[autotag]Kana Watanabe[/autotag] remained undefeated in her MMA career on Friday when she outworked [autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] for a competitive victory at Bellator 255.
The Rizin FF veteran Watanabe (10-0-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) made it back-to-back wins since joining the Bellator roster, using timely takedowns and top position to grind out Lara (9-4 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) for the split decision victory by scores of 28-29, 29-28, 29-28.
The women’s flyweight bout opened the Bellator 255 main card, which aired on Showtime and streamed on MMA Junkie from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Lara and Watanabe met in the middle to start the fight and started swinging. Lara landed big with a stiff right hand that backed Watanabe up then forced her to rush forward into a successful trip takedown. Lara didn’t panic on the ground, and eventually climbed back up to her feet. She landed some more punches, and Watanabe went for a reckless trip attempt that allowed Lara to swing into full mount. Watanabe gave up her back, and Lara started to work toward a rear-naked choke. Watanabe found a way to escape and get back to her feet, but it let her into striking exchanges, where Lara chewed her up with big shots.
The momentum for Lara continued early in the second round. Her pressure, counters and accuracy were all on point in tagging Watanabe numerous times. Watanabe waited for Lara to overcommit, though, and used her judo skills to drag her foe back to the mat. She couldn’t get much ton on top, though, and eventually found herself reversed with Lara ending on top position. Watanabe used a kimura to take the back, but she couldn’t finish the fight before time expired.
With the result hanging in the balance going into the third round, Watanabe came out aggressive to pressure with the takedown attempts. She fought hard to trip Lara to the mat off the fence, then took over control. She spent several minutes in top position, reigning down short punches and elbows from half guard to rack up some critical points and control time. She tried to finish the fight with a choke in the final seconds to put an exclamation point on it, but would have to settle with the decision win.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 255 results include:
- Kana Watanabe def. Alejandra Lara via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Magomed Magomedov def. Cee Jay Hamilton via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:22
- Mandel Nallo def. Ricardo Seixas Filho via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:23
- Khalid Murtazaliev def. Fabio Aguiar via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Chris Gonzalez def. Roger Huerta via submission (strikes) – Round 3, 3:01
- Jose Augusto def. Jonathan Wilson via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:58
- Roman Faraldo def. Trevor Gudde via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:30
- Jordan Newman def. Branko Busick via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:30
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