[autotag]Raufeon Stots[/autotag] was a two-time NCAA Division II wrestling champion at Nebraska-Kearney, and it’s clear his wrestling base is guiding his MMA career.
In a main-card bantamweight bout featuring a pair of competitors making their big-league debuts, Stots (13-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) used that wrestling knowledge to grind out a victory in Honolulu over Hawaiian son [autotag]Cheyden Leialoha[/autotag]. The judges’ scores were 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27 for a unanimous decision.
The first half of the opening round was a clinch war along the fence which ended with Leialoha attempting to throw Stots. Stots, however, ended up on top after the scramble. He maintained dominant position the rest of the way, but did not score much in the way of offense.
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Round 2 saw Leialoha shoot for a takedown, and while Stots resisted, Leiloha eventually wrapped him up and slammed him to the mat. Once they got there, though, Stots shook off a Kimura attempt and once again took over the round with his grappling.
Leialoha showed a sense of urgency in the third as he came out firing kicks and punches, but it didn’t take long for Stots to once again implement his grappling game to seal the victory, despite Leialoha’s attempts to find submissions from the bottom.
Stots, a member of Milwaukee’s Roufusport, won his fifth fight in a row and now has seven career decision wins. Leialoha has now dropped two of his past three.
The bantamweight bout was part of the Bellator 236 main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center. The main card streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 236 results include:
- Raufeon Stots def. Cheyden Leiloha via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Zach Zane def. Nainoa Dung via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Swayne Lunasco def. Kaylan Gorospe via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:29
- Ben Wilhelm def. Kealii Kanekoa via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:24
- Dustin Barca def. Brandon Pieper via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:58
- Kai Kamaka III def. Spencer Higa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Keoni Diggs def. Scotty Hao via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:23
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