Tag: Bellator 299

Bellator 299 results: Aaron Pico runs through Pedro Carvalho, calls for title shot

Aaron Pico celebrated is 27th birthday with a dominant performance that could earn him a Bellator featherweight title shot.

[autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] gave [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] no chance.

Pico, the Bellator featherweight contender, picked up a quick TKO win in the co-main event of Saturday’s Bellator 299 in Dublin. Pico (12-4 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) put away Carvalho (13-8 MMA, 6-5 BMMA) with ground-and-pound 3:05 into the first round. It was another dominant showing for Pico, this one on his 27th birthday.

Pico began picking apart Carvalho on the feet and mixing in his wrestling to get takedowns. In one of the exchanges, Pico caught Carvalho with an uppercut and dropped him to the canvas. From there, Pico began a non-stop attack of ground-and-pound until he got Carvalho to roll over and stop defending himself, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Following the win, Pico called for a title shot, saying he’s now finally ready to fight for gold and vowed that he will defend his belt once it’s his.

Currently, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire is out recovering from spinal surgery. He’s expected to return in early 2024. It’s uncertain if the promotion is going to implement an interim title in the division.

Pico is now on a two-fight winning streak since dislocating his shoulder against Jeremy Kennedy in October 2022, losing a by TKO due to injury. Prior to the injury, the JacksonWink fighter was on a six-fight winning streak, with all victories coming by stoppage.

Carvalho, on the other hand, finds himself on a two-fight losing streak and is 2-5 in his most recent seven fights. His last win came in September 2022, when he outpointed Mads Burnell in a unanimous decision.

Updated Bellator 299 results include:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.

Bellator 299 video: Levan Chokheli sleeps Sabah Homasi with nasty front kick to the face

Levan Chokheli put Sabah Homasi’s lights out to kick off the Bellator 299 main card.

[autotag]Levan Chokheli[/autotag] kicked off the Bellator 299 main card in devastating fashion.

The Bellator welterweight scored a nasty front head-kick knockout over veteran [autotag]Sabah Homasi[/autotag] in the opening bout of the Showtime portion of Bellator 299 on Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin.

After a few exchanges, Chokheli (13-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) had Homasi (17-12 MMA, 6-6 BMMA) backed up against the cage. Then out of nowhere, Chokheli threw a front kick right to Homasi’s chin, putting him out instantly. It took a few minutes for Homasi to get back to his feet following the KO, but he eventually walked off on his own power.

You can watch the video of Chokheli’s KO win below:

Chokheli is now on a three-fight winning streak since his submission loss to Goiti Yamauchi in 2022.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.

Bellator 299 video: Daniele Miceli vs. Peter Queally ends in no contest after illegal head kick ruled accidental

It’s not every day that a kick to the head is ruled accidental, yet that’s what happened at Bellator 299.

Unfortunately for fans, the promotion, and even [autotag]Daniele Miceli[/autotag] and [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag], no one got what they wanted.

Miceli (11-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) vs. Queally (13-8-1 MMA, 2-4 BMMA), which closed out the preliminary card of Saturday’s Bellator 299 at 3Arena in Dublin, ended in a no contest after 26 seconds of action into the first round thanks to unfortunate circumstances.

Miceli dropped Queally to the ground with a leg kick and then threw a kick to Queally’s head while he was still downed but on the way up. The kick didn’t connect cleanly, but it did graze his eye. Given it was an illegal kick with Queally’s hand still touching the mat, the referee immediately stopped the action. Queally wasn’t able to continue given damage to his eye, so the fight was ruled a no contest. The referee found Miceli’s kick to be accidental.

You can watch a video of the replay below:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.

Bellator 299 video: Gregory Babene submits Charlie Ward in wild one-minute fight

Gregory Babene vs. Charlie Ward didn’t last long, but it sure was one heck of a ride on the Bellator 299 preliminary card.

Well, [autotag]Gregory Babene[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Charlie Ward[/autotag] didn’t last long, but it sure was one heck of a ride on the Bellator 299 preliminary card.

The two middleweights went toe to toe from the very start until one went down Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin. Ward (10-7 MMA, 7-4 BMMA) came out aggressively pressing and throwing big shots on Babene (23-11 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), but in one of the sequences he got caught and wobbled. Instead of recovering, Ward doubled down and went after Babene, who knocked him down with a left hook.

