Eduardo Dantas prepared for a five-round battle with his Bellator bantamweight title on the line.
Instead, he settled for grinding out a three-round split decision over Leandro Higo Friday night at Bellator 177. The event aired via tape-delay from Budapest, Hungary on Spike.
Higo, making his promotional debut after winning the Legacy Fighting Alliance title, missed weight by four pounds on Thursday. That forced officials to scrap the planned title fight, but Dantas agreed to meet him at a catchweight without the belt on the line.
“It was tough to stay motivated for this fight once he missed weight. There was nothing to gain whether I beat him fast or slow. It wasn’t for the belt, it wasn’t going to change my ranking in Bellator,” Dantas said. “When [Darrion] Caldwell got injured, I asked Scott Coker to bring in tough bantamweights and they brought in a tough fighter, but you have to make weight. I train hard for several months, I don’t go out, I train. It’s the very minimum you can do. You have to make weight. Be a professional. I don’t think Caldwell is injured. I think he just doesn’t want to fight out of America. I am looking forward to getting my hands on him.”fea
Daniel Weichel scored his fourth consecutive win, besting John Teixeira via split decision. He is now 11-1 over his last 12 fights, including eight wins inside the Bellator cage.
Complete results can be found below:
Eduardo Dantas def. Leandro Higo via split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)
Daniel Weichel def. John Teixeira via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Lena Ovchynnikova def. Helen Harper via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
Adam Borics def. Anthony Taylor via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:12 of Round 1
Brian Moore def. Michal Horejsi via TKO (strikes) at 3:57 of Round 2
Mate Kertesz def. Patrick Szombat via TKO (strikes) at 4:37 of Round 2
