A bit of fun from both @AdamBorics
and @Burnellmma
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March 13, 2022
Adam
Borics entered Saturdayâs
Bellator 276 main event as one of the promotionâs best
featherweight contenders; heâs now set to fight for the
championship in his next outing.
Borics (18-1) stood toe-to-toe for virtually 25 minutes with
Denmarkâs Mads
Burnell to win a unanimous decision in what was the best
performance of his career. Borics landed dozens of thudding and
stinging leg kicks and popped Burnell (16-4) with two- and
three-punch combos. Burnell was ferocious with an endless assault
of body punches and sizzling combos up top, but Borics landed the
harder, more telling blows throughout.
Borics dropped Burnell with a slick right hook late in the second
round, but even though he busted the Dane up and nearly closed his
right eye, he was never close to putting his foe away. Burnell hurt
âThe Kidâ to the body midway through the third, but in rounds four
and especially five, Borics was able to nullify Burnellâs
attacks.
The two traded leather down the stretch, but again, it was Boricsâ
combos to the head and cracking kicks to the legs that sealed the
deal. In the end, two cageside judges favored Borics with scores of
49-46 while the third had it 50-45. After the fight, the Hungarian
said his eyes are on the title, regardless of who prevails between
champion A.J. McKee and
former titles Patricio
Freire at
Bellator 277 next month.
Longtime veteran Phil Davis
proved why he is Bellatorâs No. 2 ranked light heavyweight with a
dominant performance over Julius
Anglickas. âMr. Wonderfulâ spread out kicks to the legs and
ribs behind swift jabs, but it was multiple takedowns and control
from on top that paved the way toward a lopsided unanimous decision
win.
Davis (24-6) took Anglickas down at least once in every round and
threatened with an assortment of submissions. Anglickas (10-3) was
able to fend off and escape each submission attempt, but he could
do nothing to stop Davis, his strength and wrestling prowess. Davis
won easily as he swept the official judgesâ cards 30-27 for the
unanimous nod.
Johnny
Eblen was the superior middleweight when he locked horns with
John
Salter, nullifying the latterâs jiu-jitsu en route to a
unanimous decision win. Eblen used an array or jabs and leg kicks
to keep Salter (10-1) honest, and when he scored takedowns
throughout the fight, his pressure and moderate ground-and-pound
paved the way toward victory. Salter threatened with an armbar in
the second, but he missed it; it was truly the only time Eblen was
in any danger in the contest. All three cageside judges saw it
30-27 for Eblen, who improved to 19-5.
Lightweight contender Gadzhi
Rabadanov landed scattered strikes and timely takedowns over
the course of three grueling rounds against Jay-Jay
Wilson to nab a unanimous decision win. Rabadanov (17-4-2)
landed the more telling blows and whenever he took Wilson (8-1)
down, he neutralized his offense and controlled the pace. Each
round was close, but Rabadanov did more than enough secure the
judgesâ nod via tallies of 30-27 and 29-28 (twice).
Alex
Polizzi somehow survived a brutal second-round assault to
prevail in the third, anchoring the Bellator 276 prelims in one of
the wildest fights of the year bar none. After Polizzi (10-1)
rattled off dozens of punches from on top on the ground in the
first, light heavyweight opponent
Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros (7-4) delivered one of the cleanest
knees to the face the MMA world will ever see moments into the
second. The bomb would have knocked virtually anybody else out, but
Polizzi inexplicably survived, though it wasnât easy.
Polizziâs equilibrium was shattered and Augusto immediately
delivered an onslaught of punches. However, even with blood pouring
from a cut on the face and nearly out on his feet, Polizzi warded
off the knockout and wound up taking Augusto down. From there,
Polizzi relied on pure instinct and delivered a heavy dose of
punches, only to get rolled into an armbar. Augusto seemingly had
the sub locked in, but Polizzi escaped and finished the round in
full mount.
Polizzi stuffed a takedown attempt from a gassed Augusto early in
the third, took his foeâs back and sunk in the rear-naked choke,
ending the wild affair 49 seconds into the frame, punctuating a
stellar preliminary card.
Romero
Cotton improved to 6-0 with a first-round stoppage of Freddie
Sandoval, a man who hadnât fought MMA in a dozen years. Cotton
missed a knee the face and wound up getting sucked into a heel hook
attempt, but Sandoval failed at the submission and wound up getting
pounded on by Cotton from punches on top. Sandoval (5-7-1) couldnât
defend himself or escape and bowed out at 1:39 of the first.
Flyweight prospect Diana
Avsaragova remained patient for three rounds as she turned away
the hard-charging and much shorter Kyra Batara
with jabs and takedown defense. Batara (8-5) was relentless with a
seemingly endless supply of punches, but virtually nothing she
threw landed cleanly. Instead, Avsaragova (5-0) picked her apart
with jabs and scattered low kicks en route to a lopsided unanimous
decision win; she took the win with scores of 30-27 across the
board.
Featherweight prospect Cody Law made
quick work of James
Adcock (7-5) as he flattened him with punches early. The two
traded leather from the start, but Law (6-0) was too powerful and
dropped his foe multiple times before finally knocking him cold. A
left to the head floored Adcock, but once he popped back up, a
sinister right hook to the jaw removed him from consciousness,
ending the brawl in just 77 seconds.
Rising knockout artist Roman
Faraldo continued his torrid streak by vanquishing Kelvin
Rayford (5-3) in just 44 seconds. Farlado (6-0) dropped his
welterweight opponent with a fierce left jab during a heated
exchange and then closed the show with follow-up punches on the
ground.
In the opening pro bout of the evening, bantamweight Jordan
Howard improved to 10-5 with a second-round stoppage of
Trevor
Ward. Ward (5-6) missed a takedown attempt, wound up getting
toppled against the cage and then ate a barrage of elbows until the
ref stopped it at the 3:24 mark.