By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 278 and 279 and UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs. Andrade were all
this past weekend and featured some big fights. Let’s get to the
rundown.
Bellator 278
GOOD- Manny Muro vs. Nate Andrew
They traded strikes early until Muro got a takedown and spent the last
part of the first round on top. Andrew came back in the second round
and they traded more strikes before he stuffed Muro’s takedown
attempts. More clinch-fighting and another takedown from Muro in the
third round and he gets the Split Decision victory. Muro improves to
13-7 while Andrews falls to 16-5. Good win for Muro.
GOOD- Christian Edwards vs. Grant Neal
Some nice striking from Edwards wins him the first round. Neal gets a
couple of takedowns in the second round and starts landing some big
shots in the ground-and-pound to win the second round. Another
takedown from Neal in the third round and he’s on top and that;s
enough to win him the round and the fight by decision. Neal improves
to 7-1 while Edwards falls to 5-2. Good win for Neal.
GOOD- Jornel Lugo vs. Danny Sabatello
Sabatello used his wrestling to dominate Lugo. He consistently got
takedowns and worked his ground-and-pound to beat up the previously
undefeated Lugo. Sabatello looked great in earning the decision
victory here and improves to 12-1 while Lugo falls to 8-1. Good win
for Sabatello.
GOOD- Nikita Mikhailov vs. Enrique Barzola
Good striking exchanges in the first round and that continues into the
second round. Barzola was coming out on top in most of the exchanges
but Mikhailov was fighting hard. He was just getting too worn down. He
never quit, though, and he took it to a decision. Both men looked good
in this fight, Barzola just looked a little better and that’s why he
won the decision. Barzola improves to 18-5 while Mikhailov falls to
9-2. Good win for Barzola.
BAD/GOOD- Liz Carmouche stops Julianna Velasquez
Velasquez was looking to defend her Bellator Flyweight Championship
and things were close in the first round as they both touched each
other up with strikes. The second round opened with Velasquez dropping
Carmouche and they traded takedowns. That continued into the third
round and the fourth round as well before Carmouche got a takedown and
moved into a top-crucifix position and landed some elbows and referee
Mike Beltran stopped the fight. A controversial decision as it was
premature. I didn’t agree with it at all but maybe I’m wrong. Watch
the ending for yourself and decide. I thought it was way early but
regardless, Liz Carmouche is your new Bellator Flyweight Champion and
improves to 17-7 and Velasquez is handed her first loss and falls to
12-1.
Bellator 279
I missed the first two fights on the main card. Sorry about that, I
was busy with some family stuff.
Yancy Medeiros improves to 16-8 with a Decision victory over Emmanuel
Sanchez, who falls to 20-8.
Patchy Mix advanced in the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix and
improves to 16-1 with a Decision victory over Kyoji Horiguchi, who
falls to 29-5.
GOOD- Ilima Lei-Macfarlane vs. Justine Kish
Not a lot going on in the first round but things pick up a bit in the
second round. This is a really close fight as neither woman has been
able to really get an advantage on her opponent. Kish gets a takedown
in the third round and that’s enough to win her the round and the
decision. Kish improves to 8-5 while Lei-Macfarlane falls to 11-2.
Good win for Kish.
GOOD- Raufeon Stots stops Juan Archuleta
The first round was close as they traded takedowns and big strikes.
The second round sees more of the same. Stots is showing some very
good takedown defence. He’s giving some up but he’s fighting hard
against them and making Archuleta work for them. The round saw Stots
nail Archuleta with a head kick, though it was the knee that did the
damage, and get the stoppage win. Big finish as Stots is the new
Interim Bellator Bantamweight Champion and advances in the Bellator
Bantamweight World Grand Prix. Stots improves to 18-1 while Archuleta
falls to 25-4. Good win for Stots.
GOOD- Cris Cyborg vs. Arlene Blencowe
Cyborg successfully defended her Bellator Featherweight Championship
with this win. Cyborg worked for takedowns during this fight but both
women also landed some huge bombs throughout the fight. Great
toughness on display here. Cyborg was the superior fighter but
Blencowe fought hard and should be proud of her effort. She also
busted up Cyborg a lot more than I would imagine many thought she
would. Of course, Blencowe got the worst of it as she was bleeding
like crazy but she pushed this fight to the limit and Cyborg had to
settle for a decision victory. Cyborg improves to 26-2 while Blencowe
falls to 15-9. Good win for Cyborg.
UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs. Andrade
GOOD- Marc-Andre Barriault submits Jordan Wright
Barriault works the body but Wright gets a takedown. Barriault works
to mount then locks in a guillotine to get the submission a little
over halfway through the first round. Barriault improves to 14-5 with
1 No Contest while Wright falls to 12-3 with 1 No Contest. Good win
for Barriault.
GOOD- Charles Jourdain submits Lando Vannata
Jourdain fires first but gets taken down. He gets up and a little
later locks a guillotine in to get the submission a little over
halfway through the first round. I have a little Deja Vu going on
here. Jourdain improves to 13-4-1 while Vannata falls to 12-6-2. Good
win for Jourdain.
GOOD- Maycee Barber vs. Montana De La Rosa
They struggled in the first round, each woman trying to get the
advantage over the other. A few good strikes landed. The rest of the
fight went the same way. It was close but Barber did a little more and
she got the decision victory to improve to 10-2 while De La Rosa falls
to 12-7-1. Good win for Barber.
GOOD- Claudio Puelles submits Clay Guida
They quickly went to the ground and Puelles went to work searching for
submissions. Things seemed safe for Guida when suddenly Puelles
grabbed a kneebar and that was it, he had to tap. That was slick from
Puelles, who improves to 12-2 and has won 5 fights in a row while
Guida falls to 37-22. Good win for Puelles.
GOOD- Jessica Andrade submits Amanda Lemos
They trade kicks early before Andrade locked in a standing arm
triangle choke to force the tap a little over three minutes into the
first round. That’s the first time a UFC fight has ended by standing
arm-triangle choke. Andrade improves to 23-9 while Lemos falls to
11-2-1 and has her 5 fight win streak snapped. Good win for Andrade.
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