Kimbo Slice recovered from a near defeat to come back and get a technical knockout of Ken Shamrock in the first round at Bellator 138 on Friday in St. Louis.
Slice battered Shamrock with punches against the cage before dropping the 51-year-old MMA legend to the ground with a right hand at 2:22 of the opening frame.
“I’ve been in this position before at American Top Team,” Slice said of the rear-naked choke that had him in trouble before he turned the tide. “I train my ground game very well … Tapping was not an option.”
As the fight began, Shamrock immediately shot in for a takedown, but Slice was able to keep it standing. The two clinched and hit each other with short strikes until separating a short while later.
Later, Shamrock again shot in for a takedown and secured a single-leg to put his opponent on his back. As Slice turned to get back to his feet, Shamrock secured the back and sunk in a rear-naked choke. The hold was firmly under Slice’s chin, but the one-time YouTube star persevered and survived the choke before Shamrock released it.
As the two scrambled to get back to their feet, Slice started to unload on his foe and landed punches with Shamrock’s back against the cage. Shamrock tried to counterpunch, but got caught with a right hand and went falling to the ground.
“I had the submission and I didn’t take my time with it,” Shamrock said of the submission attempt that nearly won him the fight. “Trying to scramble up, I wasn’t as fast.”
With the win, Slice is successful in his return to MMA after a five year absence from the sport. Shamrock’s last noted MMA fight was also five years ago.
Patricio Freire retained his featherweiglt title in dramatic fashion with a comeback knockout over Daniel Weichel in the evening’s co-main event.
After measuring each other for most of the first round, Weichel opened up and landed a clean right hand that wobbled Freire. He followed that up with strikes against the cage that dropped Freire just before the end of the first round.
Once they returned for the second round, Weichel looked to continue his assault, but he was caught with left hook that left him unconscious, falling to the ground at 0:32 of Round 2. The referee immediately stopped the action and “Pitbull” walked away with his championship belt around his waist, calling all challengers who want a piece of it.
“You want my belt?” the champion questioned during his post-fight interview. “I’m here. Come on.”
Bobby Lashley picked up his sixth win in a row, getting the TKO over Dan Charles. Lashley, who made his third appearance in the Bellator cage, grappled, suplexed and pounded Charles out while controlling the back for a majority of the fight.
As Charles did little to defend himself, the referee stepped in to stop the fight at 4:14 of Round 2.
“All the heavyweights know, I will take them down,” he said. “Watch your wrestling.”
Earlier main-card winners included a pair of submitters in Daniel Straus and and Michael Chandler. Chandler opened up the card and beat Derek Campos with a rear-naked choke at 2:17 of the opening round. Straus slapped on a guillotine choke to finish Henry Corrales at 3:47 of Round 2.
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