Bellator 42's "Upset of the Night": Mann vs. Arocho

Don’t get me wrong–was Ronnie Mann‘s performance in his Bellator debut impressive? Absolutely. Hear me out.

Mann, a highly touted featherweight fighter hailing from England, remains to be one the true enigma’s in the sport. Himself and Brad Pickett are doing a bang up job of deteriorating the notion that “English fighter’s can’t wrestle”, as both have in the past relied on such skills in order to to put a “W” on their records.

In the case of Pickett, he out grappled wrestling ace Demetrious Johnson under the WEC banner en route to a decision win, handing “Mighty Mouse” the lone loss on his record. Taking into account that Johnson recently scored an upset win over Japanese legend “Kid” Yamamoto in his last outing under the UFC banner, it speaks to how good Pickett’s grappling skills are, and Ronnie Mann is right there.

But just how the hell did Josh Arocoho, Mann’s opponent at Bellator 42, manage to go all three-rounds with this budding top-10 fighter? That remains a mystery.

As previously stated in an article by Oliver Saenz of Fighters.com, Mann’s performance was unarguably the most impressive of the evening. In every sense of the word, Ronnie “dominated” the bout from start to finish. On the feet? No problem, Ronnie’s got you covered, thanks to his developing striking skills courtesy of famed trainer Shawn Tompkins out of the Tapout gym in Las Vegas. How about taking the fight to the mat? No worries. Mann recently picked up the Shark Fight’s featherweight title in a gritty five-round decision win over UFC veteran and seven-time Alaskan state wrestling champion Doug Evans.

To date, Mann has only been submitted once, and that was to perennial top-5 featherweight fighter Hatsu Hioki, who recently became the Sengoku 145-pound champion. So all in all, Ronnie Mann is…the man. At 18-2-1, with thirteen stoppages to his credit, the Brit was every bit the talent that would be able to finish Arocho, though to his credit he hung tough for every minute of the fight, despite leaving the cage a bruised and battered mess.

In the end, one judge had scored the lopsided affair 30-25 in favor of Ronnie, while the two other officials scored the bout 30-27—all in favor of the 24-year-old featherweight prospect.

Now, Mann will have a chance to return to the cage sometime this summer for the promotion’s upcoming featherweight tournament, and regardless of who he faces, he will remain one of the early favorites, and Arocho, though debuting in Bellator on the heels of defeat, proved his mettle by hanging three-rounds with one of the would-be best fighters in the world, and for that this bout earned my super unofficial “Upset of the Night” award.

So, MMA peeps–agree or disagree? How far do you think Mann can go? Sound off in the comment section below.