LONG BEACH, Calif. – Not a single round of the Bellator 286 main event was complete Saturday night without significant boos from the crowd at Long Beach Arena.
That’s how lackluster the title fight was between featherweight champion Patricio Freire and Adam Borics. In the end, Freire did more to earn a unanimous decision win from the judges, with scores of 48-47, 49-46, and 50-45.
From the start, neither Freire (34-5 MMA, 22-5 BMMA) nor Borics (18-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) was willing to take many risks as both men felt each other out in the early going of Round 1 – and that continued with each subsequent round.
Freire managed to find success taking the fight to the mat in the first three rounds, which gave him the edge in control time. Beyond that, the champ’s most effective weapon was his counter-left hook, which caused a small cut over Borics’ eyebrow in Round 2.
With Freire up on the scorecards heading into Round 5, Borics finally tried to push the action and threw a wild flying knee that missed without about 3 minutes remaining. The result was Borics falling to the mat, Freire taking his back and ending up as a backpack as Borics walked around the cage not making much effort to break free – the second time it happened in the fight. Finally, with 1:40 remaining, Borics managed to reverse the position and took down Freire from the clinch. Borics controlled the rest of the round until Freire locked in a standing Kimura before the bell rang.
The fans booed as the fight came to an end – just as they did when it started.
For Freire, the win was his 12th in a Bellator championship fight, which is a promotional record. Borics, meanwhile, had his four-fight winning streak snapped.
Complete Bellator 286 results:
- Champ Patricio Freire def. Adam Borics via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 50-45) – to retain featherweight title
- A.J. McKee def. Spike Carlyle via unanimous decision (29-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Jeremy Kennedy def. Aaron Pico via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 5:00
- Juan Archuleta def. Enrique Barzola via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bobby Seronio III def. Miguel Peimbert via unanimous decision (30-27, 20-37, 30- 27)
- Islam Mamedov def. Nick Browne via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jay Jay Wilson def. Vladimir Tokov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Khalid Murtazaliev def. Khadzhimurat Bestaev via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:02
- Sumiko Inaba def. Nadine Mandiau via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 20-37)
- Weber Almeida def. Ryan Lilley via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lance Gibson Jr. def. Dominic Clark via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:49
- Cee Jay Hamilton def. Richard Palencia via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 0:12
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 286.
