2026 and beyond : A Bellator Story

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<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><strong>Bellator MMA 275, from Denver, Colorado</strong></span></span></span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Middleweight Bout; Kendall Grove (29-23-1NC, 10-10 BMMA) vs Brett Cooper (29-17, 6-5 BMMA)</strong></span></p><p>

<em>'Da Spyder' Grove was on the verge of getting cut from the organization, before racking up three wins in his last four fights, his sole defeat against now champ Charles Frye. Brett Cooper for his part also won three of his last four, but by decision. </em></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong> They meet in the center of the cage and stars trading punches. Grove finds an opening and connects with a kick to drop Cooper. He can't however finish the fight, and after some scramble on the ground, they get back up. In their first exchange back on the feet, Grove drops Cooper again with an uppercut. Again, he can't finish the fight on the ground.</p><p>

Grove 10-8</p><p>

<strong>Round 2</strong> : Grove finds another knock down in the first minute or so of the second round. As trying to finish the fight, Cooper pulls guard, and Grove can't manage to do any more damage. Grove tries to passes Kimura and North-South chokes, but can't get them done. End of the round.</p><p>

Grove 20-17</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Cooper comes more aggressive, trying to finish the fight. But, he opens his chin and Grove connect with a powerful uppercut for the knockout.</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Kendall Grove def. Brett Cooper via Round 3 Knockout (Good)</span></em></p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Light Heavyweight Bout; Brad Naess (6-4, 6-4 BMMA) vs (#16) Karl Albrektsson (15-4, 3-0 BMMA)</strong></span></p><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>

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<em>Naess has 4 submission finishes in 6 victories. His armbar victory against Illir Latifi earned him a SOTN. Albrektsson is on a 5 victories streak, with a head kick knockout at Bellator MMA 162 against Jan Blachowicz </em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong> Both guys stands and trade, with Albrektsson getting the best of it. Fans seems to like what they see as fighters goes in their corners. </p><p>

Albrektsson 10-9</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong> After nice shots by Albrektsson on the feet, Naess brings the fight to the ground with a takedown. They stay in the guard the rest of the round.</p><p>

19-19</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Both fighters strikes in the cage, but like the 1st round, Albrektsson gets the best of it. Naess tries to steal a takedown last in the round, but can't achieve it.</p><p>

Albrektsson 29-28</p><p>

We go to the judges score for a decision : Judges scores the contest 29-28, 29-27 and 29-28 for the winner by unanimous decision...... Karl Albrektsson</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Karl Albrektsson def. Brad Naess via Unanimous Decision (Decent)</span></em></p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Featherweight Bout; Kron Gracie (13-2, 5-2 BMMA) vs Jia Wen Ma (16-9, 0-0 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>The promotional debut of Wen Ma, he comes in as the bookies favorite for this bout. Gracie is on a 3 fight winning streak, Wa won 2 of his last 5 by knockout.</em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>Kron gets an early takedown. However, all of his submission attemps don't works</p><p>

10-9 Gracie</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>Gracie tries to take the fight down again, but Ma defends it. Back on the feet, Ma unleash a vicious right, knocking Gracie out cold.</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Jia Wen Ma def. Kron Gracie via Round 2 Knockout (Great)</span></em></p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Welterweight Bout; Brian Camozzi (15-5. 0-0 BMMA) vs Neiman Gracie (14-4, 12-4 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>Another Gracie fighting on the card, his last loss came to the hand of Mickey Gall at Bellator MMA 243. Since, he won his last 3. Camozzi is a newcomer with the organization, he signed from LFA not so long ago. He won the two fights he had in this organization. </em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>The two fighters trades a bit on the feet, then Camozzi manage to Slam Gracie to the ground. Camozzi finishes the round on top, getting this round.</p><p>

Camozzi 10-9</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>The BJJ guy is surprising on the feet, and gets nice shots against Camozzi. With 15 seconds to go, Camozzi gets dropped, but Gracie doesn't have the time to end it here. </p><p>

19-19</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Gracie lands some hits, but Camozzi gets a late takedown, and may have steal the round for the judges.</p><p>

We go to the judges scores cards for the decision : Judges scores the bout : 29-28 Gracie, 29-28 Camozzi and 29-28 for the winner by Split Decision……. Brian Camozzi !</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Brian Camozzi def. Neiman Gracie via Split Decision (Good)</span></em></p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Bantamweight Bout; (#23) Erik Perez (22-11, 5-5 BMMA) vs (#22) Marcos Galvao (26-13-1, 16-10 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>Perez is on a two fights winning streak, submitting TJ Dillashaw in his last fight. Galvao his 3-3 in his last 6 going into this fight.</em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>Galvao gets a takedown, and lay and pray, doing just enough for the ref not getting them up.</p><p>

Galvao 10-9</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>This time, both fighters trades a takedown, but nothing else happens.</p><p>

19-19</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Galvao gets an early takedown, but ref get them up. Perez lands many shots till the end of the round.</p><p>

Judges scores card : 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for the Unanimous Decision</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Erik Perez def. Marcos Galvao via Unanimous Decision (Decent)</span></em></p><p>

*Marcos Galvao retires*</p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Flyweight Bout; (#5) Leandro Higo (26-5, 1-1 BMMA) vs (#3) Kyoji Horiguchi (28-8, 1-0 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>Two of the best flyweights of the world fight each other in what we can call a title eliminator. The winner will likely fight Sergio Pettis later this year. Higo already fought Pettis when he wasn't the champ, and lost by TKO. Horiguchi already lost two times to the champ. </em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>The round is mainly played against the fence, where we see dirty boxing and wrestling for at least 4 minutes</p><p>

