defeated da Matta via KO (punch) at 2:04 of round 3. Catchweight (156 lb) bout: Dietter Navarro vs. Marcelo Goncalves Goncalves defeated Navarro via submission (armbar) at 2:01 of round 1. Middleweight bout: Brett Cooper vs. Valdir Araujo Cooper defeated Araujo via TKO (punches) at 0:35 of round 3. Lightweight bout: Rad Martinez vs. Brian van Hoven Martinez defeated van Hoven via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Welterweight bout: Ailton Barbosa vs. Ryan Keenan Barbosa defeated Keenan via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:55 of round 1. Welterweight bout: Cristiano Souza vs. John Kelly Souza defeated Kelly via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Lightweight bout: J. P. Reese vs. Martin Brown Reese defeated Brown via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Bellator 51 Bellator 51 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 24, 2011 at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the first round of an eight-man bantamweight tournament to be held over the course of Bellator's fifth season. Joe Soto was originally scheduled to face Eduardo Dantas in the opening round of the bantamweight-tournament. However, he was pulled from the bout after losing to Eddie Yagin at Tachi Palace Fights 10 and replaced by Wilson Reis. The Jessica Eye-Casey Noland bout was changed from 125 lb to a 127 lb catchweight after Noland failed to make weight./ The event drew an estimated 158,000 viewers on MTV2. Results Main card Bantamweight Quarterfinal bout: Joe Warren vs. Alexis Vila Vila defeated Warren via KO (punch) at 1:04 of round 1. Bantamweight Quarterfinal bout: Wilson Reis vs. Eduardo Dantas Dantas defeated Reis via KO (flying knee and punches) at 1:02 of round 2. Bantamweight Quarterfinal bout: Chase Beebe vs. Marcos Galvão Galvao defeated Beebe via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Bantamweight Quarterfinal bout: Ed West vs. Luis Nogueira West defeated Nogueira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). Local feature fights (Spike.com) Featherweight bout: Frank Caraballo vs. Dustin Kempf Caraballo defeated Kempf via TKO (Knee Injury) at 1:19 of Round 1. Women's (127 lb) bout: Jessica Eye vs. Casey Noland Eye defeated Noland via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28). Bantamweight bout: Farkhad Sharipov vs. Jessie Riggleman Riggleman defeated Sharipov via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 30–27). Light Heavyweight bout: Dane Bonnigson vs. Dan Spohn Spohn defeated Bonnigson via KO (knee)