Interim Bellator
MMA bantamweight champion Raufeon
Stots showed he could handle the grind of a notorious
grinder.
A persistent jab and a balanced sprawl carried Stots to a split
decision over Danny
Sabatello in the
Bellator 289 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Connecticut, where he successfully defended his title
and punched his ticket to the final of the promotion’s $1 million
bantamweight grand prix. Judge Douglas Crosby struck a 50-45
scorecard for Sabatello, while Eric Colon
and Bryan Miner saw it 48-47 for Stots.
Advertisement
Sabatello (13-2, 3-1 Bellator) secured multiple takedowns and piled
up more than 10 minutes of control time but exacted little damage
with his efforts. Stots (19-1, 7-0 Bellator) stayed patient on the
feet, fed the
American Top Team export a steady diet of jabs and mixed in the
occasional combination. He also made Sabatello’s life difficult on
the ground, refusing to concede positions and even threatening him
with a kneebar in the second round. Stots surrendered a takedown
with some three minutes left in the match but answered his
adversary’s attempts to corral him with a volley of elbows to the
head that drew blood.
Stots now moves on to the bantamweight grand prix final and a
showdown with former King of
the Cage champion Patrick
Mix, who put Magomed
Magomedov to sleep with a guillotine choke in the second round
of their semifinal. Magomedov (19-3, 3-2 Bellator)
lost his tenuous grip on reality 2:39 into Round
2.
Mix (17-1, 6-1 Bellator) pestered the Russian with a consistent
jab, managed distance beautifully and countered takedowns by
attacking the neck. Magomedov moved in on his legs in the second
round, only to find himself hopelessly entangled in a guillotine.
Mix calmly readjusted his hands as he grapevined the legs,
tightened his squeeze and waited for the onetime Absolute
Championship Berkut titleholder to go limp.
Magomedov, 30, had never before been finished.
In the co-main event, Liz
Carmouche submitted
Team Nogueira’s Juliana
Velasquez with a second-round armbar to retain the undisputed
Bellator women’s flyweight championship. Carmouche (18-7, 5-0
Bellator) drew the curtain 4:24 into Round 2, executing her third
finish in as many appearances.
Velasquez (12-2, 7-2 Bellator) was essentially a non-factor.
Carmouche crowded the Brazilian from the start, pairing a merciless
clinch with foot stomps, knees to the legs and short punches. She
took down and mounted Velasquez in the waning moments of the first
round, then picked up where she left off in the second. With
roughly 90 seconds remaining in the period, Carmouche executed
another takedown, laced the legs and again achieved full mount.
She eventually moved toward a topside triangle, isolated the arm
and cranked until Velasquez gave into the pain and raised the white
flag.
The 38-year-old Carmouche has rattled off five consecutive
victories.
Finally, American Top Team’s Dalton
Rosta kept his perfect professional record intact with a
unanimous decision over former Sparta Fight League champion
Anthony
Adams in a three-round middleweight showcase. All three members
of the cageside judiciary scored it the same: 30-27 for Rosta (8-0,
8-0 Bellator).
Adams (9-3, 1-1 Bellator) was competitive throughout but lacked the
horsepower necessary to give his undefeated counterpart pause.
Rosta grew emboldened as one round led into the next. He took down
and mounted Adams in the second, then made his most significant
strides in the third. There, Rosta walked down the Elevation Fight
Team rep with power punches, sprawled on a desperation takedown
attempt and progressed to the back with ground-and-pound. Adams
returned to an upright position in the closing seconds, only to be
met with a vicious right hook that floored him where he stood.
Rosta might have finished it had he been afforded more time with
which to work.
The 34-year-old Adams has alternated wins and losses across his
past five appearances.
In other action, Ilara
Joanne (11-6, 3-2 Bellator) was awarded a split decision—29-28,
28-29, 30-27—over Denise
Kielholtz (6-5, 6-4 Bellator) in their three-round women’s
flyweight confrontation; Jaleel
Willis (16-4, 4-2 Bellator) took a unanimous decision from
Kyle
Crutchmer (9-2, 5-2 Bellator) in their three-round welterweight
battle, drawing 30-27 marks from all three cageside judges;
Cris
Lencioni (10-3, 5-2 Bellator) scratched out a split
decision—30-27, 28-29, 30-27—over Cody Law (6-2,
6-2 Bellator) in a three-round featherweight pairing; Christian
Echols (3-2, 1-0 Bellator) cut down Pat Downey
(1-1, 1-1 Bellator)
with punches 2:27 into the first round of their middleweight
encounter; Kai Kamaka
III (10-5-1, 4-1 Bellator) put away Kevin Boehm
(9-6, 0-2 Bellator)
with punches 2:23 into the third round of their featherweight
clash; Michael
Lombardo (13-3, 2-1 Bellator) punched out Mark
Lemminger (12-6, 2-5 Bellator) in the first round,
closing the show 4:23 into their welterweight affair;
and Cass
Bell (6-2, 6-2 Bellator) eked out a split decision—29-28,
28-29, 29-28—over the heavily favored Jared
Scoggins (10-3, 0-2 Bellator) in a three-round bantamweight
tilt.