‘Rare Breed’ Lands Rarer Finish at Bellator 38

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TUNICA, Miss. -- Richard Hale lived up to his moniker of “Rare Breed” by securing a rare submission in his quarterfinal matchup against Nik Fekete in Bellator Fighting Championships’ inaugural light heavyweight tournament Saturday night at Harrah’s Resort Casino.

Hale locked up an inverted triangle choke, a la Toby Imada, after the Xtreme Couture product shot in for a big slam. After a brief scramble, Hale reversed the position and ended in an upside down triangle position. Fekete stood up, but quickly went back to the ground. Hale tightened his grip, landed some punches to his opponent’s ribs and put him to sleep at 1:55 of the first round.

“That's a move you can't practice,” said Hale. “It presented itself, and I took advantage of the opportunity.”

D.J. Linderman won a slugfest over Raphael Davis in their quarterfinal light heavyweight tilt. Davis took control early in the first round with a tight clinch and heavy knees to the head and body. Linderman eventually broke free and tagged his foe with a combination that forced him to go for a takedown. Linderman secured a tight guillotine but Davis was able to escape as the period closed.

The second frame saw Linderman continue to have an advantage on the feet, where he tagged Davis over and over. Davis finally took the fight to the mat, and after some scrambling, locked up a kimura that nearly finished the fight, but Linderman held on until the round ended.

Linderman came out for the third round with hands blazing. He tested Davis’ chin over and over with a vicious left hand. Linderman then landed a left that puts Davis on his knees, turtling him up. Linderman pounded his prey’s ears until referee Jason Herzog stopped it at 3:40 of the third.

Tim Carpenter wasn't intimidated by Daniel Gracie's lineage, and willingly took the fight to the ground against the Gracie jiu-jitsu product.

Carpenter clearly had the advantage while standing, clocking Gracie with a fierce right hand that sent the black belt to the mat.

Carpenter then immediately jumped into the Brazilian's guard before taking mount and nearly securing an armbar. After being reversed, Carpenter stayed active on the bottom, going for another armbar at the end of the first.

Gracie took control in the second round, getting the fight to the ground after a brief exchange. Carpenter delivered a stout upkick that bloodied the Pride Fighting Championships veteran. Gracie stayed on top, but Carpenter was the more active fighter from the bottom, nearly securing a kimura at the end of the round.

The final stanza saw Carpenter land a left hook that dropped Gracie immediately. Gracie tried to show an offensive game from his back, but Carpenter’s top-game was true.

In the end, the judges scored the bout 29-28 for Gracie and 29-28 (twice) for Carpenter.

Following he bout, Carpenter said he was sure he had the advantage standing up, but was excited for it to go to the ground.

“Coming from a jiu-jitsu background, it was awesome for me to fight a Gracie,” Carpenter said. “I got close to a couple attempts, but he got out.”

Christian M'Pumbu came from behind to stop Chris Davis late in the third round with knees to the body and heavy punches from underneath.

Davis was winning the fight going into the final frame with a solid ground game and superior wrestling. He was rarely in a bad position, but he had to fend off triangle attempts at the end of the first and second periods.

Going into the third, both men were clearly gassed; Davis moreso. M'Pumbu took advantage and lit Davis up early with some stiff combos, bloodying Davis's face. Davis turtled up, and M'Pumbu took advantage with vicious knees and punches from underneath that forced referee Mike Cain to stop the contest at the 3:34 mark.

The much-ballyhooed Bulgarian prospect Blagoi Ivanov made short work of William Penn in his Bellator debut. The end came at 2:58 of the first round, when Ivanov staggered Penn with a heavy left hand. The shot sent Penn staggering away. Ivanov followed up with another crushing left hand from behind that dropped his opponent, prompting referee Cain to stop the duel.

Amaechi Oselukwue earned a hard fought decision over Abe Wilson in their feature middleweight contest with superior wrestling and grappling skills. Oselukwue won with 29-28 scores across the board.

Cody Donovan pressured Brian Albin with takedown attempt after takedown attempt in their light heavyweight matchup Saturday night to secure a unanimous decision win with three 30-27 scorecards.

Jake Underwood and Tim Galluzzi stood toe to toe at the beginning of their 150-pound catchweight bout, trading big shots. Galluzzi then took the action to the floor and was triangled by Underwood at 1:04 of round one.

In the evening’s final postliminary contest, lightweight Austin Lyons applied a triangle of his own to coax a tap out from Jimmy Van Horn in 130 seconds.

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