Good old-fashioned hard-nosed wrestling and heart carried Joe Warren to a second Bellator MMA title Friday.
Warren (12-3) became the promotion's first fighter to win titles in two weight classes by claiming the bantamweight championship in a unanimous decision against Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 128 at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
A former featherweight titleholder, Warren, 37, relentlessly looked to take Dantas (16-4) to the floor, attempting at least 20 takedowns in the five-round fight. He survived several scary combinations from the Brazilian on the feet as well, en route to unanimous 48-47 judges scores.
"The key was heart," Warren said. "Keep pushing until that bell. He kept hitting me hard. I just kept moving. Baddest man on the planet, baby."
Despite entering the bout with an interim belt and a four-fight win streak, Warren was listed as a 4.5-to-1 betting underdog in the bout. He responded to the challenge from the opening bell, shooting fearlessly on double leg takedowns and minimizing Dantas' ability to score much offense from the outside.
A potentially key moment occurred in the decisive fifth round, when Warren landed an illegal kick to a downed opponent. It was an awkward sequence, as both fighters ended up inverted during a scramble, with Warren clasping Dantas' arms behind his back near the fence.
Warren landed his shin to Dantas' head, which opened a cut near his right eye. Referee John McCarthy halted the bout but did not take a point away.
Had a point been deducted, the bout would have ended in a draw, as Warren imposed his will the remainder of the round on a tiring Dantas. Even though the kick cut Dantas, it did not appear to affect him during the end of the fight.
It would have been a shame to see the fight turn on a penalty, as both bantamweights had their moments. Warren got off to the fast start, pressuring Dantas with takedowns and stunning him at one point with a flying knee. He threw a no-chance cartwheel kick midway through the round, which produced a smile from Dantas.
Dantas' best work came in the second and fourth rounds. When he defended the takedown and created space, his striking was cleaner than Warren's. He executed a beautiful foot sweep in the second round and moved into full mount but failed to score a ton of offense.
Late in the fourth round, he visibly hurt Warren with a well-timed knee to the chin as Warren shot in. Warren was still stiff-looking as he went to his corner.
The odd rounds were all clearly in Warren's favor, however. In the third, he took Dantas down in the first 90 seconds and scored points with right elbows from top position. Dantas attacked from his back with armbars but never came close to a submission.
Warren becomes the third fighter in Bellator history to win multiple titles. Pat Curran and Eddie Alvarez each won multiple titles, but not in different weight classes.
"I take my hat off to Dantas," Warren said. "I was honored to get the opportunity to win another belt for Viacom and Spike TV. Thank you, Bellator."
A former world champion wrestler, Warren has not lost since he relinquished his 145-pound belt to Curran in March 2012. Dantas, 25, who fights out of Nova Uniao in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, lost for the first time in the Bellator cage. ESPN.com had ranked Dantas the No. 7 bantamweight in the world going into the bout.
Page taken the distance for first time
Michael Page didn't really get to look like Michael Page, but he remained unbeaten in mixed martial arts.
The British welterweight went the distance for the first time in his career, earning a unanimous decision over Nah-Shon Burrell. All three judges scored it a 30-27 shutout for Page (7-0).
Wearing a look of frustration, Page questioned the strategy of Burrell (10-5), who frequently looked to close distance and tie Page up in the clinch.
"Yeah, it was frustrating," Page said. "He didn't do anything. He was trying to prevent me from doing my game, which is a good tactic if you're going to pursue something -- but he didn't.
"I could go another three rounds if y'all want me to. He didn't do nothing."
One thing Burrell did do was make it past the first round, something none of Page's previous opponents had done.
Burrell, 24, did well to close distance on the longer Page, barreling forward with combinations while not allowing Page to find the range on his precise kickboxing game.
The problem was Burrell rarely scored any offense. He held Page up along the fence for long periods of time, but only managed to take him down once in the third round, after moving through a flashy, spinning wheel kick attempt by Page.
As usual, Page fought with his hands down and relied on head movement to avoid Burrell's punches. He got caught a few times in the head area, but only by grazing shots. He struggled to find rhythm on offense as well, but landed enough right hands and kicks to the body to take every round.
In the middle frame, Page scored the first takedown of his mixed martial arts career on an outside trip from the clinch along the fence. Burrell worked back to his feet almost immediately, but it was of note, as Page had not taken an opponent down in six previous first-round knockouts.
Page, 27, looked comfortable defending takedowns along the fence. He gave up one late in the final round but defended himself well from his back and got to his feet before the end of the fight. Afterward, the two jawed with one another briefly, before touching gloves and sharing a quick embrace.
Fighting out of London Shootfighters, Page is now 2-0 under the Bellator banner. He knocked out Ricky Rainey with a right hand in his promotional debut in May. Burrell drops to 1-2 since signing with Bellator last year. He suffered a first-round knockout loss to Andrey Koreshkov in March.
Sarnavskiy dominates Cochrane
Alexander "Tiger" Sarnavskiy blew through Dakota Cochrane with an onslaught of offense in the first round.
Sarnavskiy (29-2) seemed to hurt Cochrane in about every way imaginable before locking in a rear-naked choke at 2:32 of the lightweight fight. Referee John McCarthy oversaw the 155-pound contest.
An early Thai clinch secured by Cochrane (17-7) saw him land a few good knees to the body, but Sarnavskiy answered with a spinning backfist to Cochrane's chin after pushing him to the fence. Cochrane attempted to move into the Thai clinch again moments later, but Sarnavskiy freed himself and landed a clean left hook, right hand on the break.
At that point, Cochrane was forced to shoot on a takedown, which Sarnavskiy anticipated and defended well. He landed a few good knees to the body and then a flying knee after Cochrane gave up on the shot. Cochrane went down from the knee, gave up his back and subsequently his neck.
For Sarnavskiy, 25, the victory marked his 18th career win by submission and third consecutive victory via rear-naked. The Russian lightweight has won nine of his past 10, with the only loss coming to Bellator interim lightweight champion Will Brooks. Cochrane dropped to 0-2 in his past two bouts.
Sordi submits McDaniel in Round 1
Emiliano Sordi earned a win in his Bellator debut -- with a little help from his opponent, Robert "Bubba" McDaniel.
Sordi (13-4) forced McDaniel to tap just 58 seconds into the middleweight bout. The Argentinian collected the fifth submission win of his career in the process.
The finish came via guillotine choke and was actually aided by McDaniel (23-9), who inexplicably jumped into Sordi's full-guard from half-guard, making the submission more likely. The loss interrupts what was a two-fight win streak for McDaniel going into the bout.
Sordi, 23, who trained at Nova Uniao in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, had his way with McDaniel from start to finish. He nearly rocked him with a straight right hand early and then locked in the guillotine as an off-balance McDaniel attempted a single leg takedown.
"This is the most important fight of my life," said Sordi, through an interpreter. "I came here to stay and I want it all."
Sordi moved to 4-0 in his past four fights. This was his first appearance of 2014. McDaniel, a former contestant on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series, dropped to 2-3 in his past five fights. The UFC released the Jackson-Winkeljohn fighter from its roster earlier this year, following a 1-2 run.