Michael ‘Venom’ Page delivers highlight-reel knockout and Pokemon celebration at Bellator 158
British welterweight superstar produces devastating knockout to finish Brazilian veteran Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos in London
BRITISH welterweight star Michael 'Venom' Page celebrated Pokemon-style after producing a stunning knockout of 38-fight veteran Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos.
Page finished the Brazilian veteran with a spectacular flying-knee KO to send the British fans inside The O2 Arena into raptures after a stunning performance at the Bellator 158 event on Saturday night.
Santos won the opening round after taking Page to the mat and looking to advance position in search of a submission.
But the Brit kept his composure from his back and stifled the Brazilian's ground game until the end of the round.
In the second, it was all Page, as he patiently stalked Santos around the cage, landing the occasional rapier-like jab and hurting the Brazilian badly with a thumping left kick to the body that briefly had the veteran covering up and retreating.
But the end of the fight saw one of the most spectacular finishes ever delivered by a British fighter on the world stage as Page unleashed a perfectly-timed flying knee that sent Santos crashing to the canvas.
Referee John McCarthy instantly waved off the fight and later described the KO as "absolutely the hardest knee" he'd ever seen landed in a fight.
Page knew the fight was over and stood off his fallen opponent as the crowd at The O2 went ballistic.
Then the gregarious Brit donned a Pokemon cap and grabbed a Pokemon ball from his corner, rolling it towards his downed opponent.
After the bout Page, wearing sunglasses, praised his opponent for his durability before declaring: "For the Pokemon GO lovers... I just caught me a Cyborg!"
The main event of the evening saw former Bellator welterweight champion fight fire with fire against British knockout artist Paul Daley, running out a decision winner after three well-contested rounds.
Lima punished Daley on the counter, dropping him inside the opening seconds of the fight, then wobbling him badly in the second round, as he appeared happy to stand and trade with the big-punching Brit.
But in the final round, Lima took the safer approach, landing a takedown as Daley came pouring forward to help close out a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring it 30-27 in the Brazilian's favour.
The night's co-main event saw former Britain's Strongest Man Oli Thompson put on a brave show against former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione before eventually falling to a second-round KO.
Thompson stood and traded with Mitrione in a breathless opening round, but the cumulative damage of Mitrione's strikes took effect in the second, as the former NFL player unloaded a barrage of strikes that knocked out the plucky Brit.
Northern Ireland prospect James Gallagher showed the maturity and patience of a man with way more than four fights on his record as he earned a landslide decision victory over Mike 'Gip' Cutting.
Gallagher dominated the opening frame, then remained calm when Cutting started backpedalling around the cage, looking to lure the Northern Irish teenager into a heavy strike.
But despite being just 19, Gallagher kept his composure, bided his time and won every round on all three cards to extend his professional record to 4-0.
Alex Reid's MMA comeback ended in defeat as he dropped a lop-sided unanimous decision to 43-year-old Spanish veteran Manuel Garcia.
Reid fought on bravely despite looking understandably rusty following a three-and-a-half-year layoff.
But he ultimately had no answer to Garcia's takedowns as the Spaniard ran out a shutout winner with scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26.
Popular Brit Danny 'The Cheesecake Assassin' Mitchell produced one of the moments of the night when he produced a rarely-seen twister submission to finish CJ Meeks in the opening round of their middleweight preliminary bout.
Mitchell landed the early takedown and looked to advance position in search of a submission.
And when that opportunity came, it saw Mitchell lock up the rare submission move to score an emotional victory as he dedicated the win to his father, who passed away after his last fight at The O2 against Igor Araujo at UFC Fight Night back in 2014.
Jason 'The Assassin' Radcliffe lived up to his fighting moniker as he starched longtime UKMMA veteran Jack 'Stone' Mason with a perfectly-placed knee to the chin in their middleweight preliminary bout.
Radcliffe finished the 45-fight veteran in just 14 seconds in one of the most decisive wins of the night.
And undefeated flyweight prospect Pietro Menga also scored a spectacular finish, landing a thumping one-hitter quitter to knock out Spencer Hewitt with his first punch in anger.
Menga landed a huge left hand that knocked Hewitt out cold the moment his glove connected to take his perfect professional record to an impressive 13-0.
