In Bellator’s first of two evenings in Honolulu, Hawaii, they presented Bellator 235. Set to main event the card was MMA veteran Josh Barnett and Ronny Markes. During the show, people found out that Barnett was not cleared to fight, making the new main event Toby Misech and Erik Perez. Partnering up with the United Service Organizations, the theme of the show was “Salute The Troops.” Before the four-fight main card, Bellator 235 had three preliminary bouts.
Quick Results:
Prelims:
Bout 1: Cass Bell def. Pierre Daguzan via Unanimous Decision
Bout 2: Joseph Creer def. Ty Gwerder via Unanimous Decision
Bout 3: Hunter Ewald def. Brysen Bolohao via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 1:42)
Main Card
Bout 4: Joey Davis def. Chris Cisneros via TKO, Hammerfists (RD 1, 3:55)
Bout 5: Tywan Claxton def. Braydon Akeo via Unanimous Decision
Bout 6: Alejandra Lara def. Veta Arteaga via Unanimous Decision
Bout 7: Toby Misech def. Erik Perez via KO, Ground and Pound (RD 1, 0:54)
Bout 1: Cass Bell (4-0) vs. Pierre Daguzan (5-3) (Bantamweight)
Kicking off the preliminary card, undefeated Cass Bell fought Pierre Daguzan. The fight was the Bellator debut for Daguzan. Bell threw many kicks early on, including one which Daguzan caught. When another kick was caught in the second minute, Daguzan got a takedown from it. They got back up almost right after. While Daguzan didn’t get hurt too much, Bell did more work in the first round. There was some odd error where the first round was only three minutes long as opposed to five.
Daguzan caught another kick in the second round, getting his second takedown of the fight. He swept Bell by holding one leg while kicking the other. As they were getting back up, Bell landed a spinning back fist which hurt Daguzan. Bell landed a good counter-left straight halfway through the second round.
Daguzan caught another kick early in the final round. He took Bell down with it, but never got to the ground himself. They stood back up shortly after. Bell shot for a takedown, eventually securing it and getting on Daguzan’s back. Bell had a ton of time to work on the ground, starting to look for a rear naked choke. Daguzan got up, eventually returning to stand-up. Bell shot for another takedown halfway through the round, with Daguzan completely stopping it this time. On the way back to the feet, Bell landed another spinning back fist. They threw strikes for the rest of the round, although nothing landed clean besides a couple of punches from Bell at the end of the round. Getting the first decision victory of his young career, Cass Bell defeated Pierre Daguzan via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 & 30-27).
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Bell | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| Daguzan | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
Bout 2: Ty Gwerder (4-0) vs. Joseph Creer (6-1-1) (Middleweight)
In the next fight, undefeated Ty Gwerder made his Bellator debut against Joseph Creer. The two fighters went into a body lock after a minute of striking. Gwerder tried for a takedown but couldn’t get it. A pause came after Gwerder was hit in the groin while up against the cage. They resumed after a short break. They resumed in stand-up as opposed to back up against the cage. Creer landed some good knees in the clinch. Both fighters had their moments with striking. Creer got a body lock takedown as the first round ended.
Heading into the second round, this fight become the longest one yet with Gwerder’s professional career. Creer went for a single leg takedown in the first minute after coming forward with punches. He eventually secured it. Both fighters did ground and pound. Creer got on Gwerder’s back. Gwerder stopped throwing punches and prioritized fighting off a rear naked choke attempt. The choke never got under Gwerder’s chin, but he spent a long time fighting it off. Gwerder eventually flipped over, taking top position before standing up and returning to striking. Creer tagged Gwerder with a straight. As expected, both fighters were fatigued. Creer threw Gwerder back to the ground and got on his back again.
The first two minutes of the third round saw somewhat slow-paced striking. Creer got another takedown, being dominant on the ground for three minutes. He tried for a kimura, but didn’t get much progress on it before the fight clock ran out., Ending the undefeated professional MMA record of Ty Gwerder, Joseph Creer got a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27 & 29-26).
