Connecticut's Exclusive MMA Coverage
For Connecticut Residents Who Love MMA
ARCHIVED STORY SUMMER 2015
Bellator welterweight strap
changes hands at Mohegan Sun
Several Connecticut fighters on the card
Douglas Lima, left, versus Andrey Koreshkov ready for battle on July 17 at the main event of Bellator 140, a welterweight title fight.
Photo by Nicola Faraone
By Brian Woodman Jr.
The five bouts that comprised the main card at Bellator 140 on July 17 were all welterweights. During the main event that evening in Uncasville, Andrey Korseshkov (18-1) of Russia won an unanimous decision against Bellator’s welterweight champion Douglas Lima (26-6) of Brazil and secured the belt.
The main card included Brennan Ward (11-3) of Waterford, who defeated opponent Roger Carroll (16-13) in the first round of a welterweight bout and was clearly a favorite of the vocal crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena. But Ward, who won Bellator’s ninth season middleweight tournament was by no means alone; five other fighters from Connecticut appeared on the preliminary card.
The event opened with Ilya Kotau of Danbury submitted Nicholas Seriocomic (1-1) of New London with a rear naked choke at 2:17 in the first round. The welterweight fight marked Kotau’s professional debut.
Southington’s Parker Porter (6-4), coming off two losses with Bellator, submitted fellow heavyweight Eric Bedard (6-6) of Providence, Rhode Island at nearly three minutes in the second round. Porter threw a few high kicks during a fight marked mostly by stand-up.
Blair Tugman (7-6) of North Haven made a strong showing in his fight with fellow bantamweight Kin Moy (7-2), who replaced Tugman’s original opponent, Rodrigo Almeida (12-2). But although Tugman dominated most of he fight, Moy submitted him about halfway through the third round with a triangle choke. Officials briefly stopped the bout during the second round when a cut opened near Moy’s eye.
In another bantamweight out that immediately followed, Remo Cardarelli (5-2) earned an unanimous decision over Billy Gaugamela (8-4). Bellator spokespersons confirmed that the bout was a “rubber match” with each fighter previously earning a win off the other.
Ryan Quinn (11-5) of Danbury submitted Waylon Lowe (15-7) of Philadelphia at about 2:45 into the second round with a guillotine choke. The bout was a 160-pound catchweight fight.
Kaline Medeiros (5-4) of Boston submitted Sarah Payant (1-1) at about 3:40 in the first round of a women’s bout. West Springfield, Massachusetts native Payant mounted a spirited defense during the flyweight fight, preventing guard changes and even attempting a guillotine choke from the bottom, but Medeiros secured a kimura
Dean Hancock (2-0), also of Danbury, earned a TKO victory over Alex Dunworth (2-2) at about 2:14 in the second round of an aggressive, fast-paced lightweight bout that ended the preliminary card. Hancock pushed the pace during the first round and tried to submit Dunworth twice. During the second round, the referee stopped the fight after Dunworth’s mouth piece flew out. Before officials could determine whether the lightweight fight should resume, Dunworth’s corner man and UFC fighter Joe Lauzon literally threw in the towel and relinquished the fight.
The main card opened with cocky Englishman Michael Page (8-0) landing a fast combination against Rudy Bears (16-14) of Missouri and walking away. As Page walked off, Bears fell unconscious to the canvas at about 1:00 in the first round.
The next fight ended in a no-contest between Paul Bradley (22-6) and Chris Honeycutt (6-0). Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight at about 2:41 in the second round after Bradley received a bad cut due to an accidental head butt. Cage side physicians eventually ended the fight.
Carroll dressed like a leprechaun when he entered the cage during the next fight. But his costume and stated plan to use his Jiu-Jitsu to his advantage didn’t bring him good luck in his bout with Ward, who is nicknamed “the Irish bad boy.“
Ward sustained an accidental kick to the groin that required a brief fight stoppage. But he recovered and eventually knocked out Carroll at 2:52 in the first round that stayed standing up.
Carroll left the cage on a stretcher. Bellator spokespersons later confirmed that Carroll is not seriously injured.
Englishman Paul Daley (15-8), who defeated Andre Santos (37-10) on Feb. 27 at Mohegan Sun during Bellator’s previous event in Uncasville, made a memorable appearance that evening. He defeated Dennis Olson (14-9) of New Hampshire by TKO at 1:12 in the second round. Olson scored a few takedowns against Daley but the Nottingham native pummeled him in round two, prompting the referee to wave off the fight.
After the fight, Daley had choice words for UFC alumni Josh Koscheck, who was sitting cage side and had cornered Honeycutt. Koscheck, who was recently signed by Bellator, earned a decision over Daley at UFC 113 in 2010; Daley took a swing at Koscheck after the fight ended, which caused hi to be fired from the UFC.
The five rounds of the main event did not please the crowd. Audience members catcalled as Koreshkov and Lima fought a cautious, conservative bout. Much of the fight took place on the ground, but during the last 10 seconds Lima attempted furious grounding and pounding. It proved to be too little too late at Koreshkov got the decision.
