Cauley won via TKO against Deon Clash at Bellator 268 on Saturday, and admitted following the fight that “this is far and away the biggest show and biggest crowd I’ve ever fought in front of.”

The fight improved his record to 2-0, and while he’s still growing as a fighter, it’s a major milestone for the training partner of Ryan Bader.

“You know, that went about like I thought it would. Deon’s not a pushover, he definitely came to fight, but I was expecting to be able to defend the ground game and out-strike him,” Cauley told media outlets including Cageside Press after the victory. “I felt good.”

“Definitely felt a little bit of extra nervousness here in front of the home crowd,” Cauley added, noting that while he wasn’t trying to, he “definitely noticed friends and family” on his way out to the cage. “I think that added another little element, but it’s really good to feel that at this point in my career, so early on.”

Cauley, who found considerable success with his right hand Saturday, has fought both his pro fights under the Bellator banner — one away, one at home. Asked which he preferred, Cauley noticed that pandemic protocols were still in place for the fight in Phoenix, but added “fighting in front of zero crowd in Connecticut was as close to sparring as you can get, so it was easier in that sense. But we’re in this sport for the excitement. There’s nothing like getting a big win in front of the home crowd. That was really awesome.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference appearance by Sullivan Cauley above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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The ACA/ACB standout made his promotional debut at Bellator 268, with the fight against Jaleel Willis his first in two years. Not to mention his first on American soil.

“I’m happy to be back after two years,” Berkhamov told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight, which he won care of a guillotine choke.

When it came to the choke, “I didn’t plan ahead. It’s just how it went,” the Russian fighter stated. “I like working next to the cage, I like working on the ground, and I just caught him.”

There were no surprises from his opponent, he added. “He did nothing that really surprised me. The only thing that was really unfortunate was that when I was backing up a little bit, I slipped and it had to go to the ground. That’s the only thing, but nothing was surprising from him.”

Moving forward, welterweight Berkhamov is hoping to stay more active. “Of course yeah, I want to fight, I want to stay active, because like I said I’ve been out two years, and I want to be back as soon as possible,” he stated. “I want to be active as much as possible.”

He’d even consider taking part in the Bellator Moscow card later this month, if the promotion asks “really really well.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference appearance by Mukhamed Berkhamov above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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The bantamweight standout wanted a short night, and that’s exactly what he got.

“It was quick. I wanted a quick, easy night. I said, whether we’re working for five minutes or we’re working for 15, we’re going to be working,” Bates told media outlets including Cageside Press after the fight. “So I’m glad that happened.”

His turnaround moving forward will depend on a trip to see the doctor. “I’ve got medicals on Monday, to get some things checked out. As long as they come back in pretty pristine condition, I’m down to fight,” said Bates. “I just wanted to fight, keep going, keep the ball rolling, get 5-0, get 6-0, keep going.”

Keeping things rolling may or may not include Keith Lee, who Bates has called out. Asked if he had a message for Lee, Bates replied saying “not really a message for him, it’s just, he’s watching me. Losers watch winners. So he watched me, and eventually if he wants to cross my path and be another name on my checklist, he will be. But other than that, I’m coming for the belt, I don’t really care about anybody else besides the person who holds the belt. This is just the beginning.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference appearance by Jaylon Bates above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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Improving his pro record to 5-0, lightweight Gibson picked up a TKO win over Raymond Pina, set up by a smart knee that led to a fantastic finishing sequence. Gibson trapped his opponent’s arm behind his back, controlling the wrist and unleashing several more knees and heavy punches. He then climbed the back, forced Pina down, and finished the fight with some ground n’ pound.

“It’s exactly what we prepared for, so I’m pretty ecstatic. It was obviously the exact finish I wanted at the end,” Gibson told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight.

With the fight coming in Phoenix and Pina being a local guy, Gibson had expected a tough fight. “I know from wrestling back when I was in high school and throughout my life, Arizona has some tough wrestlers. I knew he was going to bring it, he’s a coach as well,” noted Gibson. “We knew he was going to bring it, we prepared for the worst case scenario, me being on my back for 15 minutes. We trained for this, I was born for this. Since I was a young kid, I was doing those exact moves.”

Gibson has his own ties to the Arizona area, and had his share of support in the crowd Saturday night. He was also well-prepared for Pina’s game plan. “We knew he was going to come in heavy wrestling, and he wasted his energy. He was winded even in the first round.” By the end of the first, Gibson noted, “he was swinging heavy, but he was going to be tired. Second round, his standup was shaky, he wasn’t confident in his striking. Then I knew a bad shot was going to come, and that’s when I timed my knee.”

At the end of the day, fighting is what Lance Gibson Jr. was made for, so the awkwardly creative position of the finishing sequence wasn’t an obstacle for him. “I was bred for, unfortunately, violence. I was bred for mixed martial arts, I was bred for violence. So it’s kind of second nature to me, I don’t really even think about it,” he stated. “It’s old school actually from my dad, my dad back in the day, fighting no weight classes, 30 minute time limits. Old school Pankration where you put guys in pretzels and you beat them down from there.”

