In a matchup of strength vs. strength, Phil Davis
was too much for Yoel Romero
to handle.
“Mr. Wonderful” gradually imposed his will on the Olympic silver
medalist en route to a split-decision triumph in the
Bellator 266 headliner at the SAP Arena in San Jose, Calif., on
Saturday night. Judge Michael Bell had it 30-26 and Ron McCarthy
saw it 30-27 — both for Davis — while Jerin Valel
submitted a curious 29-28 scorecard in favor of Romero. It was
Romero’s first light heavyweight appearance since a knockout loss
to Rafael Cavalcant at a Strikeforce event in 2011.
“He’s a monster,” Davis said. “I felt that power more times than I
wished I had tonight. He’s an incredibly powerful fighter.”
After a tentative opening round from both fighters in Round 1, the
action picked up in the second frame. There, Davis began to find a
rhythm connecting with his jab and straight right hand, including a
one-two combination that prompted a yell of acknowledgement from
Romero. Davis punctuated the round with a takedown in the last 30
seconds, which was a preview of things to come.
The former Bellator light heavyweight king completely dominated the
third stanza, taking Romero down repeatedly while landing solid
ground-and-pound and knees to the body. All told, Davis landed five
of seven takedown attempts in the fight, according to statistics
provided by the promotion. By controlling the end of the fight with
his wrestling, Davis made sure there would be no final salvo from
his notoriously explosive opponent.
“I’ve got to use wrestling,” said Davis, who was a four-time NCAA
Division I All-American at Penn State University. “God bless
wrestling, best sport in the world.”
The 44-year-old Romero, who was competing for the first time since
a loss to Israel
Adesanya in a middleweight title bout at UFC 248 in March 2020,
has lost his last four professional outings. Davis, meanwhile, has
won four of his last five fights within the California-based
organization.
Meanwhile, Neiman
Gracie showed Mark
Lemminger that he is more than just a submission specialist in
the co-main event, as he scored the first technical knockout
victory of his professional career. The Renzo Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu product put Lemminger away with a barrage of strikes 1:27
into Round 1 of the welterweight bout.
Meanwhile, Neiman
Gracie showed Mark
Lemminger that he is more than just a submission specialist in
the co-main event, as he scored the first technical knockout
victory of his professional career. The Renzo Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu product put Lemminger away with a barrage of strikes 1:27
into Round 1 of the welterweight bout.
“I don’t need to take people down to win fights anymore,” Gracie
said. “I can do it all.”
Gracie (11-2, 9-2 Bellator) set the stage for the finish when he
buckled his foe near the fence with a right uppercut to the chin.
Lemminger (12-4, 2-3 Bellator) was little more than a punching bag
at that point, and Gracie unloaded with nearly 20 unanswered blows —
including a wicked standing elbow — to put his adversary away.
Only the fence kept Lemminger upright, but finally referee Jason
Herzog decided he had seen enough.
Earlier, DeAnna
Bennett halted a three-bout losing streak with a unanimous
decision victory over former flyweight title challenger Alejandra
Lara in a featured catchweight clash. The former Invicta FC
talent received scorecards of 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26 from the
cageside judges. The bout was originally supposed to be contested
at flyweight, but Bennett tipped the scales at 129.2 pounds on
Friday.
Bennett (11-7-1, 1-1 Bellator) was at her best in the opening
stanza, when she took Lara’s back following a slip by her opponent.
From there, Bennett secured back mount and battered the Colombian
with punches to the head before threatening with a rear-naked
choke. Lara (9-5, 3-4 Bellator) was able to survive, but she wasn’t
the same for the rest of the fight.
“I wanted that first-round finish so bad,” Bennett admitted. “But
Alejandra, she’s so tough. You can’t have a good fight with one
person, you have to have two good fighters to put on a show.”
Over the final 10 minutes, Bennett confounded Lara with superior
footwork and movement while consistently landing her left jab and
straight right hand. When Lara scored a takedown late in the fight,
Bennett punished her with an upkick to the chin as the Combat
Training Club representative attempted to dive in with punches from
above. Lara was unable to mount any significant offense from top
position in the bout’s waning moments.
Lara has lost back-to-back fights for the second time in her
Bellator tenure.
Elsewhere, Saul Rogers
relied on takedowns, ground-and-pound and positional control to
capture a unanimous decision triumph over former World Series of
Fighting champion Georgi
Karakhanyan in a matchup of former featherweight grand prix
competitors. All three cageside judges scored the 155-pound bout in
favor of “The Ultimate Fighter 22” cast member: 30-27, 30-26 and
30-26.
Rogers (15-4, 2-3 Bellator) appeared to enjoy a significant size
and strength advantage against his veteran adversary, as he
grounded Karakhanyan in each frame. From there, “The Hangman” made
Karakhanyan (31-12-1, 1 NC, 9-10 Bellator) carry his weight while
landing punches to the head and body. Rogers was pleased with his
performance upon moving up one division.
“I’ve been killing myself trying to cut down to 145,” Rogers said.
“Now that I’ve moved up, I feel stronger and I feel more
dominant.”
Karakhanyan had his best moment in the second frame, when he used a
guillotine attempt to return to his feet and rocked Rogers with a
jumping knee and flurried with punches. “Insane” attempted several
more jumping knees during a brief, furious sequence before Rogers
was able to dump him on the canvas and end the threat.
In the evening’s opening main card bout, Ben Parrish
defied the odds with a shocking knockout of the
previously-undefeated Christian
Edwards in a light heavyweight affair. Parrish (5-1, 1-0
Bellator), who was the largest betting underdog on the card,
brought the show to a close just 38 seconds into Round 1.
Edwards (5-1, 5-1 Bellator) looked to utilize his significant reach
advantage in the early going, but the Jackson-Wink MMA standout was
made to pay for his aggression in relatively short order. Parrish caught and dropped his adversary with a
perfectly-timed counter right hand and then pounced for the finish,
landing approximately four follow-up hammerfists before referee
Jason Herzog intervened on Edwards’ behalf.
“It feels good to shut a lot of people up, that’s all I’m going to
say,” Parrish said.
In preliminary action: Alex
Polizzi (9-1, 3-1) handed Grant Neal
(6-1, 5-1 Bellator) his first career defeat, winning a split
decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) in a grueling light heavyweight
affair; two-time Dana White’s Contender Series competitor Anthony
Adams (9-2, 1-0 Bellator) relied on his superior reach and a
varied striking arsenal —including a steady diet of kicks — to
capture a three-round verdict (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over UFC and
Fight Nights Global veteran Khalid
Murtazaliev (15-3, 1-1 Bellator) at middleweight; Robert
Seronio (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) took a unanimous decision triumph
((29-27, 29-26, 29-26)) against Socrates
Hernandez (0-1, 0-1 Bellator) at bantamweight; Abraham
Vaesau (6-3, 3-1 Bellator) scored a technical knockout against Albert
Gonzales (2-3, 1-2 Bellator) 2:17 into the opening round of a
175-pound catchweight affair; Shane Keefe
(2-0, 1-0 Bellator) outpointed (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Rhalan
Gracie (0-3, 0-1 Bellator) at welterweight; Edwin
De Los Santos (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) dispatched Jonathan
Adams (0-2-1, 0-2-1 Bellator) with a body kick and follow-up punches 3:29 into
the opening round of their flyweight scrap and two-time NCAA
Division I national wrestling champion Jesse
Delgado (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) earned a unanimous verdict over
Joshua
Dillon (1-2, 0-1 Bellator) at a 130-pound catchweight.