Bellator 182 took place live Friday at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. In the main event, former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov, returning for the first time since dropping his welterweight title to Douglas Lima at Bellator 164 last November, took on the surging Chidi Njokuani. Njokuani, entering the evening on a seven fight win streak, was coming off a win over Melvin Guillard at Bellator 171.
Coming into the bout, Njokuani’s weight troubles continued, with the fighter coming in five pounds over. That marked his second time missing weight in three fights, officially, with the third being at a catchweight.
Off the opening bell, Koreshov held the center of the cage, and the pair soon exchanged some heavy leg kicks. Njokuani used feints to keep the former champ guessing. However, at the halfway mark it was Njokuani who was caught by surprise, when a hard spinning back fist connected, stunning him. Koreshkov would go on the hunt, and while Njokuani initially seemed to have escaped, Koreshkov soon had him on the ground along the cage, where he worked to soften him up. Njokuani would manage to make it back to his feet, but he was soon taken down again, with Koreshkov working in heavy ground strikes from the top.
Covering up and with little hope of escape, Chidi Njokuani would eat numerous strikes from Koreshkov, who had his opponent exactly where he wanted him. Before long, it was all over with the ref waving the action off. Great end to Bellator 182!
Andrey Koreshkov def. Chidi Njokuani by TKO, Round 1, 4:08
