Ed Ruth won at Bellator 168 (Photo/Bellator)Ed Ruth, three-time NCAA wrestling champ for Penn State, accepted his second pro MMA event at Bellator 168 on short notice ... and made short work of his opponent.
Ruth, who said yes to fighting at Bellator 168 only seven days ago -- and just one month after his successful pro debut -- scored a first-round technical knockout of Emanuele Palombi in a catchweight bout held at the Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy Saturday night.
The match ended at 1:33 of Round One, in a fight that the former Nittany Lion wrestler accepted early last week when Palombi's original opponent withdrew because of an injury.
"It was a quick, dominant victory by Ruth," reported MMAfighting.com. "It all started with an early takedown ... From there, Ruth quickly moved to side control, then mount and began dropping bombs on Palombi. It only took a few shots for Palombi to go out, causing the referee to stop the bout."
"Ed Ruth secured a quick takedown and rapidly moved into full mount," according to BloodyElbow.com. "Shortly after, Ruth started to uncork some devastating ground and pound before the referee rescued Emanuele Palombi from any unnecessary damage."
With the win, Ruth is now 2-0 in his pro MMA career ... while Rome native Palombi has his three-bout win streak snapped, falling to 5-3 overall.
Ruth made his pro debut at Bellator 163 on Nov. 4, where the Harrisburg, Pa. native scored a TKO by strikes over Dustin Collins-Miles at 3:19 of the first round of their scheduled three-round middleweight (185-pound) bout.
Before signing with Bellator in summer 2015, Ruth was the first three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ in the more than a century of Penn State wrestling, winning the 174-pound crown at the 2012 NCAAs, then back-to-back titles at 184 in 2013 and 2014. As a Nittany Lion, Ruth was a four-time NCAA All-American and four-time Big Ten conference champ, compiling an impressive 140-3 record.
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