Bellator 265: Cheick Kongo Forces Sergei Kharitonov To Tap Out In Last Second
At 46 years old, Cheick Kongo is the oldest active fighter in Bellator, and on Friday he took home the win.
Kongo (31-11-2, 1 NC) defeated Sergei Kharitonov (32-9, 2 NC) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:59 of Round 2. The main event of Bellator 265 featured the veteran fighters, which took place in South Dakota.
It was an exciting, tough battle. In the beginning, Kharitonov had his moments and in the end of the first round he almost finished Kongo. He landed a huge jab, which dropped Kongo, landing some rough shots.
But, in the second round, Kongo changed his strategy. He went in the exchanges and answered back to the shots. He then went for the takedown and put some significant damage with his ground and pound.
Just before 10 seconds from the bell, Kongo locked rear-naked choke, and before less than a second, Kharitonov tapped.
In the next event, Marcelo Golm (9-3) defeated Billy Swanson (4-1) just before three seconds before the first-round bell.
At the end of the first round, Golm landed massive Eebows and knees from Thai Clinch. After that, he dropped Swanson with a fast combination and finished him on the ground
Jornel Lugo (7-0) remains undefeated by defeating Keith Lee (7-4) precisely at the last second of the first round.
Lugo managed to lock his hands for submission rear-naked Choke, but he could not fix the body. As soon as he fixed Lee’s body, Lee was out. The referee stopped the fight because of the bell, but it was obvious that Lee was sleeping. Lee woke up quickly and went to his corner to continue the fight, but the referee stopped it.
Lugo climbed to 7-0 with the third finish in his career.
Under the preliminary card, Archie Colgan (3-0) defeated Ben Simons (3-3) less than one minute before the bell.
Simons was trying for very rear submission from an unprofitable side control position; Colgan realized that, picked him up, and slammed him. After that huge slam, he landed big elbows and punches, the referee had no choice but to stop the fight.
Bailey Schoenfelder (2-0) defeated Kory Moegebrun (1-3) via TKO using elbows and punches at 4:11 of Round 1.
Here are all the results from Bellator 265.
- Cheick Kongo def Sergei Kharitonov Sub, 4:59 R2
- Logan Storley def Dante Schiro Split Dec
- Marcelo Golm def Billy Swanson KO/TKO, 4:57 R1
- Journal Lugo def Keith Lee Sub, 5:00 R1
- Fabio Aguiar def Taylor Johnson Split Dec
- Mike Hamel def Bryce Logan Unanimous Dec
- Archie Colgan def Ben Simons KO/TKO, 4:04 R1
- Duane Johnson def Deven Fisher Sub, 1:04 R1
- Bailey Schoenfelder def Kory Moegenburg KO/TKO, 4:11 R1