Bec Rawlings entered Bellator 240 badly in need to a win to reinvigorate her MMA career. While Rawlings had found success as the ‘Queen of Bare Knuckle’ for BKFC, her UFC, and now Bellator stint in MMA, saw her in a serious slump. Rawlings entered the Dublin event at the 3Arena Saturday on a five-fight skid.
She left Bellator 240 with her hand raised, thanks to a decisive win over Elina Kallionidou.
The affair opened with “Rowdy” at center pressing the action. An early clinch saw them go down, with Rawlings ending up on top, in half-guard. She’d wind up back in guard, with Kallionidou working on a triangle. A fun series of transitions followed with Bec looking for an arm, although she’d settle for back control. Kallionidou then looked to reverse, but Rawlings used a kimura grip to prevent that, eventually winding up on top again in her opponent’s guard. Rawlings dropped a few punches before Kallionidou finally pushed her off, which gave her room to move back to her feet. Rawlings fired off a couple of kicks, and they’d go back to grappling as the bell sounded to end the round.
Kallionidou opened the second round letting her hands go, backing Rawlings up to the fence. While the younger fighter (Kallionidou being just 21) found some success, Rawlings was able to take control in a clinch. Kallionidou landed a hard right coming out of that, but Rawlings powered through the attack and would score a takedown in the middle of the cage, giving her plenty of room, and time, to work. Spending a good chunk of the round there, Rawlings would eventually transition to the back, then to mount, but with seconds ticking away she couldn’t do much from there.
Saved by the 🔔! @RowdyBec was looking impressive as round 2 wound down!#Bellator240 is on @ParamountNet now! pic.twitter.com/zBjCLN2tdi
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 23, 2020
Round three opened with Kallionidou firing her hands, followed by a high kick. Rawlings answered by changing levels and securing a takedown. If she could keep the fight on the ground, as she had through most of the second, she’d almost certainly cruise to victory. Rawlings would end up working on an arm-bar as Kallionidou escaped. Rawlings looked exhausted, but she fired off a high kick that grazed her opponent. Kallionidou continued to attack, however. Kallionidou threw a high kick of her own. Rawlings went back to the well for a takedown, and when that didn’t work tried to climb the back. Finally, Bec dragged her opponent down, and that pretty much wrapped things up. A rear-naked choke attempt was a bit late, but Rawlings had the win regardless.
Official Result: Bec Rawlings def. Elina Kallionidou by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