Coming out of Bellator 268, Gibson hopes to find himself in the rankings. “I’d like to be ranked. I’d like to be ranked in the top 10. At the end of the day, I’m focused on me and what I need to do, but I do believe with that finish, I should be ranked in the top 10 for sure.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Lance Gibson Jr. above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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Primus (11-2) went the distance with former UFC champ Benson Henderson, picking up a unanimous decision win to improve to 3-1 since losing his Bellator lightweight title in a rematch with Michael Chandler in 2018.

“I’m so excited. I did not want to see two losses in a row on my record,” Primus said following the fight, which saw him bounce back from a controversial loss to Islam Mamedov. “I was willing to do anything.”

The quality of his opponent was not lost on Primus either. “It means so much to me to fight a guy like Benson. It’s an honor just to share the cage with that guy. I respect him so much, in and out of the cage. I feel so blessed, man.”

The win comes at an opportune time for Primus, with the lightweight logjam finally cleared. Patricio Pitbull has at long last vacated the title he claimed in 2019 but never defended. The only catch, he gave up the strap on the condition, confirmed by Bellator President Scott Coker on Friday, that brother Patricky get a title shot.

That doesn’t sit well with Primus, who told Cageside Press ahead of Bellator 268 that Patricky Pitbull vs. Peter Queally, a fight taking place in November with the vacant belt on the line, was a “joke.” It’s a stance he reiterated Saturday.

“No disrespect to Scott Coker and Bellator, but I think Patricky and Queally fighting for the vacant belt, like I said, it’s a joke,” exclaimed Primus, noting that “Patricky’s coming off of two losses. Queally, who the hell has that guy beaten, and who has he fought? He’s fought twice in the last three years. I think that’s a joke.”

“Jeez, if anything me and Benson should have fought for the vacant belt right now, or I could think of few other guys that should be fighting for it besides those guys,” Primus continued. “But I think it’s more a politics thing, Patricio’s like ‘oh I’m going to give it to my brother because he’s my brother and I love him, so I’m going to give him the opportunity.’ I just think that’s a joke. It’s not really what they should be doing. And Queally, I think him just coming from Straight Blast [Gym], and Conor McGregor over there, they’re trying to kind of pump that a little bit. No, they should not be fighting for the belt at all. It’s a joke.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Brent Primus above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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“Lady Samurai” was up against a fellow undefeated fighter in Randi Field, and earned the arm-triangle submission to secure her third finish in as many fights. Afterward, she let out the sort of scream that can only come with the rush of emotion a fight can bring.

“There was a lot going into this camp. Just things that, as usual, sometimes don’t go as planned,” Inaba told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. “But that’s okay, this is all what it’s [about], it’s worth it for that excitement, that energy, that scream that I can get out after a win. It’s all worth it.”

Seeing Sumiko outside of the cage and in, it’s almost like watching the flip of a switch. From a good natured, sweet girl to an absolute killer. “I’m Sumiko now, and Lady Samurai in the cage, for sure,” she agreed.

The plan moving forward, she later told the media, is to “just keep going, keep getting these wins. Keep making my way to the top.” Inaba was also extremely positive about her experience in Bellator, which has been her home for all three of her professional fights. “I can’t be more thankful to do it here at Bellator, such a great platform. All the love and support, everybody here is amazing, gosh I can’t say [enough], only good things about everything I experienced.”

Coming off what is the biggest win of her career to date, “Lady Samurai” is hoping to get back to work soon. “ASAP man. I’m a little dinged up, bruised, she gave me some good kicks too, she landed some stuff. But ASAP. I’m good. I’m ready to go again.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Sumiko Inaba above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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As first impressions go, you couldn’t ask for much better. And while the end came via submission at Bellator 268, Browne (12-1) had expected more of a standup battle. “I wanted to test his standup. I thought he was a little lacking in the standup, and we really wanted to push that to control the ring, either put him in a position to take a crappy shot, or I could get him against the cage, eventually take him down,” Browne told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. “The plan worked out pretty well.”

Browne has gone on record to state that the fight against Lee was the biggest of his career. That might come as a surprise to some, given he was coming off a title fight win in LFA.

Explaining that sentiment backstage at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Browne noted that “every fight before that was a stepping stone to get here.”

“Nothing to take away from my last, LFA, world lightweight champ. I’d venture to say he’d fought more tougher guys than Bobby Lee did,” continued Browne. “But just the intensity of Bobby Lee was a good test. And coming here, putting on a good show for Bellator is all we could have really asked.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Nick Browne above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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“King” Karl took home the unanimous decision victory, but not before being suplexed, eating a number of high kicks, and taking some hard punches throughout.

Asked for his thoughts on the fight following what was clearly an exhausting and explosive 15 minutes, Albrektsson told reporters that “right now, I don’t think so much, I just feel. And
I feel like sh*t.”

“It was a tough fight. I’ve just been puking and peeing blood after the fight, so I don’t know, I need a day to recuperate and get my thoughts together,” the Swedish fighter added.

