JAKE BAGLEY AFTER DAZZLING MMA DEBUT: “I PLAN ON DOING BIG THINGS”

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

Jake “The Bull” Bagley has had a mythical reputation within the Maine wrestling community for well over a decade, but when he made his mixed martial arts (MMA) debut at “NEF 37: Sub Zero” on February 1st in Bangor, a whole new legion of fans learned his name—fight fans. That’s because Bagley, a multiple-time state champion wrestler, brought the house down in his back-and-forth, fist-tastic battle with Canada’s Brady Macdonald. Bagley discussed his NEF MMA debut recently with Bryan Stackpole and Ryan Jarrell on the Between Rounds Radio podcast.

 Bagley, now 25-years-old, grew-up wrestling for perennial powerhouse Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, where he won two state championships. During his time on the mat, Bagley earned a reputation as a relentless competitor that never hesitated to bump up in weight to face the toughest challengers he could find at both the state and national levels. Blessed with a relentless desire to constantly test his abilities, Bagley’s interests naturally progressed to MMA at a young age.

Bellator 216 Live Play by Play

Michael Venom Page v. Paul Semtex Daley Welterweight Grand Prix

Travis Lizotte

Alright New England MMA fans after some technical difficulties last night we should be good to go for tonight's Bellator 216 card, bringing you live up to the minute results from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Tonight's card is absolutely stacked and will kick off at 7:30 PM Eastern time with the Main Card to follow at 10 PM. Stay with us throughout the night for all the live coverage as it goes down here at Bellator 216!

Prelims:

Pat "The Gorilla Ninja" Casey v. Nekruz Mirkhojaev

Lightweight

Round 1: They Touch em up and Nekruz goes for the early takedown and is stuffed, they return to striking distance and Nekruz ducks in for another takedown attempt and is stuffed. Nekruz lands a combination and is answered by the gloves of Pat Casey. These two are swinging for the fences as the first two minutes tick away. Casey lands a nice combination that rests the chin of Nekruz as he follows the right with a big lefthand. Nekruz is trying to clinch but Pat is having none of it as Casey stuffs another takedown but eats a strike in the process. Nekruz once again tries to get the fight to the ground but is again stuffed by Casey. Casey lands a body kick just before the round ends. 10-9 Casey.

Round 2: Both men come out looking to strike again as Casey puts his head down and strikes his way forward. Nekruz looks for another takedown but its more of the same, Pat stuffs and returns to striking distance. They are essentially standing in front of each other here trading combinations. Casey clips Nekruz with a nice right hand worthy of note. Casey has Nekruz backed to the cage as Pat goes on the offensive and Nekruz looks to counter and they return to the center. Nekruz catches a kick from Casey and dumps him on the canvas, Casey gets to his feet briefly but is dumped again and Nekruz takes his back with 20 seconds left to work, Nekruz lands some hammerfists and looks for the rear naked choke but cannot finish. 10-9 Mirkhojaev. 

Round 3: Nekruz touches the chin of Casey and they roll to the canvas, Casey gets to his feet but is greeted by a takedown by Nekruz. Nekruz gets the back and is landing some clean shots, Nekruz switches to a neck crank and Casey is forced to tap.

Decision: Nekruz Mirkhojaev defeats Pat Casey by Submission (Neck Crank) at 1:18 of the third round. 

