Bellator returned tonight for the first time in a couple of weeks. After a flurry of news that came out today, the promotion put it’s fighting foot forward tonight. In the main event of the evening, Phil Davis (22-5, 1 NC) and Lyoto Machida (26-10) went head-to-head in a rematch.
Seven years ago, the two men went to battle in the UFC. Davis won that fight, but most people believe Machida won that fight. The two men had a chance to settle the score inside the Bellator cage tonight.
Another Close Decision
Going into Bellator 245, I figured Davis would really try to be aggressive with his wrestling. Point striking with Lyoto Machida just doesn’t seem like the ideal strategy. In the first round of the main event, Davis didn’t shoot for one takedown.
Instead, he seemed content with striking from distance with Machida. To my surprise, Davis did a really good job of landing strikes in the first especially kicks up the middle. The first round could have really gone either way with Machida also landing good shots.
The second round was really strong for Davis. He continued to land decent strikes, but he stayed away from grappling outside of a brief exchange at the end of the round. Machida seemed like he was having a really difficult time pulling the trigger in the second round.
The third round saw a little reversal. Davis seemed to be watching more, and Machida was throwing a lot more. Davis had great success with kicks up the middle in the first two rounds, but completely abandoned them in the third. Machida scored more and easily won the final round in my opinion.
On the official scorecards, the judges gave the victory to Phil Davis by split decision. Machida landed more total strikes, but two of the judges gave the win to Davis. The win marks the ninth win inside the Bellator cage for Mr. Wonderful.
Bellator 245 News and Notes
Bellator 245 had an interesting night of fights. One of the things that stood out is that two fights ended in a no contest due to groin strikes. Besides that, it was a solid night of action from the promotion.
In the co-main event of the evening, Cat Zingano (11-4) used a heavy wrestling attack to defeat Gabby Holloway (6-6) in her Bellator debut. One of the shockers of the night was Ed Ruth (8-3) getting caught in a quick heel hook by Taylor Johnson (6-1).
Tomorrow night, the bantamweights will take center stage as Patrick Mix and Juan Archuleta battle for the vacant bantamweight title. Bellator is putting their best foot forward in a rare evening where they go head-to-head with the UFC.