Sherdog.com’s 2014 Event of the Year

5. Bellator 120
May 17 | Southaven, Miss.

UFC 178 was the year’s best event, but Bellator 120 may have been the craziest. There, grudges were settled, a lightweight star was born and a living legend rose from the dead.

Quinton Jackson headlined the show and took a contentious unanimous decision over Muhammed Lawal in the Bellator MMA Season 10 light heavyweight tournament final at the Landers Center. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Jackson, who had engaged in a lengthy war of words with Lawal leading up to their encounter.

“Rampage” had issues staying upright in the first round, as he surrendered multiple takedowns to the former Strikeforce champion. Lawal lost much of his steam in the second, allowing Jackson to bring his formidable boxing skills and power punching into play. By the conclusion of the middle frame, “King Mo” was sporting visible damage -- a cut and noticeable swelling -- to his left eye. Round three was far from easy to call. Lawal scored with a takedown inside 90 seconds and controlled “Rampage” for more than a minute. However, Jackson returned to his feet later in the round and resumed his assault with his fists, perhaps swaying the judges with his final push.

In the co-main event, American Top Team’s Will Brooks captured the interim Bellator lightweight championship with a narrow split decision over the world-ranked Michael Chandler. All three cageside judges scored it 48-47, two of them siding with Brooks.

Brooks staked his claim in the third and fourth rounds. In the third, the 27-year-old secured a takedown, moved to Chandler’s back more than once, fished for rear-naked chokes and punished him with heavy ground-and-pound from the mount. Brooks was also the superior fighter in the fourth frame, where he again transitioned to the Alliance MMA standout’s back and piled up points with effective ground-and-pound.

Chandler -- who struck for takedowns in each of the first two rounds -- closed with a flourish, as he staggered the Chicago native with a three-punch burst in round five, dove into top position and threatened with a mounted arm-triangle choke. However, it was not enough to bring him the desired victory.

Meanwhile, UFC hall of famer Tito Ortiz rendered reigning Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko unconscious with a first-round arm-triangle choke in a non-title bout at 205 pounds. Shlemenko went to sleep 2:27 into round one, his 13-fight winning streak at an end.

Ortiz weathered the Russian’s initial advances, absorbing several kicks and punches to the body. He secured a takedown roughly two minutes into the first frame, slid into position for the arm-triangle choke and waited for Shlemenko to black out. Long given up for dead, Ortiz, 39, had won just one of his previous nine fights.

Bellator 120 also marked the return of former heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov, who submitted Blagoi Ivanov with a rear-naked choke, and unbeaten Englishman Michael Page, who brought down Ricky Rainey with a venomous first-round punch. Other winners at the jam-packed 14-fight event included Cheick Kongo, Marcin Held, Fabricio de Assis Costa da Silva and promising Brazilian prospect Goiti Yamauchi.

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