WEST VALLEY CITY — Rad Martinez of West Jordan was defeated by Shahbulat Shamhalaev of Russia in the Bellator tournament MMA featherweight championship on Thursday night at the Maverik Center.
During the bout, televised live on the Spike TV network, Martinez, 14-3, had the edge in round one due to a strong ground game. However, Shamhalaev, 12-1 stunned Martinez with strikes early in round two and eventually knocked him out with a hard right hand punch. Both fighters weighed 145.9 pounds.
In a preliminary bout, Sean Powers, 154.6 pounds, from Fruit Heights, scored an impressive third round tap out win over fellow Utahn David Allred, 155.9 pounds, who amused the crowd by entering the ring wearing a “Barney the Dinosaur” head mask. The tall lean Powers, 7-3, used strong boxing skills and hard knee shots to wear down Allred, 11-5, and force a submission with a rear naked choke.
Other bouts involving Utahns included Clearfield’s Jordan Smith, 17-5-1, who lost a close split decision to California’s Jesse Juarez, 19-8, 170.2 pounds. The Standard-Examiner scored the bout for Smith, who seemed to have the edge in rounds one and three. Also, Utahn Travis Marx, 20-4, defeated Chase Beebe, 22-9, via three-round decision in a bantamweight fight, and Clearfield’s Joe Rodriguez, 1-1, was stopped in the first round, due to strikes, by Lionel Lanham, 5-1.
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