Fight Facts: Bellator 2022, a Year in Review

Bellator MMA wrapped up 2022 with fewer events than it had staged in quite some time, although its final co-promoted effort could be an investment that pays off long-term. More belts were on the line despite fight cards coming at a premium, while one tournament finally ended after an unexpected delay as another sped on towards its 2023 conclusion. Free from the “Fightsphere,” Bellator traveled the world and got the t-shirt, showing off some stunning submissions, one of the biggest betting upsets in MMA and some extremely impressive championship achievements at year’s end.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS IN 2022: 211
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS IN 2022: 17
Knockouts: 19
Technical Knockouts: 57
Submissions: 34
Decisions: 97
Draws: 1
No Contests: 3

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It’s the Fight Game

Excellent Idea on Paper: Following the lead of the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in 2011, Bellator opted to make all main events five rounds in length, even with no titles or tournament stakes. Three of those six without greater stakes this year needed the full 25 minutes.

Are They on the Market? In terms of total events, Bellator contracted this year to only stage 17 fight cards from start to finish. This is the fewest since 2015’s 16; however, the 211 pro fights it put on were more than 2021 or 2020.

No Place Like Home: The promotion’s favored destination in 2022, by a slight margin, was still the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The three cards in that building were a steep decline from 2020’s 11, as well as 10 last year.

Map Like a Spider’s Web: While still emerging from its Fightsphere for COVID-19 reasons, Bellator went to nine different cities in 2021, which was an increase from 2020’s six. Across 17 Bellator shows this year, the organization traveled to 13 different locales, including four countries in Europe.

Fewer Ticket Sellers Needed: Bellator has still yet to exceed its pre-pandemic tally of 19 fights at Bellator 240 in Dublin, even as it traveled abroad. The highest number of bouts in one single event was 17 in Milan, Italy, where Bellator 287 went down and even included a few dark matches.

The Bus That Can Slow Down: From January to June, Bellator ran 10 fight cards, including back-to-back offerings in Hawaii in April. The second half of the year slowed, averaging just over one event per month from July to December. Bellator still did manage to put on at least one card in each month.

Better, Not Great: An improvement from the last couple years, the lowest finish rate of any individual card closed at 30.8%, where a pair of 13-fight cards only had four stoppages. This beats 2021’s 23.1% and 2020’s dreadful Bellator 245 and its accompanying 12.5% of its bouts ending inside the distance.

Finishes Aren’t Everything: While no event’s stoppage rate clocked in below 30%, they also capped off just above 70%. Bellator 277 saw 10 of 14 fights exclude the judges from the equation, for the only Bellator event in 2022 with at least 10 finishes.

How Very Bellator: The Bellator light heavyweight grand prix was set to conclude at Bellator 277 in April, but five seconds before the end of Round 3, the two clashed heads to result in a no contest. This pushed the rescheduled final back to November, and Vadim Nemkov turned things around to claim a decision and win the $1 million prize, ending a tourney that officially kicked off in April 2021 and lasted 19 months.

No Frills: The wild card round of the Bellator bantamweight tournament commenced in April, and its two finalists have been decided in the form of interim champ Raufeon Stots and upcoming challenger Patrick Mix. They will decide the victor in the first quarter of 2023, who will then face Sergio Pettis for the undisputed belt.

Ou Est La Bibliotheque? Although Bellator did not break any new ground in 2022, it did return to Paris in May for its second-ever show in France. Bellator ended up staging two Paris cards before the UFC arrived, as the Las Vegas-based organization traveled there in September.

Prospect Watch: Only two competitors ended their 2022 Bellator campaigns with three wins under the league’s banner: Dalton Rosta and Sullivan Cauley. Both men remain undefeated as pros, with their 13 combined appearances all taking place under the Bellator banner.

A Very Andre Fialho-Esque Run: The lone fighter to step in the Bellator cage four times this year was Enrique Barzola, who surged out to knock out Darrion Caldwell and then top Nikita Mikhailov on the scorecards. Setbacks to Magomed Magomedov and Juan Archuleta ended his year at .500.

No Shade Thrown Here: While Emmanuel Sanchez lost thrice in 2021 as the only fighter on the roster to do so, no competitor in 2022 fell short on three separate occasions in the promotion. Thirteen fighters suffered two defeats, including ex-champ Juliana Velasquez and former title challengers Austin Vanderford and Neiman Gracie.

I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up: Three different Bellator bouts ended by no contest in 2022. Of note, Lorenz Larkin’s match with Mukhamed Berkhamov concluded due to illegal elbow strikes and resulted in a no contest, making it the second no contest related to elbows in company history. The first came for Kevin Ferguson Jr. over Craig Campbell at Bellator 232 in 2019, with elbow strikes later deemed illegal.

How Wilde: At Bellator 281, Alfie Davis vs. Tim Wilde was scored a majority draw. This draw clocked in as the first since Bellator 234 in 2019, between Elias Mamadov and Itay Tratner.

