Bellator 185 took place live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, Friday night. While the main event featured the hotly anticipated debut of Gegard Mousasi against former Bellator middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko (check out our interview with Storm here), the undercard was rocked in the days and weeks leading up to the event. First King Mo, then his opponent Liam McGeary fell off the card due to injury. That left Mo’s replacement, Bubba McDaniel, out in the cold.
Next, Brennan Ward was hurt while training, which resulted in the popular David “Caveman” Rickels being pulled as well (our interview with Rickels, from before the fight fell through, is still worth checking out, as Caveman is always entertaining).
All that resulted in the main card gaining what was originally a preliminary bout, with lightweights Ryan Quinn and Marcus Surin facing off. Quinn (13–7–1), a long time Bellator vet who first appeared at Bellator 15 in 2010, had won all but his most recent Bellator MMA appearance, against Saad Awad at Bellator 178. He mixed his 7-1 record in the promotion up with fights in Titan FC, CES MMA, and elsewhere over the years.
Opponent Marcus Surin, meanwhile, was a perfect 4-0, but had not competed since WSOF 31 in June 2016. He was making his Bellator debut on Friday.
Quinn pressed the action early, but soon found himself pressed against the fence by Surin. He’d break free, and the two would face off again in the center of the cage, with Quinn pressing forward with single punches. He’d then land a takedown and work to keep Surin planted before stepping over and briefly threatening to take Surin’s back. Quinn escaped danger there, but still wasn’t back to his feet, at least not for another few seconds.
The story early became Quinn’s ability to impose his will on his opponent, eventually taking the black along the cage wall and flattening Surin out in search for the choke, He’d eventually secure a body triangle and sink in a rear-naked choke, but cramped quarters allowed Surin to survive and eventually escape back to his feet.
From there Surin was able to fire off his best offensive barrage of the round, lighting Quinn up with uppercuts and scoring a big takedown to finish the frame.
Round two saw more control from Quinn, as he again managed to take Surin’s back, and won the small but meaningful battles along the cage. A big slam along the fence and constant pressure put the round cleanly in Quinn’s column. Still, Surin would survive, and the affair went to the third.
A much more spirited effort from Surin started the third frame, and he managed to put Quinn in danger, taking him down, getting on top and working along the cage as Quinn struggled to break free. After several minutes in control, however, Quinn would threaten with a choke of his own. Surin would avoid danger, and again find himself on top, while Quinn landed elbows to his rib cage from the bottom. In the end, Ryan Quinn hung on to finish out the third, but not before Surin threatened to finish the fight in the final minute with a guillotine. An impressive third from Surin, but not enough, as Quinn was awarded the unanimous decision after capturing the first two rounds.
Ryan Quinn def. Marcus Quinn by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
