Logan
Storley had just enough water in the well.
The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler called upon volume
punching and a sturdy chin, as he took an important step forward in
the Bellator
MMA welterweight division with a unanimous decision over
Neiman
Gracie in the five-round
Bellator 274 headliner on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Connecticut. All three cageside judges scored it for
Storley (13-1, 8-1 Bellator): 48-47, 50-45 and 49-46.
Gracie (11-3, 9-3 Bellator) struggled to get in gear. What had been
a somewhat pedestrian bout for 15 minutes turned into an absolute
war of wills in the fourth round. Both men were hurt in
back-and-forth exchanges that featured plenty of give and take.
Storley kept his foot on the accelerator in the fifth, where he
pressed forward with punches and forced the Brazilian onto his back
foot—a position in which he was clearly uncomfortable.
Andrey Koreskhov waylaid
Alliance MMA export Chance
Rencountre with a spinning back kick to the body and follow-up
punches in the first round of their welterweight co-main event.
Rencountre (16-5, 2-2 Bellator) checked out 38 seconds into Round
1, his modest two-fight winning streak at an end.
Koreshkov (25-4, 15-4 Bellator) tested the waters with leg kicks,
then unleashed. He buried his heel into Rencountre’s ribs with
exquisite power, speed and technique. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran winced in visible pain and collapsed to the canvas,
where Koreshkov mopped up what was left with a volley of
standing-to-ground punches.
It was the third sub-minute stoppage victory of Koreskhov’s
29-fight career.
Meanwhile, Adam
Piccolotti leaned on takedowns, suffocating top control and
repeated submission attempts, as he captured a unanimous decision
over former World Series of Fighting and Tachi Palace Fights
champion Georgia Karakhanyan in a three-round lightweight
attraction. Piccolotti (13-4, 8-4 UFC) swept the scorecards with
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 nods from the judges.
Karakhanyan (31-13-1, 9-11 Bellator) never established a foothold
in the match. Piccolotti secured takedowns in all three rounds,
bled valuable time off the clock and progressed to advantageous
positions without much resistance. Karakhanyan did what he could to
shift the narrative in the third round—he countered a takedown with
a guillotine choke, moved on top and eventually attacked the
ankle—but the finish he needed failed to materialize.
Piccolotti, 33, has won four of his past six bouts.
Elsewhere, Bellator Season 9 middleweight tournament winner
Brennan
Ward made his first appearance since Aug. 25, 2017 and buried
Brandon
Bell with punches in the second round of their catchweight
feature at 175 pounds. Ward (15-6, 10-6 UFC) brought it to an
emphatic close 32 seconds into Round 2.
Bell (10-11, 1-1 Bellator) was out of his depth. Ward had the D3
Elite product teetering on the brink throughout a one-sided first
round, where he advanced to the back on multiple occasions,
flattened out the M-1 Global veteran and hacked open a cut on his
forehead with heavy ground-and-pound. Bell had nothing left at the
start of the middle stanza. Ward pushed him backward, drove him to the canvas
under duress and uncorked punches until referee Dan Miragliotta had
seen enough.
The 37-year-old Bell has lost four fights in a row, all via
finish.
Finally, undefeated Jackson-Wink MMA prospect Davion
Franklin kept his perfect professional record intact, as he
eked out a split decision over former Titan Fighting Championship
titleholder Said Sowma
in a three-round heavyweight showcase. Judge Dave Hagen scored it
29-28 for Sowma, while Michael Murtha and Bryan Miner saw it 29-28
and 30-27 for Franklin.
Explosivity was the separator. Franklin (5-0, 5-0 Bellator) fought
in powerful bursts, mixed in occasional jabs and unleashed chopping
overhand rights that forced his counterpart to stay on his toes.
Sowma (8-3, 2-2 Bellator) responded with leg kicks, a few sneaky
counters and a grimy clinch game. However, the vast majority of
eye-popping moments—including a successfully executed lateral drop
in the third round—belonged to the 27-year-old Franklin, who has
emerged as a person of interest in the Bellator heavyweight
division.
The loss snapped Sowma’s two-fight winning streak.
In preliminary action, Nick Browne
(13-1, 2-0 Bellator) cut down Mandel
Nallo (8-2, 3-2 Bellator) with punches 2:20 into the second
round of their lightweight battle; Jaylon
Bates (5-0, 5-0 Bellator) dismissed Chris
Disonell (6-5, 1-1 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 3:39 into the third round
of their bantamweight scrap; Bobby King
(11-4, 2-1 Bellator) was awarded a technical knockout over Aviv Gozali
(6-1, 6-1 Bellator) when the Israeli prospect was deemed unfit continue
between the first and second rounds of their lightweight
confrontation; DeAnna
Bennett (12-7-1, 2-1 Bellator) laid claim to a unanimous
verdict against Justine
Kish (7-5, 0-1 Bellator) in a three-round women’s flyweight
tilt, earning 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26 marks on the scorecards;
Jordan
Newman (4-0, 4-0 Bellator) cruised to a lopsided unanimous
decision over Cody
Herbert (3-2, 0-1 Bellator) in a three-round middleweight
encounter, drawing 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 scores from the cageside
judges; Justin
Montalvo (5-0, 2-0 Bellator) put away Corey
Samuels (3-3, 1-1 Bellator) with punches 2:43 into the first round of their
lightweight clash; Isaiah
Hokit (1-1, 1-1 Bellator) took care of Theodore
Macuka (1-3, 0-2 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 3:59 into the first round
of their featherweight affair; and Jonathan
DiLorenzo (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) dispatched Orlando
Mendoza (0-2, 0-2 Bellator) with a brabo choke 67 seconds into the first round
of their welterweight pairing.