Ramazan Kuramagomedov Steals Bellator Welterweight Title From Jason Jackson

Ramazan Kuramagomedov earned vital experience during his Bellator Welterweight Championship Saturday at 3Arena in Dublin with reigning champion Jason Jackson. Kuramagomedov looked fantastic during the first three rounds, clearly winning all of those rounds.

But MMAfighting latest news shows that the toughest transition for contenders to go through when they move up to championship fights is having two extra rounds to contend with. Karamagomedov showed that he will need to work on handling those extra rounds.

Kuramagomedov struggled in the fourth and fifth rounds but survived a late choke attempt from Jackson to win his first welterweight title. Kurmagomeov is 13-0 in his career. 

It was a devastating blow for Jackson, who had an eight-fight winning streak snapped. Jackson’s only fight since winning the Bellator championship was winning the PFL vs. Bellator Super Belt last February in Saudi Arabia.

Hughes Delivers the Goods

Paul Hughes may be brimming with confidence, but his position is tough. Hughes chose to sign with the Professional Fighters League instead of the UFC. Now, Hughes is tasked with being the kind of fighter who can move the needle, sell tickets, and draw in viewers.

Hughes left the crowd pleased with his first fight in the new organization. During the second round, Hughes laid out Bobby King with punches and elbows. This was Hughes’ sixth consecutive victory.

Hughes has now won 12 fights in his career, including six by knockout. If Hughes can keep up the positive momentum, he should be able to be an interesting contender in the PFL’s lightweight tournament next season.

Arlene Blencowe Leaves No Doubt

Arlene Blencowe was once thought of highly enough to twice challenge Cris Cyborg for the Bellator featherweight crown. While Blencowe had lost consecutive fights heading into a rematch with Irish fighter Sinead Kavanagh, she proved she isn’t ready to be done at fighting at the top level.

Blencowe capitalized on a knockdown during the second round to set up the finishing sequence. She landed a heavy punch that sent Kavanagh sprawling to the canvas. When Kavanagh tried to work her way back to her feet, Blencowe wrapped up hands on her neck.

As the two women stood along the cage, Blencowe wrapped up a standing guillotine choke that forced Kavanagh to tap. It was only the second submission win in Blencowe’s career.  During their first meeting in 2022, Blencowe beat Kavanagh by a split decision.

Dalton Rosta Survives Fight with Norbert Novenyi Jr.

The sentiment throughout the week showed that the betting market moved Dalton Rosta from a pick ‘em with Nobert Novenyi Jr. to being a small underdog. There were some reasons to worry about what Rosta was capable of. During Rosta’s last fight with Aaron Jeffrey, he was out-grappled and looked exhausted after a unanimous decision loss.

While Rosta’s fight with Novenyi wasn’t pretty, he did just enough to win a majority decision. Novenyi is a fighter who comes from a strong fighting background. Novenyi’s dad was a gold medalist at the 1980 Olympics while representing Hungary. But Rosta found a way to get the job done.

Rosta was able to land his strikes more cleanly. He was also able to prevent Novenyi from dragging him to the ground. Rosta is now 9-1 for his career.

Kelly Stays Perfect

Loading up fight cards with local fighters has always been a Bellator staple. But the PFL hopes that Darragh Kelly could be a featherweight fighter who sticks around for a while. Five of Kelly’s six professional fights have come under the Bellator banner.

Kelly’s most recent fight, a submission victory over Mathias Poiron, helped him move to 6-0 in his career. According to MMA breaking news, Kelly has finished five of his six career victories, including three by submission.

Kasumov Wins Unanimous Decision

Kasum Kasumov can feel good that he has gone five years without losing a mixed martial arts fight. But the best MMA news site will show that Kasumov would like to score some more emphatic victories. Kasumov has won six consecutive fights and is now 16-1 in his career.

But Kasumov’s two fights in Bellator have been difficult for him to handle. During his Bellator debut last year, Kasumov won a split-decision win over Josh Hill. This past weekend, He won a unanimous decision over Matheus Mattos.

However, Mattos did have his moments during the fight. Two of the three judges scored, and Mattos won one round.

Nathan Kelly Earns Another Quick Victory

It was hard to keep track of all the various Kellys who were fighting on Saturday’s card. But Nathan Kelly (not to be confused with Nate Kelly, who fought an amateur fight on the earlier prelims), who scored a first-round submission win over Jose Sanchez, may have turned in the most impressive performance.

Nathan Kelly has won twice for Bellator in 2024 and won 11 consecutive fights after dropping his first two professional bouts. What has made Nathan Kelly’s work impressive is how efficient he has been. He forced Sanchez to tap out 3:42 into the fight on Saturday.

During Kelly’s fight with Vikas Singh Ruhil back in March, he won the fight via an elbow 40 seconds into the fight. This sets him up well to deal with the grueling schedule that the PFL fighters endure during their annual tournaments.

Because of how little damage Kelly has absorbed in his two fights, he should be able to turn around and fight one, if not two, more times this calendar year.

Here are the other fights on the card not mentioned above:

• Bantamweight, Savarjon Khamidov win by unanimous decision over Marcirley Alves, 30-27 (x3)
• Bantamweight, Shinobu Ota win by submission (north-south choke) over Roger Blanque, Round 1 2:18
• Women’s featherweight, Michelle Montague win by submission over Karolina Sobek, Round 1 2:41
• Flyweight, Nate Kelly win by submission (armbar) over Paul Nolan, Round 1 1:49

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.