Bellator 240 results: Brent Primus grabs first-round finish in Dublin

Former Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus was handed a late-notice change of assignment at Bellator 240, but he produced a professional performance to finish Chris Bungard and reassert his championship credentials at the 3Arena, Dublin.

Scotland’s Bungard (15-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) stepped in at just over three weeks’ notice to face Primus (10-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) and looked to catch the former champion cold as he stuffed an early takedown attempt and hammered Primus with a succession of elbows to the head before jumping on a guillotine choke attempt.

Primus managed to extricate himself from the hold before turning the tables on the Scot. He moved to Bungard’s back and attempted to lock up a rear-naked choke. Bungard did well to keep his chin tucked, but Primus’ arm strength proved too much as he forced the Scot to tap to a neck crank at the 1:55 mark of the opening round.

Crosbie edges past Furtado after cagey three-round battle

In the Bellator 240 co-main event, SBG prospect Kiefer Crosbie picked up a split-decision victory against Guinea-Bissau’s Iamik Furtado after three gritty rounds.

Furtado (6-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) started the better of the pair as the debutant stifled an initial charge from Crosbie (8-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and controlled the Irishman against the cage before later hurting him to the body with a solid kick to the midsection. But, after a steady start, Crosbie upped his work rate in the final two minutes of the round as he took Furtado’s back and attacked a rear-naked choke.

The second round saw Furtado come back into the matchup as he edged the striking exchanges, and he hurt Crosbie to the body once again in the final round. But “BDK” would not be denied in his home town as he gritted his teeth and, with the 3Arena crowd cheering his every strike, battled through the pain to finish strongly and claim the split-decision win with scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

Rawlings edges Kallionidou to grab first Bellator win

“Rowdy” Bec Rawlings picked up her first MMA win in almost four years as she defeated Elina Kallionidou in their women’s flyweight matchup.

Rawlings (8-9 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) battled all the way to the scorecards with 21-year-old Greek prospect Kallionidou (7-4 MMA, 0-4 BMMA) in a gritty, three-round clash that saw Rawlings use her ground skills to secure scores of  30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 from the three cageside judges.

Rawlings reversed an early Kallionidou takedown attempt and held top position for the majority of the opening round, then repeated the trick in the second, with Kallionidou’s only serious threat coming from a triangle choke attempt, which the Australian smartly escaped.

The grueling action of the first two rounds left Rawlings looking exhausted at the start of the final round, but she had enough left in the tank to halt Kallionidou’s striking attack by taking her down to the canvas. This time it was Kallionidou who had top position, but the Greek fighter was unable to make any headway from inside Rawlings’ guard. Indeed, it was the Australian who carried the greater threat off her back as she came close to locking up an armbar, then a rear-naked choke, as the fight reached the final bell.

Ultimately, it fell to the judges to determine the victor, with Rawlings getting the unanimous decision to secure her first win as a Bellator fighter, and her first MMA victory since March 2016.

Bandejas turns the tables on Mlambo

Ricky Bandejas endured a difficult opening round before finally knocking out Frans Mlambo in their bantamweight matchup as the South Florida native added the name of another SBG fighter to his list of victims.

Bandejas (13-3 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) was sent to the canvas three times in the opening round as a loose, confident Mlambo (8-5 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) started strongly in Round 1. The third occasion was as a result of a superb three-punch combination that dropped Bandejas, as Mlambo followed his man to the mat, took his back and locked up a rear-naked choke. But Bandejas escaped the hold and came out sharper at the start of the second round.

The American pushed the pace on Mlambo after the restart, and met “The Black Mamba” in the center of the cage as he traded strikes with Mlambo. Then, after Mlambo caught his kick, Bandejas unloaded a flurry of punches that sent the Dublin-based South African face-first into the canvas for a stunning second-round knockout.

Enkamp makes short work of Long

The opening bout on the Bellator 240 main card featured a battle of European welterweights, and it was Sweden’s Oliver Enkamp who emerged victorious with a highlight-reel finish of Wales’ Lewis Long.

The pair locked up almost immediately and Long (17-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) looked to grab an early guillotine choke but the Swede quickly escaped. Long secured a solid takedown but, once again, Enkamp (9-2 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) had the answer as the pair returned to the clinch against the cage. Long went for another guillotine and once again Enkamp escaped.

Then, with a visibly confident Long moving forward looking to land punches, Enkamp struck. As Long stepped in to land a looping left hook, Enkamp launched a spectacular spinning backfist, with his forearm connecting across the bridge of Long’s nose, sending the Welshman down to the canvas. A couple of follow-up shots were all referee Dan Miragliotta needed to dive in and stop the fight with 50 seconds of the first round remaining.

Bellator 240 main card results include:

Brent Primus def. Chris Bungard via submission (face crank) – Round 1, 1:55
Kiefer Crosbie def. Iamik Furtado via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Bec Rawlings def. Elina Kallionidou via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ricky Bandejas def. Frans Mlambo via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:25
Oliver Enkamp def. Lewis Long via knockout (spinning backfist) – Round 1, 4:10