Gegard. GNP. W.
#bellator264 pic.twitter.com/mZokLhBowz— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist)
August 14, 2021
It required more of him than he anticipated, but Gegard
Mousasi forced another would-be successor to bow at his
feet.
Mousasi retained his undisputed Bellator
MMA middleweight championship, as he dispatched John Salter
with punches in the third round of their
Bellator 264 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Connecticut. Salter (18-5, 8-2 Bellator) met his end
2:07 into Round 3, suffering his first setback in nearly three
years.
Mousasi (48-7-2, 6-1 Bellator) appeared to give away the first
round with a flat start but started to sink his teeth into the
challenger soon enough. He pressured Salter onto his back foot in
the second round, scrambled into top position after being taken
down and battered the Alabama native with standing-to-ground
punches, elbows and forearm strikes. Mousasi stonewalled another
attempted takedown at the start of Round 3, assumed a dominant
position once more and cut loose with both hands until referee Dan
Miragliotta had seen enough.
Meanwhile, Andrey
Koreshkov returned to the Bellator cage for the first time in
nearly two years and cruised to a unanimous decision over
American Top Team’s Sabah
Homasi in the three-round welterweight co-main event. Koreshkov
(24-4, 14-4 Bellator) carried all three scorecards with room to
spare: 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26.
Homasi (15-10, 4-4 Bellator) had no answer for the Russian’s
multi-pronged attack. Koreshkov zeroed in on the legs with kicks,
incorporated a few spinning attacks and connected with repeated
knee strikes to the head and body. The former champion executed a
takedown in the second round, climbed to full mount and only
extended his lead from there. Koreshkov forced his counterpart into
a crouching position in Round 3, delivered a series of savage knee
strikes to the body and ultimately advanced to the back to fish for
a rear-naked choke. Homasi sprang a reversal with roughly two
minutes remaining on the clock but found his pathways to progress
blocked by the well-versed Alexander
Shlemenko protégé.
Koreshkov, 30, has rattled off 11 victories across his last 14
appearances.
Elsewhere, rising
Roufusport star Raufeon
Stots extended his winning streak to nine fights and further
established himself as a contender to watch at 135 pounds with a
unanimous decision over Magomed
Magomedov in a three-round bantamweight showcase. All three
cageside judges scored it for Stots (17-1, 5-0 Bellator): 29-28,
30-27 and 30-27.
Magomedov (18-2, 2-1 Bellator) struggled to close the athleticism
gap for much of the 15-minute encounter. Stots popped him with
repeated jabs, mixed in a few leg kicks, denied takedowns with an
effective sprawl and outmaneuvered the former Absolute Championship
Berkut titleholder in the scrambles. He threatened Magomedov with a
rear-naked choke in the third round, then withstood his
advances—the Russian made a pass at a Hail Mary armbar—in the
waning moments to nail down another victory.
The loss was Magomedov’s first since April 15, 2017.
Finally, undefeated
Jackson-Wink MMA prospect Davion
Franklin kept his perfect professional record intact in
woefully one-sided fashion, as he wiped out Everett
Cummings with punches in the first round of their heavyweight
showcase. Cummings (15-1, 2-1 Bellator) succumbed to blows 21
seconds into Round 1.
Franklin (4-0, 4-0 Bellator) hyperextended the Gladiator Challenge
veteran’s knee with a side kick, pinned him to the fence with a
partially blocked high kick and unleashed his heavy hands. A right hook drove Cummings to the floor in a
turtled position and left him exposed to the follow-up shots that
necessitated the stoppage.
The 27-year-old Franklin has finished three of his first four
opponents inside one round.
In other action, Khadzhimurat
Bestaev (11-4, 1-0 Bellator) took a unanimous decision from
Ty
Gwerder (5-3, 1-3 Bellator) in a three-round middleweight
encounter, sweeping the scorecards with 29-28 nods across the
board; Pam
Sorenson (9-3, 1-0 Bellator) eked out a split decision—28-29,
29-28, 29-28—over Roberta
Samad (5-2, 0-2 Bellator) in a three-round women’s flyweight
tilt; Jonathan
McNeil (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) put away Orlando
Mendoza (0-1, 0-1 Bellator) with punches 3:57 into the third round of their
catchweight clash at 195 pounds; and Jeffrey
Glossner (3-2, 1-1 Bellator) laid claim to a unanimous decision
over Sebastian
Ruiz (2-4, 0-2 Bellator) in a three-round catchweight battle at
142 pounds, drawing 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the judges.