Bellator 215 & 216 Preview

Mitrione v. Kharitonov / Michael Page v. Paul Daley

Travis Lizotte

Uncasville, Connecticut - Bellator MMA makes an epic return to the Mohegan Sun Arena Friday, February 15th and again the following night Saturday the 16th with two stacked cards, filled with both local favorites and living legends. Friday night Bellator 215 gets the weekend festivities underway with a highly anticipated Heavyweight Main Event as Matt “Meathead” Mitrione (13-6) fights in New England for his third time in a row and welcomes the former Pride Legend; Sergei “The Paratrooper” Kharitonov (27-6) back to the Mohegan Sun Casino and the Bellator cage. Mitrione will be looking to bounce back off a lop-sided Unanimous Decision loss to newly crowned Bellator Heavyweight Champion; Ryan Bader at Bellator 207 in October. Kharitonov also fought at Bellator 207, extending his current winning streak to 5 fights, with a first round dismantling of Roy Nelson, and notching his 18th professional Knockout. Mitrione v. Kharitonov will set the stage for one of the most highly anticipated fights in recent Bellator history, when strikers and fellow knockout artists; Michael “Venom” Page (13-0) and Paul “Semtex” Daley (40-16-2) lock horns in the opening round of the Bellator Welterweight tournament in an epic Main Event at Bellator 216 Saturday night. Two extremely gifted Englishmen with fight ending abilities take center stage as Bellator 216: MVP v. Daley, puts the finishing touches on an exciting weekend of MMA live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut!

Bellator 215 Mitrione v. Kharitonov carries with it a stacked Main Card that includes former Minnesota Golden Gopher Wrestler; turned Undefeated Welterweight standout; Logan “Storm” Storley (9-0) who will look to keep his record unblemished as he meets Heavy-Handed Romanian Striker; Ion Pascu (18-9). Former Bellator Bantamweight World Champion Eduardo Dantas (20-6) sets out to break his current two fight skid as he squares off with BJ Penn understudy; Hawaiian slugger, Toby Misech (11-6). New England fans are treated to a matchup of “Hometown Bantamweight Prospects” on the Main Card, as two fight Bellator veteran; Mike “The Savage” Kimbel (2-0) seeks yet another first round finish as he welcomes CES veteran John Douma (3-1) to the Bellator cage for the first time. This is an incredible matchup of elite Bantamweight Prospects here in the Northeast region, as the sky's the limit for both of these exciting youngsters that look to add a Nationally Televised Bellator victory to their already impressive professional resumes. Rounding out the Main Card is a man that many MMA fans know as “Mr. Paige VanZant,” also known as Undefeated Welterweight Prospect; Austin “AK-47” Vanderford (6-0), Vanderford will makes his Bellator MMA debut against South Carolina’s Cody Jones (6-2) who will also be making his promotional debut.

The Bellator 216; MVP v. Daley Main Card is the stuff of legend, in addition to the Welterweight Tournament matchup between Michael “Venom” Page v. Paul “Semtex” Daley, Bellator rolls out a stable of MMA legends that makes Bellator 216 possibly the biggest fight card to hit the Northeast in recent memory. The Night’s Co-Main Event features former UFC Heavyweight Cheick Kongo (29-10-2) as he squares off with Vitaly Minakov (21-0) for the second time in their careers. Kongo is the winner of 9 of his last 10 fights, including a current 7 fight win streak since a Decision loss to Minakov at Bellator 115. Minakov has still yet to lose in his 21 fight pro career as he looks to make the Legend; Kongo, his 20th career victory via stoppage. Two more Heavyweight Legends square off as former M-1, Pride and UFC striker; Mirko Cro Cop (37-11-2) makes his Bellator debut against fellow Knockout Artist Roy “Big Country” Nelson (23-16). These legends combine for 44 career knockouts in their 60 combined career wins, everyone in the arena will be rooting for these two Heavyweights to stand toe to toe and slug this one out! Another former UFC standout; Welterweight Erick “The Tiger” Silva (20-9) will test the perfect record of Yaroslav “Dynamo” Amosov (20-0) as Silva steps to the Bellator cage for the first time. American Top Team Women’s Flyweight Prospect Valerie Loureda (Pro Debut) will make her highly anticipated pro debut in the Bellator cage, to open the Main Card against Oklahoma’s Colby “DreamCatcher” Fletcher (1-2) live on DAZN.  

