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.
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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,250
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 292
Bellator
MMA reminded fight fans it was still in business in its initial
2023 outing. A pair of champions left little doubt in their
defenses atop the billing, and fans viewing for the first time on
CBS were treated to a little bit of everything in just three
matches.
Bellator 290 ended with an exceptionally low finish rate while
featuring an ultra-rare unanimously scored draw and the potential
end to a remarkable era.
Do Better: Due to pacing and scheduling, Bellator 290 relegated
four matches to the postliminary card. This is the largest postlim
slate since Bellator 239 in February 2020, when five bouts took
place after the headliner.
Laid an Egg: Just four of the 14 fights on the card ended by
stoppage, with a finish rate for the evening of 28.6%. This is the
lowest such rate for a Bellator card since Bellator 256 in 2021,
while clocking on with the fewest wins inside the distance for any
show with at least 14 bouts.
We Knew It Would Happen: At the midpoint of Round 1,
Ryan Bader
put
Fedor
Emelianenko away for the second time. Bader remains unbeaten in
rematches, while Emelianenko suffers his first defeat in a
subsequent match against a former foe.
Fedor-Like: With a third successful defense of his throne, Bader
extends the Bellator heavyweight record for the most defenses in a
row. Over in
Pride Fighting Championships, Emelianenko had
nearly identical set of championship fights, with a retention due a
no contest, a unification against an interim champ and two
additional defenses.
The Proper Weight: Bader moved up to the heavyweight category in
2018 as part of the division’s grand prix. After seven matches at
that weight category, Bader has still yet to taste defeat, with six
wins and a no contest on that ledger.
See You at the Rizin NYE Show: Following his defeat to Bader,
Emelianenko retired. The Russian ends an incredible career that
began in May 2000, amassing 40 wins opposite seven defeats over
many top names in the sport. When he first turned pro, fellow
Bellator 290 competitor
Ethan
Hughes had yet to be born, while Russian compatriots
Diana
Avsaragova and
Nikita
Mikhailov were both one year of age.
Enemies Become Friends: At the end of the event, the following MMA
legends joined Emelianenko in the cage to celebrate his career:
Renzo
Gracie,
Quinton
Jackson,
Chael
Sonnen,
Royce Gracie,
Chuck
Liddell,
Josh Barnett,
Matt
Hughes,
Frank
Shamrock,
Mark Coleman
and
Dan
Henderson. Combined, Emelianenko posted a 4-1 record against
those men.
Pretty, Pretty Good:
Johnny
Eblen defended his middleweight strap for the first time with a
decision over
Anatoly
Tokov. He joins a small group of champs at 185 pounds to
succeed in their first defense, whose membership includes
Hector
Lombard,
Alexander
Shlemenko,
Rafael
Carvalho and
Gegard
Mousasi.
The Action They Promised: To open the main card,
Brennan
Ward splattered
Sabah
Homasi with a head kick and punches. As a pro, the man known as
“Irish” has earned 16 of his 17 career wins inside the distance,
and he has not seen the final scorecards since April 2012.
Warding Off Judges: Ward earned his 12th finish as a Bellator
fighter by dispatching Homasi. He and
Goiti
Yamauchi are tied for the fourth-most in the history of the
company, while
A.J. McKee,
Michael
Chandler and
Patricio
Freire share the top spot with 13 apiece.
No Regard for Cardio: Over the course of his Bellator tenure that
commenced in 2012, Ward has procured nine knockouts. The record of
10 is held by
Michael
Page and
Patricky
Freire.
Baited and Switched: After 15 minutes of combat,
Jaylon
Bates topped
Jornel Lugo
to lift his perfect record to 7-0. While he started his career with
submissions in four of his first five outings, he has since fought
to two split decisions.
Local Ticket-Sellers Are Back: The final two postlims of
Yusuf
Karakaya vs. Hughes and
Isaiah
Hokit vs.
Peter
Ishiguro ended with Karakaya and Hokit earning unanimous nods
from the judges. Of those four competitors, Ishiguro was the only
one to reach a final bell.
A Gracie on the Postlims: Taking a clear-cut decision over
replacement
Dante
Schiro,
Neiman
Gracie ended his first losing streak. The Brazilian has only
needed to involve the scorers twice in victory, with this win his
first by decision since May 2016.
Larkinated: Blowing away
Mukhamed
Berkhamov in 101 seconds in their rematch,
Lorenz
Larkin lifted his even finish rate to 52%. “The Monsoon” has
still never landed a submission, while celebrating 10 of his career
stoppages in Round 1.
OK Henry: Taking a decision against
Akhmed
Magomedov,
Henry
Corrales picked up his eighth win on the scorecards. He also
celebrates seven knockouts and six submissions on his ledger. His
career high win streak with Bellator sits at five, while still
never needing to go to Round 4 as a pro. Corrales currently rides a
three-fight win streak with two full-length matches as well as one
technical decision on this run.
The Right Thing to Do: With three 28-28 scorecards,
Steve Mowry
and
Ali
Isaev fought to just the second unanimous draw in Bellator
history. The first came at Bellator 220 in 2019 between
Ignacio
Ortiz and
Roger
Severson.
The 0 Did Not Go: Due to the draw, both Mowry and Isaev both still
maintain undefeated records after 15 minutes of action. After six
matches in major organizations, Isaev has reached the 10-minute
mark or later in all of those fights.
But She Reps Akhmat Fight Club: By narrow split decision,
Avsaragova snagged a win over
Alejandra
Lara to move to 6-0. Four of her pro wins, including each of
her last three, have needed the entire three-round experience.
Lara with a Capital L: For the sixth time as a Bellator fighter,
Lara did not get her hand raised at fight’s end, while suffering
her fourth loss in a row. “Azul” alone holds the record for the
most defeats of any female competitor on the roster.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 290, Lugo (nine fights)
and Albrektsson (17 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts,
Berkhamov (15 fights) and Magomedov (10 fights) had never been
defeated and Mowry had never gone the distance (11 fights).