They call him “The Ass Kicking Machine” for a reason.

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Jason
Jackson shocked the world Friday night after ending mixed
martial arts’ longest unbeaten streak when he masterfully knocked
out Bellator
MMA welterweight champion Yaroslav
Amosov (27-1) in the third round (2:08) of the
Bellator 301 main event at Winstrust Arena in Chicago.

Jackson (17-4) may have come in as the underdog but after winning
his last six fights, the Kingston, Jamaica, native fought with the
poise of a polished champion. Amosov tried desperately to get the
heavy hitter to the mat and Jackson turned him away at every
opportunity.

Forced to engage with him on the feet, Amosov looked to bait
Jackson into a big shot or a takedown, but again Jackson wouldn’t
budge. Once Jackson found his preferred range he maintained it.

With Jackson calmly closing off the cage, Amosov became more
desperate and began telegraphing his shots, which only made things
worse for the longtime champ. Jackson snapped his head back with
rear uppercuts and jabs before scurrying back to his range on the
outside. Amosov simply couldn’t keep up with the boxing lesson he
was being given.

As the fight wore on things only got worse for the champion.
Amosov, desperate to find something, only opened himself up to more
punishment. Midway through the third round he’d finally have
enough.

Jackson closed the show and claimed the belt with a devastatingly
crisp three-punch combination that brought Amosov to his knees.
With nothing left between him and the belt, Jackson followed up
with blows until referee Blake Grice
was forced to intervene. Jackson not only beat one of the
promotion’s greatest champions, he made it look easy.

Patrick
“Patchy” Mix’s claim to being the best bantamweight in the
world got a lot stronger on Friday as Mix easily dispatched
Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio
Pettis in the second round via rear-naked choke (1:51).

Having trained together in the past, Mix was confident that he
could manhandle Pettis on the ground and it showed. Using his
height and reach, Mix walked Pettis down early and nearly secured a
takedown along the cage before transitioning to Pettis’ back. As
Pettis tried to frantically fight Mix’s arms, he didn’t notice the
Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist shift his body triangle past his
hips up to his arm. With Pettis’ (23-6) arm trapped, the former
champion had no shot at defending his neck and was quickly
submitted, ending his six-fight win streak.

With the win, Mix improved to 19-1 and elevated himself from
bantamweight grand prix champion to the undisputed title holder and
his run to the title couldn’t have been more impressive. Mix has
won six straight with incredible finishes over Magomed
Magomedov, Raufeon
Stots and now Sergio
Pettis.



Archrivals Stots and Danny
Sabatello were known more for their bouts in the media as
opposed to their snoozer of a first fight. The two foes made up for
that however with a non-stop three-round rematch that had more
twists and turns than a limbo contest.

Sabatello started the fight off fast and nearly caught Stots with
the same flying knee that “Patchy” Mix used to knock out Stots in
the bantamweight grand prix final. Stots was ready for it as the
fight quickly went to the ground.

Sabatello and Stots tirelessly battled for position on the ground
and scrambled frantically, Sabatello’s fast start ultimately hurt
him though. Stots came on strong in rounds two and three and
clearly got the better of the striking exchanges. Despite the
closeness of the fight, the scoring of the rounds was clear as
Stots was awarded the unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28,
29-28).

A.J.
McKee spent most of his lightweight showdown against Sidney
Outlaw on his back and it still didn’t matter. McKee calmly
handled Outlaw’s top pressure and sliced up “Da Gun” with sneaky
elbows off his back, outworking him en route to a unanimous
decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

McKee would’ve preferred to keep the fight standing but Outlaw’s
takedowns were too much to stop. After spending most of the first
round trying to get back to his feet, McKee changed his approach in
the second round.

Instead of wasting his energy fighting Outlaw’s top pressure, McKee
focused on inflicting as much damage as possible. The former
featherweight champion busted Outlaw’s face open with elbows and
had the 31-year-old leaking across the cage. Outlaw was relentless
in staying on top but showed little urgency with the position.
Despite having the advantage in ground control, Outlaw’s face
looked like it had been carved by a butcher.

Alexandr
Shabliy cruised his way into the lightweight grand prix finals
after putting on a striking clinic against former lightweight
champion Patricky
“Pitbull” Freire. Shabliy (24-3) was in control the entire
night and showed from the jump that he was the sharper, quicker
fighter.

At 37, Freire’s explosiveness wasn’t where it needed to be to slow
down the light-footed Shabliy. Shabliy, who’s won nine straight,
fought from the outside and beat Freire to the punch constantly but
didn’t press the former champion for a finish.

Freire (25-12) finished Roberto
Satoshi de Souza in his last fight and still carries
devastating power but seems to lack the speed to land it on a
fighter like Shabliy at this point in his career. Freire loaded up
on his shots and grew frustrated as Shabily busted him open with
crisp shots. In all, it was a clinic for “Peresvet” who won by a
clean sweep on all three cards (50-45).

