Bellator 159 results & highlights: Taimanglo stuns Caldwell with guillotine, Guillard wrecks Rickels

Bellator MMA offered up some Friday night action from Mulvane, Kansas. It was a good night of fights, capped off by one of the comebacks of the year and perhaps the biggest upset of 2016 by Joe Taimanglo, who shocked the MMA world and tapped out Darrion Caldwell. Here’s how it all played out.

Joe Taimanglo (23-6-1) def. Darrion Caldwell (9-1) via submission (guillotine choke) at :09 of round 3- 138 lbs catchweight

After two minutes of striking (with 1 failed takedown attempt by Caldwell), a spinning attack was countered by a Caldwell takedown, who went to work right away. He was aggressively looking for the finish, had full mount in a scramble, but lost the position. Taimanglo did well to eventually scramble to his feet. Caldwell went for a kimura and essentially tried dragging Taimanglo down with the kimura lock, but wound up with Taimanglo draped over his back. Baby Joe couldn’t do anything with the position and the 1st round ended.

Taimanglo was partially hit with a flying knee after losing his footing on a body kick. Later on in the 2nd, Caldwell scored another takedown and worked from half-guard. John McCarthy stood them up after he deemed Caldwell not to be improving his position and not mounting enough offense while on top. The round ended with Taimanglo throwing a flashy kick and then (of all things) trying a takedown on Caldwell. To this point, there was no question that Caldwell was 20-18 to the good.

Round 3 lasted all of 9 seconds, as Caldwell dove for a double leg, Taimanglo stuffed it, immediately sprung for a guillotine and forced the tap. Absolutely incredible. Caldwell was as much as a -1600 favorite, with Taimanglo available at up to +971, and Baby Joe just produced a shocking result. That halts Caldwell’s title hopes for the time being, and with Bellator only having a handful of bantamweights on the roster, Taimanglo’s failure to make weight may be overlooked based on how this fight ended.

Just to tidy things up, Taimanglo was down 20-18 across the board heading into the final round.

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Post-edit: MMA Oddsbreaker’s Brian Hemminger notes that this was the 2nd biggest upset in MMA history based on betting odds. What a feat pulled off by Taimanglo.

Melvin Guillard (33-16-2, 2 NCs) def. David Rickels (17-5, 1 NC) via KO (punches and elbows) at 2:14 of round 1 – 158 lbs catchweight

Melvin Guillard’s losing streak ended with a big knockout win over Kansas’ own David Rickels. Guillard came out aggressive and in attack mode from the beginning, while Rickels was a little bit more measured in his approach, going for kicks and landing them. Rickels drilled Guillard in the groin with a kick, which halted action momentarily. Shortly after the fight resumed, Rickels and Guillard engaged in a clinch battle, Guillard rocked Rickels with a right hand and then another one. Melvin destroyed Rickels on the ground with vicious elbows until Rob Hinds stopped it. Guillard missed weight for this fight, and has consistently been missing the 155 lbs limit, and in the post-fight interview, he confirmed he’ll be heading to welterweight. He also called out Paul Daley as his desired opponent.

Emily Ducote (3-1) def. Bruno Vargas (2-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at :29 of round 2 – Women’s Flyweights

Vargas was knocked off the ranks of the unbeaten by a very impressive Emily Ducote, whose powerful right hand troubled Vargas in both the 1st and 2nd round. Ducote rocked Vargas with a right but ended up clinching with the Brazilian. The rest of the round saw Ducote go to work off of a takedown and land some solid ground-and-pound. Vargas threw her legs up in hopes of securing an armbar but it was never really in the cards. Round 2 saw Ducote wreck Vargas with another right hand, dropping her to the canvas, and after Ducote couldn’t finish her with ground strikes, she attacked the neck and locked in a rear-naked choke that had Vargas insta-tapping. Great win (and a decent upset based on betting odds) for Ducote, who had her grandmother in attendance watching her get the victory on national TV.

Daniel Weichel (37-9) def. Emmanuel Sanchez (13-3) via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28) – Featherweights

Daniel Weichel denied Emmanuel Sanchez a breakthrough win in a competitive and reasonably entertaining bout. The Roufusport product was sharp with his striking in the 1st round, in addition to his ability to spring back up when Weichel took him down. Weichel was landing clean strikes in the 2nd, as he was able to time Sanchez better in exchanges, although Sanchez returned with good shots of his own. At the start of round 3, Weichel had Sanchez down and in top control, otherwise holding Sanchez down and trying to set up a submission. Sanchez briefly had his back taken but scrambled his way out of it and kept things on the feet. Both men exchanged heavy shots, with Sanchez particularly getting the better of Weichel in the clinch, but Weichel showed a good chin and it looks as if two of the judges, including Big John McCarthy, awarded the win to Weichel based off of his striking and takedowns. Believe it or not, this was the 4th straight split decision for Sanchez, although he ended up on the losing end for a change.

Preliminary Card results (via MMA Fighting)

Jessica Middleton def. Bruna Ellen via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Gaston Reyno def. L.J. Hermreck via third-round TKO (3:57)
Fernando Martinez def. Marcio Navarro via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)
Johnny Marigo def. Andy Riley via verbal submission (armbar) (R1, 2:44)
Philipe Lins def. Guilherme Viana via second-round KO (1:13)