Bellator 211 Results: Kent Kauppinen knocks out Alessio Sakara in main event

It was a night of violence in Genoa, Italy.

On Saturday afternoon at the at the RDS Stadium, England’s Kent Kauppinen snapped his two-fight losing skid with a skull-rattling first-round knockout over hometown hero Alessio Sakara in the main event of Bellator 211.

Kicking off the bout, Kauppinen stuck to the outside as thunderous “Sakara” chants erupted around the two pugilists. Evading his opponent’s early strikes, Kauppinen folded Sakara with a counter left hook to the jaw. A stunned crowd immediately fell silent as Kauppinen followed up with pair of strikes to a stiff Sakara, forcing the referee to call a stop to the fight. This win marked Kauppinen’s first win inside the Bellator cage and improved his overall record 11-4.

In the co-main event, Domingos Barros welcomed kickboxing standout Hesdy Gerges to the world of mixed martial arts in devastating fashion. Neutralizing his opponent’s reach advantage, Barros dragged the towering Gerges to the canvas and secured the crucifix position with ease. After battering Gerges with a barrage of shorts punches, Barros transitioned to full mount and rained down blows until the referee stopped the fight.

Elsewhere on the card, Alen Amedovski and Pedro Carvalho starched their opponents with a pair of blistering sub-minute finishes.

Right out the gate, Amedovksi connected a one-two combination to the jaw of Ibrahim Mane, sending his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he crashed to the canvas. Seeing enough, referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in and stopped the fight just 12-seconds into the opening round. Amedovski improves to 8-0 overall while earning the fifth-fastest knockout in Bellator history.

Not to be out done, Carvalho, who took the fight on short notice, stalked Luca Vitali across the cage before snatching up his neck with a standing guillotine. With his oxygen supply rapidly running thin, Vitali was forced to tap out as he collapsed to his knees.

In the main card opener, Kiefer Crosbie dominated Orlando D’Ambrosio in his promotional debut. Slicing through D’Ambrosio’s defenses, Crosbie controlled his opponent both on the feet and the ground with ease in the opening rounds. Coming out the aggressor in the third frame, D’Ambrosio looked to blitz through Crosbie but found little success as he shoved back to the canvas. With this victory, Crosbie improves to 5-0 overall.