Controversy was in the air last night as one of Bellator’s most high profile acquisitions, Gegard Mousasi, seemingly done enough to get past MMA veteran Alexander Shlemenko
Mousasi, who was making his debut in the promotion following his departure from the UFC earlier this year, started off well despite both men initially appearing to be tentative to get the ball rolling.
An overhand shot from Shlemenko rocked Mousasi, however, which led to his right eye completely swelling shut. Unperturbed but clearly at a disadvantage, Mousasi battled through the second round and had some success on the floor.
Shlemenko seemingly did enough to take the second round, having landed the more significant strikes over his opponent and he followed this up by an absolutely dominant performance in the final third which many believed was enough to hand Mousasi a loss in his first fight in the promotion. All three judges scored the bout in favor of the Dutchman, much to the incredulity of many watching the fight.
Another big name UFC to Bellator convert, Rory MacDonald, was also watching the fight. MacDonald took to Twitter to voice his opinion of the result:
shlemenko won that fight clearly, shame he didnt get it officially on the decision
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) October 21, 2017
