Knockdown Daily 5/14/22: Logan Storley Defeats 'MVP' To Earn Interim Bellator Championship
Logan Storley's win over Michael Page leads the MMA headlines for Saturday
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue includes a report on Bellator, a preview of today’s UFC card, and more.
News
Logan Storley Uses Wrestling To Beat Michael Page, Earn Interim Bellator Championship
Logan Storley was crowned the interim Bellator Welterweight Champion on Friday night after going five rounds against Michael Page for a split decision win.
Storley’s victory headlined Bellator 281, which took place from the SSE Arena in London, England.
Storley used his wrestling to stop Page from initiating his own attacks throughout the fight. He landed many takedowns in the bout, and at other times kept Page against the cage in clinch positions.
In the few times where the fight was at the stand-up range, it was Page that had the much better moments. The fight notably remained as a striking exchange for a fair portion of the fourth round.
Current Bellator Welterweight Champion Yaroslav Amosov is currently in his home country of Ukraine amid Russia’s attempted invasion of the country. The interim title was created because of this, as Amosov is not able to compete at the moment.
The win on Friday night potentially sets Storley up for a rematch against Amosov. Storley took his first pro loss when he fought Amosov in 2020, losing a decision in the end.
The live crowd was vocally disapproving of Storley’s wrestling-heavy fight. After the bout, he mentioned that he felt he couldn’t compete on the feet against a dangerous striker like Page.
“Boo me all you want, that guy’s talented. Nobody stands with him. Look what happens when everyone stands with him,” said Storley in his post-fight interview.
Friday was just the second time that Page took a loss in his extensive MMA career. He avenged his first loss in his previous appearance, defeating Douglas Lima in 2021.
A full report on Bellator 281 can be read here.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card (1:00PM EDT / 6:00PM BST) (Youtube)
Bout 1: Chiara Penco def. Lanchana Green via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Maciej Rozanski def. Lee Chadwick via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Charlie Ward def. Alan Carlos via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Andrew Fisher def. Attila Korkmaz via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Alfie Davis vs. Tim Wilde Decision, Majority Draw
Bout 6: Oliver Enkamp def. Mark Lemminger via Submission, Buggy Choke (RD 3, 0:25)
Bout 7: Elina Kallionidou def. Kate Jackson via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:53)
Bout 8: Daniel Weichel def. Robert Whiteford via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:12)
Main Card (4:00PM EDT / 9:00PM BST) (Showtime)
Bout 9: Simon Biyong def. Luke Trainer via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Paul Daley def. Wendell Giacomo via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:09)
Bout 11: Kana Watanabe def. Denise Kielholtz via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 2, 3:03)
Bout 12: Fabian Edwards def. Lyoto Machida via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:18)
Bout 13: Logan Storley def. Michael Page via Decision, Split (Vacant Interim Bellator Welterweight Championship)
Joshua Pacio To Face Jarred Brooks In Main Event of June 3rd ONE Championship Card
Jarred Brooks will get a chance to face ONE 125-pound Champion Joshua Pacio in the main event of the promotion’s June 3rd card.
The fight will headline “ONE 158” later this summer, per Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.
The title bout is set to continue an incredibly active run from Brooks. The former UFC fighter has already appeared three times since making his ONE debut in November 2021.
Brooks won his promotional debut against Lito Adiwang, submitting him in the second round of a bout.
He has remained active in 2022, defeating Hiroba Minowa and Bokang Masunyane in recent months. Now after earning three wins, Brooks will get a chance to become champion.
Pacio has defended ONE’s 125-pound belt three times since first earning it in 2019. His last outing came in September 2021, when he scored a first-round finish victory over Yosuke Saruta.
UFC Looking To Book Drakkar Klose vs. Diego Ferreira For UFC 277
Lightweights Drakkar Klose and Diego Ferreira are being paired up for UFC’s July 30th pay-per-view event, per a recent report from Ariel Helwani.
Klose is coming off a successful return from earlier this year, scoring a second-round stoppage win against Brandon Jenkins. That fight was his first appearance in over two years, with his previous fight dating back to a loss against Beneil Dariush at UFC 248.
Ferreira will attempt to snap a three-fight losing streak in his next appearance. This unsuccessful string of outings was developed in 2021 alone when he lost against many high-level names in the division.
Ferreira’s last fight was a stoppage defeat against former KSW Lightweight Champion Mateusz Gamrot in December 2021.
Terrance McKinney To Meet Erick Gonzalez At August 6th UFC Card
Fighting to bounce back from his first UFC loss, Terrance McKinney is expected to meet Erick Gonzalez at the promotion’s August 6th event.
News of the matchup was confirmed Thursday by Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie.
McKinney took his first UFC loss in March, suffering a first-round finish against Drew Dober. He took this fight on short notice, stepping in to replace Ricky Glenn.
That fight also came just a month after McKinney’s last win, which was an early rear naked choke submission versus Fares Ziam. The explosive 27-year-old has won two of his three UFC bouts since joining the promotion last year.
