Bellator’s ode to the Japanese mixed rules cards went off on Saturday night on Spike TV, as the organization had their light heavyweight division on display with a title bout and a four-man tournament. The broadcast also featured some GLORY kickboxing bouts and the Bellator debut of Josh Thomson. Including the kickboxing bouts, there were seven lined fights on the card, and in true Bellator fashion, favorites ended up going 7-0 based on Several Bookmakers‘s closing odds. Favorites That Won After spending the majority of the opening round on his back, Liam McGeary wrapped up an inverted triangle from side control and submitted Tito Ortiz to retain his light heavyweight title. McGeary was fully expected to beat Ortiz as he closed a -840 favorite, but most thought he would hurt Ortiz to the body or submit him later in the fight when Tito had tired, not in the manner he did. It was a high-profile win for McGeary, but Ortiz’ success makes the style matchup for his next challenger Phil Davis a daunting one. In a twist, Phil Davis ended up taking on Francis Carmont in the light heavyweight tournament final, but that was far from the most shocking happening in the tournament. After submitting Emanuel Newton in the first round earlier in the night, Davis then proceeded to drop Carmont with a left hook and put his lights out with a couple follow up shots to earn a second quick stoppage and tournament title. Davis was a -570 favorite heading into the tournament final, and earned himself a light heavyweight title shot against Liam McGeary. Saulo Cavalari and Zack Mwekassa put on one of the better fights of the night, even if it wasn’t received particularly well by the MMA crowd. Cavalari used his more well-rounded striking game to earn a majority decision over Mwekassa, who really only presented his boxing as a weapon. Cavalari closed at -220 to win the inaugural GLORY light heavyweight title. Josh Thomson used his superior skills to overcome a size disadvantage against Mike Bronzoulis. Thomson was faster on the feet, a better wrestler, and far more technical on the ground en route to a third round arm-triangle submission. The finishing sequence was extremely slick, as Thomson slammed Bronzoulis and immediately transitioned to the arm-triangle, then proceeded to help Bronzoulis wake back up after putting him to sleep. What more could bettors ask for out of a -1050 favorite? Paul Daley didn’t light the GLORY ring on fire in his kickboxing bout against Fernando Gonzalez, but he did enough to earn himself a Bellator welterweight title shot with a unanimous decision victory as a -470 favorite. Yes, that’s right. Daley earned a title shot in a sport he didn’t compete in, by fighting in a different weight class than the title shot will take place in. That’s so Bellator. Phil Davis provided one of the few early bright spots on the Spike TV broadcast, as he submitted Emanuel Newton towards the end of the first round with a kimura to advance to the light heavyweight tournament final. The early portion of the round was slow, but as soon as the bout hit the ground Davis showed why he was a -345 favorite, and the prohibitive tournament favorite, continually dragging Newton to the mat until he got the dominant position and found the sub. Mo Lawal was the first fighter through to the light heavyweight tournament final after he won a clean sweep over Linton Vassell. Lawal dominated the first round with his striking, dropping Vassell on several occasions. A much slower second round was far closer, but even if the judges gave it to Vassell, the fight was rightly awarded to Lawal based on the strength of his opening round, and he cashed at -290. It was later discovered that Lawal suffered an injury in the bout and couldn’t compete in the tournament final.
