With a couple of big finishes, and a heavyweight main event that featured something of an upset, Bellator 234 turned out to be a fun card, marred only by the fact that fans were forced to watch the event via tape delay.
Bellator 234 went down Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel, airing a day later in North America. The promotion’s fourth trip to Israel, the event was headlined by a heavyweight tilt featuring the powerful Sergei Kharitonov taking on ex-light heavyweight title challenger Linton Vassell.
While Kharitonov was the betting favorite heading in, things did not go as planned. Vassell was able to get him to the ground in the second round, and work him over to the point that he was no longer defending.
The win snapped a three-fight losing skid for Vassell, the worst of his career (and only time ‘The Swarm’ had lost consecutive fights).
Results from Bellator 234, plus video and photo highlights, can be found below.
Main Card
Heavyweight Bout: Linton Vassell def. Sergei Kharitonov by TKO (strikes) at 3:15 of Round 2
Lightweight Bout: Sidney Outlaw def. Roger Huerta by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Lightweight Bout: Aviv Gozali def. Zaka Fatullazade submission (anaconda choke) at 0:56 of Round 1
Welterweight Bout: Haim Gozali def. Artur Pronin by submission (heel hook) at 4:12 of Round 1
Middleweight Bout: Austin Vanderford def. Grachik Bozinyan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Featherweight Bout: Sinead Kavanagh def. Olga Rubin by TKO (strikes) at 4:37 of Round 2
Welterweight Bout: Robson Gracie Jr. def. Ameer Bashir by submission (triangle choke) at 4:39 of Round 1
Heavyweight Bout: Adam Keresh def. Vladimir Fedin by TKO (strikes) at 3:29 of Round 1
Welterweight Bout: Shimon Smotritsky def. Illia Hladkii by TKO (strikes) at 2:10 of Round 1
Lightweight Bout: Vuqar Keramov def. Gustavo Wurlitzer by KO (strike) at 1:29 of Round 1
157-lb. Contract Weight Bout: Kirill Medvedovsky def. Akhmed Fararzha by submission (guillotine) at 0:46 of Round 2
Bantamweight Bout: Raz Bring def. Naziri Daniliuk by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
Lightweight Bout: Mikail Dulgher def. Ofir Leibel by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Bantamweight Bout: Ron Becker def. Artem Kazartsev by TKO (strikes) at 2:57 of Round 1
Bantamweight Bout: Ben Cohen def. Maksym Tkachuk by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:19 of Round 1
Light Heavyweight Bout: Eli Aronov def. Sari Hleihil by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 28-27)
Flyweight Bout: Itay Lipszyc def. Itzik Yakobov by submission (straight ankle lock) at 2:51 of Round 1
220-lb. Contract Weight Bout: Noam Voldman def. Nisim Rozalis by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Featherweight Bout: Itay Tratner vs. Elias Mamadov ends in a split draw (28-27, 28-29, 28-28)
Welterweight Bout: Tomer Maslis def. David Malka by TKO (strikes) at 1:32 of Round 3