Albrektsson, who improved to 13-3 with the victory, thought he might get the stoppage in the second frame. “I [thought] I was gonna finish him in the second round when I dropped him, but I knew his record before and I knew who he was, and I knew he came from a loss so he was hungry,” Albrektsson noted. “This is really a top-level fighter. So I didn’t get the finish, but I got a hell of a war.”

Was it his toughest test to date? On that front, “King” wasn’t 100% sure. But it was close. “I don’t know, every fight is different, but this was definitely top three toughest fights. Maybe top two, maybe even the toughest, I don’t know. I need to watch it again.”

As to when he’ll fight next, Karl Albrektsson couldn’t say, noting that “it all depends on how I recuperate from this fight. I got a medical suspension, so I need to heal up first.” But if he has his way, he’ll be fighting closer to home in Stockholm next time out.

“Definitely. Definitely. All these logistics, it’s a whole different matter that you have to solve,” he said in regards to traveling to the U.S. to fight. “When you’re closer to home, everything is more easy.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Karl Albrektsson above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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“I feel great. I think the opponent was a lot tougher than most people gave him credit for,” Nemkov (14-2) told media outlets including Cageside Press following Saturday’s main event. “For myself, I was ready for it, I knew he was going to be tough, and I got the victory.”

Anglickas caught the champ off-guard in one area in particular. “I was a little surprised. I actually expected him to grapple more, and I was going to be the guy standing.” And while he appeared to be rocked by Anglickas in the opening round, “I wasn’t really hurt by the punch,” the champ claimed. Rather, Nemkov explained via translator, he was “more caught by surprise.”

Nemkov will now move on to the light heavyweight grand prix final, still the reigning, defending champion. There, he’ll take on Corey Anderson, who blasted through ex-champ (and current Bellator heavyweight champion) Ryan Bader in under a minute.

“I didn’t expect the fight to be so short. I kind of saw them more, doing a lot of wrestling and possibly going the distance,” Nemkov replied when asked about Anderson’s performance. “I just started warming up, and all of a sudden the fight’s over, and I was like ‘wow.’ It kind of sucks, my fight went four rounds and his was one minute, but hopefully Bellator will wait for me to recover fully and allow me to prepare for the final. I still intend on winning this grand prix.”

The next stop in the grand prix is still up in the air. Bellator President Scott Coker has suggested he’d like to wrap things up in late January or early February, 2022. Nemkov, for his part, doesn’t care where the fight takes place — but after the tournament is over, he dreams of competing at home, given he’s missing out on the Moscow card later this month.

“For the final I don’t care, where ever Bellator tells me to go I’ll fight. But it’d be cool if afterwards, they did another show in Moscow and I could fight there,” said Nemkov. “That’d be kind of cool. Or in Saint Petersburg. Just anywhere in Russia. I’d like to fight there at least once.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Vadim Nemkov above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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Bellator 268 saw Corey Anderson decimate Ryan Bader, while 205lb champ Vadim Nemkov overcame an early scare to submit tournament alternate Julius Anglickas late in their fight. It will be Nemkov vs. Anderson in the final — a fight that could decide who the best light heavyweight on the planet is.

There will be those who immediately react to that claim by yelling “UFC.” But as was pointed out to Bellator President Scott Coker following Saturday’s event, Anderson holds a win over upcoming UFC light heavyweight title challenger Glover Teixeira. He’s 1-1 in his career series with UFC champ Jan Blachowicz.

Which has Coker once again on board with the idea that the grand prix winner will be the true best light heavyweight in the world.

“Absolutely. This is a gauntlet of 205’ers, and whoever wins this tournament is the best 205’er on the planet,” Coker told media outlets including Cageside Press in Phoenix on Saturday. “That’s how I feel.”

Bellator’s chief also spoke on the final two combatants in the grand prix.

“The finals that we have now really is a fight that I thought, ‘this could be the finals.’ Either it was going to be [Ryan] Bader, and I thought Nemkov was going to win, because he’s the champ, he’s been looking so good. He had a tough fight tonight. I’m going to let him heal up for, let’s say a month or so, but I think we’re going to start having a conversation at the end of the next 30 days about when we’ll have the finals.”

“I personally would love to have the finals sometime in late January, early February,” continued Coker. “Let’s give those guys some time to heal up. Corey obviously doesn’t need to heal up, his fight was very short, but I think Nemkov needs a little bit of rest time, then we’ll get it on.”

Main event fighter and tournament alternate Julius Anglickas didn’t get the storybook ending he was looking for Saturday. But toppling such a dominant champ was a very tall order, and Coker doesn’t believe Anglickas’ stock has taken a hit.

“I feel like he didn’t lose any stock tonight in my opinion. Like you said he came in as an alternate, came in like you said with a very tall order, using your words, and he was one punch away from knocking Nemkov out or taking him out,” Coker stated. “If he would have hit him with one more bomb, I think it would have been over. Nemkov to his credit is a tough, tough guy, and he’s got an amazing chin. I think he just out-willed him today.”

“I don’t think he lost any stock in my opinion, and we’re going to put him back in soon.”

Watch the full Bellator 268 post-fight press conference with Scott Coker above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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