John Salter thinks he’s positioned himself for a middleweight title shot after his third-round finish of Andrew Kapel at Bellator 244.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] thinks he’s positioned himself for a title shot after notching his third win in a row.
Salter (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) submitted Andrew Kapel in the third round at Bellator 244 on Friday and has now finished all but one of his wins under the Bellator banner.
With the current travel restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, Salter thinks the stars could potentially align for him and Bellator welterweight champion [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] to square off for the promotion’s vacant 185-pound title.
“I hope so,” Salter said at a post-fight news conference. “I’m not thrilled with my performance for the first and second round, but I did what I had to do. But, at the end of the day, I finished a very good fighter and I think that should put me right there. We’ve got limitations of who can get in the country, so I think it only makes sense that me and Lima fight for that vacant title.”
Lima was originally scheduled to face Gegard Mousasi for the vacant middleweight title at Bellator 242, but the coronavirus outbreak put a halt to those plans.
However, Mousasi has now been granted a visa to enter the U.S. and Bellator president Scott Coker has confirmed that the plan is to rebook the fight before the end of the year.
Nonetheless, Salter still wants a crack at the title, regardless of the opposition.
“I’m ready for whatever,” Salter said. “Obviously the title is the main thing on my horizon. That’s what I want, it’s what I have my eyes on. But whatever’s next is next.”
Bellator 244 took place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card simulcasted on Paramount Network and DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.
Check out Salter’s full Bellator 244 post-fight news conference in the video above.
A dominant performance at Bellator 244 should help John Salter’s case for a middleweight title shot.
[autotag]John Salter[/autotag] entered Bellator 244 looking to stake his claim to a middleweight title shot. Another submission win should help his case.
On Friday night, Salter cruised until defeating [autotag]Andrew Kapel[/autotag] with an arm-triangle choke at the 3:11 mark of the third round.
Salter (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) had little trouble with Kapel (15-7 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) as he controlled the fight from top position for most of the time. Salter landed takedowns in every round and was methodical each time on the mat. In Round 2, Salter began working for an arm-triangle choke but couldn’t pull it off.
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When Round 3 began, Kapel came out aggressive, likely knowing he was down two rounds to none. But Salter again changed levels and took the fight to the mat. From there, he was back in full mount for the third time and worked on the arm-triangle, this time securing it and forcing the tap at the 3:11 mark.
The result pushed Salter’s winning streak to three, which includes wins over Costello van Steenis and Chidi Njokuani. It also was the sixth submission win of Salter’s Bellator career, tied for second in the promotion’s history.
Kapel, who spoiled Muhammed Lawal’s retirement in his previous bout, had a five-fight winning streak snapped.
Bellator 244 took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 244 results include:
John Salter def. Andrew Kapel via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:11
Yaroslav Amosov def. Mark Lemminger via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
Sidney Outlaw def. Adam Piccolotti via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Josh Hill def. Erik Perez via unanimous (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
In the main event, heavyweight and light heavyweight champion [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] (27-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) puts his 205-pound title up against challenger [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 4-0 BMMA). Bader only is around a -150 favorite at the sports books, but all but one of our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts are picking him to stay champ-champ.
In the co-main event, former women’s featherweight champion [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) for the first time since losing her belt to Cris Cyborg and takes on [autotag]Jessy Miele[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Budd is a 7-1 favorite and has a 13-1 lead in the picks.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] (9-1 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) is the event’s biggest favorite at more than 9-1 against [autotag]Roy Nelson[/autotag] (23-18 MMA, 1-4 BMMA). But three of our 14 picker are taking Nelson to pull off a big upset.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Andrew Kapel[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is an underdog to -250 favorite [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) in their middleweight bout, but he’s got two of our 14 pickers taking him in an upset.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Bader (60 percent), Budd (91 percent), Moldavsky (75 percent) and Salter (82 percent) are the choices.
John Salter knows he’s getting close to Bellator gold.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Ahead of Bellator 244, [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] spoke with MMA Junkie on Wednesday during media day.
Salter (17-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) discussed his middleweight bout with Andrew Kapel, the state of the division, wanting to be in he title mix, and much more.
You can watch the full interview in the video above.
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Bellator 244 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card simulcasts on Paramount and DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
If you’ve got nearly six hours to kill, here you go with some classic Bellator action.
Since its first event held in 2009, Bellator has given us some of the most memorable fights in MMA history.
While events remain on hold because of coronavirus pandemic, Bellator has put 20 of its greatest bouts – “fire” fights, if you will – all in one place, which you can watch in the video above.
The complete list, which goes for nearly six hours, includes:
Check out a live replay of Bellator 233, which featured the final fight of “King Mo’s” career.
You can watch a live replay of Bellator 233 right here on MMA Junkie, beginning at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT).
Bellator 233, which took place November 8, 2019 at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., featured former Strikeforce champion [autotag]Muhammed Lawal[/autotag]’s retirement fight.
In the middleweight main event, [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Costello van Steenis[/autotag] by unanimous decision. The co-headliner was “King Mo” losing by first-round knockout to [autotag]Andrew Kapel[/autotag] in his retirement fight. [autotag]Arlene Blencowe[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] also picked up victories on the main card.
You can catch all of the action in the video above.
At age 35, John Salter headlined his first Bellator card. He defeated Costello van Steenis in a three-round battle.
[autotag]John Salter[/autotag] has a lot of momentum behind him.
