Brandon Halsey (photo via Bellator)

By FCF Staff

Brandon Halsey needed less than a minute to end the championship reign of Alexander Shlemenko tonight at Bellator 126, as the decorated wrestler choked out the renowned middleweight in just 35 seconds.

Halsey put Shlemenko to sleep with a rear-naked-choke, and in doing so, became just the second man in 15 bouts to defeat the Russian vet. Shlemenko was coming off a technical submission loss to Tito Ortiz heading into tonight’s card.

Here are the results from Bellator 126, which was hosted Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bellator 126

Middleweight Championship

Brandon Halsey def. Alexander Shlemenko via technical submission (rear-naked choke) R1, 0:35

Marcin Held def. Patricky Freire via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)

Bubba Jenkins def. Thiago Meller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Mike Richman def. Ed West via KO (punch) R1, 2:44

LaRue Burley def. Raymond Pina via submission (guillotine choke) R2, 0:22

Clifford Starks def. Jacob Ortiz via technical submission (guillotine choke) R2, 0:52

Nick Rossborough def. Ryan Martinez via TKO (injury) R1, 5:00

Joe Taimanglo def. Michael Parker via unanimous decision

Dan Charles def. Stuart Austin via KO (punches) R3, 0:18

Derek Campos def. Estevan Payan via KO (punch) R1, 0:31

Brandon Girtz def. Benny Madrid via TKO (punches) R1, 0:57