There’s no question that
Patricio
Freire is one of the greatest featherweights in the history of
mixed martial arts and on Saturday night in the
Bellator 286 main event, he added another win to his tally.
Freire (34-5) outclassed No. 2 ranked featherweight contender
Adam
Borics and he did it with incredible ease, wining nearly every
single minute of the five-round affair. “Pitbull” landed thudding
leg kicks and scattered jabs and hooks while on the feet,
relegating Borics to single strikes for much of their fight. Borics
had apparently fallen in love with his flying knee since he’s
scored three knockouts with it; he tried it over and over against
the defending Bellator featherweight king, only to miss and be
taken down virtually every time.
Borics (18-2) wanted badly to become Hugary’s first-ever MMA world
champion, but he seemingly had no Plan B against Freire other than
defend submission attempts following being taken down. The capacity
crowd routinely booed the lack of action, but it triggered neither
man to step up the aggression. Instead, Freire coasted down the
stretch and was awarded a unanimous decision win via tallies of
48-47, 49-46 and 50-45.
McKee Topples Carlyle in Wild Co-Main Event
The last time the world had seen
A.J. McKee
inside the cage, he was defeated for the first time as a pro, lost
his
Bellator
MMA featherweight title and didn’t know exactly what to do
next.
Fast forward nearly six months, and McKee (19-1) prevailed in one
of the wildest fights of 2022 thus far, toppling
Spike
Carlyle via unanimous decision in McKee’s lightweight debut.
The two men collided mid-cage and waged a wicked war of strikes
before the battle turned into a frenzied grappling match. The two
fought in a virtual phone booth for three full rounds: Carlyle
(14-4) survived punches and elbows to the head that wobbled him and
a seemingly endless tsunami of takedowns and submission attempts.
Just as one expected “The Crucifixion” to finally be finished,
Carlyle stormed back and rallied, only to be taken down again and
caught in precarious positions. “The Mercenary” was awarded a
unanimous decision win via tallies of 29-26, 30-26 and 30-27 and
said after his triumph that his sight is set on the lightweight
title.
Pico Injures Shoulder, Loses to Kennedy
Aaron
Pico (10-4) started off well against
Jeremy
Kennedy in their anticipated featherweight showdown, landing a
hard right cross and wobbling him early. However, when Kennedy
(18-3) ducked under a left hook and scored a takedown, that’s where
everything unraveled.
Pico powered back to his feet, but he motioned to his corner that
his left shoulder was injured. Kennedy was relentless from that
point forward, taking Pico back down and seizing his back. While
“JBC” couldn’t sink the rear-naked choke, he won the opening frame
and, eventually, the fight. Just before the second stanza was about
to begin, referee
Blake Grice
had the cage-side doctor enter the ring and examine Pico, who
pleaded to allow him to continue. But even after it appeared as
though the left shoulder was popped back into its socket, the
doctor waived off the bout, giving Kennedy the TKO win at 5:00 of
the first.
Archuleta Outpoints Barzola in 15-Minute War
With both men coming off of heartbreaking losses,
Juan
Archuleta and
Enrique
Barzola fought like their careers were on the line in the
opening bout of the Bellator 286 main card.
Archuleta (26-4) was relentless for three rounds, scoring multiple
takedowns and landing scattered punches to the head and body.
Barzola (18-7-2) stayed right with his foe throughout, scrambling
to his feet every time he was taken down. “The Spaniard” was taken
down in the closing minute of the fight and Barzola took his back,
but “En Fuerte” was unable to sink in the rear-naked choke, lost
position and traded punches until the final bell. As close and
thrilling as the 141-pound catchweight battle was, all three judges
favored Archuleta with 30-27 scores.
Mamedov Dominates Browne in Featured Prelim Bout
Highly-ranked lightweight contender
Islam
Mamedov was superb against
Nick Browne
in the featured preliminary bout, winning a lopsided unanimous
decision. Mamedov (22-2) scored multiple takedowns and dished out
solid ground striking en route to scores of 30-27 across the board
over Browne (13-2). In other action, lightweight contender
Jay-Jay
Wilson (9-1) launched dozens of submission attempts at
Vladimir
Tokov (8-2) for three full rounds but never landed any of them,
settling for a split decision win via scores of 29-28 (twice) and
28-29; middleweight contender
Khalid
Murtazaliev (16-3) tore up
Khadzhimurat
Bestaev (11-5) and
stopped him with a vicious elbows and punches at 3:02 of the
second; Hawaiian prospect
Sumiko
Inaba improved to 5-0 with a dominant performance against
fellow flyweight
Nadine
Mandiau (2-6) and won a unanimous decision via tallies of 29-28
and 30-27 (twice);
Weber
Almeida (7-1) dominated
Ryan Lilley
(11-9) for three rounds but the featherweight somehow won via split
decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28); lightweight
Lance
Gibson Jr. (7-0) subbed
Dominic
Clark (15-13)
via triangle choke at 1:49 of the first; bantamweight prospect
Bobby
Seronio III (3-0) easily toppled
Miguel
Peimbert (1-2) to win a unanimous decision (30-27 x3) and in
the opening bout of the evening,
C.J.
Hamilton (16-9) won his Bellator debut when bantamweight foe
Richard
Palencia (10-1)
snapped his left leg when Hamilton checked a kick, ending the
bout just 12 ticks into the second round.