Zoila Frausto won the first women's Bellator belt by ending Megumi Fujii's 22-win streak with a split decision, 48-47, 49-46, 47-48. Frausto's win ended the longest winning streak in MMA.
Fujii dominated the first round, even knocking Frausto down early. But the last 20 seconds, Frausto wobbled her with a head kick, followed by huge strikes. Fujii survived and moved ahead slightly in the second, but never really found a rhythm.
Frausto showed off her striking skills in the third round, pushing the pace and landing several big strikes. Fujii looked in trouble more than once, and sustained a large mouse underneath her eye. Though she is a submission specialist, Fujii did not make many attempts to get a takedown. She finally tried for a clinch in the fourth round, but was unable to use her judo skills to throw Frausto. Fujii finally got a takedown in the final minute of the fight, but didn't have enough time or energy to do anything with it.
Fujii's loss is surprising, and her fight strategy was puzzling. Of her 22 wins, 18 have ended by submission, but she did not make many attempts to get Frausto to the ground. She absorbed many of Frausto's power shots along the way.
Frausto's win is her fifth in a row. She's had a busy 2010. In addition to winning the Bellator belt with wins over Fujii, Jessica Aguilar, Jessica Pene and Rosi Sexton, she also has wins over Michelle Ould and Jessica Rakoczy this year. She also lost to Strikeforce's Miesha Tate in March.
In an earlier bout, Mike Bernhard won a close decision over Dragan Tesanovic, with the judges seeing it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. The close decision was marred by accidental eye pokes and kicks to the crotch, but Bernhard's wrestling ended up being the difference.
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