Knockdown Daily 8/13/22: Goiti Yamauchi Earns Stoppage Against Neiman Gracie
Results from Bellator 284 lead the MMA headlines for Saturday
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue is short, providing results from last night’s Bellator card and previewing the top events for today.
News
Goiti Yamauchi Scores Stoppage Against Neiman Gracie In First Bellator Main Event Appearance
Veteran welterweight Goiti Yamauchi prevailed in his first-ever Bellator main event appearance, shutting down Neiman Gracie in the second round with punches.
Yamauchi's win headlined Bellator 284, which took place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA.
Yamauchi had a finish to his fight that looked like it was out of a movie. With his hands down, the experienced talent intentionally ate a series of punches from Gracie halfway through the second frame. After that, he connected with a clean right uppercut that dropped Gracie, forcing the fight to end just moments later.
Yamauchi's striking was hurting Gracie in the first round as well. He dropped him to a knee at one point, connecting with a jab during an exchange.
Yamauchi has now scored three consecutive wins in the Bellator cage. Previous victories came against rising prospects Chris Gonzalez and Levan Chokheli, who he both finished within a round in recent months.
Despite dethroning one of the higher-ranked names at welterweight in Bellator, Yamauchi seemed to be in no rush to become one of the top names in the class. After the fight, he said that he hopes to continue facing higher-ranked opponents so that he can continue to move up the standings.
"I want to fight all those guys to still climb up the rankings, and be a title contender and then [become] welterweight world champion," said Yamauchi in his post-fight interview. "This is my destiny."
Gracie was hoping to return to the win column on Friday's card. He lost a five-round unanimous decision earlier this year, going the distance against Logan Storley but not getting the nod in the end.
A full report on Bellator 284 can be read here.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card (6:00PM EDT / 5:00PM CDT) (Youtube)
Bout 1: M,A, Yah Li def. Brett Bye via Decision, Unanimous (Amateur)
Bout 2: Mitchell McKee def. Tony Ortega via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:28)
Bout 3: Bailey Schoenfelder def. Mark Currier via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 2:35)
Bout 4: Patrick Downey def. Keyes Nelson via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 1, 0:36)
Bout 5: Sullivan Cauley def. Tyson Jeffries via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:39)
Bout 6: DeAnna Bennett def. Justine Kish via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Marcos Breno def. Josh Hill via Decision, Unanimous
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (Showtime)
Bout 8: Aaron Jeffrey def. Austin Vanderford via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:25)
Bout 9: Gokhan Saricam def. Said Sowma via Decision, Split
Bout 10: Ilima-Lei Macfarlane def. Bruna Ellen via Decision, Split
Bout 11: Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry via No Contest, Accidental Eye Poke (RD 1, 0:54)
Bout 12: Goiti Yamauchi def. Neiman Gracie via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 3:58)
Previews
PFL 2022 #8
PFL will head overseas this Saturday, posting up at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales for the continuation of their 2022 playoffs. After lightweights and light heavyweights were the focus last week, it will be lightweight and heavyweight talent that will compete on this weekend’s card.
The PFL playoffs, which have suffered numerous changes as of late, took two more hits in recent days. Due to visa issues, Magomed Umalatov and Denis Goltsov were removed from their respective brackets.
Up against short-notice opponent Dilano Taylor, former UFC and Bellator fighter Rory MacDonald will compete in the card’s main event.
Here’s a look at the lineup:
Preliminary Card (12:00PM EDT / 5:00PM BST) (ESPN+)
Bout 1: Lee Chadwick (27-16-1) vs. Przemyslaw Mysiala (24-11-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 2: Szymon Bjor (23-9) vs. Ronny Markes (22-9) (Heavyweight)
Bout 3: Chris Mixan (3-0) vs. Christian Stigenberg (3-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 4: Mick Stanton (9-6) vs. Marcin Wojcik (15-8) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 5: Josh O’Connor (1-0) vs. Emran Sakhizaada (2-1) (Lightweight)
Main Card (2:00PM EDT / 7:00PM BST) (ESPN)
Bout 6: Nate Kelly (5-2) vs. Ben Ellis (4-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: Carlos Leal (17-3) vs. Sadibou Sy (11-6-2) (PFL Welterweight Playoffs Semi-Final)
Bout 8: Matheus Scheffel (16-8) vs. Juan Adams (10-4) (PFL Heavyweight Playoffs Semi-Final)
Bout 9: Ante Delija (21-5) vs. Renan Ferreira (9-3) PFL Heavyweight Playoffs Semi-Final)
Bout 10: Rory MacDonald (23-9-1) vs. Dilano Taylor (9-2) (PFL Welterweight Playoffs Semi-Final)
Postlims (4:30PM EDT / 9:30PM BST) (ESPN+)
Bout 11: Moktar Benkaci (20-7) vs. Francesco Nuzzi (9-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 12: Vojto Barborik (13-2) vs. Maxim Radu (9-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 13: Will Fleury (10-3) vs. Anthony Salamone (7-0) (Light Heavyweight)
UFC on ESPN 41: Vera vs. Cruz
Ranked bantamweights Marlon Vera and Dominick Cruz will serve as the main event for a low-profile “Fight Night” card from the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, USA.
The fight allows both talents to continue their current run up the bantamweight ranks. In Cruz’s case, he is coming off a strong 2021 that saw him earn his first wins since 2016, beating Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz.
Vera has scored a trio of high-profile victories in recent months, including a five-round win against Rob Font and a front-kick knockout over Frankie Edgar.
Here’s how Saturday night’s card looks:
Preliminary Card (4:00PM EDT / 1:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 1: Youssef Zalal (10-5) vs. Da’Mon Blackshear (12-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Jason Witt (19-8) vs. Josh Quinlan (5-0) (Catchweight 180 lbs)
Bout 3: Ode Osbourne (11-4) vs. Tyson Nam (20-12-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Gabriel Benitez (22-10) vs. Charlie Ontiveros (11-8) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Nina Nunes (10-7) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (9-4-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 6: Lukasz Brzeski (8-1-1) vs. Martin Buday (10-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Angela Hill (13-12) vs. Loopy Godinez (8-2) (Catchweight 120 lbs)
Main Card (7:00PM EDT / 4:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 8: Gerald Meerschaert (34-15) vs. Bruno Silva (22-7) (Middleweight)
Bout 9: Ariane Lipski (14-7) vs. Priscila Cachoeira (11-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 10: Devin Clark (13-6) vs. Azamat Murzakanov (11-0) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 11: Yazmin Jauregui (8-0) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (13-4) (Strawweight)
Bout 12: David Onama (10-1) vs. Nate Landwehr (15-4) (Featherweight)
Bout 13: Marlon Vera (21-7-1) vs. Dominick Cruz (24-3) (Bantamweight)
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