Archie
Colgan improved to 9-0 after wrestling his way to a unanimous
decision win over Pieter
Buist in the closing fight of the Bellator 301 prelims (30-27,
30-27, 30-27). Colgan was in control from the onset but couldn’t
find the finish despite having immense top pressure. The fight
disappointed restless Chicago fans but Colgan couldn’t be upset
with his performance. He took zero damage and kept his No. 10
lightweight ranking intact.

After losing back-to-back fights in 2022, Denise
Kielholtz responded to her skid with a win over
Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva in May and a victory over
previously undefeated Sumiko
Inaba on Friday.

Over three competitive rounds, Kielholtz showcased her experience
in exchanges and carried a noticeable advantage in power. Inaba
continued to come forward but Kielholtz’s kickboxing background
gave “Miss Dynamite” the edge. Despite both fighters claiming
victory, all three judges scored the fight a sweep (30-27, 30-27,
30-27).

Bellator’s No. 6-ranked lightweight Timur
Khizriev lived up to his sterling record (14-0) with a
commanding unanimous decision win over Justin
Gonzalez (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Gonzalez showed up ready to
fight but had no answers in place for Khizriev as he toyed with the
American. Khizriev beat Gonzalez to the punch consistently while
mixing in well-timed level changes that kept Gonzalez a step
behind. As dominant as the performance was, however, Khizriev
didn’t put Gonzalez in danger and cruised to his third straight
decision win.

Keri
Melendez did everything but make weight for her showdown with
Sabriye
Sengul. That was the only area where the 39-year-old prospect
fell short, however. Melendez cruised past Sengul en route to a
second-round guillotine (2:06) to win her first fight in three
years.

Matheus
Mattos handed Richard
Palencia his second loss of his career by RNC in the second
round of their bantamweight battle. Mattos (14-2-1) started the
fight heavy on his feet looking for his second straight knockout
but couldn’t land clean.

Mattos abandoned looking for the knockout after he was dropped by
Palencia (10-2) midway through the second round. As the two went to
the ground Palencia made a critical mistake when he walked the cage
to escape but gave up his back in the process. Mattos jumped on the
opportunity and sunk in the rear-naked choke while Palencia was
rising to his feet.

Ramazan
Kuramagomedov improved to 12-0 after putting a one-sided
beatdown on Randall
Wallace in welterweight action. Kurmagomedov destroyed Jaleel
Willis in one round in his Bellator debut and nearly ended
Wallace’s night in the opening stanza. Wallace survived to the
second round before falling victim to a rear naked choke
(3:49).

Islam
Mamedov bounced back from his loss to S. Outlaw in August by
snapping Killys
Mota’s three-fight win streak by split decision (29-28, 28-29,
29-28). Mamedov and Mota struggled to find an edge throughout the
fight as both fighters locked into a stalemate on the ground.
Mamedov’s (23-3-1) tempo led the fight heading into the final round
however and the
American Kickboxing Academy prospect found some success in half
guard. Despite landing little to no damage, Mamedov was able to
sway the judges by being busier in a fight that couldn’t end fast
enough.


American Top Team product Cody Law
grounded, pounded and obliterated Jefferson
Pontes’ previously undefeated record throughout their
featherweight clash. Law (8-2) took Pontes out of his depth early
with a clear advantage in hand speed but followed up his striking
with dominant wrestling along the cage.

After outclassing Pontes on the feet, Law closed out the fight with
a pair of knockdowns and enough ground-and-pound to garner a 10-8,
although all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of the
American.

Tim
Wilde’s one of Bellator’s toughest lightweights but stoppage
wins haven’t come easy for “The Experiment.” Wilde hadn’t finished
an opponent since 2018 and as he headed into the final round
against Mike Hamel
it didn’t look like it was going to change.

The thing about experiments is sometimes you get an unexpected
result. Hamel certainly didn’t expect to get knocked out cold 2:47
into the third round. Wilde set up the knockout with a roundhouse
that cracked Hamel on the chin. Badly staggered, Hamel stumbled
around the cage before he was flattened by a long right hand. Wilde
(17-4-1) threw his hands in the air triumphantly before following
up with a left hook that forced referee Rob Madrigal to save the
day. With the win, Wilde picked up his third straight victory.

Yves
Landu is aging like a Michelin-star steak. The 37-year-old
French featherweight opened the preliminary card with an impressive
unanimous decision win over Isao
Kobayashi (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Landu (20-9) might’ve swept Kobayashi on the cards, but the fight
was tougher than he expected. After dropping and cutting Kobayashi
with a flush head kick in round two, Landu was shocked to be pinned
on his back for the remainder of the round. Heading into the final
stanza potentially tied on the scorecards, Landu left zero doubt
after nearly ripping Kobayashi’s arm off with a gnarly hammerlock
submission attempt. Kobayashi survived till the bell but the
decision was clear.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger