Bellator
MMA’s return to SSE Arena in London saw an American imposing
his will on British soil.
The headliner featured an interim welterweight championship affair
between Michael
Page and Logan
Storley as 170-pound titleholder Yaroslav
Amosov is involved with the ongoing Russian invasion of
Ukraine. From the opening seconds of the fight, it was clear that
Storley (14-1, 9-1 Bellator) wouldn’t exchange with “Venom” on the
feet as the American relied on his wrestling and moved the action
to the canvas. “Storm” didn’t secure much damage, but he kept
himself busy and constantly looked to improve his position. Page
(20-2, 16-2 Bellator) scored a few points thanks to his peculiar
style in Round 2, but he couldn’t prevent his foe’s takedown
attempts. Page smiled every time he was taken down while Storley
accumulated some precious control time.
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Round 4 was the closest round for the Page as he connected with
several weapons in his arsenal while his adversary looked to have
slowed down. However, Storley caught a second wind and pushed for a
takedown in Round 5, where all the action happened on the floor.
Page couldn’t bounce back to his feet despite his efforts, and
Storley ended the clash on top. Eventually, the scorecards were
split as judge David Lethaby scored it 48-47 for Page, while judges
Bryan Miner and Michael Bell saw it 48-47 for Storley, who took
home a split-decision win, the interim championship and his third
straight triumph.
𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝑲𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂 💥@fabianedwards24
stops MMA veteran @lyotomachidafw
at the @OVOArena.#Bellator281
LIVE on @SHOsports
🇺🇸 and @bbcthree 🇬🇧
pic.twitter.com/H6Ha0DfgAH— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA)
May 13, 2022
The co-main event featured a middleweight affair between Fabian
Edwards and former
Ultimate Fighting Championship 205-pound titleholder Lyoto
Machida. It took little less than four minutes for the younger
brother of Leon
Edwards to solve the Brazilian enigma. Edwards (10-2, 6-2
Bellator) stayed out of his opponent’s reach until he caught a
careless kick by Machida and moved the action against the fence.
“The Dragon” disengaged once, but Edwards insisted on grappling
near the cage. The British fighter’s strategy paid off when “The
Assassin”
landed an elbow on the temple of his foe, leaving him on wobbly
legs. Edwards pushed forward with more punches until he dropped
Machida (26-12, 2-4 Bellator) on the canvas unconscious. The
referee showed mercy at the 3:18 mark.
𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝘼 𝙏𝙖𝙥 💥🇯🇵@kanawatanabe821
submits @Denisekielholtz
to return to winning ways inside the Bellator cage.#Bellator281
LIVE on @SHOsports
🇺🇸, @bbcthree 🇬🇧
and @UNEXT_fight
🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/gEctAqOFhD— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA)
May 13, 2022
Elsewhere, Kana
Watanabe (11-1-1, 3-1 Bellator) submitted Denise
Kielholtz (6-4, 5-4 Bellator) with a
triangle choke at 3:03 of Round 2 in their women’s flyweight
affair; Paul Daley
(43-18-2, 10-5 Bellator)
scored an impressive comeback knockout-victory by crushing
Wendell
Giacomo (9-3, 0-1 Bellator) with punches at 4:09 of Round 2 in
the retirement fight of “Semtex;” Simon
Biyong (8-2, 1-1 Bellator) imposed his will over Luke
Trainer (5-1, 2-1 Bellator) en route to a unanimous decision
(29-27, 28-27, 29-28) in their 205-pound tilt.
On the preliminary card, former Bellator 145-pound titleholder
Daniel
Weichel (42-13, 11-5 Bellator) stopped Robert
Whiteford (16-5, 1NC; 1-1, 1NC Bellator) with punches that halted the contest 72 seconds out of
the gate; Elina
Kallionidou (9-4, 2-2 Bellator) smashed Kate
Jackson (11-6-1, 3-4 Bellator) with punches at the 4:53 mark of Round 2; UFC
alum Oliver
Enkamp (11-3, 4-1) forced Mark
Lemminger (12-5, 2-4 Bellator) to tap with a rare buggy choke 25 seconds into the third
period at welterweight; the lightweight clash between Alfie Davis
(14-4-1, 5-1-1 Bellator) and Tim Wilde
(14-4-1, 1-2-1 Bellator) ended up in a majority draw (29-27, 28-28,
28-28); 145-pounder Andrew
Fisher (19-8-1, 1NC; 2-2, 1NC Bellator) upended Attila
Korkmaz (12-7, 0-1 Bellator) on the scorecards (29-28, 29-28,
29-28); Charlie
Ward (10-4, 7-1 Bellator) took a unanimous decision over
Alan Carlos
(13-10, 0-1 Bellator), who missed weight by 3.2 pounds ahead of
their initial middleweight-scheduled affair; Maciej
Rozanski (14-3, 1-0 Bellator) outpointed former
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Lee
Chadwick (27-16-1, 3-3 Bellator) on all three scorecards
(30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in their 205-pound tilt; strawweight Chiara
Penco (7-3, 3-2 Bellator) outstroke Lanchana
Green (4-5-1, 0-1 Bellator) en route to a unanimous decision
(30-27, 30-27, 29-28).