Bellator wrapped up their season today in New Orleans, Louisiana with Bellator 70. The show capped yet another successful season for the still growing promotion, and they went out in style. The event was headlined by a lightweight tournament final between former welterweights Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman. In an exciting 3 round fight, it was Hawn who edged out the decision over Brent Weedman winning the $100,000.00 and a shot at the lightweight strap against current champion Mike Chandler.

In the co main event. it was Cole Conrad who defend his heavyweight strap against Eric Prindle. Conrad hadn’t defended his belt since 2010 when he won it, and he was able to dispatch Eric Prindle in just 60 seconds by Kimura. Also on the card, Luis Nogueira finished former shooto champion Hiroshi Nakamura in the third round by technical knock out. The strikes came in the third round, and with the win he advances to the tournament final against fellow Brazilian Marcos Galvao. Rich Clementi returned to fighting tonight, and came back with a first round win over Derek Campos. After a scramble, Campos dove in for one of Clementi’s legs, and Clementi cinched up a guillotine choke to get the tap in the fourth minute of the first round.

In other news, Bellator CEO also announced that Pat Curran would finally face off against Patricky Pitbull Feire to defend his featherweight title. The fight is scheduled to happen at Bellator 73, the last show of the summer series, and a location has not been announced yet.

Below are the quick results for Bellator 70.

Lightweight Tournament Final
Rick Hawn vs Brent Weedman
Rick Hawn defeats Brent Weedman by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27×2)

heavyweight bout
Cole Konrad vs Eric Prindle
Cole Konrad defeats Eric Prindle via submission (kimura) at 1:00 into round 1

Bantamweight Tournament Semi Final
Hiroshi Nakamura vs Luis Nogueira
Luis Nogueira defeats Hiroshi Nakamura via technical knock out at 1:58 of round 3

Catchweight bout
Derek Campos vs Rich Clementi
Rich Clementi defeats Derek Campos by submission (guillotine choke) 4:18 of round 1

Welterweight Bout
A.J. Matthews vs Charlie Rader
AJ Mathews defeats Charlie Rader by knock out (head kick) at 3:34 of round 2

Middleweight Bout
Jeremiah Riggs vs Kelvin Tiller
Kelvin Tiller defeats Jeremiah Riggs via submission (kimura), at 3:38 of round 3

Middleweight Bout
Mike Seal vs. Jonas Billstein
Jonas Billstein defeats Mike Seal by technical submission at 2:55 of round 1

Bantamweight Bout
Derek Arcement vs Blake Dufour
Derek Arcement defeats Blake Dufour by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27×2)

Bellator 65 took place Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was also streamed on Spike.com and main card was featured on MTV2. The main event featured a title fight between Zach Makovsky and Eduardo Dantas. It was Dantas who was crowned the new bantamweight champion when he choked Makovsky out cold with a arm triangle choke in the second round, just passed the midway point in the fight. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said of his new champion, “You’re looking at one of the best bantamweights in the world. Absolutely a spectacular performance from this young man tonight.”

Although the rest of the main card was all decisions, this was far from a boring event. In the co-main event, it was Daniel Straus who bloodied up Mike Corey over the full 15 minutes to win the unanimous decision. The fight was an emotional one for Straus, as one of his training partners and close friends passed away last week after being involved in an automobile accident. Straus dedicated the fight to Chris Smith, and said “I’ve cried over the past three days, cried over the past two hours, and it’s just a blessing to be in here, man. I want to thank all the fans that are here tonight”. Straus is now set to fight Marlon Sandro in the tournament finals.

The main card also featured 2 opening round bouts in the bantamweight tournament. Alexis Vila seemed to come out strong against Luis Nogueira, and although he never had Luis in any real danger, Vila took the round. From then on out it was Luis Nogueira who controlled the fight everywhere it went, and although they were back and forth at times, he clearly won the final two rounds and won the bout. He picked up the unanimous decision win.

In the other bantamweight bout, Marcos Galvao pounded on Ed West for three straight rounds. Galvao arguably lost a few a fights by decision he should have won, and he vowed to finish this fight. He spent the entire time trying to do so, and Ed West showed plenty of heart surviving the fight. He didn’t get the finish, but Galvao picked up a dominating unanimous decision win to advance.

The full Bellator 65 results include:

MAIN CARD
Bantamweight Championship Fight
Eduardo Dantas defeats Zach Makovsky by technical submission (arm-triangle choke) round 2, 3:26
Dantas becomes the new bantamweight champion.

Featherweight tournament semifinal
Daniel Straus defeats Mike Corey by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Bantamweight tournament/opening round
Luis Nogueira defeats Alexis Vila by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Bantamweight tournament/opening round
Marcos Galvao defeats Ed West by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Duane Bastress defeats Plinio Cruz by technical knock out (strikes) Round 2, 2:52
Will Martinez defeats Terrell Hobbs by submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1, 4:13
Scott Heckman defeats Lester Caslow by submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1, 3:40
Kris McCray defeats Ailton Barbosa by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lyman Good defeats LeVon Maynard by knock out (punch) Round 1, 0:13
E.J. Brooks defeats Mikhail Malyutin by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)