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Sunday, Nov 27, 2011

Bellator 59: Pellegrino announces retirement; Dantas takes bantamweight tourney

Freire (left) defeated Pellegrino (right) at Bellator 59

By FCF Staff 

After coming out of a brief retirement to take on Patricky Freire at Bellator 59 in Atlantic City, UFC veteran Kurt Pellegrino has once again announced that his fighting career is over, following a TKO loss tonight.

Shortly into the bout,  each man surveyed the other for an opening, before Freire dropped Pellegrino to the mat with a hard right hand. Although Pellegrino recovered quickly and attempted to take Freire to the mat, the referee brought the bout to a halt as the Brazilian punched at Pellegrino from above.

The UFC vet appeared to protest the stoppage immediately after, but when interviewed by Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith, Pellegrino stated that Freire had won the fight fair and square. The accomplished grappler also announced that he was retiring once again, following a retirement announcement earlier this year, after he lost to Gleison Tibau at UFC 128.

In the finals of Bellator’s bantamweight tourney, Eduardo Dantas entrenched a future title fight with champion Zach Makovsky by earning a unanimous decision win over Alexis Vila.

Vila controlled more of the action early on, by being the aggressor and taking Dantas to the mat. As the bout wore on, however, the prospect was able to negate the former Olympic wrestler’s takedown attempts and score strikes more often.

In round three Dantas managed to take Vila’s back, and although he was unable to finish the fight from the position, winning the round ensured the unanimous decision win.

Bellator also featured the finals of the promotion’s heavyweight tournament between Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos. Unfortunately the bout was ruled a no-contest, after Prindle was unable to continue following a low blow from Santos.

Here are the results for Bellator 59.

Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos declared a no contest (low blow) – R1, 1:24
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire def. Kurt Pellegrino via TKO (punches) – R1, 0:50
Eduardo Dantas def. Alexis Vila via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marcin Held def. Phillipe Nover via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Karl Amoussou def. Jesus Martinez via TKO (strikes) – R1, 2:20
LeVon Maynard def. Chris Wing via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Lucas Pimenta def. Doug Gordon via knockout (elbows) – R1, 0:40
Scott Heckman def. Brylan Van Artsdalen via submission (guillotine choke) – R1, 1:38
Gregory Milliard def. Brandon Saling via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

posted by FCF Staff @ 1:58 am
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