Rencountre, a former UFC fighter who returned to the Bellator cage on Saturday, was on the receiving end of a spinning back kick by ex-welterweight champ Andrey Koreshkov. The kick landed with pinpoint precision to the ribs, full force. Rencountre went down almost instantly; the fight was over in all of 38 seconds.

Brian Butler, SuckerPunch Entertainment Founder and CEO, who manages Rencountre, posted an update on the fighter’s status via Instagram on Sunday. Along with a copy of an x-ray, Butler revealed that Rencountre had suffered five broken ribs, and a punctured lung.

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“Not the outcome we wanted but the kick was well placed and would have stopped anyone. Next time we will get a full camp and come back stronger. Chance is in good spirits and prepping for surgery,” Butler wrote. “Thank you to the Bellator MMA team who has been tremendous with all their assistance.”

Rencountre also provided his own update on Instagram, and appeared to be in good spirits while awaiting surgery.

“Feeling pretty chipper for a man with 5 broken ribs, a punctured lung half full of blood and a bruised kidney,” he wrote, adding “Not the way I’d envisioned my Bellator return playing out but congratulations to [Andrey Koreshkov] and a big thank you to all the Bellator MMA staff for all their hard work both pre and post-fight. I’m feeling very well taken care of.

“Sh*t happens. Thanks everyone for their support and well wishes. Imma get me some metal wrapped around my ribs and come back like Wolverine with the adamantium skeleton.”

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Rencountre competed for Bellator MMA three times between March 2016 and October 2017, and later had a four-fight stint in the UFC, posting a 2-2 record. He had won both his fights since leaving that promotion prior to Bellator 274 on Saturday. The loss to Koreshkov dropped Rencountre to 16-5, but records are no doubt the last thing on the welterweight’s mind right now.

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“It’s his move, it’s his style,” Koreshkov (25-4) said following the fight, which ended in just 38 seconds, and landed Rencountre in hospital. “I like this move. He prepared me [for] MMA fights. We prepared this kick, and it’s working.”

It certainly is working. Rencountre crumpled almost immediately after the blow landed, and reportedly suffered five broken ribs and a punctured lung.

It was a statement victory from a former champ still in his prime at just 31-years old. Asked what he needs to do to get back into title contention — beyond highlight reel knockouts — Koreshkov replied “In my opinion, I need wins [against] some top guys. And we made the first step.”

Later, he suggested it would take “Maybe one, maybe two fights. Doesn’t matter. I’m ready right now.” But ready or not, the welterweight title is spoken for, on the line as Michael “Venom” Page challenges Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator London this May. In the meantime, Koreshkov has another opponent in mind: the English veteran known as “Semtex.”

“Paul Daley is higher than me in the rankings, and right now, he’s the last one who don’t have an opponent on the event [Bellator London],” Koreshkov said, explaining his callout of Daley. “And I think it’s a good idea, because his style, my style are very impressive, very spectacular.”

If it’s not Daley, “I can fight with anybody who’s higher than me,” Koreshkov said later.

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Andrey Koreshkov above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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“I had this layoff. I had some questions about the health of my body going into this thing. I was a little bit I guess shell shook from my last fight with Sidney (Outlaw) where I go out and within the first exchange I tore my knee which required surgery later on. So I was a little bit I guess, I don’t know, a little ring rust was taking effect. It’s not me making excuses or saying anything why I didn’t strike with the guy,” Piccolotti told the media at his post-fight scrum.

Karakhanyan (31-13) is a high-level striker that puts any opponent on their toes and Piccolotti knew that going into Bellator 274.

“I wasn’t going to strike with him. He’s a freaking dog he brings the power. So it was always going to be wrestling it was always going to be jiu jitsu, but I would like to showcase that sometime real soon.”

After a long layoff Piccolotti knew it would take a bit of getting used to being back in the cage and in a big fight against a formidable opponent.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been uncomfortable since i’ve been in that cage and felt that pressure and that anticipation. Man it felt good to be back in front of a crowd. To look out of those curtains before the fight started and to see thousands of people cheering and screaming. I even heard some USA chants which I never really hear. I’m a fan of that I love that, no offense to any other country of course, but I’m proud of where I’m from. It’s everything man, it’s getting back in the cage, shaking it up. I’m ready to get back in there again.”

