Michael “Venom” Page produced the highlight-reel finish London fans were hoping for when he stopped Giovanni Melillo inside one round.
LONDON – [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] gave his hometown fans what they wanted as he closed the show in style at Bellator Europe 6 with the latest addition to his spectacular highlight reel.
Page (16-1 MMA, 12-1 BMMA) finished late-notice replacement [autotag]Giovanni Melillo[/autotag] in just 107 seconds with a thumping right hand to bring the SSE Arena crowd to their feet at the end of a dramatic main card in England’s capital.
Page was originally set to face American Derek Anderson, but a late injury to “Barbaric” meant Bellator needed a short-notice replacement. And while Italy’s Melillo (13-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) stepped up to the plate, he found himself hopelessly outgunned in a fight where he barely laid a glove on the Brit, who found a home for his strikes almost immediately.
A slick three-punch combination signaled Page’s intent to claim a fast finish as he showed a visibly more aggressive pace than we’ve seen from him in some of his past fights. And, after backing his man up with a mixture of sharp punches and the occasional low kick, Melillo looked to launch an attack of his own.
But Page saw the Italian’s riposte coming and answered with a huge right hand that knocked out Melillo long before he hit the canvas as he registered the 10th knockout win of his professional MMA career.
Edwards edges out Shipman via split decision
After all the drama and bad blood of fight week, [autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag] and [autotag]Mike Shipman[/autotag] finally got their hands on each other inside the cage but, in a strange twist, their co-main event fight ended with the winner calling for a rematch.
Former BAMMA middleweight champion Shipman (13-3 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) looked to implement a gameplan that saw him close the distance and smother Edwards’ strikes, before wearing on him against the fence and gaining takedowns. But while the Londoner was successful in avoiding the Birmingham man’s best shots, Edwards (9-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) still managed to score with shots as Shipman stepped in. Once in the clinch, Shipman used his strength to hold Edwards against the cage, but the undefeated prospect stayed calm and managed to escape each time after taking minimal damage.
By the time the fight reached the third round both men were feeling the pace, and that opened up opportunities for Edwards to let loose with his strikes as he started the final frame with a pair of solid left hands. Once again, Shipman was able to take his man to the mat, but this time he couldn’t hold him down as Edwards fought his way back to his feet.
Then “The Assassin” enjoyed his best spell of the fight as he unloaded his power shots on a fatigued Shipman and wobbled the former BAMMA champion with a powerful left hand as he chased a late stoppage.
Ultimately, however, the judges were required to provide a definitive winner, and they were split on the verdict, with each man earning a 29-28 score on the final scorecards. But the third card, a 30-27, was awarded to Edwards to give him the victory. But his post-fight interview suggested he wasn’t fully satisfied with the outcome as he called for a second bout with the Londoner.
Bak makes a winning start to life in Bellator
It wasn’t pretty, but [autotag]Soren Bak[/autotag] was strong and effective as he served up a strict diet of takedowns and top control to stifle England’s [autotag]Terry Brazier[/autotag] and secure a unanimous decision in their lightweight main card opener.
The battle between the former two-division Cage Warriors champion Bak (14-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and former two-weight BAMMA champ Brazier (11-3 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) produced a grueling three-round battle, with the Dane’s simple, but effective, gameplan seeing him repeatedly take Brazier to the mat and achieve top position.
The Copenhagen native repeated the trick in each round to seal a unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 on the judges’s scorecards.
Emotional return for Whiteford
The night also marked the emotional return of Scottish featherweight [autotag]Robert Whiteford[/autotag], who ended an 18-month exile from the sport with a last-gasp knockout victory of [autotag]Sam Sicilia[/autotag] on his Bellator debut.
After a cagey opening round, Whiteford (16-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was rocked by a right hand, then a flying knee, as Sicilia (17-11 MMA, 2-3 BMMA) appeared to be taking control of the fight in the second. But Whiteford stayed in the fight and, with the 10-second clapper sounding at the end of the final frame, launched one final flurry and decked the American with a huge right uppercut before finishing him with strikes on the ground with just six seconds of the fight remaining.
Official Bellator Europe 6 results include:
MAIN CARD (Bellator app, 5 p.m. ET)
- Michael Page def. Giovanni Melillo via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:47
- Fabian Edwards def. Mike Shipman via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Soren Bak def. Terry Brazier via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Bellator app, 11:30 a.m. ET)
- Denise Kielholtz def. Sabriye Sengul via submission (Americana) – Round 1, 0:32
- Tim Wilde def. Charlie Leary via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Pietro Penini def. Charlie Ward via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Robert Whiteford def. Sam Sicilia via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 4:54
- Lewis Long def. Walter Gahadza via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:44
- Chris Bungard def. Benjamin Brander via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:26
- Kent Kauppinen def. Andy Manzolo via submission (forearm choke) – Round 1, 3:53
- Alfie Davis def. Alessandro Botti via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Kevin Fryer def. George Tokkos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aiden Lee def. Damian Frankiewicz via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:24
- Jeremy Petley def. Tom Mearns via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Harry Hardwick def. Nathan Rose via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Akonne Wanliss def. Tim Barnett via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 0:56
- Raphael Uchegbu def. ‘Super’ Shane Campbell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:17
- Charlotte McIntyre def. Josie Blaber via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:00
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