[autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] came up short in her effort to wrest the Bellator flyweight belt from Ilima Lei-Macfarlane in 2018.
In her final fight of 2019, she put herself in position to get another title shot in 2020.
The Colombian competitor put on a tremendous show Friday night at Bellator 235, as she poured it on to a very tough [autotag]Veta Arteaga[/autotag] in their main-card fight. The judges’ scores were 30-26 across the board for a unanimous decision
“I feel very happy, this is what I have been working for,” Lara said. “I needed to show I am ready for bigger challenges.”
Round 1 was the fight’s closest, but even that was clear-cut in favor of Lara (9-3 MMA, 3-2 BMMA). Arteaga (5-4 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) did her best to clinch her foe and slow down her striking game.
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She had some success there, but not so much in the second. Lara tied off with a head kick which dropped Arteaga, then poured it on with a flurry of standing elbows and punches in an attempt to finish the fight. Arteaga managed to clear the cobwebs, however, and got back into the fight by firing several effective counters.
Lara was able to match Arteaga’s spirit, though, and the skills disparity once again took over. Lara dominated the third. In the key exchange, she knocked Arteaga backwards with a push kick to the midsection, followed with a body kick, then opened up a hellacious flurry of standing elbows. One of them sliced open Arteaga, who was soon thereafter bleeding profusely. Arteaga gamely held on until the final bell.
With the victory, Lara had her second career decision victory. Arteaga has dropped two in a row.
The flyweight bout was part of the Bellator 235 (“Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops 2019”) main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.x
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 235 results include:
- Alejandra Lara def. Veta Arteaga via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Tywan Claxton def. Braydon Akeo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joey Davis def. Chris Cisneros via TKO (punches and elbows) — Round 1, 3:55
- Hunter Ewald def. Brysen Bolohao via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:42
- Joseph Creer def. Ty Gwerder via via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-26)
- Cass Bell def. Pierre Daguzan via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27
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