“I feel pretty good right now we’ll see how the night goes. I’d love to be back in that cage when we fight at home in San Jose coming up here in April.”

Piccolotti is back in action and back in the cage with a mission to get to the top. A big fight would be ideal next.

“Top 5 I don’t care. There’s a lot of good guys in my division right now, but you know, there’s no one better than me.”

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Adam Piccolotti above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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“It felt good to get in there and to get a win. I’ve told a few people like, after my last fight, I had a really big health scare that put me in the hospital for 9 days. Ask my coach like there was a point where I possibly would not even fight again. I almost lost my right foot. My whole thought when I was in there was like, I was coming off such a big win, this sport and fighting means so much to me. My only thought was I have to get back in there and do it,” Bennett told the media during her post-fight scrum at Bellator 274 on Saturday night.

“I had some nurses that were like, ‘Oh well you used to be a fighter’ and I’m like, ‘No b*tch, I’m a fighter and I’m going to get back in there!’ So you can tell me, you can send me home with this walker. I’m going to learn how to walk again and I’m going to be fine!”

Bennett’s win over Justine Kish on Saturday put her on a two-fight win streak and in Bellator that means a possible road to a title shot.

“I need to keep going with that momentum, because my goal is not just to win a fight. My goal is to win the belt. I’m here to be a competitor I’m here to make my way to the top.”

With the win putting her in position to ask for a big fight Bennett still made it clear she’ll take on anyone on her way to the title.

“They have me ranked at #7 which is kind of funny because the last girl fought before Justine is ranked #5. So I feel like ya’ll messed that up so maybe ya’ll can correct that now. There’s 5-6 people ahead of me. I don’t have any single person that I want. I want to fight honestly anyone whose number is higher than mine so I can get to the top. Whoever it is, put them in front of me, I don’t care who it is. I want that belt.”

“I’m not quitting until I get it.

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with DeAnna Bennett above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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That probably won’t happen a third time. The former LFA lightweight champ finished Mandel “Rat Garbage” Nallo at Bellator 274, with Nallo being a 2-to-1 favorite.

Browne, who improved to 13-1 with the TKO and has found the finish in both his Bellator fights, understands where the oddsmakers were coming from. “He had three Bellator to my one Bellator fights, so I can’t blame them too much,” Browne said following the event, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “That just lifts me up a little bit more, being the underdog. Being a favorite, okay I’ve gotta go prove it. Underdog, I’m taking everything they give me, coming in hungry.”

It wasn’t just the oddsmakers, mind you. Ahead of the fight, much of the talk on social media was about Nallo. It was Nallo making a media day appearance; “NyQuil” Nick was noticeably absent.

“It’s just a motivation to be where these guys are, get that recognition that I deserve,” he told Cageside Press when asked about the perceived slight. “If it takes taking one by one down all the way to the top, that’s what I’m going to do. Keep pressing forward. I was down that first round, my body might have wanted to give up, but my heart said no. I kept pressing forward, got the finish. Happy with it, but there’s always stuff to work on.”

Browne will now look to make his return, “as soon as I feel healthy, good to go.” He’s hoping to fight twice more this year — though there might be some time off first. “I might splurge a little bit after this. Winners get to do what winners get to do.”

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Nick Browne above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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It’s lucky they pulled the trigger when they did. Through three rounds, Gracie vs. Storley was a listless affair, the grappler vs. wrestler match-up giving way to a lackadaisical kickboxing bout. Then, come round four, the action exploded, with first Gracie, then Storley, rocking the other. Whatever had lit the fuse, when the bomb finally went off in round four, it was worth the wait.

In the end, Storley exited the night hand raised care of a unanimous decision win. The South Dakota wrestler had one of his best performances to date, but will join the likes of ex-champ Andrey Koreshkov, and the winner of Douglas Lima vs. Jason Jackson, in vying for a title shot against the winner of Bellator London’s Yaroslav Amosov vs. Michael “Venom” Page.

