“We don’t stop until we conquer,” Juan Archuleta said of his conquistador heritage on Friday night in Thackerville at Bellator 210. He certainly conquered Jeremy Spoon in their featherweight match-up.
Juan Archuleta impressed in his promotional debut at Bellator 195. He followed that up with a knockout of Robbie Peralta, and instantly became a fighter to watch. With an incredible record of 20-1, ‘The Spaniard’ had tons of potential. He returned Friday night at Bellator 210 in Thackerville, Oklahoma. This time, he was taking on Jeremy Spoon.
Out of the gate, Archuleta was hot, and when he and Spoon clinched along the cage, it was Archuleta maintaining control. He soon had a takedown, though to Spoon’s credit, he was quickly back to his feet. Archuleta went straight back to work, however, staying on Spoon’s back and working to kick his legs out from under him. When that didn’t work and Spoon escaped, Archuleta peppered him with shots. Spoon then missed with a wild shot and wound up on his back; Archuleta moved into his guard.
As the round progressed, Spoon managed to stay in it, but was throwing wild, while Archuleta was putting together combos with the clear aim of setting up a takedown.
The second round saw Archuleta breaking out some more creative striking, coming at Spoon with spinning attacks. Again, however, he’d take Spoon’s back while on the feet, and look to kick his legs out from under him. A trip finally got the fight down, but Spoon proved wily. However, it was another exchange on the feet and a left hand to hurt Spoon that saw Archuleta go in for the kill. Archuleta pounced on Spoon, who was still stunned, dropping bomb after bomb. Spoon somehow survived, but he was not in good shape.
Round three saw the battle continue, with Archuleta in control. When they went to the ground, Archuleta moved to North-South, worked for the back, maintained control, and was never in any real danger. On the feet either. By the time the bell came to end the third, he had the runaway victory.
Juan Archuleta def. Jeremy Spoon by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26)
