Thursday’s Bellator 88 event featured, at long last, the crowning of a new middleweight champion, plus the opening round of the Season 8 featherweight tournament.

In the main event, Alexander Shlemenko (47-7 MMA, 8-1 BFC) lived up to his nickname and “stormed” through Maiquel Falcao (31-8 MMA, 3-1 BFC) for a brutal second-round knockout to win the vacant 185-pound title.

Check out video highlights of the title fight, as well as the night’s slate of featherweight tournament bouts. Winners included Marlon Sandro (24-4 MMA, 7-2 BFC), Mike Richman (14-2 MMA, 3-1 BFC), Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev (19-5 MMA, 3-0 BFC) and Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra (15-2 MMA, 7-1 BFC).

The Feb. 7 event took place at The Arena at Gwinnet Center in Duluth, Ga. The main card aired on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

For more on Bellator 88, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.