Undefeated Russian contender Ramazan Kuramagomedov converted his first shot at the Bellator welterweight title as he outpointed newly-crowned champion Jason Jackson at the Bellator Champions Series event in Dublin, Ireland.
Kuramagomedov and Jackson went head to head in a welterweight title main event at the 3Arena, and battled all the way to the scorecards after five well-contested rounds. And, when the scores were totalled, the judges were in agreement on both the winner, and the scores, with Kuramagomedov taking the unanimous decision with scores of 48-47 across the board.
Kuramagomedov’s title-winning performance rounded out an entertaining night of fights in Dublin, with Irish debutant Paul Hughes delivering a star-making performance in front of his own fans in the co-main event.
Hughes bounced back from a flash knockdown in the first round to stop American Bobby King via second-round TKO and announce his arrival on the world stage. The former Cage Warriors featherweight champion is now competing at lightweight, and his finish of King sets him up for big things in the coming months, with Hughes potentially set to feature under both the Bellator and PFL banners in the months ahead.
While Irish fans were celebrating Hughes’ victory, they were consoling each other after Sinead Kavanagh was submitted by Arlene Blencowe in their women’s featherweight contender clash.
Earlier in the night, American middleweight Dalton Rosta had to grind out the action, but he got the win over Norbert Novenyi in their battle of middleweight prospects, while Ireland’s Darragh Kelly kicked off the main card with a guillotine finish of Mathias Poirion.
On the preliminary card, the biggest roar of the early portion of the vent was reserved for Nathan Kelly, who submitted Jose Sanchez via first-round ninja choke , while his namesake, flyweight amateur prospect Nate Kelly, picked up a first-round submission of his own, finishing Paul Nolan via armbar.
There was also another rear-naked choke victory for New Zealand’s former amateur world champion Michelle Montague, who continued her unbeaten run with a first-round finish of Poland’s Karolina Sobek.
Bellator Champions Series Dublin: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Ramazan Kuramagomedov def. Jason Jackson via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) – for Bellator welterweight title
- Paul Hughes def. Bobby King via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 4:50
- Arlene Blencowe def. Sinead Kavanagh via submission (standing guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:02
- Dalton Rosta def. Norbert Novenyi Jr. via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Darragh Kelly def. Mathias Poiron via technical submission (guillotine) – Round 1, 1:29
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Kasum Kasumov def. Matheus Mattos via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nathan Kelly def. Jose Sanchez via submission (ninja choke) – Round 1, 3:42
- Khasan Magomedsharipov def. Tyler Mathison via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sarvarjon Khamidov def. Marcirley Alves via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Shinobu Ota def. Roger Blanque via submission (north-south choke) – Round 1, 2:18
- Michelle Montague def. Karolina Sobek via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:41
- Nate Kelly def. Paul Nolan via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:49 – amateur flyweight bout
