Michael McDonald came up short at the scale for his Bellator debut. But inside the cage he came away victorious.

McDonald, fighting for the first time in 17 months after jumping ship from the UFC, scored a unanimous-decision win over Peter Ligier in the Bellator 191 headliner, with all three judges yielding 30-27 nods in McDonald’s favor. The fight originally was set to take place at bantamweight but was switched to a 138-pound catchweight after McDonald came in overweight.

Bellator 191 took place Friday at Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England, and aired on Spike via same-day tape delay.

Afterward, McDonald said he believed he broke his hand from a hard uppercut landed late in Round 2.

“I broke my hand in the second,” McDonald said. “I can feel it popping around right now. So I know it’s broken.”

As a result, McDonald (18-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) said that’s why he spent much of Round 3 laying on top of Ligier (8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) while doing minimal damage.

“I wanted to throw on the feet, and I was trying to experiment with it,” McDonald said. “I threw with it, and I just felt a shot of electricity. … I knew I needed to let it chill, so I had to rely on my wrestling.”

The headliner was a somewhat lackluster affair. Both fighters came out tentative, with McDonald calm as they felt each other out in the opening moments of Round 1. He found some early success with sharp jabs. About 1 minute into the round, McDonald showed great timing in ducking a right hook and scoring a takedown, but Ligier popped up quickly. There wasn’t much action, overall, which set the tone for the remainder of the fight.

Ligier clipped McDonald with a big right hand about 2 minutes into Round 2 and pushed forward against the fence. McDonald had his senses about him, though, and held serve. They broke away and stood in the center, where McDonald shot in for a successful takedown. He wasn’t able to do anything with it, however, and Ligier stood up to clinch against the fence. The pace slowed momentarily until Ligier closed the distance with a wild combo, resulting in a clinch against the fence. A low blow by Ligier momentarily halted the fight. Action resumed with 30 seconds left, and McDonald scored the most significant strike of the round with the hard uppercut that might’ve broke his hand.

How’d McDonald feel about his performance?

“Good, and it feels like crap,” he said. “It does not feel good to go three rounds with a really good fighter. I feel like crap, but inside I feel really good besides my broken hand.”

Letourneau scores clean sweep in Bellator debut

(Bellator MMA)

Valerie Letourneau is back to her winning ways.

Letourneau, making her Bellator debut, scored a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards for a unanimous-decision win over Kate Jackson (9-3-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in the women’s flyweight co-headliner. The win snapped a three-fight losing streak for the former UFC women’s strawweight title contender. It had been more than two years since Letourneau (9-6 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) experienced a win.

“This year has been so long. I wanted this fight so bad,” Letourneau said. “I just lost three fights in a row. To me, this was so, so important. I’m glad I got the win tonight.”

Both women stayed at range for the first few minutes of the opening round, content with throwing single strikes. Letourneau seemed to get the better of the in-and-out approach, landing the cleaner shots. A right hand from Letourneau grazed Jackson’s cheek, cutting her open and causing blood to trickle. Round 1 was close and remained standing the entire time, with neither woman getting too aggressive.

Letourneau came out throwing a little more to open Round 2, then settled into countering when Jackson pushed forward. Just past the 2-minute mark, Jackson shot for a takedown from way outside. She got it, but Letourneau immediately worked for submission via armbar and triangle attempts. That led to Letourneau transitioning into dominant position and continuing for an armbar. When she realized it wasn’t there, Letourneau stood up with about 90 seconds remaining and pelted the grounded Jackson with hip kicks before referee John McCarthy stood them up. With blood smeared on Jackson’s left cheek, Letourneau closed out the final minute with solid striking.

The pace continued to be high in Round 3, with both women exchanging at close quarters. Perhaps believing she was ahead, Letourneau got back to range, whereas Jackson persisted with combinations. But Letourneau’s counters remained on point for the duration of the round, landing solid punches to the face that caused Jackson’s nose to bleed.

All in all, a solid performance by Letourneau.

“I was honestly trying to use my experience,” she said. “I wanted to push more, but I don’t want to make any mistakes. Just trying to fight smart, I know it feels boring waiting. But this is what you’ve got to do sometimes to get a win.”

With the victory, it’s possible Letourneau has positioned herself for a shot at newly crowned inaugural champion Ilima Macfarlane.

“I like you, Ilima, but I think we’re going to have to make this happen,” Letourneau said.

Complete Bellator 191 results include:

• Michael McDonald def. Peter Ligier via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Valerie Letourneau def. Kate Jackson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mohammad Yahya def. Ash Griffiths via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:26
• Phil De Fries def. James Thompson via submission (guillotine) – Round 1, 1:53
• Jeremy Petley def. Lewis Monarch via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

For more on Bellator 191, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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