Bellator 98 suffered several bumps in the road en route to finally taking place on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., but eventually did take place with the Bellator middleweight championship on the line. Alexander Shlemenko defended his belt, winning a unanimous decision over Brett Cooper, who stepped into the fight as a replacement for the injured Doug Marshall. Shlemenko established his dominance early with his stand-up game, landing with greater frequency and greater power than Cooper.