#AndStill | @RyanBader
unifies the heavyweight division and retains his title tonight at
#Bellatro273. pic.twitter.com/5lN7yNxzAy— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA)
January 30, 2022
When it mattered most, Ryan Bader
displayed his championship mettle.
The Power MMA Team stalwart retained his heavyweight crown in the
Bellator 273 main event, winning a hard-fought unanimous
decision against interim title holder Valentin
Moldavsky at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on
Saturday night. All three judges submitted 48-47 scorecards in
favor of Bader, who was defending the belt for the first time since
September 2019.
“I thought that fight was really close,” Bader said. “I thought I
was doing more damage, rocking him. I knew it was close going to
the bell.”
Bader (29-7, 7-2, 1 NC Bellator) nearly put Moldavsky (11-2, 6-1
Bellator) away in short order when he wobbled his Russian adversary
with a pair of heavy right hands early in Round 1. However,
Moldavsky utilized the clinch to regain his wits and both
heavyweights settled in for a long, grueling affair.
For much of the next 10 minutes, it was Moldavsky imposing his will
through grinding clinch work, takedowns and top control. But just
when it appeared that Bader had nothing left in the tank, the
former University of Arizona State wrestling standout turned the
tide in Round 4, stuffing a Moldavsky shot while landing multiple
takedowns of his own. That set the stage for a tense final period
in which Moldavsky scrambled to Bader’s back on a takedown attempt
before driving his opponent into the fence. From there, Bader
denied his foe’s takedown efforts while landing a series of short
elbows and punches to the side of the head — a salvo which likely
made the difference in the eyes of the judges. Moldavsky closed the
show with one final high-amplitude takedown in the waning seconds,
but it wasn’t enough to sway the scorecards in his favor.
“I did more damage,” Bader said. “I was just hoping for the first
time in my life they weren’t judging the wrestling, they were
judging the strikes.”
In the co-main event, a resourceful Benson
Henderson ended the 20-fight unbeaten streak of Islam
Mamedov, winning a split decision in a grueling lightweight
clash. Judges Eric Colon
and Anthony Maness submitted 29-28 tallies for Henderson (29-11,
6-6 Bellator), while Ron McCarthy saw it 29-28 in favor of Mamedov
(20-2-1, 1-1 Bellator).
Henderson threatened to end things early, when he ensnared Mamedov
in a tight guillotine in the opening stanza. “Smooth” maintained
his squeeze for quite some time, but Mamedov kept his cool and
eventually popped his head free late in the round. The grappling
was fast and furious in the second frame, as Mamedov used a failed
guillotine attempt by Henderson to assume top position, and the
Professional Fighters League veteran later threatened with a pair
of rear-naked chokes. Henderson, meanwhile, rolled and attacked
with a knee bar and a heel hook, both of which Mamedov was able to
successfully defend.
The decisive third round was closely contested. Henderson landed
the better offense on the feet before Mamedov closed the distance
and secured a takedown with less than 3:00 remaining. Henderson
again rolled for a knee bar, but Mamedov defended well while
creating space to land periodic ground-and-pound from above.
Ultimately, it was Henderson who emerged with the fifth
split-decision triumph of his professional tenure, ending a
three-bout skid in the process.
Elsewhere, a featherweight clash between Henry
Corrales and Aiden Lee
ended prematurely when Lee was rendered unable to continue due to
an accidental eye poke early in the third round. As a result, the
bout was scored where it ended, and Corrales emerged with a
unanimous technical decision after receiving scorecards of 29-28,
30-27 and 30-27 from the cageside judges.
Corrales (20-6, 8-6 Bellator) was the aggressor for the majority of
the contest, as he worked to get inside against his taller, rangier
opponent. Corrales did his most effective work with leg kicks,
though he also knocked Lee (10-6, 3-3 Bellator) off balance with a
left hook early in Round 1 and threatened with a guillotine choke
before briefly assuming top position in the second stanza. Lee,
meanwhile, was largely content to circle on the outside of the cage
while attempting to pick his spots with straight punches and the
occasional kick. Lee appeared to be fighting with a greater sense
of urgency in the final round before the foul ended his night.
Corrales has won three of his last four appearances within the
California-based promotion.
In the evening’s opening main card bout, American Top Team product
Sabah
Homasi made short work of ex-Legacy Fighting Alliance title
holder Jaleel
Willis in a featured welterweight affair. Homasi (16-10, 5-4
Bellator) used an arm-triangle choke to elicit a tapout from his
opponent at the 1:42 mark of Round 1 for his first submission
triumph in more than seven years.
“The Sleek Sheik” chopped away at Willis’ lead leg with kicks in
the early going before closing the distance and taking his foe’s
back from a standing position. From there, Homasi slammed Willis
(15-4, 3-2 Bellator) to the canvas and briefly threatened with a
rear-naked choke before transitioning to the arm-triangle choke.
Homasi’s squeeze was tight enough that he didn’t even need to clear
his left leg from inside Willis’ guard to secure the
submission.
Willis has now lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his
professional career.
In preliminary action: 10-time UFC veteran Enrique
Barzola (17-5-2, 1-0 Bellator) made a statement in his
promotional debut, gradually wearing down ex-bantamweight king
Darrion
Caldwell (15-6, 12-6 Bellator) for a technical knockout victory
3:01 into Round 3 at 135 pounds; Team Alpha Male member Christopher
Gonzalez (7-1, 6-1 Bellator) starched Saad Awad
(24-14, 12-11 Bellator) with a left head kick and sealed his win
with follow-up punches on the canvas 36 seconds into the opening
frame of their lightweight encounter; American Top Team export
Dalton
Rosta (6-0, 6-0 Bellator) cruised to a unanimous verdict
against Duane
Johnson (6-3, 1-1 Bellator) at middleweight; Fedorteam
representative Nikita
Mikhailov (8-1, 2-0 Bellator) put away Blaine
Shutt (8-6, 0-2 Bellator) with punches from back mount 3:23
into the third round of their bantamweight clash; 21-year-old
Frisco, Texas, native Lucas
Brennan (6-0, 6-0 Bellator) remained perfect, tapping out
Ben
Lugo (5-5, 0-1 Bellator) with an arm-triangle choke at the 2:27
mark of Round 1 at featherweight; and in the evening’s opening
bout, Power MMA team prospect Sullivan
Cauley (3-0, 3-0 Bellator) overwhelmed Ben Parrish
(5-2, 1-1 Bellator) with ground-and-pound for a technical knockout
victory 4:35 into Round 1 at light heavyweight.