clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Bellator 156 recap, video highlights and .gifs for 'Galvao vs Dantas' in Fresno

Bellator 156 'Galvao vs Dantas' took place June 17, 2016 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. MMA Mania brings you a post-fight recap, .gifs and interview highlights as Marcos Galvao put the Bantamweight title on the line against Eduardo Dantas in a long-awaited rematch!

By stevejuon
Bellator MMA

Bellator 156 "Galvao vs Dantas" took place last night (Sat.,June 17, 2016) at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The show was headlined by a Bantamweight title defense pitting champion Marcos Galvao against Eduardo Dantas.

This fight had been in the making for a while. Dantas knocked Galvao out in the first meeting between the two back when he was the champion in 2013. But ever since Galvao beat Warren for the title, two attempts to book a rematch had fallen through.

Was the third time the charm and did the champion retain his title?

Through the first two rounds Dantas was living the motto "speed kills." He left Galvao standing in awe of his speed, unable to do anything but react to the leg kicks and head combos Dantas threw his way. Galvao stayed planted on his left leg showing little to nothing in the way of footwork or striking, and every takedown attempt vanished into thin air.

In the third round the damage really started to accumulate in a negative way, swelling Galvao's right eye shut and leaving black and blue marks all over his left leg. By comparison Dantas looked as fresh as he was to start Round 1.

The fight should have been stopped after the end of the fourth round when Galvao clearly could not see out of his right eye any more, but neither his corner or the doctor made a move to do so. Dantas beat him up for five more minutes and took back the title via unanimous decision with lopsided scores of 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43.

To fill time, Michael Chandler talked about the Patricky Freire fight for the vacant Lightweight title next week.

"I'm excited to step in the cage with Patricky. I think he's gotten better since the last time we fought. He has dynamite in his hands. He's a scary dangerous opponent. I've gone over this fight in my head and there's a thousand ways I see myself winning. I'm gonna break him. I'm gonna wear him down. He will concede. I wish him the best, may the best man win, but I have a ton of confidence in myself."

In a bout in the Welterweight division, late replacement fighter Thiago Jambo took on former Tachi Palace Fights champion Chidi "Bang Bang" Njokuani.

Jambo had one strategy in this fight -- pressure Njokuani and tie him up on the fence to negate the height and reach advantage. That worked well until halfway through the third round when Njokuani finally overwhelmed him with a big kick, pounding out the stoppage on the ground nine seconds later.

Njokuani spoke to Jimmy Smith and let the profanities fly.

"Yeah yeah. I knew if I didn't get the finish my coaches were going to kick my ass. I felt him breaking so I knew it was my time to finish the fight. Shit man, anybody can get it, whatever whenever."

Another important fight in the Middleweight division saw former champion "Bull" Brandon Halsey looking to get back into contention while John Salter looked to keep his three-fight win streak in tact.

Last time we saw Halsey he was stunned by a liver kick from Rafael Carvalho. This time it was a head kick, slicing him over his right eye and turning him into an extra from Carrie. The doctor stepped in to check the cut and cleared him to continue, but Salter rocked him and Halsey went for a desperation single leg. He got what he wanted but Salter immediately transitioned to a triangle choke and tapped him out at 4:03 of the first round.

Salter spoke to Jimmy Smith after the fight.

"I put on a good show. He's a strong guy. I knew I had to come out hard and impose my will. Halsey pretty much cleaned out the division other than a body kick and I beat him in a round. I think I should be next.

"The Cutt" Chris Honeycutt moved up to Middleweight and avoiding a grueling cut to 170 to face returning Bellator tournament veteran Mikkel Parlo.

Honeycutt was tested in the first round as Parlo was striking aggressively and stuffing takedown attempts, but late in the round Honeycutt seemed to be catching up and scored a knockdown late. From that point on, Honeycutt consistently out-struck Parlo, landing flush knees when Parlo would charge at him wildly. And by Round 3, Parlo was tilting like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, eating rights hooks and left jabs whenever Honeycutt wanted.

The judges saw it in favor of Honeycutt to the tune of a unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

Honeycutt spoke to Jimmy Smith afterward.

"The game plan was obviously to throw some hands and get the takedown. He stuffed about 3 or 4 of them though so hat's off to him. He's a striker, he's a kickboxer, I'm a wrestler but I'm glad I got to showcase my striking. My hands looked good but my guard came down a little bit."

The televised bouts were paired with exciting "Prelims" action that aired exclusively on Spike.com.

Check out our live streaming Bellator 156 results RIGHT HERE to see who else made a name for themselves inside the cage tonight in Fresno.

Get the latest gear

More From MMAmania.com

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the MMA Mania Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your fighting news from MMA Mania