Bellator 117 Results: Douglas Lima Realizes Dream, Wins Welterweight Championship
Bellator 117 took place on Friday night at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where Douglas Lima dominated en route to winning the welterweight championship vacated by Ben Askren.
After some back and forth trading of punches in the first round, Lima chopped away with leg kicks and landed the first real damage of the fight by launching a low kick that took out Hawn’s left leg, sending him to the canvas. Hawn got up, but a few moments later Lima sent him down once again courtesy of a low kick followed by a knee to the face. He unloaded with several punches and elbows, but couldn’t land a finishing blow.
Hawn had no answer for the leg kicks, so Lima continued to launch them with devastating effect, frequently sending Hawn to the mat in the second stanza. With just under two minutes left in the round and Hawn once again crashing to the canvas, Hawn’s corner waved off the fight, calling a halt to the drubbing their fighter was taking.
“I know how dangerous Rick is, that’s why I wasn’t rushing,” said Lima, who methodically chopped Hawn down.
“I trained hard for this. It’s been a long, long road. I realized my dream.”
Marcin Held fought his way into the lightweight tournament final for the second time during his Bellator tenure. Known for his leg locks, Held certainly attempted several, especially during the opening round, but they weren’t what ended Derek Anderson’s night.
Instead, Held finished the fight with a triangle choke in the second round, marking the first time in his submission-heavy career that he finished with such a hold.
In a welterweight feature fight, Karl Amassou defeated David Gomez, although he didn’t do enough to win over all of the judges. Amassou got the nod from two of the three judges, however, to win the fight 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29.
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire also made his way to the lightweight tournament final by defeating Derek Campos. He had to wade through a tough opening round of back-and-forth boxing, but dropped Campos twice in round two.
Freire dropped Campos the second time with a knee followed by a couple of punches, and then dropped into full mount to finish the fight with a flurry of punches.
Freire will now square off with Held as part of the Bellator PPV prelims on Spike TV on May 17 to determine a new lightweight championship contender.
Bellator 117 Results
Marcin Held def. Derek Anderson by Sub (Triangle Choke) at 3:09, R2
Karl Amassou def. David Gomez by Split Dec (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Patricky Freire def. Derek Campos by TKO (Punches) at 0:52, R2
Martin Brown def. Jared Downing by Unan Dec
Larue Burley def. Cliff Wright Jr. by Unan Dec
Joe Vedepo def. Ben Crowder by TKO (Leg Injury) at 0:48, R1
Anthony Smith def. Victor Morena by Sub (Triangle Choke) at 0:59, R2
Julio Cesar Neves def. Josh Arocho by TKO (Strikes) at 2:37, R2
Matt Uhde vs. Houston Alexander
Ryan Jensen vs. Mark Stoddard
