Bellator 278: Liz Carmouche Becomes New Flyweight Champion
Liz Carmouche handed a huge upset.
The headlining of the event was a flyweight female title fight between the undefeated champion Juliana Velasquez and former UFC fighter Liz Carmouche.
After a few hard rounds, Carmouche took advantage of the fight.
Just a few seconds before the fourth-round bell, Carmouche caught the champion in a crucifix position, and after landing several unanswered punches, the referee stopped the fight.
Carmouche became the new flyweight champion of Bellator, and it was the first-ever loss for Velasquez in her professional MMA career.
Your new flyweight champ is @IAmGirlRilla!
Liz gets it done tonight with a hard-fought win at #Bellator278. pic.twitter.com/u7c4p4NK5V
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2022
We did not witness any other finish on the main card, but saw some close fights.
Danny Sabatello earned another victory and served a first-ever loss to Jornel Lugo after three rounds, and remained in his spot in the Grand Prix, just like Enrique Barzola.
In the last fight of the preliminary card, Weber Almeida landed a clean inside low kick and dropped Fabricio Franco in the first round. However, Franco said that it was an illegal kick.
Judges watched the replay and gave Almeida victory after ensuring the legitimacy of the kick.
Check out the rest of the results below:
- Enrique Barzola def Nikita Mikhailov Unanimous Dec
- Danny Sabatello def Jornel Lugo Unanimous Dec
- Grant Neal def Christian Edwards Unanimous Dec
- Manny Muro def Nate Andrews Split Dec
- Weber Almeida def Fabricio Franco KO/TKO, 3:01 R1