Bellator 219 Results: Fighter pays tribute to Stone Cold Steve Austin, Epic main event
Bellator's latest event emanated from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California and contained a total of fifteen fights.
Four of those featured on the main card which was headlined by an explosive Lightweight contest between knockout artists Saad Awad and Brandon Gritz.
Elsewhere on the card, Muay Thai standout Joe Schilling took on Keith Berry in the opener of the main card. It was a stacked event that enabled a strong finish of the month for Bellator.
Let's jump right into the results then, shall we?
Bellator 219 Results - Prelims
David Rickels def. A.J. Matthews via TKO (3:24, Round 2)
Shawn Bunch def. Dominic Mazzotta via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Dalton Rosta def. Cody Vidal via TKO (1:06, Round 1)
Joey Davis def. Marcus Anthony via KO (4:21, Round 1)
It should be noted that the following fights are post-main card bouts and are happening as we speak:
Janay Harding def. Marina Mokhnatkina via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-28)
Johnny Cisneros def. John Mercurio via Majority Decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Rickey Furar def. Roman Puga via TKO (Doctor's Stoppage) (5:00, Round 2)
Sunni Imhotep def. Eugene Correa via KO (0:44, Round 1)
David Pacheco vs. Kelvin Gentapanan
Weber Almeida vs. Johnny Soto
Rickles paid homage to the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin by adopting the Texas Rattlesnake's persona tonight. This was epic!
#1. Joe Schilling (3-5) vs. Keith Berry (15-14-1) (Middleweight)
Schilling came into the fight with a victory over Will Morris at Bellator 210 in November 2018 while his opponent hadn't won a single fight in his last 5 attempts. Berry's last bout ended in a draw against Kevin Casey in January 2017.
Schilling was the obvious favorite as he was the man with the bigger frame, standing in at 6'3" with a reach advantage of three inches.
It didn't take time for Schilling to impose his striking dominance as he dropped Berry within the very first minute of the first round. He allowed Berry to get back up on his feet, who in turn, scored a takedown on Schilling. Schilling deployed kicks to the left leg and also used his knees and elbows to good effect. The round ended with Berry getting another takedown.
Schilling amped up the pressure in the second round, as despite going down to the mat again in the early goings, the Muay Thai exponent kept connecting with leg kick all throughout the round. The kicks forced Berry to shift stances and Schilling took advantage of the alteration with a step-in uppercut at the end of the second round. Berry felt it and retreated, only to eat another knee at the bell. Schilling took the second round as well.
Berry managed trip Schilling down early in the third round but as was the case with previous round, he couldn't do much damage. Schilling swept on top and got in a dominant top position. Rights, elbows and left strikes kept raining from the top. Schilling continued to pummel Berry, who was a bloody mess. Referee Mike Beltran let the fight go the distance even though it would have been apt to stop it a few minutes before the final bell itself.
Result: Joe Schilling def. Keith Berry via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
That was a brutally dominant performance from Schilling, especially the 10-8 third round in which he dished out some barbaric punishment on Berry from the top.