Bellator 39 took place Saturday night from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. and the main event saw lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez improve his MMA record to 22-2 with a unanimous decision win over contender Pat Curran.
Despite going the full five rounds, it was pretty clear early on that Alvarez was the better fighter.
The champion peppered Curran (13-4) with punches to the head and body for 25 minutes but Curran was able to take the punishment. Alvarez also mixed in takedowns and shot attempts, which Curran defended well, but the challenger never seemed to poise a real threat.
Curran fought most of the bout reacting to what Alvarez was doing and that allowed the champion to dictate the style and pace of the fight.
In one of the featured bouts, Rick Hawn (11-0) picked up a split decision win over former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good (13-2) to advance to the finals of the promotion’s welterweight tournament.
Good looked to keep the fight standing but failed to push the pace while Hawn pushed forward and failed to land any devastating strikes. The first and third rounds were very close but the second round was all Hawn as he got Good to the ground and controlled him from inside his guard for the full five minutes.
Hawn will now face the winner of next week’s Jay Hieron vs. Brent Weedman semifinal bout.
In another tournament bout, Patrick Freire (9-1) advanced to the Bellator Lightweight Tournament finals with a knockout of veteran Toby Imada (19-6) in the second round.
Freire landed a flying knee to a ducking Imada that rocked him and “Pitbull” followed up with a trio of punches that put Imada out.
Freire will now face the winner of next week’s Michael Chandler vs. Lloyd Woodward bout in the finals of the tournament.
Former UFC veteran Ben Saunders (9-4) also earned a win on the night as he defeated Matt Lee (13-10-1) in a bloody contest that ultimately ended with a doctor’s stoppage in the third round.
Saunders utilized his strong muay thai skills, landing big knees and elbows that carved up Lee and a final elbow in the third round forced the doctor to step in after a cut was opened up over Lee’s left eye.
The win is Saunders’ second since being cut by the UFC.
Bellator returns to action on Saturday with Bellator 40. The main event is scheduled to be a non-title bout between welterweight champion Ben Askren (7-0) and Nick Thompson (38-13-1).
