On Friday, Dec. 1, Bellator MMA hosted its 189th event from the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla.
In the night’s main event, newly crowned women’s featherweight champion Julia Budd defended her belt for the first time against Australia’s Arlene Blencowe. The pair met previously at Bellator 162, with Canada’s Budd earning a majority decision win. Budd entered the match-up riding an eight-fight winning streak that dates back to 2012, including four straight under the Bellator banner. After a brief stint at bantamweight outside the promotion, Blencowe returned at Bellator 182 to defeat Sinead Kavanagh and set up the rematch with Budd. After five hard-fought rounds, Budd was able to capture two of the judges’ scorecards to retain her title.
The co-main event saw Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Rafael Lovato Jr. keep his undefeated MMA streak alive as he took all three scorecards over wrestling standout Chris Honeycutt in a three-round war.
The action kicked off Friday with a live preliminary card stream on Combat Press at 7 p.m. ET. The main card followed on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET. Here are the full results:
Rafael Lovato Jr. def. Chris Honeycutt by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Chidi Njokuani def. Hisaki Kato by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
David Rickels def. Adam Piccolotti by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Cris Williams def. Thomas Lopez by submission (triangle choke). Round 1, 1:39
Sam Sicilia def. Marcos Galvão by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Juliana Velasquez def. Na Liang by submission (armbar). Round 2, 0:32
Jordan Howard def. Brandon Phillips by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Mandel Nallo def. Alec Williams by KO (head kick). Round 1, 0:18
Gaston Bolanos def. Rick Gutierrez by KO (spinning back elbow). Round 1, 1:13