Ryan Bader put a cap on Bellator 214, knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix from The Forum on Paramount Network Saturday night.
Bader, the reigning light heavyweight champion, became the first-ever fighter to hold two titles at the same time for Bellator. He topped Emelianenko, Matt Mitrione and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the grand prix, which was held to crown a new heavyweight champion.
Henry Corrales scored his fifth consecutive victory, knocking out prospect Aaron Pico in the opening round. Corrales, who trains with former UFC champion Benson Henderson at The MMA Lab, survived Pico’s early attack and landed a right-left combo of his own that ended the fight.
The MMA debut of Jake Hager was nearly perfect, as the former WWE champion scored a submission over J.W. Kiser. Hager, who won a pair of world titles as Jack Swagger, locked up an arm-triangle choke in the first round.
Hager is a former University of Oklahoma wrestling All-American who was also recruited to play football for the Sooners.
Juan Archuleta topped Ricky Bandejas via decision and Adel Altamimi submitted Brandon McMahan to conclude the main card.
Complete results are below:
Ryan Bader def. Fedor Emelianenko via KO (strike) at :35 of Round 1 to become the Bellator heavyweight champion
Henry Corrales def. Aaron Pico via KO (strike) at 1:07 of Round 1
Jake Hager def. J.W. Kiser via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:09 of Round 1
Juan Archuleta def. Ricky Bandejas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Adel Altamimi def. Brandon McMahan via submission (armbar) at 1:16 of Round 1
Thor Skancke def. Jesse Merritt via submission (north-south choke) at 4:26 of Round 1
Jesse Roberts def. AJ Agazarm via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Weber Almeida def. Odan Chinchilla via TKO (strike) at 3:04 of Round 1
Art Rivas def. Sean Johnson via TKO (strikes) at 4:30 of Round 1
Jay Jay Wilson def. Tyler Beneke via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:31 of Round 1
Ryan Lilley def. James Barnes via KO (head-kick) at 1:03 of Round 1
Craig Plaskett def. Ian Butler via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Desmond Torres def. Steve Ramirez via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:21 of Round 1