Bellator 93: Results and Event Recap
Bellator 93, held on March 21, 2013, at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine, was a night filled with unexpected twists and thrilling fights. The event was marked by a series of unforeseen circumstances that led to a reshuffling of the fight card, but the fighters who stepped into the cage delivered performances that kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
The scheduled main event, a welterweight tournament final between Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima, had to be postponed after Lima broke his hand. Another high-profile television fight, this one between Brett Rogers and Eric Prindle, was also cancelled at the last minute when Prindle was forced to pull out due to an injury. This left Dave Jansen and Marcin Held as the last two men standing.
Jansen and Held had been scheduled to compete for a shot at lightweight champion Michael Chandler on December 14, 2012, at Bellator 84, but the bout was unexpectedly cancelled when the 20-year-old Held was prohibited from entering the Horseshoe Hammond Casino in Hammond, Indiana. Jansen made up for lost time in Maine, negating Held’s dangerous leglock submissions and outworking him on the way to a unanimous decision. The victory earned the 33-year-old wrestler, now 20-2, a shot at Chandler’s Bellator title, making him the night’s clear winner.
But Jansen wasn’t the evening’s only winner, and Held wasn’t the sole loser. In mixed martial arts, a fighter can sometimes win a fight but do so in a lackluster fashion that costs the athlete the support of both fans and promoters.
The undercard fights went seven for seven—seven fights and seven submissions or knockouts. Leading the way was Michael “Venom” Page, a 25-year-old British kickboxing prospect with loads of potential and no small measure of swagger. Page knocked out hometown fighter Ryan Sanders in just 10 seconds, landing a glancing right hand that dropped his opponent. Rather than swoop in for the kill, Page calmly walked away, leaving the referee to stop the fight.
Bellator 93 was a night of high drama and intense action, evidence of the unpredictable and exciting nature of mixed martial arts. Despite the last-minute changes to the fight card, the event delivered a night of memorable fights that will be talked about for years to come.
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Bellator 93, Bellator, Mixed Martial Arts, Event Results
