Bellator
MMA‘s final card of 2020 was headlined by a flyweight title
fight between reigning champion Ilima-Lei
Macfarlane and undefeated challenger Juliana
Velasquez. In the end, it was the record of Macfarlane (11-1)
that received its first blemish.
The main event of
Bellator 254 saw both women struggle to land anything of
importance over the first two rounds, although a guard pull by
Velasquez (11-0) gave Macfarlane control as the second round ended.
However, Velasquez started to land heavily in Round 3, which saw
Macfarlane go for desperate takedowns she was unable to secure. The
fourth frame saw Macfarlane able to put the Brazilian on her back,
but it was the challenger that took Macfarlane to the ground and
finished the fight strong. After 25 minutes, Velasquez was declared
the winner via unanimous decision with scores of 48-47, 49-46, and
48-47.
Bantamweights were slotted as the co-main event as Magomed
Magomedov faced off against Matheus
Mattos. The fight was all Magomedov (17-1), whose superior
grappling was an issue that Mattos (12-2-1) couldn’t overcome.
After three dominant rounds, Magomedov was awarded a unanimous
decision with scores of 30-26, 30-27, and 30-27.
Linton
Vassell made a statement in the Bellator heavyweight division
by defeating promotional newcomer Ronny
Markes. Vassell (20-8, 1 NC) was able to overpower Markes
(19-8) and consistently took the Brazilian down. In Round 2,
Vassell upped the pressure and
started landing devastating punches in mount that forced the
fight to be called off at the 3:37 mark.
The main card opened with a middleweight bout between Romero
Cotton and Justin
Sumter. Cotton (5-0) was able to control Sumter (7-4) on the
ground and eventually took his back. After that, it was a
textbook rear-naked choke at 3:36 of the first round.
In preliminary action, Shamil
Nikaev (10-0, 1 NC) won a unanimous decision over Kemran
Lachinov (10-3) with scores of 29-28 across the board; Grant Neal
submitted Maurice
Jackson with a
rear-naked choke during the second round at 3:59; Cody Law
(2-0) pounded out Kenny
Champion (2-1)
earning a stoppage at 4:44 of Round 3; and Billy Goff
(3-2) swarmed a fatigued Robson
Gracie Jr. (3-1)
with punches to win at 1:46 of Round 2.