Featherweights Pat Curran, Marlon Sandro, Nazareno Malegarie and Ronnie Mann all are one step closer to winning Bellator Fighting Championships "Summer Series" tournament.
Each of the 145-pounders won an opening-round matchup in the eight-man tourney during Saturday's Bellator 46 event.
The show, which aired on MTV2, is the first of three summer events before the organization returns to its weekly format in September. The summer kickoff took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
The four tourney bouts comprised the night's televised main card.
Each winner now advances to the semifinal round of the star-studded and internationally flavored tournament, which takes place July 23 at Bellator 47.
Their roads to the semifinals included:
Curran used Peruvian necktie to stop Peruvian Palomino
It was bound to happen sometime, but Curran now assures he'll be the answer to a quirky trivia question.
In the night's main event, the former lightweight tourney winner secured a victory with a Peruvian necktie – on Peruvian fighter Luis Palomino.
After rattling and dropping his opponent with a hook, Curran followed Palomino to the mat, worked from top position, looked for a D'Arce choke, but ultimately transitioned to and settled for the rare Peruvian necktie to force the stoppage.
Palomino's tap-out came at the 3:49 mark of the opening round.
Curran (14-4 MMA, 4-1 BFC), who suffered a title loss to lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez after his season-two tourney win, is now 5-1 over his past six fights. Palomino (16-7 MMA, 3-3 BFC) suffers just his second loss in eight fights.
Sandro tops da Silva as judge blunders
No matter what one questionable scorecard read, Sandro topped Genair da Silva in decisive fashion.
With a well-balanced attack standing and on the mat – and by proving quicker to the punch and with more power – Sandro kept a small but comfortable lead over da Silva throughout the three-round fight.
While a seemingly clear-cut decision win, Sandro won the fight on only two scorecards (via 30-27 and 29-28 scores). A third judge inexplicably scored the bout for da Silva, 29-28, which resulted in a decision victory for Sandro via confusing split decision.
Still, with a potential crisis inverted, Sandro advances in the tourney.
A prized import from World Victoru Road's Sengoku event series, ex-champ Sandro (18-2 MMA, 1-0 BFC) picks up his fourth win in five fights. da Silva (10-4 MMA, 0-1 BFC) snaps a career-best five-fight win streak.
Relentless Malegarie finally taps Devree
For Malegarie, it was simply a matter of time.
After snapping a 19-fight win streak with a March tourney loss to Daniel Straus at Bellator 37, Malegarie rebounded with a third-round submission victory over Jacob Devree in his second Bellator tourney.
Malegarie fired off countless submission attempts from the opening bell with guillotine chokes and kneebars his weapons of choice. Frequent takedowns set up the attempts, which Devree continually escaped. But early in the third round, Malegarie scored another takedown and quickly secure the fight-ending guillotine choke after rolling his opponent to his back.
The end came at the 1:25 mark of the final frame.
Malegarie (20-1 MMA, 1-1 BFC) picks up his 13th career submission victory. Devree (10-2 MMA, 0-1 BFC) snaps a three-year, seven-fight win streak.
Mann survives Schindler's early storm
Adam Schindler wanted to but the pressure on his heavily favored opponent, but Mann survived his early swarms and ultimately scored a first-round knockout victory in the night's first televised bout.
Schindler pressed the action early and wanted to move the fight to the fencing. But a patient Mann looked for his opportunities to counter-punch, shucked off a takedown attempt and – after letting his hands fly– then blasted his opponent with a left hook. Schindler stumbled to the mat, and Mann followed him and poured it on with a quick barrage of hammerfists. The final blows seemed to knock him unconscious.
The ref mercifully ended the fight and awarded the KO at the 4:14 mark of the opening round.
Mann (20-2-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC), a former Sengoku fighter and current Shark Fights titleholder, is now 9-1 over his past 10 fights. Schindler (9-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC) snaps a six-fight win streak.
The full Bellator 46 results included:
MAIN CARD
- Pat Curran def. Luis Palomino via submission (Peruvian necktie) - Round 1, 3:49
- Marlon Sandro def. Genair da Silva via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Nazareno Malegarie def. Jacob Devree via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 3, 1:25
- Ronnie Mann def. Adam Schindler via KO (punches) - Round 1, 4:14
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Jessica Aguilar def. Carla Esparza via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- Tony Johnson Jr. def. Derrick Lewis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Alexandre Bezerra def. Sam Jones via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 3:27
- Dan Cramer def. Josh Samman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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(Pictured: Pat Curran)