Speaking of Koreshkov, he had a big night at Bellator 274 as well, absolutely wrecking Chance Rencountre with a spinning heel kick that shut down the UFC vet’s body almost instantly. Then there was the return of Brennan Ward, who put a beating on Brandon Bell so bad it felt like Bell owed him money.

Full results and a gallery of highlights from Bellator 274 can be found below.

Bellator 274: Gracie vs. Storley Results

Main Card

Logan Storley def. Neiman Gracie by unanimous decision (48-47, 50-45, 49-46)
Andrey Koreshkov def. Chance Rencountre by TKO (spinning heel kick and strikes), Round 1, 0:38
Adam Piccolotti def. Georgi Karakhanyan by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Brennan Ward def. Brandon Bell by TKO, Round 2, 0:32
Davion Franklin def. Said Sowma by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Preliminary card

Nick Browne def. Mandel Nallo by TKO, Round 2, 2:20
Jaylon Bates def. Chris Disonell by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 3:39
Bobby King def. Aviv Gozali by TKO (doctor stoppage), Round 1, 5:00
DeAnna Bennett def. Justine Kish by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Jordan Newman def. Cody Herbert by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Justin Montalvo def. Corey Samuels by TKO, Round 1, 2:43
Isaiah Hokit def. Theodore Macuka by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:59
Jonathan Dilorenzo def. Orlando Mendoza by submission (D’arce choke), Round 1, 1:07

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It didn’t really feel as if the Bellator 274 main event even got going until the fourth round on Saturday. To that point, fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut had been restless. With Storley’s wrestling and Gracie’s jiu-jitsu seemingly cancelling each other out, onlookers were left with an awkward kickboxing contest with little of note landing.

Then, come the fourth round, Gracie vs. Storley went off like a powder keg. Gracie let lose, forcing Storley to shell up, and it looked as if it might be over for the South Dakota native. But the second half of the round belonged to him, and he even managed to drop Gracie before the buzzer. The fifth and final frame entertained as well, with Storley going on to win a unanimous decision.

Evidence of the war was stencilled all over Storley after the fact, something he acknowledged during his post-fight press conference appearance.

“That fourth round kind of cut me up a little bit, he hit an elbow, but I felt great,” Storley said afterwards. “That was the best I ever performed. I thought it was an exciting fight, I don’t know what you guys thought. But I learned a lot about myself, I dug deep, and he did too. It was a back-and-forth, but I landed all the bigger shots besides that one in the fourth round, and I dropped him, I think with that overhand.”

“I think that’s a great opening for the first non-title fight five rounder.”

As for what’s next, Storley now has his sights set on gold. “Yeah, I want the title shot. That’s the number four ranked guy [Gracie],” Storley said. “I fought the champ to a split decision, that was only three rounds, and had him in trouble at the end of the third. During that fight, I got stronger, so I want the title shot. And I think a lot of people want to see it, especially if it’s Amosov. Much respect to him, but I’m coming to get that belt.”

Yaroslav Amosov is currently set to face Michael “Venom” Page in the main event of Bellator London this May. Following that fight, Storley will be one of a number of potential suitors for the welterweight champ— whether it be Amosov, or Page.

If it’s Amosov holding gold when Storley gets there, he feels the fight will look very different than their first meeting. “I still have a lot to work on. That’s why you get into this sport, to become the best version of yourself. I learned a lot, but there’s a lot of steps for me to go. But that Amosov fight is going to go a lot different this time.”

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Logan Storley above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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“Man I feel great, I feel so good. I knew he was in here, I knew he had the hype behind him, blowing him up. I wanted to come in and stop the fight wanted to stop him in his tracks tonight. He kept calling himself ‘The King’. That’s my name, don’t take my name. So what Kings do, we come here and we take crowns. I just took his crown tonight,” King said at his post-fight media scrum following his bout at Bellator 274.

King was able to hurt Aviv Gozali in the first round with just under 2:30 left in the round and spent the rest of the round landing massive shots on his opponent. In between rounds the referee requested that a doctor check on Gozali. After a couple minutes of testing the doctor called the fight off.

“My last fight I kind of held back a little bit. Kind of waited, and that third round in my last fight I came out and I knew that’s how I should come out every fight. Come out banging let them know why I’m here. I know why I’m here, I know I deserve this, I worked my whole life for this. I wanted to go out there and show it tonight.”

With a big upset victory comes the vision for what is next.

“I want to keep fighting. I want to climb the ranks with Bellator want the opportunity to show why I’m here, why I belong here. Thank you for the opportunity so far.”

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Bobby King above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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Bates improved to 5-0 following a third-round rear-naked choke of Chris Disonell. That didn’t stop him from critiquing the outing, and while he’s happy with the finish, he also added that “we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press following the bout, Bates admitted that “I felt like sh*t tonight. I ate a box, damn near two boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts. I could have done a lot better if I would have stayed on diet, and not gotten so big.”

Between weighing in Friday and the fight on Saturday, Bates revealed that he’d gained a full twenty-two pounds. Alone in his hotel room, there was no one to keep him from his donut binge.

“I’m in the room by myself, so I can do what I want. But I should have stayed disciplined. I’m disappointed in myself for that. And it showed, there’s a couple of times where I definitely could have finished the fight early, in my opinion, being in shape, being on diet, being disciplined, but that undisciplined [behavior] kind of cost me my rounds tonight.”

Krispy Kreme accounted for much of Bates’ weight gain prior to the fight. “I had seven chocolate, three iced, two glazed, I had an apple one— I was just grubbin,” he stated. Later, he’d add that it was the first time he’d given in to those sorts of cravings.

“Honestly I feel like this was the first time mentally, I just gave in to anything I wanted. Usually I’m very disciplined, and this time I was like ‘I want a box of donuts,’ and I went and got a dozen and half donuts, and I’ve eaten a lot of them,” he told Cageside Press. “I only have six donuts left, so, yeah.”

Bates is now looking for a relatively quick turnaround, though he’ll need to get a couple of injuries checked out first — specifically his wrist and knee.

“It was coming into the fight, I had a couple injuries, but it wasn’t as serious,” Bates said when asked about what had been ailing him. “Then I started feeling it during the fight. So I definitely want to make sure I get them checked out, I get everything handled. It was a little before the fight, it was lingering.”

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Jaylon Bates above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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A sister promotion to Bellator MMA, the kickboxing outfit had not held an event since prior to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving its future very much up in the air. Following Bellator 274 on Saturday, which took place in the promotion’s east coast stronghold of the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, promotion President Scott Coker fielded a question about Bellator Kickboxing’s status.

“The kickboxing question is a tough one because I love it so much, I love martial arts and I love promoting,” Coker replied. “But it’s something that’s not in the schedule for right now. Since we merged with CBS and Showtime, we are an MMA company.”

Coker got his start as a combat sports promoter holding kickboxing events — and while his first outfit, Strikeforce, became best known for MMA, it started out as a kickboxing promotion in the mid 80s.

“We had a great kickboxing business,” Coker said of Bellator Kickboxing. “Once COVID hit, it kind of shut that down, and right now, we’re focusing all our energy on MMA.”

Bellator is also focused on getting back on the road this year, with a number of international dates already on the calendar, and more planned. Later this month, Gegard Mousasi vs. Austin Vanderford will top the Bellator 275 card in Ireland. It’s the first of many international dates, said Coker.

“We’re going to go to Paris, we’re going to go to London, I think that we will be back in Hawaii for sure at some point. We’ll be back in Moscow hopefully, we’re still waiting to see what happens, sometimes politics get in the way of business,” Coker revealed. “But I think we’ll have many international fights before the end of the year, including I think we’ll be back in Tokyo before the end of the year too, working with [RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki] Sakakibara.”

Watch the full Bellator 274 post-fight press conference with Bellator President Scott Coker above.

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