By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 286 and UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Almeida were both
this past weekend. Most of the fights were good, with a few being
really good. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 296
GOOD- Thibault Gouti stops Kane Mousah
They’re trading punches early before Gouti mixes in some kicks. Mousah
works the body before Gouti drops him with a big right hand. Mousah
recovers and lands a nice elbow before the first round ends. The
second round begins with Gouti working his jab while Mousah attacks
the body. Mousah is mixing it up well between the head and body but
Gouti ends the fight with a huge right hand that drops Mousah and a
few hammerfists land before the referee can jump in to stop the fight
nearly four minutes into the second round. Gouti improves to 17-6
while Mousah drops to 14-5. Good win for Gouti.
GOOD- Douglas Lima vs. Costello van Steenis
They trade kicks early before van Steenis gets a takedown. Lima is up
quickly, though. They fight against the cage for a bit, van Steenis
landing some knees to the thigh. They trade more kicks and the first
round ends. The second round begins with them trading more kicks. Some
of these are landing hard. They grapple for a while before van Steenis
gets a takedown to end the second round. The third round opens with
Lima heating up with his jabs and kicks. Lima staggers van Steenis but
van Steenis gets a takedown. Lima gets up and they go back to striking
then the fight ends and we go to the judges. Lima wins the decision
and improves to 33-11 and snaps a 4 fight losing streak while van
Steenis drops to 14-3. Good win for Lima.
GOOD- Brent Primus vs. Mansour Barnaoui
This was a quarterfinal fight in the Bellator Lightweight World Grand
Prix. Barnaoui comes out firing and nails Primus with some good
punches but Primus fires back with a big right hand of his own. Primus
gets a takedown but Barnaoui is quickly back to his feet. Primus
connects with another big right hand but Barnaoui fires back with an
elbow. Primus knocks out Barnaoui’s mouthpiece but Barnaoui gets a
reactive takedown and the first round ends. The second round sees
Primus get an early takedown and they grapple and reverse and counter
for the rest of the second round. The third round opens with a big
slugfest. Great toughness from both men but eventually Primus gets
dropped from some Barnaoui knees. Barnaoui pours on some big elbows
from side control but Primus reverses and is on top until the third
round ends. The fourth round opens with Primus showing heart as he
nails Barnaoui with some big strikes and drags him to the ground.
Primus locks in an arm triangle but Banraoui survives until the end of
the fourth round. The fifth and final round starts with both fighters
trading strikes until Primus gets a takedown. He takes Barnaoui’s back
and locks in a rear-naked choke. Barnaoui escapes but Primus applies
it again but the bell sounds and this fight is going to the judges.
Primus wins the decision and improves to 12-3 while Barnaoui drops to
20-5 and has his 8 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Primus,
who will face Bellator Lightweight Champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0)
in the semifinals of the Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix.
GOOD- Fabian Edwards vs. Gegard Mousasi
Mousasi comes out firing kicks. Edwards returns fire and they’re
trading strikes. They continue kicking each other until the first
round ends. The second round begins with Edwards landing a big right
hand, then a big left. Edwards then gets a takedown. Mousasi gets up
after no offense from Edwards and they exchange until the second round
ends. The third round starts with Edwards landing a few nice strikes.
The action has slowed but Edwards is hitting with some good strikes
every so often. The fourth round opens with a much more aggressive
Mousasi and he lands some good strikes before getting a takedown.
Edwards gets up and they struggle for position for a while before
Edwards gets a takedown before the fourth round ends. The fifth round
starts with some striking before Edwards gets a takedown. Edwards is
on Mousasi’s back until the bell rings and the fight ends. Edwards
wins the decision and improves to 12-2 and has won 3 straight fights
while Mousasi drops to 49-9-2. Good win for Edwards, who will now face
Bellator Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen for the title in
September. If he wins he’ll join his older brother, UFC Welterweight
Champion Leon Edwards, as champion.
UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Almeida
GOODAlex Morono submits Tim Means
They exchange strikes early, with Means getting the better of it.
Morono is firing back but Means catches him with some big left hands
on the fence before the first round ends. The second round starts with
Means still aggressively moving forward. Means gets a takedown but
Morono is quickly back up and they exchange some more before Means
goes for another takedown. However, Morono is waiting with a
guillotine that forces the tap a little over two minutes into the
second round. Morono improves to 23-8 with 1 No Contest while Means
drops to 32-15-1 with 1 No Contest and has now lost 3 straight fights.
Good win for Morono.
GOOD- Carlos Ulberg stops Ihor Potieria
Ulberg is throwing a lot of kicks early, connecting with some heavy
ones. Ulberg drops Potieria with a big left hook and pours it on,
forcing the referee to jump in to stop the fight a little over two
minutes into the first round. Ulberg improves to 8-1 and has won 4
straight fights while Potieria drops to 19-4. Good win for Ulberg.
GOOD- Ian Machado Garry stops Daniel Rodriguez
They trade strikes before fighting on the fence. Garry’s landing some
strong kicks and connects with a big head kick that ends the fight not
quite three minutes into the first round. Garry improves to a perfect
12-0 while Rodriguez drops to 17-4. Good win for Garry.
GOOD/BAD- Johnny Walker vs. Anthony Smith
Walker’s throwing leg kicks early before moving to the head. Smith is
trying to fight back and gets a takedown. Walker gets up after a
moment and takes Smith down before the first round ends. The second
round starts with Walker potshotting with more kicks. They’re just
sparring here and we move to the third round. Walker’s leg kicks are
paying off as Smith is struggling to move. Walker doesn’t get too
crazy and keeps hitting him with low kicks. The fight ends and we go
to the judge. Walker wins the decision and improves to 21-7 and has
won 3 straight fights while Smith drops to 36-18. I hate to put a BAD
on this because you have to win above all else but Walker really could
have been more aggressive without risking too much. The strategy was
sound, I just think it would have been better to show a little more.
Regardless, it’s a good win for Walker.
GOOD- Jailton Almeida submits Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Rozenstruik fights off an immediate Almeida takedown attempt. Almeida
persists, though, and is successful on his second takedown try. They
grapple for a bit and Almeida works his way to mount before taking
Rozenstruik’s back. Almeida wraps up the rear-naked choke and gets the
submission win a little over three and a half minutes into the first
round. Almeida improves to 19-2 and has won 14 straight fights while
Rozenstruik drops to 13-5. Good win for Almeida, with 14 of his wins
coming in the first round and all of his wins being finishes.
My new fantasy book is out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: A Fight For
Survival. It’s the third book in my epic fantasy Kingdom of Zarias
series and follows the adventures of the Summers siblings as they
fight to defend the world from an evil villain named Galren. This book
also introduces lots of other characters as the scope of the world
grows. There’s lots of action, magic, and monsters in the Kingdom of
Zarias. It’s like a tabletop game in novel form. It’s on Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, and many other places. If you’re interested, I would
greatly appreciate it if you would check it out and support me. Also,
here’s the link to my new Compendium book about the Kingdom of Zarias
series- KoZ Compendium
Thank you very much, have a good day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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