Bellator 145 results: Sanchez beats Lawrence, Lashley quickly TKOs Thompson

The last major "tentpole" show for Bellator in 2015 kicked off with featherweight prospects Emmanuel Sanchez and Justin Lawrence, and continued with a rematch between heavyweights Bobby Lashley and James Thompson. Read on to see how the fights went down:

Emmanuel Sanchez def. Justin Lawrence via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Not much happened in the opening round, with Lawrence getting the slight edge on his punching, but Sanchez turned things around by rocking Lawrence badly with a head kick at the end of the 2nd. Sanchez perhaps won the fight in the final round with his effective offense from the bottom, as Lawrence offered very little from top position for several minutes while repeatedly getting elbows and punched by Sanchez. Somewhat disappointing as far as action, but a big win for Sanchez on short notice. Lawrence drops to 1-1 in Bellator.

Bobby Lashley def. James Thompson via TKO (punches) at :54 of round 1

Lashley made sure he wouldn't go 0-2 against Thompson with a quick finish of the Brit, albeit under some unfortunate circumstances. Replays showed that Lashley's takedown attempt awkwardly buckled the left knee of Thompson, and Thompson just took a barrage of punches for the duration of the time he was on the ground. Lashley has now won 7 straight since losing to Thompson in 2012, while Thompson's first fight since June 2014 ends in defeat (with injury to boot).