Bellator MMA held their 224th flagship event on Friday night, live inside the Winstar World Casino Resort from Thackerville, Oklahoma. And when Bellator returns to the WinStar resort, one thing is almost inevitable, and that is Julia Budd as one half of the main event. I’m not exactly sure what it is that causes one who lives, trains, and hails from British Columbia, to become Lake Texhoma’s cage fighter of choice. Regardless, Budd sensationally stopped the oncoming force that is Olga Rubin en route to the third defense of her featherweight title. While the nature in which Budd’s callout of Gabi Garcia was likely to fall upon deaf ears, there’s a matchup for her that makes more than enough sense going forward. That matchup, along with several others Bellator should ponder going forward, are what I bring to you today on this week’s edition of our Cageside Press Bellator Matchmaker.

Julia Budd vs. Leslie Smith for Featherweight Title

Following Julia Budd’s rather quick nature in which she successfully defended her title, it can be understandable why one would immediately arrive to the following hypothetical question:

Who could possibly next for her?

Sure, the Cris Cyborg matchup certainly sounds ideal. It’s been widely believed for some time, before the oncoming wrath of Amanda Nunes, that Budd and Cyborg were far and away the best 145-pound female fighters in the world. Cyborg echoed the sentiment on twitter herself that Bellator’s women’s featherweight division is indeed, the best in the world.

With the one fight left on Cyborg’s contract set to take place next weekend in Toronto, could this be an example of foreshadowing? It’s difficult to know for sure. Without the potential move to Bellator for Cyborg, it realistically leaves former perennial UFC bantamweight contender Leslie Smith as the only one standing in line. Leslie Smith also featured on the Bellator 224 card during its preliminary portion, scoring a majority decision victory in her debut over Sinead Kavanagh.

Olga Rubin vs. Arlene Blencowe

It wasn’t the performance that Bellator’s top Israeli female prospect was hoping for, however, despite turning 30-years-old just over a month ago, Olga Rubin is still extremely young in her fight career. Rubin’s title challenge was only her seventh professional appearance, one which she came into without a loss.

However, it wasn’t Rubin’s night last Friday in Oklahoma, and the Israeli-born fighter training out of England will go back to the proverbial drawing board as a result. Rubin has yet to face any of Bellator’s female featherweight mainstays, and having just failed to capture the title, it would make sense for her to face someone that has been in her shoes before. That fighter could very well be Australia’s Arlene Blencowe, who is the only fighter to take Julia Budd the distance in the champion’s previous five outings, having done it in both of their encounters. Blencowe also fought on Friday’s card, stopping Amanda Bell in just 22 seconds.

Rafael Carvalho vs. John Salter

Former middleweight titleholder Rafael Carvalho bounced himself out of the loss column on Friday, as he narrowly edged out a hard-fought unanimous decision in which the Brazilian took two of three rounds on all judges scorecards. Carvalho, while leaving himself exposed on the feet at times during the fight, was affective in nearly every area of his game over the duration of the 15-minute encounter with Njokuani.

The former champion now puts himself in position to climb his way back up to a title shot, and a quick way to get there would be to earn a victory over top contender John salter. Salter is also coming off a win over Njokuani, submitting him inside of one round at Bellator 210 last November.

Chidi Njokuani vs. Chris Honeycutt

It’s amazing what can happen to one’s stock in only two fights. By that, I’m regarding the way in which Chidi Njokuani could have pegged himself a middleweight contender with a win over John Salter last November in the main event slot at Bellator 210.

Unfortunately for Njokuani, he not only fell short in that contest but in his latest one as well on Friday opposite former champion Rafael Carvalho.

Juliana Velasquez vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane for Flyweight Title

If we’re being honest here, the fact that Velasquez has not already been granted a title shot at 125 pounds is somewhat of an absurdity. The Brazilian continued to show why that is exactly the case on Friday, stopping an incredibly tough and gritty fighter in Kristina Williams, and only needed a little bit under two rounds to make it happen.

Velasquez is now 9-0 as a pro, and has really put her skills on the feet together as of late stopping two of her last three opponents by way of knockout. Unless Bellator is clamoring for a Veta Arteaga rematch for Ilima-Lei, I think there’s no question who deserves the next shot.

