Bellator 131 Results: Will Brooks Becomes Unified Lightweight Champion

Tonight’s (Saturday, November 15, 2014) hyped Bellator 131 is underway from the Valley View Casino in San Diego, California.

The event featured a (supposedly) bad blood-fueled main event between former UFC light heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar. Ortiz looked to clinch early with Bonnar winging shots. Ortiz took it to the ground and got Bonnar’s back briefly. Ortiz clinched along the fence with the crowd chanting his name. Bonnar landed some decent strikes but Ortiz was the aggressor throughout, getting a late takedown to lock up the round.

Bonnar pushed forward at the start of the second, but Ortiz was there with his counter jab. Ortiz got a weak single leg takedown on a seemingly tiring Bonnar as the fight slowed only halfway through the second round. Bonnar snapped a counter left and they traded shots in the center of the cage. Bonnar had the edge in striking volume, but Ortiz drug him to the ground to take his back and ride out the round.

The last round saw more shots fired, with Ortiz using his wrestling at the start before they traded punches. Bonnar put up a good fight, but appeared to take more damage as Ortiz walked through most of his punches. Ortiz showed class by throwing up a double bird to Bonnar. Check it out courtesy of Gfycat:

Ultimately it came down to a split decision, with Ortiz taking it home and throwing his water all over Bonnar as he lay on the ground. Ortiz challenged him to a rematch, but Bonnar wouldn’t accept. Instead, he said that Ortiz was indeed invited to his barbecue, but that he’d only be serving “turdburgers.” Nice.

Interim lightweight champion Will Brooks took on former champion Michael Chandler for the 155-pound strap in a rematch of their Bellator 120 bout in the co-main event. It was a back-and-forth bout that Brooks may have been edging out with his accurate strikes and takedown defense, but the interim champ made sure there were no doubts about who the champion was.

Brooks beat Chandler with a fourth round TKO after he took a shot to the temple, waved his hands, and stopped fighting before eating a barrage of knees and punches in a very strange finish. Check out the stoppage from Gfycat:

Knockout puncher Melvin Manhoef took on kickboxer Joe Schilling, with Manhoef flooring Schilling with a relentless barrage of power shots in the first. But GLORY middleweight champion Schilling persevered to knock Manhoef out cold with a massive right hand in the second round. Check out the huge KO courtesy of Gfycat:

Mike Richman faced UFC veteran Nam Pham, finishing him with a ruthless first round barrage of punches only 46 seconds into the opening round.

Muhammed Lawal opened the main card against Joe Vedepo. Not surprisingly, “King Mo” used his smothering wrestling pedigree to take Vedepo down and swell his eyes with ground and pound. He was calm and confident in the second, wearing Vedepo down to score a third round TKO.

Bellator 131 Full Results:

Main Card:

Stephan Bonnar def. Tito Ortiz via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)

Will Brooks def. Michael Chandler via R4 TKO (punches, 3:48)

Joe Schilling def. Melvin Manhoef via R2 KO (punches, 0:32)

Mike Richman def. Nam Phan via R1 KO (punches, 0:46)

Muhammed Lawal def. Joe Vedepo via R3 TKO (punches)

Preliminary Card:

Joao Faria def. Ian Butler via R3 submission (arm triangle choke, 1:58)

A.J. Matthews def. Kyle Bolt via R2 KO (punches, 1:39)

Jonathan Santa Maria def. Ron Henderson via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

Andy Murad def. Bubba Pugh via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Nick Garcia def. Matthew Ramirez via R2 submission (guillotine choke, 0:56)

Jordan Bailey def. Alex Higley via R1 submission (rear-naked choke, 3:27)

Rolando Perez vs. Mark Vorgeas ruled split draw (29-27 Vorgeas, 26-30, 28-28)