As always Bellator has added some star studded undercards to this epic two night event; a lineup which is littered with top New England based talents. Below are the two fight cards for Bellator 215 & 216, also all New England based fighters (marked with *) have short bios following at the end of this article. WesternMassMMA.com will be live at Mohegan Sun Arena both nights and will provide round by round results for all the New England based fighters’ fights as well as full results for the remainder of each card. Please follow along with our coverage throughout the weekend, as we bring you closer to the action from our seats Cage Side!                

Bellator 215 (Friday) Main Card (9 pm on Paramount Network):

Heavyweight Matt “Meathead” Mitrione (13-6) v. Sergei “The Paratrooper” Kharitonov (27-6)

Welterweight Logan “Storm” Storley (9-0) v. Ion “Bombardierul” Pascu (18-9)

Bantamweight Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas (20-6) v. Toby “2 Quick” Misech (11-6)

Bantamweight *Mike “The Savage” Kimbel (2-0) v. *John Douma (3-1)

Catchweight 175 Austin “AK-47” Vanderford (6-0) v. Cody Jones (6-2)

Prelims:

Middleweight *Pat McCrohan (3-2) v. Jason Markland (Debut)

Atomweight Tabatha “Batgirl” Watkins (3-0) v. Lindsey “Damsel” VanZandt (4-1)

Featherweight *Pete “The Heat” Rogers Jr. (3-4) v. Jason “Renegade” Rine (1-4)

Featherweight Amber Leibrock (3-2) v. Amanda “The Lady Killer” Bell (5-5)

Heavyweight Steve Mowry (5-0) v. Darion Abbey (Debut)

Welterweight *Billy Goff (1-0) v. Ryan “Hardyboy” Hardy (Debut)

Featherweight *Matt Probin (3-0) v. *Ali Zebian (1-0)

Flyweight Zarrukh Adashev (1-1) v. Ronie Arana Leon (0-2)

Bellator 216 (Saturday) Main Card (10 pm on DAZN):

Welterweight Michael “Venom” Page (13-0) v. Paul “Semtex” Daley (40-16-2)

Heavyweight Cheick Kongo (29-10-2) v. Vitaly Minakov (21-0)

Heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop (37-11-2) v. Roy “Big Country” Nelson (23-16)

Welterweight Yaroslav “Dynamo” Amosov (20-0) v. Erick “The Tiger” Silva (20-9)

Flyweight Valerie Loureda (2-1) v. Colby “Dreamcatcher” Fletcher (1-2)

Prelims:

Lightweight *Pat “The Gorilla Ninja” Casey (4-0) v. Nekruz Mirkhojaev (3-2)

Welterweight *Kastriot “Slaughterhouse” Xhema (2-2) v. *Kemran “Killer Kem” Lachinov (7-2)

Welterweight Demetrios “Demi God” Plaza (Debut) v. Drews Rodriguez (1-0)

Middleweight Rodolfo Neves Rocha (0-1) v. *Jesse “James” Kosakowski (2-0)

Middleweight *Justin “The Fort”  Sumter (6-2) v. *Reginaldo Felix (5-2)

Welterweight *Vinicius “The Brazilian Bad Boy” de Jesus (6-2) v. Rodolfo Barcellos (1-0)

Heavyweight Tyrell Fortune (5-0) v. Ryan Pokryfky (6-5)

Bellator 215 fighters from New England:

*Mike “The Savage” Kimbel

Bantamweight

Fighting out of: Waterbury, Connecticut

Affiliation: Fighting Arts Academy

Record: 2-0 (2 Knockouts)

Last fight: First round Knockout (Punches) of ALex Potts at Bellator 207.

Fighting: John Douma (3-1)

*John Douma

Bantamweight

Fighting out of: Narragansett, Rhode Island

Affiliation: Tri-Force MMA

Record: 3-1 (2 Knockouts, 1 Submission)

Last fight: Third round Knockout loss (Elbows) to Adam Acquaviva at CES 50: Paiva v. Ewell

Fighting: Mike Kimbel (2-0)

*Pat McCrohan

Middleweight

Fighting out of: Berkeley, Massachusetts

Affiliation: Regiment Training Center

Record: 3-2 (2 Knockouts)

Last fight: First round Knockout loss (Punches) to Reginaldo Felix at CES 50: Paiva v. Ewell.

