Night two of Bellator’s Hawaiian double-header, Bellator 295 brought with it the conclusion of the promotion’s Bantamweight Grand Prix.
Interim bantamweight champ Raufeon Stots was paired up with Patchy Mix in that million dollar final, with a whole lot of marbles (but not quite all of them) on the line. The catch? Patricio Pitbull, dropping to bantamweight for the first time, had jumped the line straight into a title shot with Sergio Pettis in June.
And so the winner of Stots versus Mix would be next in line, while holding interim gold and the title of Grand Prix champion. That, and a million dollars, certainly doesn’t hurt.
Stots had dispatched Juan Archuleta, a former Bellator bantamweight champ, to win the interim title in the opening round of the tournament, which Pettis had been forced out of due to injury. He got past notorious motormouth Danny Sabatello to advance to the final, while Mix had picked up wins over Magomed Magomedov and Kyoji Horiguchi to do the same.
In the Bellator 295 co-main event, meanwhile, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane chased one more shot at gold. The Hawaiian former women’s flyweight champ and promotional darling was paired up with Kana Watanabe, with the winner widely expected to get the next crack at Liz Carmouche, who on Friday successfully defended her title against a game (albeit overweight) DeAnna Bennett.
Bellator 295 takes place Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. The premliminary card kicks off at 7:55PM ET, and can be viewed above. Where available, the main card streams below, getting underway at 10:55PM ET. The event airs live on Showtime in the U.S.
Bellator 295: Stots vs. Mix Results
Main card
Patchy Mix def. Raufeon Stots (ic) by KO (knee), Round 1, 1:20 — for the Bellator MMA interim bantamweight championship / grand prix final
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane def. Kana Watanabe by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Yancy Medeiros def. Charlie Leary by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 4:39
Aaron Pico def. James Gonzalez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary card
Mads Burnell def. Justin Gonzales by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kai Kamaka III def. Adli Edwards by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sumiko Inaba def. Veta Arteaga by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bobby King def. Aalon Cruz by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Davion Franklin def. Kasim Aras by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bruna Ellen def. Ilara Joanne by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Masayuki Kikuiri def. Alexey Shurkevich by knockout, Round 2, 4:33
