Bellator 156 results: Eduardo Dantas bludgeons Marcos Galvao to reclaim bantamweight title

In a bout where he was seeking redemption, former Bellator bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas would find that and more as he outclassed previous teammate Marcos Galvao at the Savemart Center in Fresno, California.

Both fighters opened orthodox, but right away Galvao took center of the cage. Dantas would resort to switching stances and pawing from the outside while Galvao peppered his former teammate with inside and outside leg kicks. Less than two minutes in, Dantas tried to score a front kick and nearly lost his balance, but managed to get back to his feet on in a fighting stance without much issue. Towards the end of the first, Dantas's jab began to land with regularity, but not enough to back Galvao off of him.

In the second round, Dantas kicked things off by flashing his jab and trying to score with the occasional heavy combo, but early on, none seemed to really land. The former Bellator champion also began to respond to his former teammate by landing leg kicks of his own. Halfway through the round, Galvao made a lackluster attempt at a shot, but more than that, slowed down noticeably in terms of offensive output. As the round wore on, the outside leg kicks and right hand of Dantas slowly began to find the mark. The two would exchange three-punch combos, but it would be Dantas who would land more accurately.

Galvao came out aggressive in round three, but by this point, the speed and explosivity difference in favor of Dantas was apparent. The Nova Uniao bantamweight was able to both land and evade before Galvao was ever able to mount any sort of counter offensive. After the midway point of the round, Galvao's right eye is badly swollen as Dantas plows forward with right jabs and straight lefts. By the end of the round, Galvao is almost entirely on the defensive and while not in survival mode, he's also not far from it.

Right away in round four, Galvao presses Dantas into the fence and attempts a takedown, but can get nothing with it. On a second attempt, Galvao still gets nowhere to the point referee McCarthy is forced to separate them for inactivity. For the rest of the round, Dantas picked Galvao apart. Be it leg kicks or body shots or really anything else, Galvao simply took a beating.

Galvao's corner did him no favors and neither does the ringside physician before the fifth round as they continued to fight on. Dantas didn't pour on the offense quite as much, but enjoyed Galvao's inability to see to simply coast. He landed largely whatever he wanted, but didn't throw aggressively, even tying up Galvao towards the end of the round against the fence.

In the end it was academic, as the decision was given to Dantas, 50-45, 50-44, 50-43. With the win, Dantas reclaimed his Bellator bantamweight title.

In the co-main event, Chidi Njokuani faced Bellator newcomer Thiago Jambo. Jambo kicked things off stalking the American and eating a stiff jab for his efforts, but managed to find a way to stay in Njokuani's face. After about a minute, Jambo would do what most fighters facing Njokuani prefer, namely, to force a takedown. Njokuani would find a way to stuff it and the two resumed striking in the middle. After the midway point, Jambo forced Njokuani to the fence again, but was unable to accumulate much meaningful offense or a takedown. Towards the end of the frame, Njokuani began switching stances and trying to fire the jab, but only until Jambo pressured him back into the fence.

In the second round, Njokuani didn't do much other than stop the offense of Jambo over and over. It's the third round, however, where Njokuani got things going. The American landed a liver kick, which folded Jambo. On all fours, Njokuani followed up until the Brazilian rolled to his back. That only made the problem worse as Njokuani used savage ground and pound to completely put Jambo's lights out. The end came at 2:39 of round 3.

Former Bellator middleweight champion Brandon Halsey looked to get back on track, but came up short against former UFC fighter John Salter. Salter kicked things off - literally - with a head kick that glanced Halsey's head, which he turned into a near takedown attempt. The problem? It cut Halsey badly. Halsey would later attempt a single leg against the fence, but Salter easily stuffed it. About halfway through the round, the bout was halted so the doctor could examine the cut on Halsey's right eye, ultimately deciding to let it go. As Halsey pressed forward, he ate a series of single right hands and another high kick, which he tried to turn into a takedown. Halsey would soon score a takedown, but Salter locked up a triangle. Halsey, trying to pass, actually cork screwed into a tighter triangle, which forced the tap at the 4:03 of the first round.

The opening bout of the night pitted Bellator veteran Mikkel Parlo against top collegiate wrestler Chris Honeycutt. Honeycutt tied him up early and pressured him into the fence, but on his first attempt couldn't get much going and even ate an elbow on the exit. The former All-American wrestler would go back to fence pressure, but through the first half of the first round, found no success with his approach. Parlo lacks a wrestling background, but for much of the first round showed an excellent sprawl and strong defense against the cage as Honeycutt continued to pressure. Honeycutt would end the round as he started, trying to pressure Parlo into the fence, but finding no success. At the very end of the frame, Parlo stumbled to the mat, but there was no time for Honeycutt to react.

Honeycutt picked up where he left off, but could get nothing going again the fence early in the second round as Parlo showed ironclad takedown defense. Towards the middle of the frame, Honeycutt got Parlo to bite on a feint and slip, but Honeycutt couldn't take the back as he tried. In between moments, the two would exchange at range, neither of which landing with too much authority. Towards the end of the frame, Parlo would attempt a takedown along the fence, but Honeycutt stuffed it with relative ease.

The American would stick to his guns in the third frame, going back to fence wrestling while trying to land a strike on the inside or the pocket at any opportunity. Two minutes down, Honeycutt drove a knee to the midsection of Parlo and appeared to be ever so slightly gaining the edge in offensive volume. Parlo would attempt a last-minute takedown attempt, but Honeycutt stuffed it and turned the table by scoring the first takedown of the fight himself. The judges would ultimately score it in favor of Honeycutt via unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.