By The Numbers
WHAT A FIGHT! Both men gave everything but it’s Valentin
Moldavsky who gets the Unanimous Decision nod over @tbeartim.
#AndNew Bellator Interim-Heavyweight Champion
#Bellator261 pic.twitter.com/3PNpo2r0Zu— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA)
June 26, 2021
Bellator
MMA crowned its interim heavyweight champion at
Bellator 261. The main event saw 36-year-old veteran Timothy
Johnson go up against Russian prospect Valentin
Moldavsky. Johnson (15-7) looked to brawl with the 29-year-old
and found some success on the feet while doing so. However,
Moldavsky (11-1) was more technical at a distance and was generally
landing the better punches. In Round 3, the Russian started to take
Johnson down and found success in the grappling exchanges. As the
fight continued, Moldavsky was the fresher fighter despite Johnson
always moving forward. After five rounds, the judges awarded
Moldavsky the unanimous decision and the interim title with scores
of 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 in his favor.
The co-main event saw Liz
Carmouche make a statement against Kana
Watanabe and potentially earn a flyweight title shot. Carmouche
needed just 35 seconds as she rushed Watanabe and
continually rocked her with punches until the referee waved it
off. After the bout, Carmouche called for a title fight, which is
hard to deny.
Sidney
Outlaw‘s grappling was on display against Myles Jury.
Outlaw (16-4) took the back of Jury (19-6) and controlled his
opponent over the opening round and did the same for the second and
third frames. Late in Round 3, Jury slammed his opponent, which
only helped Outlaw
sink in a rear-naked choke and get the tap at the 4:44
mark.
In a featherweight bout, Daniel
Weichel managed to get back into the win column at the expense
of Keoni
Diggs. It was a tightly contested bout going the full 15
minutes. Both men had their moments on the feet, but neither was in
danger of getting finished at any point. After three rounds of
action, the judges preferred the work of Weichel (41-12), rewarding
him a split decision with scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27. With
the defeat, Diggs’ record drops to 9-1.
Christian
Edwards was simply the better striker against Simon
Biyong, who didn’t have anything on the feet for the undefeated
22-year-old prospect. Edwards (5-0) was always one step ahead and
the fight eventually felt like a sparring contest with Biyong (7-2)
unable to mount any pressure. Edwards took a wide unanimous
decision with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27.
In preliminary action, John de
Jesus (14-9) picked up a split decision verdict over John
Texieira (23-6-2) with scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28; Taylor
Johnson (7-2) tapped Lance
Wright (4-2)
with a rear-naked choke after just 2:58 of action; Jaylon
Bates (3-0) submitted Cody
Matthews (1-2) with
a slick armbar at 4:04 of Round 2; Corey
Samuels (3-2) knocked out Isaiah
Hokit (0-1) with punches
in just 10 seconds; and Sorek Bak (14-1) picked up a unanimous
decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) over Bobby Lee
(12-6).