It was a mixed bag for wrestlers on last night's Bellator 180 card in Madison Square Garden.  Jaws hit the floor when Pico hit the canvas and tapped just 24 seconds into his debut.  Missouri's Michael Chandler battled through an ankle injury  but lost.  Headliner Chael Sonnen delivered a dominant win over Wanderlei Silva.  

Pico vs Freeman fight highlights:


For details on how the fights went down, read the write-up below. 

Bellator 180 Preliminary Card

Welterweight: Ryan Couture def. Haim Gozali Decision (unanimous) (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00

Lightweight: Bradley Desir def. Nate Grebb KO (punches) 1 2:54

Lightweight: Anthony Giacchina def. Jerome Mickle Submission (rear-naked choke) 3 3:40

Catchweight (130 lbs): Matt Rizzo def. Sergio da Silva Submission (arm-triangle choke) 3 3:48

Catchweight (168 lbs): Hugh McKenna def. John Salgado Submission (kimura) 1 4:06

Bellator 180 card (Spike TV)

Featherweight: James Gallagher def. Chinzo Machida Submission (rear-naked choke) 1 2:22

Women's Flyweight: Heather Hardy def. Alice Yauger TKO (punches) 3 4:47

Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis (C) vs Ryan Bader

Ryan Bader is a two-time All-American at Arizona State, fourth in 2004 and seventh in 2006. Phil Davis was a four-time All-American and 2008 Champion his senior year. Both wrestled every year at 197 pounds. This is a five round championship bout at 205 pounds. 

Round One: Pretty tame, both fighters just feeling each other out. Phil probably gets the round. 
Round Two: A few more jabs this time from both fighters. Davis tried a double leg takedown but Bader pulled him up and off him. Davis tried for another and Bader defended with a whizzer. Probably Davis gets the round again, by virtue of being the defending champ.
Round Three: Bader came out a little more aggressive but it's Davis that gets in a nice superman punch. Bader lands a couple counter punches. Davis lunges and Bader lowers his level and take him down. Bader tried to get a choke but Davis scrambled out of it in the final seconds. Not sure if it was enough to steal the round though. This might have gone to Bader. 
Round Four: Championship rounds! Davis tries for a takedown but Bader denies him once again. They've stayed on their feet for all of this round and almost all of the whole match. Both guys landing blows. Not sure if either inflicted major damage. Bader might have done enough to take another round but who knows.
Round Five: Davis loses his balance, not sure if that will count as a knock down. Davis gets up and lands a couple haymakers. Bader is not too phased though. Bader gets in on a solid takedown, but Davis is able to escape and is back on his feet without taking any real damage. They're back to trading punches in the final minute. An almost takedown by Bader and a few more punches for each and that'll do it for the last bout on Spike TV.

Ryan Bader wins a split decision! 49-46 Bader, 48-47 Davis, 49-46 Bader. 

We're into the Pay-Per-View fights now. You can order the fights through your cable provider or through YouTube and then an HDMI cable to your TV, as we are doing here in Casa de Mark Bader. 

Pay-Per-View Fight card

Welterweight: Douglas Lima (C) vs. Lorenz Larkin

No wrestlers here, so we're just doing the final results. 

Douglas Lima wins! Unanimous decision, 50-45, 48-47, 48-47. Lima stays the Bellator 170 pound champ.

Pico is next!

Lightweight Aaron Pico vs Zach Freeman

Pico hype reel rolling right now. Showing some wresting clips. 

Freeman comes walking out to what sounds like a lullaby. He's also got his hair in corn rows and is wearing what looks like surf shorts. His nickname is the Alter Boy? Not very intimidating to be honest.

Pico walks out to Led Zepplin. Dyer Maker maybe? I want to say its off Houses of the Holy. Definitely their later stuff. Much better choice either way. 

Round One: They tap gloves. Pico goes in on a shot and gets stuffed. He's in a choke hold. THAT'S IT. PICO TAPS OUT. 

ZACH FREEMAN CARES NOT FOR YOUR PICO HYPE.

Looks like it wasn't a takedown attempt but a massive uppercut by Freeman. It knocked Pico for a loop and then Freeman locked in a guillotine.

I guess you could say Pico lasted longer than Aldo did against McGregor. 

Freeman submits Pico in 24 seconds. One of the most ballyhooed MMA debut in recent memory ends in a stunning upset. It's back to the drawing board for team Pico. Luckily Pico is but 20 years old and has plenty of time to plan his next move. 

FYI, still a couple more wrestlers coming up on this card!

Lightweight: Michael Chandler (C) vs Brent Primus

Chandler was an NCAA Alll-American at Missouri, finishing fifth in 2009.

Round One: Chandler hit Primus with a BIG knee strike but unfortunately it looks like he hurt his own knee. And know some leg kicks by Primus has taken out Chandler's left foot. 

Okay that foot is really messed up. The ref stops the fight and the doctors are checking Chandler out. Chandler tries to stand and immediately falls over. Update: They pulled the dang stool out from under him. C'mon corner, pay attention!] He wants to continue but the ref finally and mercifully calls the fight. Primus wins.

It wasn't Primus' kicks that did it though. Chandler took a step back and rolled his ankle. Looks to be very broken. And even with the bum leg Chandler almost knocked Primus out. Tough way to lose but Primus is the new Bellator lightweight champ.

Welp, rough day for the wrestlers in Madison Square Garden. Another non-wrestler matchup next, then we conclude our evening with Chael Sonnen taking on Wanderlei Silva. 

Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko vs Matt Mitrione

Wow that was nuts. Looked like it was going to be a double knock out but then Mitrione got up and started destroying Emelianenko. Mitrione with the knockout in the first!

So they added a fight to the PPV, last minute? Or they moved it up from the under card? Not sure how this works. But in any event we are getting another fight before Sonnen v Silva. 

Welterweight: Neiman Gracie vs Dave Marfone

Gracie submits Marfone with a rear naked choke in the second round. 

Light Heavyweight: Chael Sonnen vs Wanderlei Silva

Chael Sonnen was an All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon and competed in greco-roman on the senior level. He won the Dave Schultz Memorial twice, in 2000 and 2001. Both Sonnen and Silva are 40 years old. They play the Brazilian national anthem for Silva after both fighters enter the cage. It is a rather long national anthem. Now Sonnen and the rest of the Americans in the Garden are treated to a stirring rendition of the National Anthem of the United States of America played by Dave Navarro. Yes, Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers Dave Navarro. 

Round One:  Sonnen with a takedown right off the opening bell. Sonnen is laying into Silva with some big overhand strikes, keeping Silva on the canvas and on his back. Silva is back up to his feet but Sonnen rushes back in to keep the pressure on. Finally Silva punches his way out of Sonnen's tie up. And now Sonnen is on his back, getting knocked down by Silva. Sonnen escapes and gets another takedown. Silva was thinking guillotine but Sonnen slips his head out. Sonnen finishes the round on top of Silva. 

That round probably goes to Sonnen, as he he had the two takedowns but he Silva had the knock down so that'll be for the judges to work out. 

Round Two: A flying knee connects right off the bell for Sonnen. Silva answers with a solid strike. Sonnen goes back to his double leg takedown but Silva is ready for him and goes right to the guillotine. Sonnen doesn't look to be in any danger, in fact both guys appear to be resting at the moment. The ref stands them back up, as Silva had a submission hold but wasn't close to getting Sonnen to tap. And right off the restart Sonnen gets another double leg. No guillotine this time, as Sonnen dumps Silva cleanly to his back, pinning him up by the cage. Sonnen keeps the pressure on chews up the rest of the round.

Sonnen should win that round. He had Silva tied up for most of the five minutes.

Round Three: No surprise as Sonnen goes right for the double leg to start the final round. He finishes with no problem and will now try to finish this off, or at least keep Silva on his back and off his feet and win by decision. Sonnen locks up a kimura but Silva fights out of it. Silva is still on his back though. Two minutes left in the fight. Sonnen still working for the kimura but he's also happy to just run out the clock on top. Silva is desperate for the ref to restart them but Sonnen is doing just enough to keep them both on the ground. The clock runs out.

Sonnen should win this round too, and the match. Silva is mad but perhaps he should work on his takedown defense? Maybe a sprawl next time?

Sonnen wins by unanimous decision as expected. And gives a shout out to "Future world champion Nick Gwiazdowski!" Very nice. 

That will do it for Bellator NYC. A disappointing night for Pico fans to say the least but a solid night's work for Chael Sonnen and his supporters. Thanks for tuning in, we'll see you next time!