Bellator 70 Results: Cole Konrad keeps belt with first-round finish of Eric Prindle

Unbeaten heavyweight Cole Konrad may catch a lot of flak for his methodical, sometime plodding, style inside the cage but the Bellator champion made it clear the rest of his skills are catching up with his wrestling with a quick finish of tournament winner Eric Prindle last night at Bellator 70. Prindle came out swinging but quickly found himself on his backside after a takedown. Konrad them locked in a Kimura and induced a tap shortly thereafter to improve his overall record to 9-0.

The evening also featured tournament action from bantamweights Luis Nogueira-Hiroshi Nakamura and lightweights Rick Hawn-Brent Weedman.

Nakamura started out strong against his crafty Brazilian adversary but ate a few too many punches in the second round to set up a strike-based stoppage in the final frame. With the win Nogueira earned the right to face Marcos Galvao later this year in the Season 6 bantamweight final.

Meanwhile, punching his ticket to a title-shot against Michael Chandler was Hawn. The Olympic judoka used his grappling prowess when necessary but opted to stand against the well-rounded Weedman, doing enough along the way to earn a Unanimous Decision nod.

Also worth noting, a bout between featherweight champion Pat Curran and top contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire was announced for an August 24 event.

Check out highlights from the show below followed by a list of results:

Kevin Tiller def. Jeremiah Riggs via Verbal Submission Round 3 (Kimura)
Derek Arcement def. Blake Dufour via Unanimous Decision
Jonas Billstein def. Mike Seal via Technical Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)
A.J. Matthews def. Charlie Rader via Knockout Round 2 (Head Kick)
Rich Clementi def. Derek Campos via Submission Round 1 (Guillotine Choke)
Luis Nogueira def. Hiroshi Nakamura via TKO Round 3 (Strikes)
Cole Konrad def. Eric Prindle via Submission Round 1 (Kimura)
Rick Hawn def. Brent Weedman via Unanimous Decision