Returning after a nearly two-year absence from the cage, Yaroslav
Amosov left no doubt that he is one of the top 170-pound
fighters in the world.
The destiny of the Bellator MMA welterweight championship was decided on
Saturday at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Coming into the main
event, Amosov (27-0, 8-0 Bellator) sought to defend his crown for
the first time against interim champion Logan
Storley (14-2, 9-2 Bellator), who sole loss had been a split
decision to Amosov in November 2020. It was Amosov’s first fight in
21 months, a layoff prompted by Russia’s invasion of his native
Ukraine that saw the undefeated champ return home to active
military service. That long hiatus, combined with the popular
perception that Storley had improved considerably since their first
meeting, saw the line on Amosov contract from nearly three-to-one
to a mere -140 by the time they stepped into the cage.
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Amosov proved any doubters wrong, looking superb for 25 straight
minutes. If anything, he appeared to have improved from his 2011
title win over Douglas
Lima, showing faster, more technical striking, even better
grappling and a new level of cardio, fighting at a breakneck pace
for five rounds without slowing down. He battered Storley with a
never-ending stream of blows, hurting him with brutal leg kicks as
well as vicious punches to the head. He stifled all the
challenger’s takedown attempts with ease and after wobbling
Storley, took down the four-time NCAA Division 1 All-American
wrestler several times. It was a sensational performance, with
Amosov winning 50-45 on all three cards, and making a case for
himself as the sport’s best welterweight.
In the co-main, top featherweight contenders clashed when No. 5
Jeremy
Kennedy (18-3, 3-1 Bellator) went to war with third-ranked
Pedro
Carvalho (13-6, 6-3 Bellator). Kennedy won virtually every
minute of the fight with his grappling, continually getting to
dominant positions, attacking with submissions and landing
ground-and-pound, taking the easy decision.
Former lightweight title challenger and No. 10 ranked Peter
Queally (13-8-1, 2-4 Bellator) stepped into the cage against
Bryce
Logan (13-7, 1-4 Bellator). Queally won the first round, but in
the second round, Logan scored a thunderous elbow in the clinch
that dropped Queally and pounded him out with follow-up punches,
garnering his first Bellator victory in style.
Sinead
Kavanagh (9-5, 6-5 Bellator) defeated Janay
Harding (6-8, 3-5 Bellator) by unanimous decision in a
close-fought, entertaining scrap at women’s featherweight. Harding
defeated Kavanagh in 2018 in a major upset when the fight was
stopped due to a severe cut. Harding was a big underdog again on
Saturday, but scored consistently with kicks to the legs and body
for all 15 minutes, though Kavanagh had her moments with brief
bursts of punches, including a flash knockdown in Round 2.
Kicking off the main card, hometown hero Ciaran
Clarke (7-0, 7-0 Bellator) confronted Leonardo
Sinis (11-6-1, 0-1 Bellator), with Sinis missing weight badly,
coming in 2.8 pounds over the featherweight limit. Clarke easily
dominated the fight with takedowns and ground-and-pound, doing
everything except getting the finish, contenting himself with a
lopsided decision triumph of 30-26 on every card.
In the prelims, No. 8 ranked light heavyweight Karl Moore
(11-2, 3-0 Bellator), coming off a huge submission win over
Karl
Albrektsson, fought Poland’s Maciej
Rozanski (14-4, 1-1 Bellator). Rozanski had some early success,
but Moore grinded him out to take the unanimous decision. Bellator
mainstays Mike
Shipman (15-4, 6-3 Bellator) and Charlie
Ward (10-6, 7-3 Bellator) met at middleweight. Ward was
constantly talking and playing off the hometown crowd, but it was
Shipman who pitched a shutout with his dominant wrestling, taking
every round on every scorecard. In an important heavyweight battle,
Oleg Popov
(16-1, 1-0 Bellator) squared off against ninth- ranked Gokhan
Saricam (8-2, 4-2 Bellator). Popov dominated the first two
rounds with repeated takedowns, and although Saricam edged out the
final stanza once Popov fatigued, it wasn’t enough, as Popov took
the decision 29-28 on all three official scorecards.
In a clash between young and old, 23-year-old Norbert
Novenyi Jr. (6-0, 5-0 Bellator) looked sensational in beating
up 38-year-old Andy
Manzolo (26-10, 0-3 Bellator) from pillar to post, stopping him
late in the first round. At bantamweight, long-time Bellator
veteran Brian Moore
(16-9, 6-5 Bellator) battled Italian Luca Iovine
(15-9, 1-1 Bellator), with Moore having a large striking advantage
and Iovine a sizable edge in grappling, with Moore taking the split
verdict. Piotr Neidzielski (17-5, 1-1 Bellator), fresh off a big
upset of Pedro
Carvalho, faced Richie
Smullen (10-2-1, 4-1 Bellator), who survived the Pole’s
repeated guillotine attempts to snag a split decision. Ireland’s
own Darragh
Kelly (3-0, 3-0 Bellator) got a late third-round
ground-and-pound stoppage against Jordan
Dorval (2-3, 0-1 Bellator). In a battle of young prospects,
21-year-old Liam
McCracken (3-1, 0-1 Bellator) and 24-year-old Asael
Adjoudj (5-1, 3-1 Bellator) engaged in a pitched battle for 15
minutes in the striking and grappling, with Adjoudj edging it out
at the end, triumphing 29-28 on all three scorecards. Undefeated
22-year-old Khasan
Magomedsharipov (7-0, 2-0 Bellator) brutalized Rafael
Hudson (6-4, 0-1 Bellator) with elbows and punches from top
position to force a late first-round stoppage. Jena Bishop
(5-0, 1-0 Bellator) used her grappling to dominate Elina
Kallionidou (9-5, 2-5 Bellator), taking every round on every
judge’s card. Prospect Kenny
Mokhonoana (5-0, 2-0 Bellator) blasted Craig
McIntosh (4-4, 0-1 Bellator) with punches from top position in
the first round for the finish in a battle of 6′ tall
featherweights, Undefeated promotional newcomer Dmytrii
Hrytsenko (8-0, 1-0 Bellator) and Daniele
Scatizzi (12-7, 3-3 Bellator) engaged in an exciting,
back-and-forth striking battle, with Hrystenko taking the
well-deserved judges’ verdict. In the opening bout, undefeated
Steven Hill
(7-0, 2-0 Bellator) dominated Joel
Kouadja (7-8, 0-1 Bellator) with takedowns and
ground-and-pound, attaining a rear-naked choke in Round 2.