The Bellator Season 4 Lightweight Tournament kicked off with a bang at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, and the Lightweights left nothing to the judges with all fights ending with spectacular finishes. The night saw Bellator’s Lightweight Tournament field get cut in half, with Michael Chandler, Lloyd “Cupcake” Woodard, Toby Imada, and Patricky Freire moving onto the Semifinals. Chandler kept his MMA record unblemished by defeating Marcin Held via a first round arm triangle submission in a battle between two rising MMA stars. Chandler, the former Division I All-American, displayed a viscous ground and pound prior to submitting Held in the closing minutes of the first round.
This was just the beginning of an action-packed Bellator 36.
Lloyd ‘Cupcake’ Woodard impressed in his Bellator debut showing excellent balance and takedown defense on his way to a second round TKO of veteran Carey Vanier. A Woodard left hook early in the second round left Vanier noticeably shaken, ‘Cupcake’ subsequently finished him with strong ground and pound to earn the TKO just 46 seconds into the round.
Last minute replacement Josh Shockley was no match for 2009 Submission of the Year winner Toby Imada, as Imada displayed his superior ground game by submitting Shockley with a text book armbar in the first round. Shockley had some success early when on his feet, but once the fight went to the ground, Imada dominated to earn the victory.
The night’s final fight was an absolute battle that ended with a Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire highlight knockout of ‘Razor’ Rob McCullough in the closing round. Freire dominated McCullough early, but couldn’t put the veteran away. McCullough came back strong in rounds two and three, but Freire answered with a huge right hand that sends the Brazilian to the semi-finals.
“We expected great fights tonight and we were not disappointed. Our Lightweights put on a spectacular show at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium tonight,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.
Full Results from Louisiana’s Shreveport Municipal Auditorium:
Main Card:
Patricky Freire def. Rob McCullough via TKO in R3 (3:11)
Toby Imada def. Josh Shockley via submission due to injury in R1 (1:19)
Lloyd Woodard def. Carey Vanier via TKO in R2 (0:46)
Michael Chandler def. Marcin Held via arm-triangle choke in R1 (3:56)
Prelims:
Chad Leonhardt def. Kelly Leo via TKO due to corner stoppage in R2 (5:00)
Kevin Aguilar def. Matt Hunt via TKO in R1 (3:02)
Booker Arthur def. Javon Duhon via submission due to elbows in R2 (2:31)
