Bellator 168 "Sakara vs. Beltran" took place earlier today (Sat., Dec. 10, 2016) at Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy. Italy's favorite son Alessio Sakara returned for his second Bellator fight in his native land, but the 18-11 (2 NC) fighter was put against an equally experienced and dangerous veteran in "The Mexicutioner" Joey Beltran at 17-13 (1 NC).
.@SakaraLegio makes his way out to fight in front of his home country of Italy! #Bellator168 NOW on @spike pic.twitter.com/PMLTAWl5nq
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2016
On a night where only one fight went to the second round, Sakara turned in one of the most dominant performances. The only flaw in his performance was a quick stoppage for an apparent eye poke, which Beltran quickly waved off to referee Jason Herzog, but may be should have taken his time. He rocked Beltran and got the stoppage at 1:20.
Jimmy Smith spoke to Sakara and his translator afterward.
"I fight my true fight, I have more power, thank you. When I fight in Italy, I'm not fighting alone, all of these people here are fighting with me."
Goiti Yamauchi made a quick turnaround after his one minute submission win in October for another lightweight bout against Valeriu Mircea in his Bellator debut.
Brazilian phenom @GoitiOfficial UP NEXT on @Spike! #Bellator168 pic.twitter.com/9N6LkSwpZo
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2016
There was a point in the first round where Yamauchi nearly paid dearly for that choice, as Mircea caught him with his hands and looked to pound on a clearly stunned Yamauchi on the ground, landing hammer fists that seemed to knock him out and wake him right back up.
Who comes back from something like this?! @GoitiOfficial, that's who. #Bellator168 pic.twitter.com/clE87AuNGG
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2016
Referee Jason Herzog chose not to wave it off and Yamauchi made a remarkable comeback, going for two arm bars attempts Mircea had to slam his way out of, then swept his way to the top to blast his opponent with right elbows. When Mircea kicked off the fence with his feet to survive, Yamauchi locked up a triangle for the tap at 3:33.
In his post-fight interview Yamauchi admitted he couldn't remember much of the fight.
"Actually I didn't see what was going on and I tried to recover. I have to thank my family and my coaches for getting me ready for all kind of situations. To tell the truth I don't remember but I'm here, I win, I won the fight. Jimmy, you know, you're watching all my fights in Bellator. I'm not here to be just a regular fighter. I want to be a champion. I want to face the best guys in the world."
Finally, late notice replacement Ed Ruth stepped inside the cage for his second Bellator fight in two months against local fighter Emanuele Palombi. Ruth (1-0) had little trouble with Palombi (5-2), taking him down at 25 seconds, passing to side control and full mount in rapid succession, then battering Palombi mercilessly until the stoppage at 1:33.
7 days notice. #Bellator168 @EdwardLeeRuth pic.twitter.com/vxBzJoZZFI
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2016
Ruth spoke to Jimmy Smith after his second win. Smith asked him to compare his performance to John Salter.
"You're always happy when somebody does good you know? If we're not trying to beat each other, who else are we trying to beat? We're definitely trying to go after everybody else in our brackets, but still you always want to push the other guy to make him want to do even better than you. That's why you can call us the Fab 5."
Light heavyweight fighter Philipe Lins scored a TKO win in his last Bellator bout and looked to repeat that performance against a late replacement fighter named Kleber Raimundo Silva.
Silva came in with a 12-7 record and a reach advantage that he tried to use early, but Lins rocked him with counter shots backpedaling that forced Silva to shoot for a takedown he didn't get. Lins ate him up with strikes the rest of Round 1 and had Silva retreating himself before it ended.
Hands being thrown NOW on @spike #Bellator168 pic.twitter.com/4HKEpgmeQG
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2016
In the second round, Silva turned the tables and rocked Lins with a perfectly timed right, swarmed him at 3:30 firing more right hands, and Lins started staggering around without falling down -- his face quickly becoming a bloody mess. When he finally stumbled to one knee referee Kevin MacDonald had no choice but to wave it off at 3:42.
In an incredibly one sided match, middleweight John Salter (12-3) was paired with Claudio Annicchiarico (1-4) in a fight that Salter still couldn't afford to take lightly given the one win his opponent carried was a first-round knockout. Salter did not make that mistake. He took Annicchiarico down 20 seconds into the frame, quickly transitioned to full mount, and pounded away until referee Jason Herzog made the merciful stoppage at 1:40.
Ground, pound and a barrage of these elbows, translate into yet another win by @JCSalter_MMA #Bellator168 pic.twitter.com/m8Ek21Gi8n
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2016
Salter spoke to Jimmy Smith after his big win.
"Bellator thank you for bringing me out to this beautiful country -- I had a blast. I'm the best 185er in Bellator. I'm ready for my title shot next -- Roll Tide. On the ground I'm the best there is in this division, so when I put them on their back I'm gonna sub them. I'm ready whenever wherever you guys are. I'm excited to be here and I'm excited to be back."
For complete Bellator 168 results and coverage click here.