Patrick
“Patchy” Mix’s claim as the best bantamweight in the world was
tested on Friday after the Bellator
MMA bantamweight champion was put through hell over five rounds
against former foe Magomed
Magomedov in the
Bellator Champions Series Paris main event at Accor Arena.
Despite taking Magomedov out in two rounds in their first fight,
the Russian challenger adapted to Mix’s length and hurt the
champion multiple times with overhand shots. Mix showed the heart
of a champion and kept Magomedov on the backfoot despite being on
wobbly legs and took the fight to the scorecards. After a long
deliberation, Mix was awarded the split decision win (46-49, 48-47,
48-47) much to the ire of the Paris crowd.
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Magomedov made wonderful adjustments from the first fight and
consistently caught Mix coming in. Unfortunately for the
challenger, his lack of pace allowed Mix to control the action and
keep him at bay.
Each round could’ve been a toss-up as both men made their case
throughout their techniques. Mix nearly snatched a guillotine in
Round 3, but Magomedov survived and had Mix out on his feet. Mix
(20-1) has options moving forward after his seventh straight win,
but he will now look ahead to his engagement with UFC fighter
Tatiana
Suarez, which was revealed Friday on the broadcast.
It was going to take a lot more than a splinter to stop Cedric
Doumbe on Friday. The French kickboxing phenom violently got
back on track with a first-round stoppage over Jaleel
Willis (3:33). With a bucket of bad blood propping up the
fight, Doumbe gave the Paris crowd exactly what it wanted in the
quick destruction of the Memphis native.
Doumbe (6-1) proved that he’s more than a striker by sprawling
several takedown attempts from the
Kill Cliff FC prospect. Doumbe dropped Willis (16-6) with an
overhand right before making him look foolish with slick head
movement. Doumbe would close out the Bellator Paris co-main event
with a right hand behind Willis’ ear that had him lost. Doumbe
unloaded the finishing blows on Willis until referee Mike Beltran
was forced to intervene.
Post-fight, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony
Pettis entered the cage and challenged Doumbe to a meeting back
in Paris.
Costello
van Steenis picked up one of the biggest wins of his career
after putting hometown hero Gregory
Babene to sleep in the second round (2:16) with a Von Flue
(shoulder) choke.
Van Steenis (15-3) snapped Babene’s eight-fight win streak in
convincing fashion after taking him to the mat in the first round.
Babene’s looked to make Van Steenis pay with a triangle choke, but
The Spaniard’s ground-and-pound broke the grip. Van Steenis
wouldn’t give Babene a chance to threaten in the second round. With
his head trapped between Van Steenis’ shoulder and the cage while
attempting an ill-advised guillotine from side control, there was
nothing Babene could do except tap or go to sleep.
Featherweight contender Yves Landu
took a four-fight win streak into his homecoming bout against
Brazil’s Jonas
Bilharinho and didn’t disappoint the fans.
Landu dropped Bilharinho in the first frame with a wicked knee to
the body and nearly finished the fight. Bilharinho wouldn’t back
down and made it a scrap over the last two rounds. Landu looked for
the finish and nearly completed an armbar and a kimura attempt but
Bilharinho was full of escapes. After three back-and-forth rounds,
Landu took the win by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
Former Big 12 wrestling champion Archie
Colgan ragdolled Thibault
Gouti en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win (30-27,
30-26, 30-26) in their 158-pound catchweight bout. Colgan put the
hostile crowd and the frustration of Gouti’s missing weight into
the first-round blitz that nearly took Gouti out of commission.
Colgan had Gouti on the edge of a TKO defeat but the Frenchman’s
toughness extended the beating. Colgan’s win over the 24-fight
veteran improved the
Genesis Training Academy prospect’s record to 10-0.
Slim
Trabelsi (7-0) remained undefeated in his heavyweight campaign
after cruising to a unanimous decision win over Louie
Sutherland (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Sutherland entered the fight
with a 25-pound weight advantage, but he didn’t help him on the
ground against the heavy-handed Tunisian.
Mansour
Barnaoui halted his two-fight skid with an impressive
first-round submission in front of hometown fans. Barnaoui snapped
former
Rizin Fighting Federation vet Yusuke
Yachi’s head back with right hands before slamming him to the
mat in the final minute of the first round. With Yasuke fazed,
Barnaoui snatched up a brabo choke that closed the show 4:08 into
the round. With the win, Barnaoui (21-6) picked up his 14th career
submission and his first win since 2022.
Mike
Shipman battered and bullied Steven Hill
into his first career loss during their middleweight melee, but it
wasn’t pretty. Shipman (16-4) clipped Hill with a low blow then
lost a point after landing an illegal grounded knee. Hill was
visibly rocked but told Mike Beltran he wanted to continue. Shipman
hurt Hill again with a legal knee and nearly finished him before
the bell. Hill (7-1) wisely chose to stay on his stool before the
second round and Shipman was declared the winner by TKO.
Aspen
Ladd bounced back from her loss against Kayla
Harrison with an inspiring slugfest win against Katerina
Shakalova. Shakalova’s youth and energy came through in the
first round, but she quickly gassed against Ladd’s pressure.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran cut Shakalova open with
an elbow in Round 2 before walking her down with shots in the
third. Shakalova didn’t wilt but her punches lacked the pop to keep
Ladd out of her chest. With the win, Ladd improved to 12-5, while
Shakalova (8-2) took her first loss since 2019.
Marseille’s own Asael
Adjoudj opened the Bellator Paris card with a dominant
second-round TKO (1:11) over formerly undefeated featherweight
Bruno
Fontes (7-1). Unlike Fontes, Adjoudj (8-1) lost his undefeated
record in his first fight, but has since won eight straight.
Adjoudj ragdolled Fontes in the first round before rolling him out
with a right hook early in the second.