Bellator 264 results: Raufeon Stots outworks Magomed Magomedov, wants bantamweight tournament or title shot

Raufeon Stots picked up the biggest win of his career and put himself into the bantamweight title picture – a picture in which his teammate, Sergio Pettis, is in the center of the frame as champion.

Stots (17-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) outworked Magomed Magomedov (18-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) – and nearly finished him – for a unanimous decision on the Bellator 264 main card on Showtime. Stots picked up a unanimous decision with a 30-27 score and a pair of 29-28s.

After the win, Stots said if he has to fight Pettis for the title, he will – but he offered up a different suggestion: a $1 million bantamweight tournament with him and the champ on opposite sides of the bracket.

“What I would love is, what do you all think about a bantamweight million-dollar tournament?” Stots said. “If I’ve got to fight Sergio – Sergio, you know I love you. But if not, let’s do a tournament.”

Stots put Magomedov on his back foot early with a high kick, then went back to the center of the cage. Magomedov tried to level change for a takedown, but Stots was on top of it and fired a right hand not long after. With 1:40 left in the round, Magomedov worked for a single-leg takedown and pushed Stots to the fence, but Stots defended it for a full minute before he broke away. And with 20 seconds left, Stots landed a takedown and took Magomedov’s back to close the frame.

Magomedov again looked for a takedown in the second and with Stots against the cage, he landed a spinning elbow. Stots fired a punch right back and stayed on his feet the first 90 seconds. But Magomedov finally got him to the canvas – only to have Stots reverse position on him. Back on the feet, Stots pressed Magomedov to the fence and they jockeyed for position until they broke back to the center of the cage midway through the round. Magomedov shot again with 80 seconds left in the round, but Stots stuffed it – and seconds later, he stuffed another takedown attempt. Stots blocked a spinning backfist attempt with 20 seconds left and shot for his own late takedown just before the horn.

In the third round, Stots took big-time advantage when the fight hit the canvas. He took Magomedov’s back and wrapped up a body triangle. He worked for a rear-naked choke, but Magomedov defended by holding Stots’ left arm to keep him from locking the choke on. With two minutes left, Magomedov worked out of the choke and got on top. He got to side control with 70 seconds left, and when Stots tried to work back to his feet, Magomedov worked for a guillotine choke. He took Stots’ back with 25 seconds left, but couldn’t find a finish.

The bantamweight bout was part of the Bellator 264 main card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. It aired on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 264 results include:

• Raufeon Stots def. Magomed Magomedov via unanimous decision decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Davion Franklin def. Everett Cummings via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:21
• Khadzhi Bestaev def. Ty Gwerder via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Pam Sorenson def. Roberta Samad via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jeffrey Glossner def. Sebastian Ruiz via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jon McNeil def. Orlando Mendoza via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:57