A top Bellator middleweight contender, Salter (17-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) has won nine of his most recent 10 fights. His lone loss came to future Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Lovato Jr. in September 2018.
Salter’s most recent fight took place at Bellator 233 in November 2019. In his first Bellator main event, Salter squared off with rising Dutch contender [autotag]Costello van Steenis[/autotag].
At the time, van Steenis was undefeated in the Bellator cage, having defeated Steve Skrzat, Kevin Fryer, Chris Honeycutt and Mike Shipman en route to his matchup vs. Salter.
Despite being eight years younger than Salter, van Steenis was a slight betting underdog. The oddsmakers were proved correct. It took him three rounds, but Salter got the job done by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in Salter’s favor.
Salter was recently scheduled to fight May 16 against Fabian Edwards at Bellator Europe 8. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent logistical ramifications, the promotion postponed its May events.
No rescheduled date has been announced at this time.
Check out John Salter’s Bellator 233 win over Costello van Steenis in the video above.
There really isn’t much to say on what you’re about to watch except that Bellator middleweight [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] was in the middle of an instructional video discussing how it’s not easy to “just stand up” during a fight when, all of sudden …
I see that a lot of coaches are putting out technique videos with so many gyms closing so we will be releasing some of our older, unbeatable technique videos over the next few days. pic.twitter.com/ZikEPPXvab
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from November 2019.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from November 2019: Here are the four nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Fight of the Month” award for November.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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The Nominees
Stephen Thompson def. Vicente Luque at UFC 244
In case there were any doubters — and going in, there sure seemed to be — [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] (18-6-1 MMA, 11-2 UFC) proved he’s still very much a factor in the UFC welterweight division against [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] (17-6-1 MMA, 10-2 UFC).
The two time title challenger returned to vintage “Wonderboy” form as he picked apart one of the division’s hottest fighters in Luque over the course of three rounds. The judges’ scores at New York’s Madison Square Garden were 30-26, 30-26, and 29-27 as Thompson won by unanimous decision.
[autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] (35-13 MMA, 12-6 UFC) became the UFC’s “Baddest Mother(expletive)” after defeating [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] (20-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) in their highly anticipated welterweight matchup.
Masvidal continued the most stellar run of his career, and perhaps wrapped up his claim to “Fight of the Year,” when he picked Diaz apart to claim the “BMF” belt. Unfortunately the end came in an anticlimactic matter, with “Gamebred” winning by doctor stoppage TKO in the third round after multiple cuts on Diaz’s face.
John Salter def. Costello van Steenis at Bellator 233
Prior to his encounter with [autotag]Costello van Steenis[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in their middleweight main event, [autotag]John Salter[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) never went the distance in 20 pro mixed martial arts fights, win or lose.
Finally, that changed. Salter dominated the first two rounds in his bout with van Steenis, which was enough to win out over a later rally as he earned a unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 29-28 across the board, putting Salter back in contention in Bellator’s 185-pound division.
Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Calvin Kattar at UFC on ESPN+ 21
[autotag]Zabit Magomedsharipov[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was made to work for it, but the Dagestani featherweight contender picked up arguably the most important win of his UFC career against [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC).
The matchup was rearranged from their original booking at UFC on ESPN 6 in October, with the matchup kept as a three-round affair despite headlining status. And after three entertaining rounds, it was Kattar who was in the ascendency, but Magomedsharipov who was ahead on the scorecards to take a unanimous decision.
On a night in which the president of the United States and Hollywood superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson were both in the house, New York State Athletic Commission Chief Medical Officer Nitin K. Sethi apparently decided he wanted to be the star of the show.
Masvidal and Diaz delivered as advertised through the first three rounds of their main event for the “BMF” title. Diaz, however, was cut above and below his right eye, and while Diaz has fought his way through plenty worse in his career, Sethi took a cursory glance at Diaz between rounds and decided to call off the fight, much to the chagrin of the capacity crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
It went in the books as a TKO stoppage at 5:00 of the third round, but Masvidal, for his part, made it clear he was unsatisfied with the stoppage and was ready to run things back as soon as possible.
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“For a fact, you gave me the love I’ll give you the love,” Masvidal told Diaz. “I don’t like to leave the ring like this with my opponent still conscious. We have to run it back.”
Masvidal was sharp from the fight’s outset, firing heavy hands with malicious intent. What turned out to be the bout’s most important sequence occurred early in the first round. Masvidal caught Diaz with a wicked elbow off the break, then landed a sneaky head kick which dropped Diaz to the mat. Somewhere in that flurry, Diaz was busted open around his right eye.
Masvidal was cautious about going to the mat with Diaz, which enabled Diaz to recover, but he continued to outwork Diaz in the standup throughout the first and into the second.
Diaz likes to stalk his foes, use pressure, and turn up the volume. But every time it appeared Diaz was going to turn up the heat, Masvidal managed to escape and reset.
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Diaz is a cardio machine known for coming on in the late rounds. While Masvidal also won the third round, the round was also Diaz’s best, as he started to show signs he was getting it together, landing effective combos.
That built the anticipation for the championship rounds, but that’s when the doctor decided it was a good idea to step in and end the fight.
“The Rock” came in and placed the specially made “BMF” belt around Masvidal’s waist, and while Masvidal accepted it, he made it clear he wants a rematch. Diaz, for his part, let everyone know he’s down.
“I’m going back for this mother(expletive), right back,” Diaz said. “Let me heal this up and go again.”
