INGLEWOOD, Calif. –Lyoto Machida is still one elusive cat. But at age 41, he appears a split-second slower when he attempts to lull his opponent into a lightning-fast knockout.
And that might have spelled the difference in the middleweight main event of Bellator 228 on Saturday night.
Gegard Mousasi managed to effectively counter the former UFC light heavyweight champion for much of the bout, fending off his charges and landing big combos. That’s how two of the three judges saw it, at least, as Mousasi earned a split decision victory at The Forum. Mousasi earned scores of 29-28 and 30-27 to a 29-28 for Machida.
With the victory, Mousasi, the former Bellator middleweight champion and Strikeforce light heavyweight champ, avenged a 2014 unanimous decision loss to machida in the UFC.
A pattern developed in the opening round, as Machida would stalk Mousasi in his vintage fashion and eventually flick a kick to the legs or body. But Mousasi announced his intentions with sharp combos in response, one of which briefly dropped Machida.
The second round was the closest of the fight, as Machida tightened up his offense and did damage with his kicks. Mousasi bulled through them, though, and continued to push Machida back with overhands and straight shots.
In the third, Mousasi dropped Machida again, and this time got into top control. They ended up on the ground again late, and this time Machida got Mousasi into a tight guillotine. Mousasi managed to ride out the last 15 seconds of the fight in the choke and survived to the bell.
With the victory, Mousasi, fighting for the first time since losing the middleweight belt to Rafael Lovato Jr., won for the ninth time in his past 10 fights. Machida had a four-fight win streak snapped.
Complete Bellator 228 results include:
- Gegard Mousasi def. Lyoto Machida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Patricio Freire def. Juan Archuleta via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 49-46) — retains featherweight title; featherweight tournament opening round
- A.J. McKee def. Georgi Karakhanyan via knockout (punch)— Round 1, 0:08
- Darrion Caldwell def. Henry Corrales via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-27) — featherweight tournament opening round
- Daniel Weichel def. Saul Rogers via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) — featherweight tournament opening round
- A.J. Agazarm def. Jonathan Quiroz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ava Knight def. Shannon Goughary via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 1:46
- Antonio McKee def. William Sriyapai via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:17
- Johnny Cisneros def. Mike Jasper via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:28
- Leandro Higo def. Shawn Bunch via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:34
- Weber Almeida def. Castle Williams via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:20
- Joshua Jones def. Dominic Clark via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:39
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