Gegard Mousasi retained his middleweight title with a technical knockout of top contender John Salter in the main event of Bellator 264.
Mousasi finished Salter with ground-and-pound strikes midway through the third round for his third straight win and first stoppage victory since beating then-welterweight champ Rory MacDonald in 2018.
“On top, I felt like I could just pressure him, put my weight on him and hurt him with my punches,” Mousasi said after improving to 48-7-2 in MMA. “Make him feel the pressure.”
Mousasi’s only loss since 2015 was a majority decision to former undefeated 185-pound champion Rafael Lovato Jr. two years ago. Mousasi is expected to defend his title against Austin Vanderford later this year.
Also on the main card, Raufeon Stots sent a strong message to the sport’s entire bantamweight division by beating Magomed Magomedov via unanimous decision and showing off his impressive wrestling ability along the way.
Magomedov is the only fighter with a win over the UFC’s Petr Yan but he couldn’t outlast Stots.
“I’ve never claimed to be the best wrestler in MMA, but y’all better stop sleeping on my wrestling,” Stots said. “I’m a two-time national champion for a reason. Ain’t nobody stopping me in the wrestling division. I’m the best wrestler in the division.”
The 32-year-old is now 5-0 in the Bellator cage and 17-1 in MMA. Stots’s lone loss was a 15-second knockout in 2017 to Merab Dvalishvili who’s currently ranked No. 11 in the UFC’s bantamweight division.
Stots could be next in line for a title shot at 135 pounds against reigning champion Sergio Pettis whom he trains with under head coach Duke Roufus. However, the organization has not made any formal announcements regarding what’s next at the top of that division.
Below are the complete results from Bellator 264.
MAIN CARD
— Gegard Mousasi def. John Salter by TKO
— Andrey Koreshkov def. Sabah Homasi by unanimous decision
— Raufeon Stots def. Magomed Magomedov by unanimous decision
— Davion Franklin def. Everett Cummings by knockout
— Khadzhi Bestaev def. Ty Gwerder by unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Pam Sorenson def. Roberta Samad by split decision
— Jeffrey Glossner def. Sebastian Ruiz by unanimous decision
— Jon McNeil def. Orlando Mendoza by TKO
[relatedlinks]
3:09