And Don’t You Forget It: With wins over A.J. McKee and Adam Borics in the Bellator cage this year, Patricio Freire extended his lead with the most wins in company history with 22. McKee is the next closest with 19, earning that last one by topping Spike Carlyle in October up a weight class.

Lightweight Might Not Be the Solution: The longest streak of consecutive wins in a major promotion came to an end in April. McKee rematched Freire and lost a unanimous decision, concluding a historic 18-fight win streak.

We Have an Old Saying Too, Georgi: By falling short on the scorecards to Adam Piccolotti and Kane Mousah at Bellator 274 and 285, respectively, Georgi Karakhanyan set the company record for the most losses. His 12 are more than any competitor to ever grace the Bellator cage.

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Hurt People Hurt People

Proportions Beat Raw Stats: Due in part to the massive number of fights run in 2019 (400), few subsequent years for Bellator will exceed most of its raw numbers for fight results. However, the 86 knockouts secured were significantly more than 2020 (52) or 2021 (62). Including a pair of injury classifications, 22 different types of knockouts were performed this year.

Turn That Frown Upside-Down: The knockout rate for Bellator did leap up compared to recent years. A whole 36% of the matches under Bellator ended by either clean or technical knockout, for the highest percentage of this method of victory since 2018 exceeded 38%.

Cherif Don’t Like It: The quickest finish of the came in 12 seconds, when Ayoub Nacer lamped Cherif Ba Pape in 12 seconds at Bellator 287 in October. While speedier than any other stoppage in 2022, it failed to crack the top-10 overall. Among women, Sumiko Inaba’s 82-second drubbing of Whittany Pyles at Bellator 279 clocked in as the fastest.

Kickpuncher: The lone knockout to come from a spinning strike came courtesy of Andrey Koreshkov, when he wrecked Chance Rencountre in 38 seconds at Bellator 274 with a spinning back kick. No other singular flashy strike recorded a finish this year under the Bellator lights.

Kickpuncher 2: Code-Name Punch Kicker: Koreshkov had once performed a spinning back kick to knock out a foe in the past, as he crushed Vaso Bakocevic with one in 2018. He is the lone fighter in organizational history to land multiple spinning back kick knockouts, and the second to perform more than one knockout with a spinning strike – Emanuel Newton was the first.

Doling Out Cauleyflower Ears: Up-and-coming prospect Cauley recorded three wins in 2022 along with Rosta, as mentioned above. However, “Sully” is the only one to perform three knockouts in those three wins, as he stopped Ben Parrish, Tyson Jeffries and Jay Radick all in the first round.

Acting or Real Pain, You Be the Judge: One single stoppage materialized from low kicks in the Bellator cage. At Bellator 278, Weber Almeida struck Fabricio Franco in the inner thigh with a kick, and Franco went down claiming it landed on the groin. Referee Chris West determined no foul had occurred, and when Franco could not continue, it was waved off.

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I Give Up

All of the World’s Treasure Belongs to Me: A first in Bellator or any major promotion, Oliver Enkamp secured a Buggy Choke on Mark Lemminger at Bellator 281. This maneuver has only been performed by a small few around the sport, including Lucas Clay, Gabriel Manuca, Daeri Alderman and Ibragim Askhabov.

A What, and How? In a “Submission of the Year” contender, Luca Poclit hit a unique maneuver on Dante Schiro at Bellator 285. The move, determined to be a reverse arm-triangle choke, is the first of its kind seen under the Bellator banner.

Better Than Gracie: Snaring an armbar on Levan Chokheli in April, Goiti Yamauchi recorded his ninth submission as a Bellator fighter. He extended his lead that night at Bellator 279, with no other competitor sporting more than seven.

The Skywalker Is the Limit: At the age of 22, Lucas Brennan has performed five submissions with Bellator thus far. His arm-triangle on Ben Lugo and neck crank of Johnny Soto – the first time “Skywalker” had landed either – this year upped his tally to five. Eleven fighters have landed more to date.

An Actual Jawbreaker: Opting not to secure the rear-naked choke but instead crushing the jaw of his foe, Karl Moore landed a face crank on Karl Albrektsson at Bellator 285. His vice-like grip to force a tapout is the third of its kind recorded in the Bellator cage.

More on Pat Shortly: It took Pat Downey 36 seconds to make his successful pro debut in August, landing an arm-triangle choke on Keyes Nelson to perform the fastest submission in Bellator this year. His sub sits outside of the top 10 for the fastest, with the quickest an 11-second heel hook by Aviv Gozali over Eduard Muravitskiy in 2019.

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The Gold It’s In The…

An Interim Among Interims: The year, which included three for interim status, featured 15 championship affairs for Bellator. This ties 2013 for the most in one calendar year.

Bader Runs Bartertown: At the end of the year, Ryan Bader ended as the only fighter to successfully defend his undisputed strap twice. He unified it against Valentin Moldavsky in January, and topped Cheick Kongo in May.

One More, Coming Up Soon: Stots became the first champ in company history to have to defend an interim title. Pettis holds the bantamweight strap, and Stots won it against Juan Archuleta and defended against Danny Sabatello.

