UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Ryan Bader felt the power of Linton Vassell’s kicks. That may have been enough for him to decide his best plan of attack was on the canvas.

Bader (24-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) took Vassell (18-6 MMA, 7-3 BMMA) out with a second-round TKO along the fence. The end came at the 3:58 mark of the second frame and gave Bader a win in the first defense of his light heavyweight title.

The light heavyweight title bout was the main event of today’s Bellator 186 event at Bryce Jordan Center on Penn State’s campus in University Park, Pa. It aired on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Vassell kicked early, but quickly found himself needing to fend off a Bader takedown attempt. He managed to stay upright along the fence and even turned Bader around for a takedown of his own. But Bader landed on top and tried to go to work. Vassell worked his way back to his feet 90 seconds in and they went back to the center of the cage. There, Bader landed a left hand, then another. Vassell faked a high kick, then attacked the lead leg. He cracked Bader with a kick to the ribs midway through, but Bader went back to his wrestling and drove Vassell to teh canvas right after that.

Bader dragged Vassell away from the cage and tried to work ground and pound. But when he tried to jump to side control, Vassell got back to his feet. He tried to trip Bader to the canvas, but again Bader landed on top with a minute to work. Bader landed a knee high to the chest and close to illegal as the round came to a close.

Bader threw a heavy left to open the second, then just missed a high kick. But after that, he went right back to his strength and landed a takedown 20 seconds into the round. Bader punched just enough to stay active and keep referee Keith Peterson from standing them up. Eventually, Vassell got to his feet just past the midway point of the round, but Bader dragged him right back down. Vassell landed a few left hands from his back, and Bader didn’t like them. So he fired back and quickly put Vassell in trouble.

The champ kept on firing, and kept on landing. And it didn’t take long for Peterson to jump in to rescue the challenger.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 186 results include:

• Champ Ryan Bader def. Linton Vassell via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:58
• Ilima Macfarlane def. Emily Ducote via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 5, 3:42 – to win inaugural women’s flyweight title
• Phil Davis def. Leo Leite via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ed Ruth def. Chris Dempsey via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:27
• Saad Awad def. Zach Freeman via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:07
• Scott Clymer def. Michael Benjamin Putnam via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:07
• Mike Wilkins def. Brett Martinez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:09
• Michael Trizano def. Mike Otwell via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 2:07
• Dominic Mazzotta def. Matthew Lozano via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 2:37
• Logan Storley def. Matt Secor via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Tywan Claxton def. Jonathan Bonilla-Bowman via knockout (flying knee) – Round 1, 1:29
• Frankie Buenafuente def. Francis Healy via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Andrew Salas def. Ethan Goss via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Josh Fremd def. Ryan Parker via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:25

For complete coverage of Bellator 186, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

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