Bellator 285 post-event facts: Yoel Romero makes history with late knockout
Bellator returned from a six-week hiatus on Saturday with Bellator 285, which went down at 3Arena in Dublin and featured a 13-fight lineup on the card.
The main event featured a dominant performance from former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson (30-11 MMA, 7-6 BMMA), who shut down Ireland’s Peter Queally (13-7 MMA, 2-3 BMMA) over the course of five rounds to win a unanimous decision and begin his late-career push toward the title.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the event, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 285.
Event stats
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Betting favorites went 7-6 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 6-7 in Bellator main events this year.
Total fight time for the 13-bout card was 2:44:52.
Benson Henderson def. Peter Queally
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Henderson earned consecutive victories for the first time since 2019.
Queally suffered consecutive losses for the first time in his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since May 2021.
Queally has suffered six of his seven career losses by decision.
Yoel Romero def. Melvin Manhoef
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[autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) improved to 2-1 since he returned to light heavyweight division in September 2021.
Romero has earned 13 of his 15 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished all of those wins by knockout.
Romero’s eight stoppage victories in Round 3 of Bellator/UFC competition are the most of any fighter in combined organizational history. Randy Couture held the previous record with six such wins.
[autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] (32-16-1 MMA, 4-5 BMMA) retired from MMA after his loss.
Manhoef fell to 2-2 since he returned to the light heavyweight division in June 2019.
Manhoef has suffered 14 of his 16 career losses by stoppage.
Leah McCourt def. Dayana Silva
Leah McCourt
[autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) six victories in Bellator women’s featherweight competition are third most in divisional history behind Julia Budd (nine) and Arlene Blencowe (eight).
[autotag]Dayana Silva[/autotag] (10-8 MMA, 1-3 BMMA) has suffered six of her 10 career loses by decision.
Pedro Carvalho def. Mads Burnell
Pedro Carvalho and Mads Burnell
[autotag]Mads Burnell[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) fell to 7-2 since his final UFC appearance in May 2018.
Burnell has suffered both of his Bellator losses by decision.
Ciaran Clarke def. Rafael Hudson
Ciaran Clarke
[autotag]Ciaran Clarke[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) has earned three of his four career stoppage victories by submission.
[autotag]Rafael Hudson[/autotag]’s (5-4 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since August 2019.
Hudson has suffered three of his four career losses by stoppage.
Karl Moore def. Karl Albrektsson
Karl Abrektsson
[autotag]Karl Albrektsson[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) suffered the first submission loss of his career.
Kane Mousah def. Georgi Karakhanyan
Kane Mousah
[autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) has earned all three of his Bellator victories by decision.
[autotag]Georgi Karakhanyan[/autotag]’s (31-14-1 MMA, 9-12 BMMA) has suffered 12 losses in Bellator competition, the most in company history.
Karakhanyan fell to 3-5 since he returned to Bellator for a third stint in March 2019.
Karakhanyan fell to 3-4 since he moved up to the Bellator lightweight division in February 2020.
Karakhanyan has suffered 11 of his 14 career losses by decision.
Kenny Mokhonoana def. Alex Bodnar
Kenny Mokhonoana
[autotag]Kenny Mokhonoana[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) has earned all four of his career victories by submission.
Asael Adjoudj def Jordan Barton
Asael Adjoudj
[autotag]Asael Adjoudj[/autotag] (3-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) has earned both of his Bellator victories by knockout.
Luca Poclit def. Dante Schiro
Luca Poclit
[autotag]Luca Poclit[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) has earned six of his eight career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Dante Schiro[/autotag] (9-4 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) suffered the first submission loss of his career.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 285.