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Gwerder | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
| Creer | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
Bout 3: Hunter Ewald (0-0) vs. Brysen Bolahao (0-1) (Catchweight 180 lbs)
In the final fight of the brief preliminary card, Hunter Ewald made his pro debut against Brysen Bolahao. Ewald was putting on the pressure early, backing Bolahao up against the fence. He shot for a takedown after 30 seconds of stand-up. Still standing up, Ewald got on Bolahao’s back. He eventually got a takedown, then started to search for a rear naked choke. It didn’t take long for Ewald to secure the choke, making Bolahao tap out. Getting a quick and fast win, Hunter Ewald had a successful professional MMA debut.
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Ewald | ||||
| Bolahao |
Bout 4: Joey Davis (6-0) vs. Chris Cisneros (19-10) (Welterweight)
Kicking off the main card, Joey Davis attempted to stay undefeated, facing the much more experienced Chris Cisneros. Davis got a double leg takedown in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Davis landed lots of strikes from top position, but not enough in succession to end the fight. Cisneros was cut on the forehead, bleeding quite a bit from it. Davis turned up the intensity of strikes with about a minute to go, eventually doing enough for the referee to intervene. With a dominant and bloody performance, Joey Davis advanced his record to seven wins.
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Davis | ||||
| Cisneros |
Bout 5: Tywan Claxton (5-1) vs. Braydon Akeo (3-0) (Featherweight)
Returning from his first loss as a pro, Tywan Claxton fought the still undefeated Braydon Akeo in the next bout. The first few minutes of the fight were slow, with both fighters turning up the head with two minutes to go. They went into a clinch after Claxton whiffed a wailing punch.
Akeo caught a leg early in the second round, trying to trip the other leg of Claxton. He couldn’t do it however, as Claxton recovered and went into a clinch. They returned to striking with three minutes to go.
Akeo tried for a takedown early in the third round, putting a body lock on Claxton. Going up against the fence, Claxton took control of the fight, landing strikes periodically. They got off the fencing halfway through the round. Akeo shot for a takedown, which Claxton stopped, putting Akeo up against the fence before dumping him to the floor. They got back up, but Claxton kept Akeo up against the cage. Claxton got another takedown in the final minute of the fight. He got on Akeo’s back and tried for a rear naked choke, but ran out of time before being able to finish the fight. Bouncing back from his September loss, Tywan Claxton put on a dominant performance (30-27, 30-27 & 30-27).
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Claxton | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| Akeo | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
Bout 6: Alejandra Lara (8-3) vs. Veta Arteaga (5-3) (Flyweight)
In the co-main event slot of the evening, Alejandra Lara and Veta Arteaga faced off in a potential fight to find the next Flyweight Championship challenger. Right as the fight started, both fighters didn’t waste time to throw fists. Lara was landing good kicks to the body early on. Lara put Arteaga up against the cage for a minute or so. The next time that Lara put Arteaga up against the cage, she landed some elbows. Lara connected with many punches late in the round. Arteaga slipped and fell, which allowed Lara to take the fight to the ground.
Lara picked up where she left off at the start of the second round, landing more punches. With under two minutes left in the second round, Lara landed a head kick which dropped Arteaga. Lara stayed on her up against the cage, landing tons of punches.
Halfway through the final round, Lara had another good attack, landing elbows and punches in close range. With just over a minute left, Arteaga was cut open on the forehead by a cut. She was bleeding quite a bit. Despite being hit with everything for three rounds, Arteaga still fought like a well-conditioned fighter in the closing seconds of the bout. After 15 minutes of domination by Alejandra Lara, she got a unanimous decision win, possibly putting her next in line for another title shot (30-26, 30-26 & 30-26).
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Lara | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| Arteaga | 8 | 9 | 9 | 26 |
Bout 7: Toby Misech (11-7) vs. Erik Perez (19-6) (Bantamweight)
Just as the last fight wrapped up, former UFC fighter Liz Carmouche came to the stage to announce that she has signed with Bellator. Later on, we got a backstage report that Josh Barnett was not cleared to fight, meaning the next fight would be the main event. Obviously a disappointing result for Barnett, who last fought in 2016. In what was now the main event of the evening, Toby Misech and Erik Perez faced off in a bantamweight fight. Before the fight, the national anthem was performed. Misech came in over the bantamweight limit, being 141 pounds. This fight was the Bellator debut for Perez. Early in the fight, Misech landed a left hook that dropped Perez. He scored two more punches on the ground which knocked Perez out. Showcasing powerful one-shot hands, Toby Misech closed the show for Bellator 235.
My Scorecard:
| Fighter | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Misech | ||||
| Perez |
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