Your new flyweight champ is @IAmGirlRilla!
Liz gets it done tonight with a hard-fought win at
#Bellator278. pic.twitter.com/u7c4p4NK5V— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA)
April 23, 2022
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Patience paid for Liz
Carmouche.
The Team Hurricane Awesome export dispatched Juliana
Velasquez with a volley of elbows and captured the undisputed
Bellator
MMA women’s flyweight championship in the fourth round of their
Bellator 278 headliner on Friday at the Neil S. Blaisdell
Center in Honolulu. Carmouche (17-7, 4-0 Bellator) brought it to a
close 4:47 into Round 4 and completed her long journey to a major
mixed martial arts title.
The first 15-plus minutes were inconsequential, outside of a
Velasquez knockdown in the second round. However, the undefeated
champion appeared to be in control entering the fourth. There,
Carmouche executed a takedown, progressed to the mounted crucifix
and strung together enough elbows to bring referee Mike Beltran
into play. Velasquez (12-1, 7-1 Bellator) immediately protested the
stoppage, to no avail.
Meanwhile, “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 2 winner
Enrique
Barzola cruised to a unanimous decision over Nikita
Mikhailov in their three-round bantamweight grand prix
qualifier. Barzola (18-5-2, 2-0 Bellator) swept the scorecards with
30-27 marks across the board and punched his ticket to the
tournament quarterfinals, where a showdown with Magomed
Magomedov awaits on June 24.
Mikhailov (8-2, 2-1 Bellator) toyed with a few flashy strikes and
scrambled effectively on occasion but too often found himself a
step behind the relentless Peruvian. Barzola swooped into top
position in all three rounds, softened the Fedor
Emelianenko protégé with ground-and-pound and flirted with
chokes on multiple occasions. To Mikhailov’s credit, he refused to
give in to those advances.
Barzola has posted back-to-back wins for the first time since
2018.
Finally, American Top Team standout Danny
Sabatello rode repeated takedowns, positional advances and
ferocious ground-and-pound to a unanimous decision over Jornel Lugo
in a three-round bantamweight grand prix qualifier. All three
cageside judges struck 30-26 scorecards for Sabatello (12-1, 2-0
Bellator), who moves on to face Leandro
Higo in the tournament quarterfinals on June 24.
Lugo (8-1, 5-1 Bellator) was a non-factor. Sabatello neutralized
him with takedowns in all three rounds, moved to dominant positions
and unleashed punches, elbows and shoulder strikes. He even mixed
in a few submission attempts, making a serious pass at an
arm-triangle choke in the second round. It was a comprehensive
performance.
Sabatello, 29, has rattled off six consecutive victories.
In other action, Grant Neal
(7-1, 6-1 Bellator) laid claim to a unanimous verdict against
Christian
Edwards (5-2, 5-2 Bellator) in a three-round light heavyweight
encounter, drawing 30-27 marks from all three cageside judges;
Luis
Muro (13-7, 4-1 Bellator) eked out a split decision—29-28,
28-29, 29-28—over Nate
Andrews (16-5, 0-2 Bellator) in their three-round catchweight
rematch at 160 pounds; Weber
Almeida (6-1, 4-1 Bellator) stopped Fabricio
Franco (8-5, 0-1 Bellator) with an inside leg kick 3:01 into the first round
of their featherweight tilt; Dante
Schiro (9-3, 1-1 Bellator) put away Scotty Hao
(5-4, 0-2 Bellator) with punches 63 seconds into the third round of
their confrontation at 170 pounds; and Blake Perry
(1-0, 1-0 Bellator) submitted Makoa
Cooper (1-1, 0-1 Bellator) with an anaconda choke 4:14 into the second round
of their welterweight pairing.