Bellator is making its return to Dublin, Ireland for Bellator 275 headlined by the current middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (48-7-2) defending his belt against the undefeated Austin Vanderford (11-0). This card will be taking place inside the 3Arena on Friday with the prelims starting at 1p.m. ET an the main card set to kick off at 4p.m. ET.
After 57 professional MMA bouts and being 36 years of age, Gegard Mousasi has not seemingly slowed down his roll. Since 2016, he has won 11 out of his 12 fights. During that span he had defeated the likes of Thiago Santos, Vitor Belfort, Chris Weidman, Rory MacDonald, Lyoto Machida, and Douglas Lima, his lone loss came via the retired former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Lovato Jr. In Mousasi’s past two bouts against Lima and John Salter, he has looked phenomenal as he dominated Lima over five rounds and finished Salter within three. The veteran Mousasi will be hoping to utilize his overwhelming advantage in experience to put a halt to Vanderford’s undefeated streak.
Looking to capture his first championship win within Bellator at Mousasi’s expense is the undefeated Austin Vanderford. As many may know, Vanderford is also the husband of Paige VanZant, a former UFC fighter and current BKFC fighter. After failing to earn a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018, Vanderford rattled off six straight wins to earn his title shot. With his most recent win coming against Fabian Edwards, who is the brother of the #3 UFC welterweight and soon-to-be title challenger Leon Edwards. Something worthy to note is how good Vanderford is on the ground. In 2020, he managed to score an upset of the year against the legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Richie Martinez under the Submission Underground banner. During the pre-fight conference, to address the concerns of it being his first five-round championship bout, Vanderford stated that the thought of a five-round fight does not phase him at all, with most of his sparring sessions at American Top Team Portland being mostly five rounds anyways. Vanderford is extremely confident that he will be able to impose his game on Mousasi and come out of the fight as the new Bellator middleweight champion.
In the co-main event, originally scheduled to be Peter Queally vs Kane Mousah, will now be replaced by featherweights Leah McCourt (6-1) and Irish powerhouse Sinead Kavanagh (7-5). Kavanagh is coming fresh off of a knockout loss in a title bout against Cris Cyborg, but certainly has had more experience in higher level fights than McCourt. Kavanagh also holds tremendous knockout power with over half of her wins coming via knockout finishes. McCourt on the other hand is enjoying a six fight win streak, with her most recent win coming against a rather-inexperienced Jessica Borga in London. McCourt will most likely be looking to close the distance to avoid the power of Kavanagh to earn a decision victory, and if she is unable to do so, it could be a short night for her.
Overall, this card is stacked filled with well known veterans and highly touted prospects. Brett Johns will be making his second Bellator appearance, looking for his first win in the promotion against the undefeated Khurshed Kakhorov. In addition, veterans Charlie Leary and Brian Moore will both be featured on this card as well. When it comes to highly touted prospects, keep an eye out on Lee Hammond, as well as Khasan Magomedsharipov, who is the younger brother of the UFC featherweight contender Zabit Magomedsharipov.
Bellator 275 Results
Main Card (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PST)
Gegard Mousasi defeats Austin Vanderford via TKO (Punches) in Round 1 at 1:25
Sinead Kavanagh defeats Leah McCourt via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Ciaran Clarke defeats Abou Tounkara via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in Round 1 at 0:00
Khasan Magomedsharipov defeats Jose Sanchez via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Jornel Lugo defeats Brian Moore via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card (YouTube, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PST)
Brett Johns defeats Khurshed Kakhorov via TKO (Punches) in Round 3 at 3:00
Davy Gallon defeats Charlie Leary via TKO (Punches) in Round 2 at 3:01
Stephanie Page defeats Danni McCormack via TKO (Punches) in Round 1 at 1:46
Darragh Kelly defeats Junior Morgan via Submission (Guillotine) in Round 1 at 1:47
Vladimir Tokov defeats Daniele Scatizzi via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Gokhan Saricam defeats Kirill Sidelnikov via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nathan Kelly defeats Scott Pedersen via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Lee Hammond defeats Jamie Hay via TKO (Punches) in Round 1 at 3:32
Featured Image courtesy of Bellator MMA
