Well it is safe to say that the weekend of fights for Bellator definitely didn’t pan out the way Scott Coker must have imagined.
After the main event of Bellator 215, Matt Mitrione vs Sergei Kharitonov ended just 15 seconds in due to a low-blow, the already high expectations of Michael Page vs. Paul Daley became even higher. Unfortunately, Page and Daley didn’t exactly live up to the hype.
Michael Page won a unanimous decision, 28-27 x3. The fight was quite the opposite of what was expected.
What we got was a grapple and ground-game fest for a majority of the fight.
The first round was so uneventful, there were less than 10 strikes thrown between both men. Page was stalking Daley in the middle of the cage for a full five minutes, causing Daley to circle, circle and circle some more, not throwing a thing back at Page.
Rounds two and three were a tad different, as Paul Daley, the man who lamented fighters who didn’t stand up on their feet while fighting, took the fight to the ground. Daley got MVP down, did some decent work on top, but nothing major. in hindsight, this only ended up tiring out Daley sooner in the bout.
In the championship rounds, MVP was taken down again, but due to being the less fatigued of the two, he was able to get back to his feet quicker, and land some memorable shots that had to have stuck in the minds of the judges.
And if you’re thinking to yourself, “wow, that doesn’t sound like the most exciting fight in the world,” you’re completely right. All in all, the fight didn’t live up to the hype, which sadly seems to be a theme with popular Bellator main events.
After the fight was over, the vibrant personality of MVP returned to deliver some truth. “He didn’t come here to fight. MVP came here to fight. He was bragging about being a knockout artist and he was doing more takedowns than he ever has in his career,” Page said. Frankly, Page is spot on with this one. Daley’s left hand has put many a man to sleep, and in the past, Daley has shamed those who make a living on the ground instead of the feet, yet here he was trying to do the same thing he was against.
Michael Page will now move on to face Douglas Lima in the semi-final of the welterweight grand-prix on May 11th. Lima is a two-time former Bellator welterweight champion to his own right and will provide MVP’s greatest challenge to date.
The reward for winning the grand-prix is becoming the new welterweight champion of the world, as well as a cool million dollars. The next fight of the tournament includes current champion, Rory Macdonald, as he goes face to face with Jon Fitch. The winner of that bout will fight Neiman Gracie in the other semi-final. The grand-prix roadmap is set to conclude before the end of 2019.