Lukewarm Potato: All three women to hold the Bellator women’s flyweight crown have defended it at least one time. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane held on for four defenses, Juliana Velasquez kept it against Denise Kielholtz and Liz Carmouche beat Velasquez and then submitted her in the rematch.

Some Said Rough Stoppage: At 4:47 of Round 4, Carmouche first claimed the 125-pound throne from Velasquez at Bellator 278. This clocked in as the seventh-latest finish in company history, and the third-latest for any female fighter.

The Pitbull Wall: From April to November, both “Pitbull” brothers, Patricio Freire and Patricky Freire held Bellator titles. Patricky lost his to Usman Nurmagomedov, while Patricio reclaimed 145-pound gold in April.

Freire > Chandler: Patricio Freire embarked on his third reign as the featherweight champion by defeating McKee in the rematch at Bellator 277. “Pitbull” is the second fighter in promotional history to achieve this feat, joining ex-foe Michael Chandler. He has gone on to defend it on all three runs, as he topped Adam Borics on the scorecards in October.

Rizin is as Rizin Does: Freire took a non-title fight with Rizin Fighting Federation in December, dispatching their 145-pound champ by decision. The match, like all five at Bellator vs. Rizin, were considered Rizin matches under Rizin rules in a Rizin ring at Rizin’s main venue of the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Side Project: With three former champs in tow including Freire, McKee and Archuleta, Bellator forces swept Rizin’s at the Rizin 40 event on Dec. 31. Bellator went 5-0 against Rizin reps, but those do not count towards their official Bellator-based stats.

Machine-Like Confidence: In her lone MMA appearance in 2022, Cristiane Justino defused Arlene Blencowe by five-round decision to earn her fifth victory in Bellator title fights. “Cris Cyborg” ties MacFarlane for the most championship wins for any female Bellator fighter.

Best 15-9 Fighter in the Sport: Blencowe came up short for the third time in a championship opportunity when she lost to Justino. Her three losses without a win make her the first in the organization to go 0-3 in title fights.

Champ in Several Ways: As the reigning and successfully defending light heavyweight champion, and the tourney winner, Nemkov staved off Anderson at Bellator 288. This 11-fight unbeaten streak made the Russian the top-ranked 205-pounder in the world, an extreme rarity for Bellator athletes.

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Flip a Coin

How Embarrassing: Of the 211 Bellator fights to take place in 2022, only three closed without betting odds. None of the dark matches at Bellator 287 in Italy featured odds of any kind. This is a departure from 2021, which brought lines to every single fight for the first time.

Greater Expectations: While not eclipsing the 2021 record where 28 betting favorites closed with odds of -1000 or above, 26 different fights brought in one competitor at least that heavily favored. Just one lost: Downey.

Rollercoaster Outcomes: Downey did clock in ahead of his Bellator 284 match against Nelson at astronomical -3000 odds. This earned him a spot tied for the third-highest betting favorite in Bellator history. He prevailed by first-round submission.

Down Goes Downey, Down Goes Downey: The largest betting upset in company history, and one of the biggest ever in the sport in terms of raw lines, took place at Bellator 289 on its undercard. At 1-0, Downey (-2000) succumbed to strikes from +1250 underdog Christian Echols in the first round.

Main Card Parlays Not So Hot: Beyond the seven pick-‘em matches throughout the year, betting favorites performed far worse than recent recorded years for Bellator. Just 70.1% of the expected favorites had their hands raised, well below 2019 (78%), 2020 (76%) and 2021 (75.7%).

The Law Did Not Always Win: Four different competitors sprang upsets with odds of +500 or higher on their side: Blake Perry (+600) over Makoa Cooper, James Gonzalez (+550) over Cody Law, Jeremy Kennedy (+550) over Aaron Pico and Echols over Downey. This is one shy of the Bellator high set in 2021, when five different underdogs of that magnitude won.

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A Pound of Feathers or a Pound of Gold

Respect the Scale: Just ten Bellator matches went through in 2022 where one fighter missed weight. Those competitors fared extremely poorly, with only Macfarlane winning out of the 10. She came in three pounds above the flyweight cap at Bellator 284 and beat Bruna Ellen on the scorecards.

Bring on Super Light and Super Welter: Another 11 fights throughout this year’s events were booked as catchweights, whether set on weigh-in day or arranged ahead of time. Unlike last year, 160 pounds proved the most popular, where names like Archie Colgan performed and excelled.

An Abnormal Norm: Just five of the 17 events to take place throughout the year carried on with every match set in a standard weight category. Bellators 273, 276, 282, 288 and 289 all did not feature a catchweight contest or someone blowing weight.

Alan! Al! Alan! Of all the fights that remained intact after a fighter missed weight, Alan Carlos exceeding the middleweight cap by 3.2 pounds against Charlie Ward proved to be the most egregious weight miss of the year. Carlos dropped a decision to Ward at Bellator 281.