John Salter entered Bellator 244 looking to stake his claim to a middleweight title shot. Another submission win should help his case.
On Friday night, Salter cruised until defeating Andrew Kapel with an arm-triangle choke at the 3:11 mark of the third round.
Salter (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) had little trouble with Kapel (15-7 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) as he controlled the fight from top position for most of the time. Salter landed takedowns in every round and was methodical each time on the mat. In Round 2, Salter began working for an arm-triangle choke but couldn’t pull it off.
When Round 3 began, Kapel came out aggressive, likely knowing he was down two rounds to none. But Salter again changed levels and took the fight to the mat. From there, he was back in full mount for the third time and worked on the arm-triangle, this time securing it and forcing the tap at the 3:11 mark.
The result pushed Salter’s winning streak to three, which includes wins over Costello van Steenis and Chidi Njokuani. It also was the sixth submission win of Salter’s Bellator career, tied for second in the promotion’s history.
Kapel, who spoiled Muhammed Lawal’s retirement in his previous bout, had a five-fight winning streak snapped.
Bellator 244 took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 244 results include:
- John Salter def. Andrew Kapel via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:11
- Yaroslav Amosov def. Mark Lemminger via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
- Sidney Outlaw def. Adam Piccolotti via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Josh Hill def. Erik Perez via unanimous (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Weber Almeida def. Salim Mukhidinov via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:57
- John de Jesus def. Vladyslav Parubchenkno via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Chris Gonzalez def. Vladimir Tokov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Lucas Brennan def. Will Smith via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:14
