Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information
and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and
portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into
the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories
behind those numbers.
* * *
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,071
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 287
Bellator
MMA returned to the Show Me State for the first time since 2018
with a card that started extremely strong and tapered off after the
prelims. The event, largely built off the backs of undefeated
prospects, mostly went in Bellator’s favor as the majority of
unbeaten fighters won in decisive fashion.
Bellator 276 featured a longtime vet that has made his home in
Bellator, a crusher named Roman that only moves at one speed and a
thriller that placed itself on the shortlist for “Best of the Year”
lists.
Close to a Clean Sweep: Throughout the course of the event, the
first nine victors all closed as betting favorites. The only
underdog at Bellator 276 to notch a win came in the headliner, when
+225
Adam Borics
upset
Mads
Burnell.
We Know What You Did Here: The promotion put forth a 10-fight event
that brought six undefeated fighters in largely showcase matchups.
Of those six, only one fighter lost:
Jay-Jay
Wilson, who fell short to
Gadzhi
Rabadanov on the scorecards.
Pace and Adjustments: In their five-round main event, Borics and
Burnell battled it out to the bitter end, with Borics getting his
hand raised by decision. Neither Borics nor Burnell had ever fought
beyond the fourth round as pros prior to this match.
Best Non-Champ in Bellator:
Phil Davis
handled
Julius
Anglickas and picked up a unanimous decision win. The victory
was Davis’ 11th since joining the roster in 2015, extending his own
record for the most triumphs in Bellator’s 205-pound division.
See Also “Shogun” and Pride FC : Davis engaged in his 14th Bellator
outing when he faced Anglickas. He has now competed more times with
this organization than the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he fought 13
times with the UFC from 2010 to 2015.
Wonderful Fighter, Not So Wonderful Style: All six of the decision
wins for “Mr. Wonderful” have come at light heavyweight, doubling
the tally of the next closest fighters – four of them, including
Anglickas, with three apiece.
That Fight Finder Photo Though: For just the second time in his
career, Wilson went the distance. Rabadanov took him there, and the
Dagestan native won on the scorecards.
Johnny Seven-Up: Claiming a decision over
John Salter,
Johnny
Eblen improved his perfect career record to 11-0 while making
it seven wins in a row as a Bellator fighter. He is tied with
Brett
Cooper and champ
Gegard
Mousasi for the fourth-most victories in Bellator middleweight
history, and
Alexander
Shlemenko reigns supreme with 12.
Cleanest Knee You’ll Ever See: After a battle worthy of “Fight of
the Year” accolades,
Alex
Polizzi submitted
Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros early into the third round. As a
pro, “Eazy” has recorded 80% of his wins by stoppage.
Gugu Can’t Go Deep: Falling short by submission to Polizzi, Augusto
still managed to reach the third round for the second time in his
career. The 12-fight vet known as “Gugu” has not yet left a fight
in the hands of the judges, win or lose.
100% Cotton:
Romero
Cotton finds himself at 6-0 as a pro after laying waste to
Freddy
Sandoval in 99 seconds. Since his MMA debut in 2017 that went
to a split decision, Cotton has recorded five straight finishes,
all with Bellator.
The Law Won: It took
Cody Law 77
seconds to decimate
James
Adcock with a series of punches. The 26-year-old has only
fought under the Bellator lights, and he is now 6-0 with five wins
by stoppage, and four in the opening round.
Assembling the Roman Legion: A 44-second drubbing of
Kelvin
Rayford led to
Roman
Faraldo getting his hand raised for the seventh time in seven
tries. The undefeated Floridian sports a 100% knockout rate, while
never needing to go beyond 9:09 of a fight yet.
Local Guy, Local High: Missouri’s
Jordan
Howard lifted his stoppage rate to 82% by putting
Trevor Ward
away with elbows after the midpoint of Round 2. Eight of his last
nine wins have come within two rounds.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 276, Burnell (19
fights), Anglickas (12 fights) and Salter (23 fights) had never
lost on the scorecards; Wilson had never been defeated (eight
fights) and Rayford had never dropped consecutive bouts (eight
fights).