Filed under: Bellator , News Linton Vassell Linton Vassell said he could almost feel company president Scott Coker wrap Bellator MMA’s light-heavyweight belt around his waist when he took on reigning champion Emanuel Newton in October. It didn’t happen, though, and Newton submitted him in the fifth round. Vassell gave the champion all he could handle for the opening four rounds, winning at least two, before the fight-ending submission. “In my head I had myself winning the fight,” Vassell, who returns Friday at Bellator 134, told MMAjunkie. “If I had just survived that last round, I would have been the world champion. I should have got positioning a bit more, maybe not have gone for so many submissions early on.” Vassell was a 3-1 underdog to Newton