Sherdog.com’s 2015 Upset of the Year

4. Rafael Carvalho vs. Brandon Halsey
Bellator 144
Friday, Oct. 23
Mohegan Sun Arena | Uncasville, Connecticut
Brandon Halsey was high as a -1400 favorite, but the odds mattered little to Rafael Carvalho.

Carvalho took out the previously unbeaten Halsey with a second-round liver kick and follow-up punches, as he claimed the vacant Bellator MMA middleweight championship in the Bellator 144 headliner on Oct. 23 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Carvalho brought it to a close 1:42 into round two, as he became the fourth middleweight champion in Bellator history.

Halsey -- who was stripped of the championship after failing to make weight for a May 15 title defense against Kendall Grove -- dominated all but a few seconds of the fight. The HB Ultimate export secured multiple takedowns, achieved full mount twice and nearly submitted Carvalho with an arm-triangle choke in the first round. The Brazilian never panicked and survived to see a second frame. There, Carvalho doubled over Halsey with a body kick and ended it with a few punches on the paralyzed Californian.

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