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Bellator 207 was an excellent event with a brilliant card from every point of view, and the show did not disappoint at all with what it achieved.
Now Bellator 208 looked to pick up from where the event left off the very next night. The back-to-back events from Bellator headlined by the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament semi-finals come days after the chaos of UFC 229 and Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
Bellator 207 was a refreshing change after that, with fighters showing each other a lot of respect in their fights, something that was drastically missing in the UFC 229 main event. However, now that Bellator 207 is gone, Bellator 208 was one where the two fighters don't have much respect for each other; or at least one of them does not.
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[You can check out all the results from Bellator 207 right here]
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While Fedor Emelianenko [Read: The Truth about Fedor Emelianenko] has held his respectful silence, as usual, Chael Sonnen [Read: The Real Chael Sonnen?] has not returned the favour. He played the American card, saying that Fedor was from Russia and that the United States audience was stupid for still continuing to support him. The loudmouth 'American Gangster' came into the pay-per-view looking to win the semi-final and make his way into the final of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix to face Ryan Bader.
You can read the Bellator 208 preview right here.
Before heading into the main card of the night, let's take a look at what happened in the Preliminary Undercard during Bellator 208.
Undercard:
- Jennifer Chieng vs. Jessica Ruiz: Jennifer Chieng defeated Jessica Ruiz via TKO (1 Minute and 22 Seconds, Round 1)
- Shaquan Moore vs. David Meshkhoradze: David Meshkhoradze defeated Shaquan Moore via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- Jerome Mickle vs. Nick Fiore: Nick Fiore defeated Jerome Mickle via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Christian Medina: Zarrukh Adashev defeated Christian Medina via TKO (1 minute and 8 seconds, Round 1)
- Ryan Castro vs. Dennis Buzukja: Dennis Buzukja defeated Ryan Castro via KO (2 minutes and 53 seconds, Round 1)
- Mike Diorio vs. Andrews Rodriguez: Andrews Rodriguez defeated Mike Diorio via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jeremy Puglia vs. Eric Olsen: Jeremy Puglia defeated Eric Olsen via TKO (3 minutes and 16 seconds, Round 1)
- Suhrob Aidarbekov vs. Tommy Espinosa: Tommy Espinosa defeated Sukhrob Aydarbekov via submission (Armbar, 1 minute and 27 seconds, Round 1)
Without any further ado, let's get into the results from the main card of the night.
#1 Henry Corrales vs. Andy Main
Round 1: Henry Corrales showed everyone why he was the proven fighter that he is, when he managed to stop Andy Main in his tracks. The fight did not have the friendliest starts with no glove tap. Main was peppered with body shots. Despite not being the smaller opponent, Main could not take advantage in the first round. Near the end of the first round, Henry Corrales brought shots to the head of Andy Main as well.
Round 2: Main looked to come out swinging and actually landed a big blow, but Corrales walked through it nonetheless. He then followed up with his own big left at 1 minute into the fight, and another shot a bit later. Main gets a takedown but Corrales gets up immediately. The two exchange blows, with Corrales getting a left hook, body, head, body, shot heading out of round 2.
Round 3: Corrales came out swinging this time, and Main took advantage of him with a leg kick and big one on the chin. Corrales hits the leg kick and a chin blow both of which hurts Main. Main's right leg was hurt and Corrales took advantage with a left and knocked Main out with rights on the ground.
Result: Henry Corrales defeated Andy Main via Knockout (2 Minutes and 8 seconds, Round 3)
#2 Cheick Kongo vs. Timothy Johnson
Round 1: Cheick Kongo has been on the rise for a long time, and going against Timothy Johnson, the training partner of 'Big Country', the fans were in for an interesting fight.
Timothy Johnson came out swinging in the first round immediately, but there was nothing that was about to happen other than a Kongo win. Johnson got stunned by a shot that went on the top of his head and went down. Kongo hit some big blows on the downed Johnson before the fight had to be stopped by the referee immediately.
Johnson's head and hands were trapped and he could not defend himself from the blows being rained down on him by his opponent. This was Kongo's second quick knockout first-round win in a row.
