Bellator continues to roll through 2021 with their well-assembled events, and this one is no different.
Douglas Lima (32-8) brings his rugged durability and devastating strikes against Yaroslav Amosov (25-0), one of the most talented MMA grapplers the sport has seen in a long time. Amosov got here by outworking Gerald Harris, Erick Silva, Ed Ruth, Mark Lemminger and Logan Storley in his Bellator run, and knows he’ll have to rely more than ever on his bread and butter.
Lima’s still got the hands and the takedown defense to stay ahead, but there’s still the question of how long Lima can keep things upright. This isn’t your usual grappler — Storley, Ruth and Harris are very capable and strong wrestlers. Amosov still managed to come out on top in those encounters. There’s also the fact that the man can take a shellacking and keep moving forward, plus his striking is fairly good. Amosov is not a strictly one-dimensional fighter, he just happens to be very, very good and efficient at his strongest asset.
Lima should be properly prepared for this one, especially if he hopes to get the bitter taste of his loss to Gegard Mousasi out of his mouth. His power is still there, his fight IQ is still good, and his cardio and ability to control space are still very good. This is clearly going to be a very tactical battle from start to finish.
Paul Daley is too small for middleweight and too big for welterweight. What’s a British knockout artist with a penchant for to do? Well, you can talk to head honcho Scott Coker and have an informal set of 175lb fights set up. and now Daley (43-17, 2 draws) meets Jason Jackson (14-4). Daley has won three straight, crushing Sabah Homasi and Saad Awad in the second round with his devastating power, while Jackson has used his control and fight IQ to win decisions against Kiichi Kunimoto, Jordan Mein, Neiman Gracie and Benson Henderson.
Aaron Pico (7-3) meets English submission ace Aiden Lee (9-4), while Ty-wan Claxton (6-2) attempts to rebound from his decision loss to Jay Jay Wilson when he meets undefeated, hard-hitting LFA and Contender Series alum Justin Gonzales (11-0).
Cuba’s Gustavo Trujillo (3-1) has done both MMA and bare-knuckle boxing, and he’s gonna need the grit and determination to endure in his upcoming fight against former LFA fighter Alex Polizzi (7-1). Polizzi is currently 1-1 in Bellator his last outing against Julius Anglickas after winning his debut with the organization against former middleweight champ Rafael Carvalho.
Remember Nick Newell (16-3)? He’s won two of his last three fights, and both of those were by submission. He welcomes Bobby King (9-3) to the Bellator cage, and he’s got a handful of finishes to his name as well.
Finally, Amanda Bell (7-7) continues to alternate wins and losses, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t swing the hammer and land fight-altering shots. She’ll be up against Sambo ace and former Fight Nights Global talent Marina Mokhnatkina (4-2). Mokhnatkina started off blazing with a 4-0 run of straight submisssions, but has fallen victim to the UFC’s Liana Jojua and fellow Bellator talent Janay Harding.
A scheduled bout between former Invicta champ Vanessa Porto and Ilara Joanne was rescheduled due to Porto not being medically cleared for the fight.
You can check out the weigh-ins here:
Douglas Lima (169.75) vs. Yaroslav Amosov (170) – Welterweight title fight
Paul Daley (175) vs. Jason Jackson (175) – 175lb catchweight
Aaron Pico (145.75) vs. Aiden Lee (145) – Featherweight
Demarques Jackson (170) vs. Mark Lemminger (170.5) – Welterweight
Kyle Crutchmer (170.25) vs. Levan Chokheli (170) – Welterweight
Tywan Claxton (146) vs. Justin Gonzales (145) – Featherweight
Nick Newell (156) vs. Bobby King (156) – Lightweight
Lucas Brennan (146.5) vs. Matthew Skibicki (146) – 150lb catchweight
Marina Mokhnatkina (145.5) vs. Amanda Bell (145) – Featherweight
Gustavo Trujillo (205.25) vs. Alex Polizzi (205) – Light heavyweight
Bellator 260 starts this Friday night with the prelims at 6:00pm EST live on YouTube, followed by the main card on Showtime starting at 9:00pm.
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