Bellator 250 ‘Lima vs Mousasi’ recap with results, .gifs and interviews

Gegard Mousasi | Bellator MMA

MMA Mania brings you a post-fight recap, results, .gifs and interviews from another big show!

Bellator 250 “Lima vs. Mousasi” took place Thursday, October 29, 2020 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main event saw Welterweight “Phenom” Douglas Lima (32-7) move up to 185 lbs. to face Gegard Mousasi (46-7-2) for the vacant Middleweight title.

The first round started respectfully with a glove touch at the center, but Mousasi wasted no time putting Lima on the back foot, and once he saw the opening he shot for a takedown. Lima fended it off at first, only going to one knee, but Mousasi was relentless until he finally dragged Lima to the ground, working him over with hands and right elbows for the 10-9.

Lima was landing good leg kicks throughout the second round, but they came as he was constantly backpedaling and being eaten up in the striking department by the sharper precision of Mousasi’s hands. As “Big” John McCarthy noted Lima tended to stand and deliver one strike at a time, while Mousasi was constantly moving and fluidly landing multiple strikes. It was another 10-9 round. The third round was virtually identical to the second and another 10-9 in the books for Mousasi.

The tide finally started to turn for Lima in the fourth round as Mousasi did not close the distance as effectively, Lima slipped away from the one takedown attempt Mousasi made, and he ate up Mousasi’s stance with the hard leg kicks that were clearly slowing him down. Better late than never but a 10-9 for Lima still left him in a 3-1 hole going into round five.

Lima had a chance in the fifth round as the hobbled Mousasi was not able to provide the forward pressure he had in the previous rounds, but he failed to eat him up with anything BUT the leg kicks, and Mousasi took him down with 90 seconds to go and stayed on top for the remainder of the frame. Lima might have won the majority of the round, but would he win with the judges?

The verdict was 48-47 and 49-46 X2 all in favor of Gegard Mousasi. Due to the broadcast running late and college football being up next on CBS Sports Network, there was no interview with the new (and two-time) Middleweight champion.

Featherweights met in the co-main event as Brandon Girtz (16-9) moved down to face Henry Corrales (17-5). Corrales had four words to describe this fight: “Don’t blink. It’s on.”

Even though Girtz vowed to be the bigger man and ragdoll the Featherweight division, Corrales matched his size and strength almost exactly, and was clearly the better counter puncher whenever Girtz would rush in wildly. Girtz occasionally landed a clean hook or a body kick, but on the balance of things I still edged the first round 10-9 to Corrales.

Corrales improved his stature on the scorecard by attacking the lead right leg of Girtz repeatedly, to the point he was feeling the LACK of feeling in his toes, and Corrales corner was screaming that “he’s done.” Despite that, Girtz did land a body kick that momentarily froze Corrales in his tracks. Other than that, he was consistently providing forward pressure the entire frame.

Girtz knew he was down two rounds and tried to change his fortunes by closing the distance, but Corrales was able to “slip and rip” and more often than not, Girtz was striking the air. Meanwhile, “OK” Corrales punished the leg and landed hard lefts, one-two combos, body shots and made a mess of Girtz’ face. Inexplicably one judge actually saw it 30-27 for Girtz, but the other two correctly scored it 30-27 Corrales by split decision.

Rounding out the main card were promising Middleweight fighters Dalton Rosta (3-0) and Ty Gwerder (5-1) — two men with an excellent opportunity to shine at 185 lbs. on the same day a divisional champion would be crowned.

Gwerder tried to get off to a hot start and pressure Rosta, but Rosta kept the range well and only allowed Gwerder to score with kicks. Eventually, Rosta turned the tables and started landing some heavy counter lefts and hard kicks of his own. As Gwerder tried to get the momentum back with a flying knee, Rosta took him down and proceeded to do it several times more, getting both hooks in late to solidify a 10-9 first round.

The second frame was another solid round for Rosta. The takedown came earlier this time, and he had both hooks in with three minutes to go, but Gwerder was able to sit up against the fence so Rosta eventually gave up his back mount and stood up to throw knees to the body. This gave Gwerder his chance to escape, but he wasn’t able to out strike his opponent in the time remaining. Since the third round was rinse, lather and repeat of the second for Rosta, it wasn’t surprising he took a unanimous decision of 30-27 X3.

For complete Bellator 250 results and coverage click here.