Bellator 209 (11/15/2018)

**Sanity Check** · 11-15-18, 07:30 PM

Bellator 209 Main Card Spoilers:

145: Patricio Freire (28-4, Bellator champ, #7 World) UD5 Emmanuel Sanchez (17-4, #13 World) – 5 round title fight

This was the one bout of the evening that savvy fight aficionados could watch find streaming on Facebook via fan-provided cell phone camera. A tactical 25 minute contest that saw Patricio Pitbull and Emmanuel Sanchez tied on two judges’ scorecards heading into the fifth round. That’s when Pitbull kicked it into gear, smashing Sanchez on the feet early in the round before threatening to finish from the back (and seriously battering Sanchez’s face). The challenger toughed it out to the final bell but had to settle for staying un-finished in his pro MMA career. Freire, meanwhile, notched his fourth Bellator featherweight title defense and reaffirmed his position as one of Bellator’s homegrown greats.

170: Ryan Couture (12-6, #288 World) UD3 Haim Gozali (8-6)

Ryan Couture won his not-so-highly anticipated rematch versus 45 year old Israeli Haim Gozali by unanimous decision, the same result as their first meeting in June 2017. Couture advanced to 4-3 in Bellator, with his most notable victory a round 1 submission of recent Johny Hendricks slayer Dakota Cochrane.

205: Vadim Nemkov (10-2, #14 World) SD3 Phil Davis (19-5, #3 World)

There’s a hot new prospect in Bellator’s light heavyweight title picture after Bellator 209, as Vadim Nemkov managed to edge a split decision over former Bellator champ and longtime UFC star Phil Davis. Nemkov, 26, has picked up three straight wins in Bellator including a round 3 TKO of another former champ Liam McGeary. It’ll be interesting to see how this contest played out, but that run of results should be enough to put Nemkov on the cusp of a title shot after reigning champ Ryan Bader’s heavyweight Grand Prix aspirations are sorted out versus Fedor in January.

https://mma-today.com/bellator-209-s...-from-tel-aviv