5 takeaways from Bellator 278 and 279

#2) Bellator bantamweight Grand Prix officially underway

The Bellator bantamweight Grand Prix began during the two-night event in Honolulu, Hawaii. On Friday, Danny Sabatello and Enrique Barzola both earned a spot in the tournament following unanimous decision wins.

Sabatello and Barzola now advance to the tournament and will both compete against Leandro Higo and Magomed Magomedov respectively in June. With the brackets set, the Grand Prix officially began on Saturday.

Reining RIZIN bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi and Patchy Mix kicked off the tournament at Saturday’s event. It was a very tactical fight that had a surprise outcome.

Mix managed to weather the strikes and got Horiguchi’s timing down before taking the fight to the ground. He forced Horiguchi to fight his style and outgrappled him throughout the bout. Mix earned a unanimous decision win after all three judges scored the bout 48-47.

Raufeon Stots also capped off an incredible performance against Juan Archuleta by finishing him in the third round. He dropped him with a head-kick and finished him with strikes to become interim bantamweight champion and advance to the semifinals.

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#1. Controversial ending to Bellator women’s flyweight championship main event

New women's flyweight champion Liz Carmouche (Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Bellator MMA)

Unfortunately for Bellator, many believed Friday’s main event ended in controversial fashion. Liz Carmouche defeated Juliana Velasquez via fourth-round technical knockout due to elbow strikes.

The win itself wasn’t controversial, but the stoppage came off as being premature. Carmouche had Velasquez in the crucifix position and landed elbow strikes that didn’t cause damage. There were only 13 seconds left in the round. And so, the champion should have been given an opportunity to defend herself unless the elbow strikes were causing significant damage. The referee stepped in and stopped the bout, which left Velasquez furious.

Velasquez was also winning the fight until the stoppage. Two of the three judges had her up 30-27 heading into the fourth round, while the other judge had it 29-28. During his post-event press conference, Bellator CEO Scott Coker mentioned that he’s open to booking a rematch:

“I don’t mind running that fight back. I think that those ladies were definitely scrapping it. For me, I don’t mind running that fight back.” er