Liz Carmouche
Bellator 278 Results: Velasquez vs Carmouche -Take a look at the results
Bellator returned to action this Friday with a fresh card at Bellator 278, and an immediate event following the card at Bellator 279 on Saturday. The event took place at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. The main event featured Juliana Velasquez who defended her women’s flyweight title against Liz Carmouche.
In the main event, Juliana Velasquez lost her belt to Liz Carmouche, who beat her opponent via TKO in the fourth round. Carmouche opened up with a low kick, but soon Velasquez tagged Carmouche cracked her with a sold left hand. Another calf kick by Carmouche helped her close the distance and, which opened a solid right overhand for Carmouche. While Velasquez tried to keep the fight in distance and land from the outside, Carmouche was determined on making it a dirty fight as she plunged in with wild ferocious movements. Carmouche managed to clinch her at the very end of the round as she kept hitting her opponent with short punches.
In the third round, Velasquez came out strong with the idea that she was falling behind on the cards. Velasquez tagged Carmouche with a stiff left hand and started stalking her opponent. Another nice left hand lands for the champion followed by a right hand. Carmouche landed a beautiful liver shot, but Velasquez ate it like a pancake. Carmouche followed the sequence with a nice calf kick. In the last round, Velasquez knocked Carmouche down with a left hand again, but it seems as if Carmouche was simply off-balance, which did not count as a lockdown. Velasquez clinched up against the cage. They exchanged gut piercing knees to the body. Carmouche reversed a dangerous position and started unloading some ground-and-pound and the referee stopped the fight. The stoppage in the majority of people’s eyes was early.
In the co-main event, Mikhailov began the event with an explosive flying knee, and went to drill a takedown immediately. Mikhailov had all his shots landing for money, be it spinning elbow or his high head kick. During one of the sequences when he tried to kick his opponent, Barzola slammed Mikhailov to the mat and started to unleash hard ground-and-pound. The round ended with Barzola on top and winning the round 10-9.
Mikhailov lost two rounds and came out swinging wild in the third round. He needed a finish or a dominant 10-8 round to draw the fight. Heavy leg kicks landed for Mikhailov, but he failed with his spinning back fist attempt. He tried to land a high kick but Barzola had it blocked.. Barzola stacks Mikhailov and he is non-stop with the pressure from top position. Mikhailov powers through and escapes. Mikhailov drops to a knee and eats several shots from Barzola. The round ended 10-9 Barzola who scored a unanimous decision victory.
In the first Bellator bantamweight grand prix qualifier bout of the evening, Danny Sabatello thrashed Jornel Lugo for 15 minutes, winning a dominant unanimous decision and punching his ticket into the grand prix.
Lugo simply had no answer for the wrestling ability of Sabatello, who repeatedly took him down and worked the formerly undefeated prospect over with increasingly violent ground-and-pound. After his win, Sabatello then cut a profanity-laden promo on the man he will face in the opening round of the Grand Prix, Leandro Higo.
Also on the main card, Grant Neal was able to successfully rebound from his first career loss, winning a unanimous decision over Christian Edwards, and Manny Muro avenged an early career loss to Nate Andrews, winning a split decision on the main card opener.
Liz Carmouche def. Juliana Velasquez via TKO (elbows) – Round 4, 4:47 – for women’s flyweight title
Enrique Barzola def. Nikita Mikhailov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight grand prix wild card
Danny Sabatello def. Jornel Lugo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) – bantamweight grand prix wild card
Grant Neal def. Christian Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Manny Muro def. Nate Andrews via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Weber Almeida def. Fabricio Franco via TKO (referee stoppage) – Round 1, 3:01
Dante Schiro def. Scotty Hao via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:03
Blake Perry def. Makoa Cooper via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 4:14
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