Bellator 126 took place tonight at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, and the main card overall provided a decent night of excitement for both the fans at the venue as well as those watching on SPIKE. Overall from a betting perspective, all four betting favorites won based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. Bellator Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Brandon Halsey defeated Alexander Shlemenko via first-round submission (rear-naked choke) to become the Bellator middleweight champion. Halsey found a way to get Shlemenko’s back in the opening seconds of the fight and Shlemenko was forced to sleep soon after. Halsey was a -115 favorite (bet $115 to win $100), while Shlemenko was a +105 dog (bet $100 to win $105). In the co-main event of the evening, Marcin Held defeated Patricky Pitbull via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26) to win the Bellator lightweight tournament. The first round was very close but Held outworked Pitbull with his submission attempts off the bottom to edge the round out. Then in the second round Held got the fight on the ground and clearly took it with his top control and sub attempts and ground and pound. Then in the third Held got the takedown once more and beat up Pitbull on the ground to easily take the third round and the win altogether. He cashed as a -130 favorite while Pitbull was a +120 dog. In a featherweight bout, Bubba Jenkins defeated Thiago Meller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2). The first round consisted of Jenkins outstriking Meller on the feet and then landing a takedown which was countered by a tight guillotine by Meller off his back. Jenkins was able to surive it and win a close round one. The second round was more of the same, with Jenkins mixing in his striking and wrestling to clearly take it 10-9. Then in the third round Jenkins turned up the heat and used his ground and pound to hurt Meller on the ground. Overall, a nice win for Jenkins, who continues to move up the Bellator ranks. He cashed at -400, while Meller lost as a +355 dog. In a bantamweight bout, Mike Richman defeated Ed West via first-round KO (punches). The two bantamweights exchanged for the first few minutes of the fight, with each man landing a variety of strikes, but it was clear early on that Richman had more power. And that power eventually emerged in the first, as Richman sent West back to the Wild West with a brutal KO stemming from punches. The win should net Richman, who was making his 135lb debut, a top-five bantamweight opponent in his next fight. Richman was a -230 favorite at closing, while West closed as a +210 dog.
