Douglas Lima Knocks Out Andrey Koreshkov to Reclaim Bellator Welterweight Title
Just as the entire world of mixed martial arts was hitching itself
to the Andrey
Koreshkov bandwagon, along came Douglas
Lima to knock it over and send it tumbling into a ravine. The
Brazilian had proclaimed for weeks that he was going to exact
revenge against Koreshkov and he did. Impressively.
Koreshkov first met Lima nearly two years ago at Bellator 140 and with Lima coming off a serious knee injury, the Russian dominated him and won a lopsided unanimous decision. The effort allowed “Spartan” to snatch Lima’s welterweight title. Koreshkov looked sensational in his first defense where he trounced former World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Benson Henderson, but still, Lima vowed that he was going to prove to everybody what he would do to Koreshkov at 100 percent strength.
As it turned out, in the main event of
Bellator 164 in Tel Aviv, Israel, (online betting) Lima was correct and he took home what
he believed was truly his: his 170-pound title. After a tactical
affair for two rounds, Lima engaged his rival in a shoot-out in the
third. Koreshkov was pressing the issue and backed “The Phenom”
into the cage, but when he swung freely for a potential knockout,
he left himself wide open for a perfect counter left hook. The
punch instantly iced Koreshkov, who fell onto his back, completely
out. The end officially came at 1:21 of the third.
In the co-main event, Noad Lahat was too much for Scott Cleve to deal with and the American Kickboxing Academy fighter got the fight to the ground and quickly applied a rear-naked choke. Cleve tried his best to escape but couldn’t, and had to tap out at the 2:26 mark.
Lena Ovchynnikova used superb cage generalship against Karla Benitez and was the better striker of the two. Benitez could never find a consistent rhythm and wound up losing all three rounds on the cards. Ovchynnikova officially won via unanimous decision.
Finally, Georgi Karakhanyan earned himself a TKO victory over Kirill Medvedovsky when the Israeli fighter suffered a shoulder injury, ending the fight. The end came officially at 3:40 of the opening frame, allowing “Insane” to win his second consecutive bout.
Koreshkov first met Lima nearly two years ago at Bellator 140 and with Lima coming off a serious knee injury, the Russian dominated him and won a lopsided unanimous decision. The effort allowed “Spartan” to snatch Lima’s welterweight title. Koreshkov looked sensational in his first defense where he trounced former World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Benson Henderson, but still, Lima vowed that he was going to prove to everybody what he would do to Koreshkov at 100 percent strength.
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In the co-main event, Noad Lahat was too much for Scott Cleve to deal with and the American Kickboxing Academy fighter got the fight to the ground and quickly applied a rear-naked choke. Cleve tried his best to escape but couldn’t, and had to tap out at the 2:26 mark.
Lena Ovchynnikova used superb cage generalship against Karla Benitez and was the better striker of the two. Benitez could never find a consistent rhythm and wound up losing all three rounds on the cards. Ovchynnikova officially won via unanimous decision.
Finally, Georgi Karakhanyan earned himself a TKO victory over Kirill Medvedovsky when the Israeli fighter suffered a shoulder injury, ending the fight. The end came officially at 3:40 of the opening frame, allowing “Insane” to win his second consecutive bout.
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