their main card being the early early prelims.

[u/mcallyiowa]

Is the main event viewable in the US?

[u/I_am_darkness]

I hope the judges can see better than the commentators.

[u/I_am_darkness]

Alfie Davis is

Dollar Store Garbrandt

edit: he's quite good actually

[u/I_am_darkness]

It says 17k watching but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one.

[u/I_am_darkness]

Q: The beef is real? A: Yes it's very real Q: What don't you like about him? A: Everything

Okay so it's not real.

[u/I_am_darkness]

Slick submission by Scatizzi.