Bellator 300 went down last night (Sat., Oct. 7, 2023) inside Pechanga Arena in San Diego, CA., featuring three title fights (results here). In the main event of the evening Usman Nurmagomedov retained his Lightweight title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Brent Primus. In doing so, he moved on the the final of the Lightweight World Grand Prix and a chance to win $1 million.
In the co-main event, Cris Cyborg absolutely dismantled Cat Zingano, knocking her out in the very first round to earn her fifth straight title defense (highlights), while Liz Carmouche retrained her women’s Flyweight strap after stopping Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in the fifth and final round thanks to non-stop brutal leg kicks (see it here).
While Nurmagomedov was the leading man of the night, he didn’t score the biggest payday. That honor went to Cyborg, who doubled the Lightweight champion’s payout with $300,000. Check out the entire payouts courtesy of MMA Fighting.
Usman Nurmagomedov ($150,000 + no win bonus = $150,000) def. Brent Primus ($150,000)
Cris Cyborg ($300,000 + no win bonus = $300,000) def. Cat Zingano ($150,000)
Liz Carmouche ($150,000 + no win bonus = $150,000) def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane ($150,000)
Bobby Seronio III ($4,000 + $4,000 = $8,000) vs. Alberto Garcia ($2,000)
Leah McCourt ($30,000 + $30,000 = $60,000) def. Sara McMann ($30,000)
Sergio Cossio ($30,000 + $30,000 = $60,000) vs. Jesse Roberts ($12,000)
Kai Kamaka III ($38,000 + $38,000 = $76,000) def. Henry Corrales ($50,000)
Slim Trabelsi ($60,000 + no win bonus = $60,000) def. Davion Franklin ($75,000)
Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov ($50,000 + $50,000 = $100,000) def. Maciej Rozanski ($23,000)
Mukhamed Berkhamov ($33,000 + $33,000 = $66,000) vs. Herman Terrado ($22,000)
Grant Neal ($30,000 + $30,000 = $60,000) def. Romero Cotton ($50,000)
Jena Bishop ($28,000 + $28,000 = $56,000) def. Ilara Joanne ($23,000)
Josh Hokit ($5,000 + $5,000 = $10,000) def. Spencer Smith ($5,000)
Dmytrii Hrytsenko ($13,000 + $13,000 = $26,000) def. Justin Montalvo ($10,000)
Bryce Meredith ($7,500 + no win bonus = $7,500) def. Miguel Peimbert ($4,000)
Jackie Cataline ($5,000 + $5,000 = $10,000) def. Lorrany Santos ($35,000)
Bellator will return to action on Nov. 17, 2023 to stage Bellator 301, which will feature a Welterweight title fight between division king, Yaroslav Amosov, and Jason Jackson. In the co-main event, Sergio Pettis will face Patchy Mix in a Bantamweight title unification match while Patricky Pitbull faces Alexandr Shabliy to see who will face Nurmagomedov in the Grand Prix finale.
Of course, much of the talk surrounding the promotion is what the future will hold after that event due to all of the non-stop chatter of a potential sale of the Viacom-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Scott Coker is still keeping his cards close to his chest regarding any sale or merger with Professional Fighters League (PFL), but as of this writing there are no other events planned after Bellator 301.
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