Fighting: Jason Markland (Debut)

*Pete “The Heat” Rogers Jr.

Featherweight

Fighting out of: Norwich, Connecticut

Affiliation: Pete Rogers MMA

Record: 3-4 (2 Knockouts, 1 Submission)

Last fight: First round Submission (Guillotine) of Timothy Wheeler at Bellator 185

Fighting: Jason Rine (1-4)

*Billy Goff

Welterweight

Fighting out of: Groton, Connecticut

Affiliation: Dexter MMA

Record: 1-0 (1 Knockouts)

Last fight: Second round Knockout of Armus Guyton at Reality Fighting.

Fighting: Ryan Hardy Evans (Debut)

*Matt Probin

Featherweight

Fighting out of: Portland, Maine

Affiliation: Recon MMA

Record: 3-0 (3 Knockouts)

Last fight: Second round Knockout of Lionel Young at NEF 36: Battle for the Gold.

Fighting: Ali Zebian (1-0)

*Ali “Anabolic Arab” Zebian

Featherweight

Fighting out of: Westfield, Massachusetts

Affiliation: Jon Manley MMA

Record: 1-0 (3 Knockouts)

Last fight: First round Knockout (Doctor Stoppage) of Jason Rine at Premier FC 27.

Fighting: Matt Probin (3-0)

Bellator 216 fighters from New England:

*Pat “The Gorilla Ninja” Casey

Lightweight

Fighting out of: Springfield, Massachusetts

Affiliation: Team Link

Record: 4-0 (1 Submission)

Last fight: Unanimous Decision Victory over Kastriot Xhema at Bellator 207.

Fighting: Nekruz Mirkhojaev (3-2)

*Kastriot “Slaughterhouse” Xhema

Welterweight

Fighting out of: Greenwich, Connecticut

Affiliation: Team Slaughterhouse

Record: 2-2 (2 Knockouts)

Last fight: Unanimous Decision loss to Pat Casey at Bellator 207.

Fighting: Kemran Lachinov (7-2)

*Kemran “Killer Kem” Lachinov

Welterweight

Fighting out of: Springfield, Massachusetts

Affiliation: Team Link

Record: 7-2 (2 Knockouts, 2 Submissions)

Last fight: Unanimous Decision Victory over Sean Lally at Bellaotr 207.

Fighting: Kastriot Xhema (2-2)

*Jesse “James” Kosakowski

Middleweight

Fighting out of: Waterbury, Connecticut

Affiliation: Fighting Arts Academy

Record: 2-0 (2 Submissions)

Last fight: Third Round Submission of Daniel Konrad at Reality Fighting.

Fighting: Rodolfo Rocha (1-1)

*Justin “The Fort” Sumter

Middleweight

Fighting out of: Milford, Connecticut

Affiliation: Fighting Arts Academy

Record: 6-2 (2 Knockouts, 2 Submissions)

Last fight: First round Knockout loss (Elbows from Guard) to Ian Heinisch as Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series 2018.

Fighting: Reginaldo Felix (5-2)

*Reginaldo Felix

Middleweight

Fighting out of: Worcester, Massachusetts

Affiliation: Team Link

Record: 5-2 (4 Knockouts, 1 Submission)

Last fight: First round Knockout (Punches) of Pat McCrohan at CES 50: Paiva v. Ewell.

Fighting: Justin Sumter (6-2)

*Vinicius “The Brazilian Bad Boy” de Jesus

Welterweight

Fighting out of: Stamford, Connecticut by way of; Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Affiliation: Boxer MMA/ UFC Gym

Record: 6-2 (2 Knockouts, 2 Submissions)

Last fight: Unanimous Decision Victory over Tim Caron at Bellator 207.

Fighting: Rodolfo Barcellos (1-0)

 

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