Gonazlez will be fighting to come back from an unsuccessful UFC debut in this booking. He came in as a replacement fighter last year, stepping in to fight veteran Jim Miller.
Miller picked up a win in that meeting, catching Gonzalez early in the second round with an overhand right to end the bout.
Triller Announces Return of ‘Triad Combat’ Series For June, Includes Numerous UFC Alum
Entertainment company Triller has announced that their “Triad Combat” series will return on June 11th from The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California, USA.
The company’s “Triad Combat” brand is a unique combat sport that was created last year in an attempt to strike a balance between boxing and MMA rules.
Held inside a triangular-shaped boxing ring, “Triad Combat” fights allow fighters to compete at a striking range as you would see in boxing, but also has added leniency to allow punches in clinch positions.
The “Triad Combat” series debuted last year in November with a boxer versus MMA fighter-themed card. A similar theme won’t be followed in this next show, as most of the announced names for the show have experience as MMA fighters.
Former UFC fighters Andre Ewell and Francisco Rivera are expected to headline the upcoming card.
Ewell will be making his first appearance in combat sports since his nine-fight UFC run. That campaign in the promotion concluded late last year after he suffered his third consecutive loss, dropping a decision to Charles Jourdain.
Rivera will be competing on this “Triad Combat” show after an active run on the regional scene, scoring three wins and two losses since the start of 2021.
The card includes many other experienced names in MMA, including Bellator veterans Curtis Millender, Jack May, Moses Murrietta and Demarcus Brown.
Italo Gomes Picks Up Decision Victory Over Melquizael Costa In LFA 132 Main Event
Italo Gomes picked up a win in the main event on Friday night, going three rounds against Melquizael Costa to earn a unanimous decision victory.
The fight headlined LFA 132, which took place at the Quali Stage in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gomes picked up his victory through a mix of striking and controlling the fight on the ground.
Gomes kept up with Costa on the feet, trading in back and forth exchanges. He remained active in clinch positions against Costa, often landing knees to the body. He also made use of his takedowns, stepping into full mount during one instance during the third round.
Gomes has now picked up three consecutive wins on the regional scene in Brazil. His previous victory was a first-round finish stoppage over Claudiere Freitas.
Costa put a more extensive five-fight run of wins on the line heading into the bout. His previous fight was just two months ago, submitting Angel Rodriguez on a regional show.
Previews
CFFC 108: Blackshear vs. Smith
CFFC will present some midday action before UFC takes the focus of the fight world. In the main event of CFFC 108, Da’Mon Blackshear will attempt to defend his CFFC Bantamweight Championship against Josh Smith.
Main Card (2:00PM EDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 1: Isaiah Sackey-El (0-0) vs. Victor Mena (0-0) (Middleweight)
Bout 2: Damion Nelson (3-0) vs. Frank Wells (2-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Brandon Davis (2-1) vs. Will Spann III (1-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Ivan Rios (1-0) vs. Ryan Burgos (0-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Ricardo Fuentes (4-2) vs. DeAndre Anderson (5-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Da’Mon Blackshear (11-4) vs. Josh Smith (11-7) (CFFC Bantamweight Championship)
Postlims (Youtube)
Bout 7: Nezzar Dimes (2-0) vs. Eduardo Castillo (3-2) (Amateur Bantamweight)
Bout 8: Mike Basile (4-4) vs. Nick Galanti (2-1) (Amateur Middleweight)
Bout 9: Luke Fernandez (4-0) vs. Dymere Rappa (2-1) (Amateur CFFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
UFC on ESPN 36: Blachowicz vs. Rakic
Jan Blachowicz wants to turn things around since he lost his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship last year. In the first step of getting on the right track, he’ll look to pick up a win over rising contender Aleksandar Rakic in the main event of Saturday’s UFC “Fight Night” card.
The light heavyweight bout is headlining a short 11-bout card that is scheduled to take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
A full preview of the card can be read here.
Here’s the lineup:
Preliminary Card (7:30PM EDT / 4:30PM PDT) (ESPN2 / TSN 5)
Bout 1: Nick Maximov (8-0) vs. Andre Petroski (7-1) (Middleweight)
Bout 2: Carlos Candelario (8-1) vs. Tatsuro Taira (10-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 3: Virna Jandiroba (17-3) vs. Angela Hill (13-11) (Strawweight)
Bout 4: Michael Johnson (19-17) vs. Alan Patrick (15-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Viviane Araujo (10-3) vs. Andrea Lee (13-5) (Flyweight)
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (ESPN2 / TSN 5)
Bout 6: Jake Hadley (8-0) vs. Allan Nascimento (18-6) (Flyweight)
Bout 7: Frank Camacho (22-9) vs. Manuel Torres (12-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Katlyn Chookagian (17-4) vs. Amanda Ribas (11-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 9: Louis Smolka (17-8) vs. Davey Grant (11-6) (Bantamweight)
Bout 10: Ryan Spann (19-7) vs. Ion Cutelaba (16-6-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 11: Jan Blachowicz (28-9) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (14-2) (Light Heavyweight)
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