Result: Cheick Kongo won via KO (1 Minute and 8 seconds, Round 1)
#3 Alexander Shlemenko vs. Anatoly Tokov
Round 1: Shlemenko tried to maintain his distance, avoiding big shots and jumping back to make sure he is not hit with the leg kick, and threw his own body kicks. Tokov tried to hit Shlemenko, but he came back with a spinning elbow. The two clinched on the cage and on the second attempt, Tokov got a takedown. Shlemenko managed to get up and tried a spinning back-fist after a while. It was not to be as he could not connect with Tokov. The round closed off with knees from Tokov.
Round 2: Shlemenko hit a groin kick which made the crowd flinch, as Tokov got time out to recover. Tokov hit Shlemenko with a big right but did not follow up. Tokov hit Shlemenko had a head-lock for a second but could not take advantage of it. Tokov hit the hook, while Shlemenko got the kick. The second round was pretty equal, but the groin shot had Tokov shaken a bit.
Round 3: Tokov landed knees into Shlemenko. A spinning backfist from Shlemenko missed, but a Tokov Right Hook connected and then Tokov hit another Head Body shot, leaving Shlemenko shaken. Tokov destroyed Shlemenko with repeated shots. He avoided a spinning fist and took Shlemenko down immediately with the back. The rest of the round is a story of complete control by Tokov, as each time that Shlemenko got up, Tokov brought him back down.
Result: Anatoly Tokov defeated Alexander Shlemenko via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
#4 Benson Henderson vs. Saad Awad
Round 1: The two fighters came out into the fight with a few big quick body kicks. The two spent a lot of time avoiding each other's shots. The two kept at it, and they went to the ground as Henderson took down Saad Awad and tried to rain down blows on his opponent. Henderson had the advantage on the ground.
Henderson took the back of Awad and tried to get the hook in. Awad avoided it, but Henderson stayed on his back. Awad came up instead and tried for the D'Arce choke. Henderson got up and went for the pound. The round came to an end as Henderson tried to stomp Awad.
Round 2: Awad did not seem to get hurt by Henderson's heavy kicks, urging him to bring it on. Henderson hit a good combo and then a big left hand. Henderson got the takedown, but Awad reversed that. Awad went for the D'Arce again, but Henderson got on top and went for the right hands on Awad, pushing him against the cage.
Awad spent most of the time breathing heavily as he was left down on the ground, grinding to get back on top. Henderson hit a big knee and maintained his position on top. Henderson locked in a choke with 20 seconds on the clock, but Awad lasted the round somehow.
Round 3: Benson Henderson took down Awad, leaving his opponent scrambling to get to his feet. Henderson hit the ground and pound by taking the back of Awad. The two were broken up by the referee because Henderson grabbed the cage.
The two went back at it with big shots and takedown attempts. Awad got a big running hand which saw Henderson fall back, but Awad could not follow through. Instead, Henderson got the takedown on Awad and tried to get the D'Arce choke. Henderson took the back with 15 seconds to go and locked in the Rear Naked Choke, but Awad survived it.
Result: Benson Henderson defeated Saad Awad via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
#5 Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen
Round 1: The two fighters started fast, as Fedor took Chael down. He did not follow through and allowed Chael to get up, as he took Chael down again with another shot immediately. Chael got up, and was thrown down by Fedor. Fedor was taken down by Chael, but he immediately reversed and was on top. Fedor threw Chael to the ground.
The Russian legendary fighter clashed with Chael, as Chael tried to get his back and hook in. Fedor rolled Chael around instead and started pounding him. Fedor got up again and avoided a left by Chael. Chael took Fedor down and got on top of Fedor. They maintained the position in the 4th minute of the fight.
Fedor rolled around but he was put into full guard. Fedor got up and allowed Chael to get up before dropping him with a couple of big fists. He positioned himself on top of Chael and then went for the pound as Chael could do nothing to him. That was all she wrote, as Fedor showed why he was a legend by busting him open and keeping on pounding until the referee stopped him.
Chael moves on to face Ryan Bader in the final of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix!
Result: Fedor Emelianenko defeated Chael Sonnen via Knockout (4 Minutes and 46 Seconds, Round 1)
