The champ @Usmannmgdv
gets the takedown!
#Bellator300 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports
pic.twitter.com/WzEu18YC3h— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA)
October 8, 2023
Bellator
MMA lightweight champion Usman
Nurmagomedov believes he’s the best in the world and he made a
strong case for it after picking apart former champion Brent
Primus in the
Bellator 300 main event at Perchanga Arena in San Diego,
California.
Primus had no answers for Nurmagomedov (18-0) throughout the fight.
Coming off the most well-rounded win of his career over Mansour
Barnaoui in the lightweight grand prix quarterfinals, Primus
thought he could upset the champ by getting inside and making it an
ugly contest.
Unfortunately for Primus (12-4), the champ would have none of it.
Nurmagomedov kept Primus at bay on the outside with long body kicks
and straight right hands down the pipe. He roughed him up at
midrange with knees and hooks, and dominated him on the inside with
pinpoint accurate elbows. When the fight went to the ground,
Nurmagomedov kept top pressure and drained the clock while
cautiously wrestling a picking shots on the ground.
Fans grew restless and misunderstood Nurmangomedov’s masterful
performance. Primus showed toughness and didn’t stop looking for a
path to victory. The champ was simply too good and had every avenue
blocked. Nurmagomedov won every round (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) and
took little damage in the fight.
With the win, Nurmagomedov advanced to the lightweight grand prix
finale and will await the winner of the Alexander Shabliy-Patricky
Freire semi-final next month.
Cris
Cyborg and Cat Zingano
finally put their war of words to rest to battle for the women’s
featherweight title and Cyborg spent little time silencing the
challenger. Cyborg (27-2) looked like her prime self as she
easily walked down Zingano and stopped the challenger 4:01 into
the first round.
Zingano (14-5) entered the fight riding the high of a four-fight
win streak, but she was unable to employ her world-renowned
wrestling on the champ. Cyborg stuffed multiple takedowns and
forced Zingano to trade against her heavy hands. With Zingano dazed
on her feet, the challenger attempted one more desperate takedown
before she was ultimately stuffed and finished with a flurry of
punches on the ground.
Cyborg hasn’t lost a fight in nearly five years but is still hungry
for the top contenders. In her next defense, Cyborg plans to fight
Leah
McCourt, who impressed earlier in the night with an upset
first-round technical knockout over Sara
McMann.
Liz
Carmouche put her women’s flyweight title on the line against
friend and former training partner Ilima-Lei
Macfarlane. Macfarlane missed weight so she was ineligible to
win the crown but that wouldn’t matter. Carmouche (20-7) notched
her seventh straight win and third defense with a fifth-round
TKO.
The respect between the two former sparring partners was clear
early. Carmouche and Macfarlane spent most of the first two rounds
feeling each other out before Macfarlane’s lead leg became
compromised. “The Ilmanator” could barely stand, let alone fight,
but continued to withstand leg kicks. Carmouche mercifully backed
off and banked rounds but ultimately
closed the show with a final fight-ending leg kick 17 seconds
into the fifth round.
Following the bout, Carmouche gave credit to Macfaralane and
admitted that it was tough beating on a friend. That said,
Carmouche is already looking ahead to her next defense as she
called out Tokoyo’s Kana Watanbe to a showdown in Japan.
In a fun back-and-forth fight between undefeated featherweights,
Bobby
Seronio III decisioned Alberto
Garcia (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Despite the lopsided cards,
Garcia gave Seronio all he could handle while walking through head
snapping shots all night.
Seronio dropped Garica early and knocked out his mouthpiece in
round 3, but he couldn’t put him away or get Garcia off his back
for most of the fight. Each round was close, but Seronio’s big
moments stuck with the judges.
McCourt bounced back from her loss to Zingano earlier this year
with an impressive first-round finish over No. 2 McMann. McMann
tried hard early to get the fight to the ground but regretted that
wish after taking an accidental thumb to the eye. McCourt took
advantage of a superior position while McMann
was flustered and dropped a cluster of elbows and punches until
referee Jason Herzog stopped the fight 4:30 into the first
round.
Sergio
Cossio may be the happiest Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt on the
planet right now. After being rag-dolled on the mat by the
undefeated lightweight Jesse
Roberts throughout the first two rounds, Cossio put himself in
the running for comeback of the year after
catching Roberts in a slick triangle choke with 55 seconds left
in the fight. Cossio fought off submission attempts all night but
found life after clipping Roberts with hard shots all throughout
the third. Figuring that he’d be safe back on the ground Roberts
shot and took the fight back to the mat, but Cossio was ready to
take advantage for his eighth straight win.
Henry
Corrales and Kai Kamaka
III both entered their featherweight clash with winning streaks
and their fight could’ve been decided by a coin flip. Corrales
pushed the pace and threw more blows but Kamaka scored well with
clean shots. Both fighters had their moments but Kamaka was given
the nod by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
Slim
Trabelsi (6-0) looked to be on his way to an impressive victory
in his Bellator debut over Davion
Franklin but his win was ultimately underwhelming after
Franklin was forced to submit to a TKO (3:19) after injuring his
knee following a clean inside sweep from Trabelsi.
No. 9 light heavyweight Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov picked up his third straight win after blowing
past Maciej
Rozanski (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Rozanski couldn’t move out of
the way of Yagshimuradov’s right hand and was busted up throughout
the fight. By the final bell he was leaking blood from the top of
his skull. The loss was Rozanski’s second straight.
After suffering his first loss, middleweight Mukhamed
Berkhamov (15-1) got back to winning ways in a 180-pound
catchweight bout against Herman
Terrado. Berkhamov was simply too much for Terrado on the feet.
The Russian slugger took control of center cage and walked Terrado
into the cage with body kicks and vicious knees. Berkhamov
controlled most of the fight and was never in any danger, but
Terrado’s toughness carried “The Titan” to the final bell.
Former Light Heavyweight Grant Neal
looked impressive in his middleweight debut. Neal improved to 9-1
on his career after going three rounds with a game Romero
Cotton. After having his six-fight win streak snapped in his
last outing, Cotton threw with bad intentions at Neal. The fight
was tight (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) but Neal’s combination of powerful
strikes with efficient effective wrestling led to a unanimous
verdict.
Undefeated flyweight prospect Jena Bishop
(6-0) continued her perfect start in the Bellator cage with a
dominant first-round win over No. 10 ranked Ilara
Joanne. Bishop had little trouble on the ground with Joanne
after struggling at first on the feet. While pinned along the cage
Bishop took Joanne’s back
before transitioning to a fight-ending armbar (2:40).
Bellator 300 kicked off with a battle of heavyweight debutants.
Josh
Hokit and Spencer
Smith traded hard shots in the opening two rounds and entered
the final round tied on the scorecards. Punches didn’t decide the
opening bout, as Hokit opened his career with a
Round 3 arm-triangle submission victory (3:48).