The Bellator 280 mixed martial arts tournament took place in Paris tonight, the main event of which was a rematch between the reigning heavyweight champion of the organization Ryan Bader and local highly experienced heavyweight Cheycombe Congo.Throughout the entire 5-round distance of the fight, Bader slowly stepped on his opponent and repeatedly carried out takedowns, where he had complete control on the ground. In such a not particularly spectacular vein, Bader took all the rounds. Local MMA fans were unhappy that their fighter fought passively and demanded a spectacle, but Bader continued to carry out his plan and in the end, all three judges unanimously gave him the victory with a score of 50-45. This win was Bader's second title defense.
In the co-main event of the show, the most experienced 45-year-old Cuban veteranYoel Romerowon a long-awaited victory over the AmericanAlex Palazzi. Romero dominated the octagon throughout the fight. Already in the second round, he knocked down his opponent, but did not go for finishing, and then repeated it three times in the third round, and at that moment he could not stand the referee and stopped the fight, announcing victory by technical knockout in the third round in favor of Romero. Thus, Romero won the victory for the first time since 2018.
We present to your attention the results of all pairs of the tournament:
Main card
Ryan Bader defeated Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision
Yoel Romero defeated Alex Polizzi by TKO in the third round
Davey Gallon defeated Benjamin Brander by TKO in the second round
Lorenz Larkin defeated Kyle Stewart by TKO in the first round
Gregory Baben defeated Mike Shipman by knockout in the first round
preliminary card
Piotr Nigelski defeated Pedro Carvalho via split decision
Thibaut Gouti defeated Lewis Long via unanimous decision
Jordan Barton defeated Fabakari Diatta via split decision
Soren Buck defeated Charlie Leary via unanimous decision
Yves Landu defeated Gavin Hughes by TKO in the first round
Lucy Berto defeated Katarzyna Sadura via unanimous decision
Youssef Wubbas defeated Mathieu Leto by TKO in the first round
Burama Kamara defeated Victor Verchera by knockout in the first round.