CLEVELAND – Andreas Spang's comeback win over hometown hero Brian Rogers was a thing of beauty.
And then things got real ugly.
For the better part of two rounds, Rogers (9-4 MMA, 2-2 BFC) had his way with the late replacement Spang (8-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC), who filled in for injured Bruno Santos in middleweight-tournament-semifinal action. The bout was part of the MTV2-televised main card of Bellator 66, which took place Friday at Cleveland's I-X Center.
Rogers scored early in the fight with kicks and punches before slipping on a head kick. Spang was able to seize the moment and get his back in the scramble and threaten with a rear-naked-choke submission. But then it was back to punishment mode after the escape, and Rogers resumed peppering Spang with heavy punches to the body and head.
It was more of the same in the second frame. Rogers countered with a big right cross early, caught Spang's kick, and continued his vicious assault. Spang was visibly hurt and wobbly at one point, and Rogers sprung forward throwing wild punches looking for the kill.
It cost him dearly.
Out of nowhere, Spang countered with a left hook that dropped Rogers like a sack of potatoes. One hammerfist later, referee Jerry Poe had seen enough. That was it. Spang had authored one of the best comebacks of the year in MMA and advanced to the middleweight-tournament finals.
"I had a couple rough times," Spang told
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "He hits pretty hard. I never felt really worried or in too much of danger. I know he had his way with me a couple times, but I was pretty focused on the win. I came here to win. I caught him with my moneymaker left hook."
Maiquel Falcao (30-4 MMA, 2-0 BFC), who defeated Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (16-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC) by unanimous decision earlier in the evening to secure his own spot in the finals, was brought into the cage to greet Spang for the first time after the fight.
Then all hell broke loose.
The pair moved in close to one another to do a customary face-off, and Spang immediately shoved Falcao. A startled Falcao rushed back at him and appeared to land a knee. He then lifted up his hand as if he was looking to throw a punch, but officials – including Bellator commentator/former fighter Jimmy Smith and matchmaker Sam Caplan – separated the two from one another. It was difficult to tell what had or had not landed in the melee.
Spang, who also shoved Rogers at Thursday's event weigh-ins, was apologetic to the crowd afterward regarding the incident, and he reiterated these feelings again at the post-fight press conference.
Falcao, on the other hand, was stunned by it all.
"I didn't understand what was happening," Falcao said. "I thought he was going to assault me, so I reacted to defend myself. I had no other intention. I think he failed to live up to the role of an athlete since many people, many children were watching and in attendance. What he did was ugly, very ugly. As a Brazilian athlete, I felt sad over it."
The Ohio Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, will determine if any fines and/or suspensions should be levied against the fighters, who currently are scheduled to meet at Bellator 70 on May 25. Immediately following the event, OAC Executive Director Bernie Profato was not available for comment.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney did his best to assess the situation at the post-fight press conference.
"Andreas spoke with the commission a couple times," Rebney said. "I think Maiquel did as well. I think it has been worked out. I don't think any suspensions have been handed down. I think there is an economic penalty in play, but I don't have all the specific information running around."
He then attempted to put things into perspective.
"Emotions are running high, and that can happen," Rebney said. "It doesn't happen often in our game. It's an anomaly. We don't like to see it any more than – we don't like to see it at all, but it's occasionally going to occur. It happens in hockey. It happens in football. It happens in baseball. It's going to happen here. It doesn't make us any different than anyone else."
In 66 events, this is the first incident of its kind to come under the Bellator banner.
"And it's not going to change the strategy of bringing guys into see each other before they're going to move onto the final," Rebney said.
For more on
Bellator 66 and
Bellator 70, check out the
MMA Events section of the site.