Bellator 207: 3 Amazing Moments You Probably Missed From Bellator 207

Bellator 207 was an excellent show by Bellator MMA. Coming the week after UFC 229, the promotion put on a show where the fighters respected each other in direct contrast from the events of the previous event.

You can see the full card results here!

The show was an excellent one, and even saw a record tied with from previous events, as in the pre-show, Mike Kimbel shone through with an excellent performance.

In all honesty, the show had a bit of everything, as there were fast knockouts, quick submissions, long drawn out decision fights, and even a fight with incredible wrestling.

The main event of the night saw a long drawn out fight between Ryan Bader and Matt Mitrione, where Mitrione showed incredible heart, but frankly, it was not to be. Bader was the obviously dominant fighter, and did not let his opponent gain even the semblance of a foothold, bringing him down to the ground each time, and tiring him out with matt wrestling.

Eventually, Bader won, and made his way into the final of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, where he is set to meet Fedor Emelianenko for the Heavyweight Championship.

However, other than the main event, there were several moments from the event which went under the radar, as people missed out on some incredible moments from the show.

In this article, we will cover three incredible moments which you might have missed from Bellator 207.

#1 Mandel Nello's One-Shot finish:

Mandel Nello (right) shut up all of his doubters!

Mandel Nello had an excellent showing in the first fight of the main card of the night when he faced Carrington Banks. Banks had put on a brilliant showing but had come face to face with a fighter who was just as determined to win the fight as he was.

While the earlier rounds were better matched between the two fighters, Mandel Nello took out Banks in the third round of the fight, with one of the best knockouts seen this year. His one-shot knee put Banks on the ground, and it was all over.

#2 Mike Kimbel's Pre-show record

Mike Kimbel set a record during the Bellator 207 show!

Mike Kimbel put his name in the history books by knocking out his opponent, Alex Potts, in a mere six seconds. This puts him in the record books, tied for the fastest ever knockout in Bellator, joining Hector Lombard's record, where he defeated Jay Silva in six seconds.

It was one of the best moments of the show, and he managed to get a spotlight on himself, in an otherwise normal and fairly innocuous preliminary card.

He is also, unofficially tied with a 2006 win by Duane Ludwig, from UFC, although the time set for that Knockout remains a source of dispute.

The fact of the matter is, that this will give Kimbel a big boost in later fights, as he may come out of this and get a big push in the main card scene, possibly fighting for a future opportunity at a title at some point in the future.

#3 Roy Nelson's loss

Roy Nelson was heading into the fight against Sergei Kharitonov as the favourite. While Nelson had not had the best record going into the fight, having lost a lot of fights as of late, but one thing that had been expected at least from the big man was that his fight would head to the decisions if he was not the one who was winning.

Mixed Martial Arts is a sport where one should always expect the unexpected. Nelson was hit on the top of the head while he was grounded, which shook him and bought him some time, but in one of the most dramatic endings to a round in Mixed Martial Arts, he was not able to take advantage of it in that manner that he had hoped.

Nelson hit Sergei with some stiff shots, but in the end, it was the big man who ate an uppercut, body shots, knees, and another uppercut to be knocked out by the Russian just as the round came to an end. He lost the fight, having been knocked out at the 4 minutes and 59 seconds mark.

This was his first stoppage loss since way back in 2014, when he lost to Mark Hunt.

Edited by Raunak J