From there, Babene began grappling with Ward, and after a few scrambles, Babene was able to tap him with a guillotine choke. The whole fight lasted 62 seconds.

You can watch the replay of the finish below:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.

Bellator 299 video: Heavyweight Sergey Bilostenniy lands perfect spinning head kick for TKO

It’s not often we see a heavyweight land a spinning kick to the head, but Sergey Bilostenniy impressively did just that at Bellator 299.

Not often do we see spinning-wheel head kicks in the heavyweight division, but [autotag]Sergey Bilostenniy[/autotag] reminded us they can happen.

On Saturday, Bilostenniy (11-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) landed a perfect spinning kick to the head of [autotag]Kasim Aras[/autotag] during their bout on the Bellator 299 prelims at 3Arena in Dublin.

Bilostenniy’s stoppage win came in the very first round. The action was fairly low until the finishing sequence. Bilostenniy connected with the spinning kick, which badly wobbled Aras (7-3 MMA, 0-2 BMMA), and then followed up with punches to close out the show.

You can watch video of the finish below:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.

Bellator 299 predictions: Is anyone taking Fabian Edwards to upset Johnny Eblen?

Check out our staff members’ picks and analysis for the main card at Bellator 299 in Dublin.

Bellator is in Ireland this week with the middleweight title on the line.

Bellator 299 takes place Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

Get pick results from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, as well as additional analysis, below.

Bellator 299 breakdown: Can Fabian Edwards upset Johnny Eblen and join brother as a major MMA champion?

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at theย Bellator 299 middleweight title fight between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for Bellator 299.

Bellator 299 takes place Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie..

Photos: Bellator 299 ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs from Dublin

Check out these photos from the ceremonial weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs for Bellator 299, which takes place Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin.

Check out these photos from the ceremonial weigh-ins and final fighter faceoffs ahead of Bellator 299, which takes place Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin. (Photos courtesy Lucas Noonanโ€“Bellator MMA)

With Patricio Freire injured, Pedro Carvalho calls for Bellator interim title at 145: ‘It’s the obvious thing to do’

With Patricio Freire recovering from back surgery, Pedro Carvalho calls for Bellator to do an interim title at featherweight.

[autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] thinks his division is in need of an interim title.

With Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire on the sidelines due to back surgery, Carvalho (13-7 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) would like to see the promotion implement an interim belt and keep the division moving on a championship level. The Portuguese fighter thinks it’s the right thing to do, given that Freire hasn’t defended his belt since October 2022, and won’t be able to return until March 2024.

“Oh for sure it’s the next thing, the interim belt, because he’ll be out until sometime next year,” Carvalho said Thursday at the Bellator 299 media day. “He’s not going to fight anytime earlier than that. I heard somewhere Bellator is going to do an interim belt, and besides, even if I heard wrong, it’s the obvious thing to do because he hasn’t defended his belt for quite some time, and he’s going to be out for a good bit. So it just makes sense to make an interim belt and not hold the division.”

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Carvalho returns against Aaron Pico this Saturday in the co-main event of Bellator 299, which takes place at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Carvalho holds Pico (11-4 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) in high regard and believes a win over him should set him up to fight for the interim title if the promotion chooses to implement one.

“It feels good, it feels right being in a fight where I know I’m going to have a fight, it’s exciting,” Carvalho said regarding the matchup with Pico. “I’m buzzing for this one. It’s a fight that I’ve wanted for quite some time. And like I said before, I always want to fight the top guys and prove myself as the top man. This fight is perfect for me to earn my spot as a title contender and fight for the belt.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.

Video: Watch Friday’s Bellator 299 ceremonial weigh-ins live on MMA Junkie at 8 a.m. ET

Check out a live video stream of the Bellator 299 ceremonial weigh-ins in Dublin.

Bellator 299 ceremonial fighter weigh-ins take place Friday, and you can catch a live video stream of the proceedings here on MMA Junkie at 8 a.m. ET (5 a.m. PT).

The weigh-ins take place at 3Arena in Dublin. The same venue hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

In addition to the video stream above, you can check out the early and official Bellator 299 weigh-in results from earlier in the day.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 299.