Gegard Mousasi had the first title defense of his second reign as Bellator middleweight champion on Friday, opposite dangerous grappler John Salter.
And after a tiny bit of adversity in the early going, Mousasi put the challenger away by TKO inside of the third round.
For Mousasi, whose record reads like a who’s who of MMA, it’s the next step towards bigger fights down the road: Yoel Romero, perhaps Anthony Johnson. A boxing match.
First up, however, there’s Austin Vanderford. The stand-out wrestler, undefeated in his MMA career, was on hand Friday to face off with Mousasi. After that? “The Dreamcatcher” could be headed towards some big fights to close out his career.
Highlights from Friday’s Bellator 264 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT can be found below, along with full results.
Bellator 264: Mousasi vs. Salter Results
Main card (Showtime)
Gegard Mousasi (c) def. John Salter by TKO, Round 3, 2:07 – for the Bellator MMA middleweight championship
Andrey Koreshkov def. Sabah Homasi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Raufeon Stots def. Magomed Magomedov by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Davion Franklin def. Everett Cummings by KO, Round 1, 0:21
Khadzhimurat Bestaev def. Ty Gwerder by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV)
Pam Sorenson def. Roberta Paim Samad by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jeffrey Glossner def. Sebastian Ruiz by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Jon McNeil def. Orlando Mendoza by TKO, Round 3, 3:57
