Aaron Chalmers Suffers Shock Defeat In Hometown Bellator Newcastle

Bellator kicked off their European Series in Newcastle with a bang, with an incredible twelve finishes in fifteen fights. Patricky Pitbull narrowly outpointed Ryan Scope in the main event, whilst Aaron Chalmers tasted defeat for the first time in his MMA career after Corey Browning’s heel hook submission stunned the Geordie crowd.

Browning secured a takedown early, but Chalmers managed to recover and look for a guillotine. After separating, Chalmers dropped Browning and began to walk off thinking that the fight was over but Browning managed to recover and see out the first round.

The American started the second round identically, securing a takedown and looking to hold Chalmers on the ground. Browning continued to dominate the second round and got the victory with a slick heel hook submission at the start of the third round.

Will Chalmers return to the Bellator cage?

Pitbull dropped Scope with a huge knee midway through the first round, but the Sunderland man recovered well and managed to see out the first round. Scope began to find his rhythm midway through the second round and Pitbull began to pay the price of Scope’s early leg kicks began to affect the Brazilian’s movement.

The third round began with Pitbull looking to press the pace, but Scope again made inroads back into the round and managed to land some strikes, secure some control and look to leave an impression on the judges as the fight headed to the scorecards.

The judges scored the fight 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28 in favour of the Brazilian in what proved to be a close shave for the Bellator veteran. Ryan Scope can hold his head high after his performance against such a vastly experienced opponent. Big things are afoot for the Sunderland man!

Scottish lightweight Chris Bungard produced arguably the biggest upset of the evening after submitting former two-weight BAMMA champion Terry Brazier inside the opening round. The Holytown man is known for his pre-fight talk and certainly moves the needle, but his talent did the talking in Newcastle, earning a huge victory for the ‘Bad Guy’!

Unbeaten prospect Fabian Edwards came through his biggest test to date, outpointing former Cage Warriors middleweight champion Lee Chadwick. Edwards utilised his seven-and-a-half-inch reach advantage throughout and managed to nullify Chadwick’s wrestling to earn the judges’ approval.

Arunas Andriuskevicus and James Mulheron put on a bloody war to close the prelims, with the doctor forced to stop the fight in the third round due to a cut on Mulheron’s face. Both men traded blow-for-blow, with Andriuskevicus having his hand raised at the end of a frantic light heavyweight affair.

Cal Ellenor gained a huge scalp of former Cage Warriors champion Nathan Greyson in a turbulent bantamweight bout. Greyson nearly ended the fight early with strikes, before Ellenor produced a stunning turnaround to sink in a rear-naked choke towards the end of the first round.

Ashley Reece dominated John Ross from the off during their welterweight affair, forcing the referee to end the contest with just under four minutes on the clock due to ground and pound. Reece moves to 7-1 on his Bellator debut.

Kieran Lister moved to 4-0 as a professional with a stunning uppercut knockout of Davie McLaughlin in the opening round of their lightweight prelim.

The Bellator cage moves on to Connecticut with back-to-back fight cards on Friday and Saturday next weekend, culminating in Michael ‘Venom’ Page taking on Paul Daley.

Full Results

Patricky Pitbull def. Ryan Scope via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Corey Browning def. Aaron Chalmers via submission (heel hook) after 0:20 of Round 3.

Chris Bungard def. Terry Brazier via submission (rear-naked choke) after 2:06 of Round 1.

Fabian Edwards def. Lee Chadwick via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).

Arunas Andriuskevicus def. James Mulheron via TKO (doctor stoppage) after 0:42 of Round 3.

Jim Wallhead def. Abner Lloveras via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Cal Ellenor def. Nathan Greyson via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:49 of Round 1.

Nathan Rose def. Ranjeet Baria via TKO (strikes) after 4:59 of Round 1.

Justin Burlinson def. Maciek Gierszewski via submission (rear-naked choke) after 4:04 of Round 1.

Luke Westwood def. Richard Kallos via TKO (strikes) after 1:32 of Round 3.

Ashley Reece def. John Ross via TKO (strikes) after 3:42 of Round 1.

Tommy Quinn def. Martin Hudson via TKO (strikes) after 3:02 of Round 1.

Kieran Lister def. Davie McLaughlin via TKO (strikes) after 1:19 of Round 1.

Joe Calboutin def. Milad Ahady via TKO (strikes) after 3:30 of Round 1.

Mindaugas Gerve def. Tony Mustard via TKO (injury) after 1:46 of Round 1.