Bellator MMA 139 Live coverage and results: Alexander Volkov vs Cheick Kongo

By Paul Fontaine, WrestlingObserver.com

Fun show tonight that should have some knockouts and skilled fighting, pretty much all you can ask for if you’re an MMA fan. After last weekend’s record rating, this show should settle into “normal” levels for Bellator but the action may actually be better. But it won’t be without it’s spectacles.

Joe Schilling is just about the most exciting 2-4 fighter you’re ever going to see on a national stage. David Rickels has the most outlandish entrances this side of Mayhem Miller, and we’ve got two clubbing heavyweights in the main event of what should be a slobberknocker. 

We’ll have live coverage of the show starting at 9 pm eastern but if you’re jonesing for some MMA before that, Spike.com will air a fairly strong prelim card, featuring former main card fighters Bubba Jenkins and Javy Ayala. I’ll have blow by blow over at MMADraws.com and I’ll also post the results here, and I’ll be back here for the main card when it kicks off on Spike!

We  are live on Spike!

The Featherweights are up first.

Pat “Paddy Boy” Curran (20-7) vs Emmanuel “El Matador” Sanchez (10-1)

Big John is the ref. Curran is coming off consecutive losses for the first time in his career. Sanchez took the first on short notice. Sanchez landing a lot of leg kicks. Curran landing more punches but Sanchez controlling the pace. Curran with a nice combo that rocked Sanchez with about a minute left. 10-9 Curran

Accident clash of heads early in the 2nd and the ref stops the action to look at it. Sanchez is cut pretty bad  and the doctor is called to look at it. It’s allowed to continue. Curran gets a takedown right off the break. Sanchez up quickly. Sanchez more active on his feet and controlling the pace but it looks like he’s missing a lot of his strikes. Curran throwing less but far more efficiently. Sanchez knocked Curran down with a punch that may have been a slip at 4:00. Curran with a late takedown that may clinch the round. 10-9 Curran

Strikes were 61-29 Curran through 2. Sanchez still pressing but Curran controlling himself nicely and picking and choosing his shots. Curran with a takedown 1:00 in. Curran now with some swelling over his right eye. Curran landing hard elbows from the top. Curran getting close to mount and takes the back at 2:45. Curran goes for a guillotine but loses it and position and they’re back on their feet at 3:00. Curran with another takedown at 3:15. Curran with the body triangle at 3:45 and trying to work for a choke after taking his back. Curran briefly gets the choke with 30 seconds left but Sanchez explodes out and to his feet. They’re trading knees as the fight ends. 10-9 Curran

Randy Couture was shown in the crowd as we’re waiting for the scores.

WINNER: PAT CURRAN (21-7) by UD (30-27×3)

They aired a video package for the next fight, which is good because Schilling’s opponent, Kato, has never fought in North America. All of his fights have ended in the first round though. Schilling cut a nice mean-guy promo, even getting in an S-Bomb.

Joe “Stitch ‘Em Up” Schilling (2-4) vs Hisaki Kato (4-1)

Sorry, it appears one of Kato’s fights went past the first. Rob Hinds is YOUR referee. Schilling throwing hard head kicks and Kato gets a takedown 1:30 in. Schilling seems completely lost on the ground. Kato not doing much either. Kato postures up a couple times to try and land strikes standing but mostly just Schilling trying to hold him in guard. Kato gets mount right before the round ends but Schilling gets up right before the round ends. 10-9 Kato

Kato knocked Schilling out with a hard straight punch and Schilling went down with a flat back bump.

WINNER: HISASKI KATO (5-1) by knockout at 34 seconds of the 2nd

They aired a cute vignette of of David Rickels driving around Kansas City, cutting a promo on John Alessio. Nothing special to the promo but very unique and kind of fun to see something like that on an MMA show.

Another vignette. Rickels looks like a mishmash of Daniel Bryan, Eric Young and Conor McGregor. Alessio comes from the land of grizzly bears, hockey and beer. Rickels calls himself the “Caveman of the People”. He wants blood, brains and battering the $hit out of people. They show Rickels backstage and he’s even wearing a Conor style suit.

Bellator just tweeted that they’re about to announce a new signing. And of course we get walkouts for the next fight, our co-main event.

David “Caveman” Rickels (16-3) vs John Alessio (35-17)

You wanna know long Alessio’s been around? He lost to Pat Miletich at UFC 26. And that was his 10th pro fight. Rickels looks very much unlike a caveman in his walkout, coming out in a cheetah suit and sunglasses. 

