Tag: Romero Cotton

Bellator 273 pins Romero Cotton against Dalton Rosta in prospect showcase

Two of the most highly-touted prospects in Bellator’s middleweight division have been paired.

[autotag]Dalton Rosta[/autotag] asked and received.

At Bellator 273, Rosta (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) will face off with fellow rising middleweight and blue chip wrestling prospect [autotag]Romero Cotton[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA). The event takes place Saturday, Jan. 29 at Footprint Center in Phoenix. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Rosta, 26, called for a matchup against Cotton following his Bellator 256 win in April. The victory, which came against Tony Johnson via unanimous decision, kept his unbeaten record in tact. All of Rosta’s pro victories have come under the Bellator banner including three TKO wins and two decisions.

Cotton, 31, joined Bellator following a collegiate wrestling career at University of Nebraska at Kearney. Following a split decision win in his por debut, Cotton rattled off four finishes including a rear-naked choke submission against Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus Justin Sumter at Bellator 254 in December 2020.

With the addition, the Bellator 273 lineup includes:

  • Champion Ryan Bader vs. interim champion Valentin Moldavsky – for heavyweight title
  • Enrique Barzola vs. Darrion Caldwell
  • Sabah Homasi vs. Jaleel Willis
  • Romero Cotton vs. Dalton Rosta

[vertical-gallery id=1930164]

[vertical-gallery id=1929522]

Romero Cotton talks Justin Sumter submission win, what’s next, more | Bellator 254 interview

Romero Cotton answers post-fight media questions after his submission win over Justin Sumter at Bellator 254 in Uncasville, Conn.

Romero Cotton answers post-fight media questions after his submission win over Justin Sumter at Bellator 254 in Uncasville, Conn.

Video: Fighters react to Bellator 241’s postponement on day of event

After fighters on the Bellator 241 card made weight Thursday and had faceoffs with their opponents, everything seemed fairly normal.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – After fighters on the Bellator 241 card made weight Thursday and had faceoffs with their opponents, everything seemed fairly normal.

But later that afternoon came word from Connecticut’s governor that gatherings in excess of 250 people were banned for now in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Bellator responded by shutting down the event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville to fans. Instead of a normally fairly packed house in one of the promotion’s most visited venues, the fights were set to go on – with no one cheering but the corners.

On Friday afternoon, though, everything got turned on its head and Bellator decided to postpone the event outright – taking just about everyone by surprise, given it appeared to be set to go off, albeit under unique circumstances.

In the wake of the cancellation, MMA Junkie caught up with co-main event featherweight tournament fighter [autotag]Daniel Weichel[/autotag], as well as popular Connecticut-based fighter [autotag]Nick Newell[/autotag], [autotag]Justin Sumter[/autotag] and [autotag]Romero Cotton[/autotag] to get their reactions to having not only their fights, but the entire card scrapped on the day of the event.

Check out what they had to say in the video above.

[lawrence-related id=499592,499551]

Bellator doesn’t have another event scheduled until May 8 in San Jose, Calif. But given the current state of large gatherings the world over due to the coronavirus outbreak, nothing is set in stone anymore and time will tell just when Bellator gets fighters back into action.

[vertical-gallery id=499356]

Still growing, Romero Cotton brings patient approach to MMA career at Bellator 241

Romero Cotton has been cruising so far in his MMA career, but Friday he gets his most accomplished opponent yet in Connecticut.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Romero Cotton[/autotag] has been cruising so far in his MMA career, but Friday he gets his most accomplished opponent yet.

Cotton (4-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) meets Justin Sumter (7-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in a middleweight bout on the preliminary card at Bellator 241, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Cotton has three straight stoppage wins over the past two years after a split call victory in his pro debut. All four of his wins have been under the Bellator banner. But Sumter has 10 pro fights, including a pair of bouts on Dana White’s Contender Series – though they both were stoppage losses.

Will Cotton stay unbeaten against Sumter? Check out the video above to hear Cotton break down the fight and his career so far.

Bellator 241 adds Leslie Smith vs. Jessy Miele, Robson Gracie return, more to prelims

Three fights have been added to the Bellator 241 prelims, including a featherweight bout between Leslie Smith and Jessy Miele.

The Bellator 241 preliminary card has started to fill up.

Three fights have been added to the prelims, including a featherweight bout between [autotag]Leslie Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Jessy Miele[/autotag], a welterweight fight between [autotag]Robson Gracie[/autotag] and [autotag]Billy Goff[/autotag], and a middleweight matchup between [autotag]Romero Cotton[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Sumter[/autotag].

A promotion official informed MMA Junkie of the bookings on Friday.

Bellator 241 takes place March 13 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card is expected to stream on DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Smith (11-8-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) has split her two Bellator appearances since joining the promotion in 2019. She looks to rebound from an unanimous decision loss to Arlene Blencowe in November.

As for Miele (9-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), the Connecticut native gets another home game. In her Bellator debut in October, Miele upset Brazil’s Talita Nogueira by earning an unanimous decision nod.

[lawrence-related id=489682,489547]

Gracie (3-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) won three fights in 11 months to kick off his pro MMA career. All three victories have come by submission. His opponent Goff (2-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will look to defend home turf and halt the Brazilian’s momentum.

A blue chip wrestling product from the University of Kansas, Cotton (4-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) takes a step up from competition when he faces a two-time Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus Sumter (7-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA).

With the addition, the Bellator 241 lineup includes:

  • Champ Patricio Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho – Bellator grand prix quarterfinal bout; for featherweight title
  • Emmanuel Sanchez vs. Daniel Weichel – Bellator grand prix quarterfinal bout
  • Paul Daley vs. Sabah Homasi
  • Josh Barnett vs. Ronny Markes
  • Nick Newell vs. Zach Zane
  • Jessy Miele vs. Leslie Smith
  • Billy Goff vs. Robson Gracie
  • Romero Cotton vs. Justin Sumter

[vertical-gallery id=332982]