Fedor Emelianenko defeated Chael Sonnen (Photo/Bellator)In a battle of battle-tested mixed martial arts veterans, 42-year-old Fedor Emelianenko scored a first-round TKO of former collegiate wrestler Chael Sonnen, 41, at Bellator 208 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale on Long Island, New York Saturday night.
"The finish came when Sonnen curled up in the fetal position on the floor, as Emelianenko dropped hammerfists from the top," according to ESPN.com ... while Sherdog.com said that Sonnen was hit with "a tidal wave of punches" in the closing seconds of their bout.
Some fans claimed Sonnen had fixed the fight when he rolled out of a potential submission attempt from back mount on Fedor and got finished seconds later. Sonnen later claimed he made a mistake attempting the move.
"The dive roll, I was going to lose that position anyway," Sonnen said. "I was falling over the top so I tried to tuck his chin and go. I used to do that move all of the time in college and I always got it. But I missed it tonight. I rolled right over."
Emelianenko, who launched his career in May 2000, is now 38-5... while Sonnen, who was an NCAA All-American for the now-defunct wrestling program at University of Oregon, falls to 30-16. His pro MMA career goes back more than two decades.
With the victory at 4:46 of Round 1, the Russian advances to the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix finals, where he will face Ryan Bader, NCAA All-American for Arizona State, for the big man title in Inglewood, Calif. on Jan. 25. (Bader got a unanimous decision over Matt Mitrione at Bellator 207 Friday night)
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