Bellator 66: Maiquel Falcão wins and middleweight GP final fight

The Brazilian Maiquel Falcao is in the final of the Bellator middleweight GP. The athlete from Rio Grande do Sul secured his place in the decision by beating Russian Vyacheslav Vasilevsky at Bellator 66, an event held this Friday (20), in Cleveland, in the United States. Thiago Michel, who was competing in the semifinals of the lightweight tournament, ended up being defeated by the North American Brent Weedman in the unanimous decision of the judges. In the main fight of the night, American Eddie Alvarez gave Shinya Aoki no chance and knocked out the Japanese in the first round.

Falcão recovers and guarantees place in the final
The Brazilian Maiquel Falcao secured a spot in the Bellator GP decision, but the Tupiniquim middleweight encountered many difficulties at the beginning of the fight. Russian Vyacheslav Vasilevsky abused takedowns to get out of the stand and keep the Brazilian on his back on the ground. In the second round, the fight was heading towards the same destination, but after tangling in the clinch, Falcão fell on top to the ground and threw several blows at his opponent.

With more confidence, Maiquel returned with more strikes in the third round, combining knees and boxing strikes. In turn, Vasilevsky just tried to stay in the fight and risk some takedowns, which were always reversed by the Brazilian. At the end of the 15-minute duel, the three side judges gave the victory to Maiquel Falcao (29×28, 29×28, 29×28).

In the grand final of the GP, Maiquel faces the underdog Andreas Spang, who replaced the injured Bruno Carioca, and knocked out Brian Rogers in the second round.

Thiago Michel loses and leaves the fight between lightweights
The only Tupiniquim representative in the semifinals of the lightweight tournament, Thiago Michel had a tough fight against Brent Weedman. But with a conscious game of takedowns, the North American managed to avoid the Minas Gerais striker in the first two rounds. In the third round, Thiago managed to keep the fight going and landed several blows on the American, working with spinning kicks and good punches. However, the Brazilian's reaction started late and the judges gave the victory to Brent Weedman in a split decision.

In the big decision of the lightweight tournament, Weedman faces Rick Hawn, who beat Lloyd Woodard, in the other semifinal.

Check out the complete results from Bellator 66 below:

Main Card

Eddie Alvarez defeated Shinya Aoki via TKO in R1;
Andreas Spang defeated Brian Rogers by knockout in R2;
Maiquel Falcao defeated Vyacheslav Vasilevsky via unanimous decision
Rick Hawn defeated Lloyd Woodard via TKO in R2;
Brent Weedman defeated Thiago Michel via split decision;

Preliminary Card

Julian Lane submitted Joe Heiland with a guillotine choke in R1;
John Hawk defeated Marcus Vanttinen via split decision;
Attila Vegh defeated Dan Spohn via split decision;
Frank Caraballo defeated Donny Walker by knockout in R4;
Jessica Eye vs. Anita Rodriguez