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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 2,417
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 225
BellatorMMA on Saturday returned to London with a card sporting anunusual broadcasting schedule. Bellator 223 featured the most MMA fights the promotion hasever staged at a single stop, one of the fastest finishes incompany history and a title fight most audiences were unable towitness.
A LITTLE OVERKILL: With 19 fights on the card,this event tied Bellator 199 for the most MMA fights scheduled fora single show in company history.
JUDGES BEWARE: Ten of the 19 bouts at Bellator 223went to a decision, joining Bellator 209 with the most decisions atany Bellator offering.
SO, SO CLOSE: Of the eight bouts on the card withbetting odds, seven betting favorites emerged victorious. MikeShipman, a -175 favorite, was upset by +135 underdog Costellovan Steenis.
WATER WE DOING HERE?: The main event championshipmatch was not shown on the tape-delayed broadcast on ParamountNetwork or Dazn, and at the time, the only way to watch the titlefight was on the Bellator App. The promotion advertised PaulDaley-Erick Silvaas the “main event,” from both the commentary team and cageannouncer Michael C. Williams.
AGREE TO DISAGREE: The middleweight championshipcontest between GegardMousasi and RafaelLovato Jr. ended with the latter earning a majority decision.It was only the second verdict of its kind in Bellator championshiphistory. The first came at Bellator 166, where EduardoDantas beat Joe Warren bymajority decision after the Brazilian lost a point for landinggroin strikes.
THE ECSTASY OF GOLD: Lovato Jr. improved hisunbeaten record to 10-0 by defeating Mousasi, and with thechampionship victory, he became the 10th undefeated fighter to everwin Bellator gold.
MERCIFUL MELVIN: By taking KentKauppinen the distance, MelvinManhoef won a decision to earn just his third win on thescorecards in his 31 career victories. All 28 of his other winscame by knockout within two rounds.
FABULOUS FABIAN: FabianEdwards kept his perfect record intact at 8-0 by beatingJonathanBosuku by unanimous decision. The bout was only Edwards’ secondto go the distance, with the remaining six ending within the firsttwo rounds.
LITTLE BRO ISN’T SO BAD EITHER: The youngerbrother of Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight LeonEdwards, Fabian now holds a longer winning streak than hisolder sibling. Meanwhile, Leon is currently riding the longestwinning streak of his career, with seven consecutive victories.
MS. JACKSON IS FOR REAL: With KateJackson earning a doctor stoppage TKO against LenaOvchynnikova at 4:21 of the opening round, she became the sixthfemale fighter -- and the quickest of those six -- to finish anopponent in that fashion.
THE LOSSES WENT IN TWO BY TWO: Ovchynnikova’sdefeat lowered her record to 12-6 with one no contest. She nowholds two losses by knockout, two by submission and another two bydecision.
LOCK IT UP: TerryBrazier tapped AlessandroBotti with a keylock at 2:17 of the third stanza and in doingso scored the fourth submission of its kind below the welterweightdivision. Brazier performed the keylock later than any otherfighter in Bellator history, with 62.5 percent of all keylocks inBellator occurring in the first round.
SUBMISSION TO SOME, TKO TO OTHERS: Althoughrecorded as a technical knockout stemming from a submission tostrikes, JustinBurlinson earned the quickest tapout in promotional historywhen he made WendleLewis tap to strikes in nine seconds.
CURL OF THE BURLINSON: Burlinson’s nine-secondfinish of Lewis tied Dan Spohn’sknockout of DaneBonnigson at Bellator 51 for the fourth-fastest finish inBellator history. Only three six-second knockouts came faster, fromHectorLombard, MicheleMartignoni and MikeKimbel.
MLAMBRABO: FransMlambo scored the first brabo choke victory inside the Bellatorcage since 2017 when he tapped NathanGreyson. At 4:22 of Round 2, it was the latest submission ofits kind in Bellator history, with none having taking place in thethird round.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into Bellator 223,JustinMoore had never been knocked out (10 fights), Nathan Rose(eight fights) and KeithMcCabe (six fights) had never lost on the scorecards andKevinFryer (nine fights) had never gone the distance.
Sherdog contributing editor Jay Pettry is an attorney and astatistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the“Eminem Curse” in 2012 and working for Vice Sports and CombatDocket along the way, he put together many fight result andentrance music databases to better study the sport. You can findhim on twitter at @jaypettry.