Rickels gets a huge reaction for his intro. Rob Hinds has the officiating duties. Rickels looks much bigger than Alessio. Rickels rocks Alessio with a knee and follows up with a series of punches and elbows but Alessio seems to have weathered it. Alessio comes back with a nice flurry. Rickels with a hard left to the body and follows up with a knee. Rickels teeing off on Alessio and he drops to the ground. The ref stepped in and Rickels landed an knee while he was down. It looked like the ref was about to stop it, which is unfortunate. Ref is giving him a lot of time but it doesn’t like Alessio has any interest in continuing. And the ref calls it off. It will either be a no contest or a DQ. 

Bout is ruled a no contest

Recap package of last week’s show aired next. This was a nice way to kill two minutes while reminding everyone of the key wins, which pretty much all went Bellator’s way, unlike tonight. And then we get an interview via Skype with Kimbo. 

Kimbo says Bellator is his home now. No heavyweights in this business are safe. He loves training and he knows he has some weak points and he’s going to work on them. He talked about the main event and put it over as a fight that will probably end in a KO. As we go to break, they are promising some “Big News” from Scott Coker after the break.

Okay, this was big news. Josh Koscheck has been signed by Bellator!

Not much to the pre-match video package for the main event. Both guys need a win. Kongo has never had a World title and he needs to win this fight to get that long awaited shot. Volkov has lost two in a row (not exactly true but it’s a good story) and wants HIS title back. 

They show the walk-outs. Volkov out to “We Will Rock You” by Queen. Volkov looks a lot like Alex Gustafsson. Same build, probably similar walk-around weights, even though Volkov is a heavyweight. Kongo out to some generic rap song.

Main Event
Alexander “Drago” Volkov (24-5) vs Cheick Kongo (22-10-2)

 Big John is the ref for this Heavyweight BATTLE. Kongo goes for a takedown early and eats some hard knees to the body. Volkov basically just stalking Kongo, striking very efficiently. Kongo working hard for the takedown and completes it at 2:30. Volkov to his feet briefly but tries for a guillotine and Kongo takes him right back down. Kongo opens up a cut on Volkov’s forehead with a hard elbow. Kongo continuing to land shots but they’re being at least partially blocked by Volkov. Clear 10-9 Kongo

Kongo with a takedown 30 seconds in. Volkov has nothing for him on the ground, much like Joe Schilling earlier. Kongo landing elbows to the body, mainly in the rib area, while trying to advance position and Volkov’s cut is bleeding pretty heavily from the forehead. Volkov working for a Kimura from the bottom 4:00 in but he doesn’t have a good angle for it. Lost the hold when he went for a sweep. Kongo with a couple hard elbows to the head in the last 30 seconds. Crowd starting to boo.10-9 Kongo, almost a 10-8, as Volkov did next to nothing.

Kongo with a takedown 30 seconds in again. Ground strikes in the last round were 60/76 for Kongo and 0/0 for Volkov and the whole round was on the ground. Kongo landing hard elbows and punches to the head again. Volkov trying to scramble out of it but Kongo just smothering him. Ref finally stands them up at 3:45. Kongo with a takedown attempt and Volkov has a guillotine that pops the crowd for a second but Kongo gets out of it. Kongo on top again and seems content just to ride out the round. 

WINNER: CHEICK KONGO (23-10-2) by UD (30-27×3)

Main event was awful, working going out of your way to miss. Bellator will be back July 17th, which will cap off 5 shows in 8 days between Invicta, UFC and Bellator. I should be joining you all for at least one of those!

Preliminary Card (6:45 p.m. ET)

Gaston Reyno (4-0) submitted Greg Scott (3-4) in 1:17
Bobby Cooper (11-6) SD over Pablo Villaseca (9-1) 
Bubba Jenkins (9-2) TKO (punches)over Joe Wilk (18-12) at  1:00 of Round 2 
Augusto Sakai (8-0) TKO (corner retirement) over Daniel Gallemore (4-3) at 5:00 of Round 2
Alex Huddleston (6-1) sub (rear naked choke) over Javy Ayala (8-4) at 1:12
Bryanna Fissori (2-0) UD over Iony Razafiarison  
Aaron Ely (5-2) 2nd round sub (guillotine) over Jeimeson Saudino (8-5) at 1:05 of the 2nd