Higo 10-9</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>Higo changes strategy and strikes with Horiguchi, and gets good shots.</p><p>

Higo 20-18</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Higo completly dominates Horiguchi in all aspects of this fights, and secures the win. </p><p>

Higo 30-27</p><p>

We go to the judges scores cards for the decision : Judges scores the bout : 30-27, 29-28, and 30-27 for the winner by Unanimous Decision, Leandro Higo!</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Leandro Higo def. Kioji Horiguchi via Unanimous Decision (Decent)</span></em></p><p>

*Higo calls out Sergio Pettis and asks for a title shot*</p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Middleweight Bout; (#18) Abdul Basit Akram (10-0, 5-0 BMMA) vs (#19)Ben Reiter (24-5-1, 10-5 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>Akram is a pretty promising prospect. He has 3 submission wins in the Bellator MMA organization. Ben Reiter finished his last 3 opponents by submission</em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>Despite the fact both guys are ground guys, they exchanges on the feet for the majority of the round. Akram lands a nice head kick who floors Reiter, but he can't finish the fight right here.</p><p>

10-9 Akram</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>After some wrestling on the fence, Akram hits a slam to plant Reiter on the ground.</p><p>

20-18 Akram</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Mainly wrestling around the fence, nothing significant happens.</p><p>

30-27 Akram</p><p>

Judges scores it : 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for Abdul Basit Akram</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Abdul Basit Akram def. Ben Reiter via Unanimous Decision (Decent)</span></em></p><p>

*Akram calls out Israel Idasenya for his next fight</p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Women's Featherweight Championship Bout; © Adrianna Penn (7-1, 6-1 BMMA) vs (#2) Alexis Dufresne (17-3, 12-1 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>It’s now the co-main event of the evening. It's an immediate rematch for Dufresne, who held the title from 2020 to 2025, before losing to Penn at Bellator MMA 266 by Unanimous Decision. It's a matchup of Sub Wrestling for Penn and BJJ for Dufresne </em></p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>A round of wrestling mostly.</p><p>

10-9 Dufresne</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>About the same as the first round, but Dufresne secures a takedown at the end of the round.</p><p>

20-18 Dufresne</p><p>

<strong>Round 3 :</strong>Again, a very technical but dull round where wrestling is the main feat. Penn won that round tho.</p><p>

29-28 Dufresne</p><p>

<strong>Round 4 :</strong>This round is a copy paste of round 3. Another strenght bout, and Penn takes that one too.</p><p>

38-38</p><p>

<strong>Round 5 :</strong>Despite some great leg kicks, Dufresne still stays the majority of the round his back on the fence, not capable to escape the superior wrestling of her opponent</p><p>

48-47 Penn</p><p>

We go to the judges scores cards for a decision : Judges scores the contest : 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 for the winner by Unanimous Decision and........ Still the undisputed Women's Featherweight champion of the World... The Dropout Adrianna Penn !</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Adrianna Penn def. Alexis Dufresne via Unanimous Decision(Poor)</span></em></p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Lightweight Championship Bout; © Keven Lee (29-5, 1-0 BMMA) vs (#2) Sage Northcutt (21-4, 11-2 BMMA)</span></strong></p><p>

<em>It's time for the main event of the evening. Keven Lee goes for his first title defense of his lightweight strap against contender Sage Northcutt, who is on his first attempt to capture the belt. Lee beat Dan Smalls by unanimous decision in his last fight, while Northcutt finished former champ Michael Chandler. Northcutt has lost only one fight since 2019, to the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov, while Lee last defeat was in 2021 against Kyle Albright when he was in the UFC. </em></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Round 1 :</strong>Lee wrestles Northcutt and pushes him to the fence. Northcutt can find a takedown however and finishes the round on top</p><p>

10-9 Northcutt</p><p>

<strong>Round 2 :</strong>Lee begins the round with a takedown. Lee is definitly the better guy on top and locks a kimura, forcing the tap</p><p>

<em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Keven Lee def. Sage Northcutt via Round 2 Submission (Great)</span></em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Commercial : 98%</p><p>

Critical : 75%</p><p>

Gate : 15323</p><p>

FOTN (50 000 each) : Wen Ma vs Gracie</p><p>

KOTN (100 000) : Kendall Grove</p><p>

SOTN (100 000) : Beneil Dariush (Prelims)</p>

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<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Rankings Changes</strong></span></p><p>

LHW : K.Albrektsson is now #13</p><p>

MW : A. Basit Akram #14, K.Grove #23, B.Reiter #24</p><p>

LW : Northcutt drops #3, David Burrow is now #2</p><p>

FW : Anastas Werdum (Prelim W) is now #20</p><p>

BW : Erik Perez #21</p><p>

FlyW : Leandro Higo #3 (former champ Harvey Franklin stills sits at #2)</p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>T.J Dillashaw retires</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>

The 39 years old announced on the Bellator MMA 275 broadcast that he was retiring from the sport. He finishes with a 22-12 record. He is the former UFC Bantamweight champion, but wasn't able to keep the pace all his career. He finishes with a 3-2 record in BMMA.</p>

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<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>TJ Laramie out of Bellator MMA on Spike 109</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>

Bad news coming from TJ Laramie training camp, as the young Bantamweight was forced to pull out of his fight in the main event slot of the evening against Michael 'Mayday' McDonald. This was a key matchup for the bantamweight division. Therefore, the fight targeted for Bellator MMA 276 between Cody Garbrandt and Kakeru Fuma has been scraped, and Fuma, #10 ranked in the bantamweight division, will step up to replaces Laramie. Bellator MMA on Spike 109 : McDonald vs Fuma take place in Alabama next week.</p>