Kristina Williams vs. Veta Arteaga

Coming into her fight Juliana Velasquez, Williams had some good voodoo whilst fighting in her home state of Oklahoma posting a perfect 2-0 record on WinStar property.

Unfortunately, that short-lived streak came to an abrupt end on Friday as Williams was peppered on the feet and wobbled on more than one occasion until she finally succumbed to strikes in the latter part of round number two. Williams is still very green, and only five fights into her tenure as a professional. With the division as thin as it is, and Velasquez (hopefully) on her way to a title shot next, why not pit Williams up with a woman that creates a fresh matchup, and is on a somewhat similar trajectory?

That fighter could very well be Veta Arteaga, who was defeated due to a doctor stoppage in her own shot at the belt back in April.

Ed Ruth vs. Erick Silva

Blue-chip prospect Ed Ruth returned to the realm of familiarity known as the winner’s circle on Friday night, landing a picture-perfect knee before following up with strikes on the ground to defeat former RIZIN competitor Kiichi Kunimoto in the second round.

Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Fighter Outside Bellator

Kiichi Kunimoto held his own for the near nine-minute duration of his contest with Ed Ruth. However, not many welterweights on the planet could withstand a knee to the jaw in the fashion Ruth landed on Friday. Kunimoto was making his Bellator debut, and unless he ends up being a part of the rumored Bellator-RIZIN co-promotional event at the end of the year, we might not be seeing him again inside the Bellator cage any time soon.

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Chris Honeycutt signed a four fight deal with Bellator not too long ago, and when it came down to it, there was really nowhere else he wanted to be. “Bellator takes care of me,” he told Cageside Press ahead of Bellator 210 on Friday night. His only complaint, if any, is staying active.

“I don’t fight enough,” he told use, but admitted that “probably 95% of all fighters, they don’t fight as much as they want. Because the fighter wants to fight all the time.” Of course they do, but promotions only have so many spots. “If it was up to me, I’d fight five months of the year, and I’d fight every three weeks,” said Honeycutt (11-2) as his second fight of 2018 loomed.

Honeycutt, not too long ago, was looking at building up to a title shot. Yet he came out on the wrong end of a scrap with Rafael Lovato Jr. last December. Lovato Jr. went on to pick up another win and earn a shot against champ Gegard Mousasi. Honeycutt’s fight with the BJJ ace didn’t go exactly according to plan, for a number of reasons.

The main takeaway was, he should have stayed more active. Instead, he perhaps played it a little safe, and it came back to haunt him. “The fact that he was never able to better his position in any way, it should kind of start falling into my advantage. Because now he’s got his back to the cage, and he couldn’t get off,” Honeycutt recalled of the bout. “He was trying to get off, he was trying get his back off the cage, but I was preventing him from doing that. Now there’s obvious reasons why I wasn’t pushing the pace, because I wasn’t feeling the greatest, but looking back on it, I still had more in the gas tank.”

Honeycutt would later reveal he was on antibiotics prior to the bout. More than one kind. Then probiotics. A mess really. But remember that talk about fighters wanting to fight? While he could have dropped out, he chose to stay the course.

“My biggest regret is not breaking away from him,” he continued. “I thought, you know what, you want to give me an easy 10-9 round, you just want to hang out against the cage, I’ll take the free round. And then I’ll put the pressure on you in the later rounds, and you do the work.”

“It was a good game plan I had, I just didn’t do as much action as I should have.” And in the end, that allowed Lovato to take the win, and move on to the title. Honeycutt got back in line, but bounced back nicely in July with a unanimous decision win over Leo Leite.

Enter Costello Van Steenis. While Van Steenis (10-1) might not be a household name, he’s built up a bit of steam heading into Bellator 210, with four straight wins, and finishes in his first two fights in the promotion. Honeycutt was less interested in the who than the when, however. “I only fought once this year, so I was asking my manager and begging him to at least get two fights this year.”

Reiterating that Bellator has taken good care of him, some of the activity issues have boiled down to bad luck. A fight with Kendal Grove fell through after Honeycutt defeated Kevin Casey last year, due to medical issues. That put him on the shelf for a while, then the Lovato fight didn’t go his way. He bounced back against Leo Leite in July at Bellator 202, and urged his manager to get him booked so he could get “at least get one more in before the year changes, at least for financial reasons.”

Basically he harassed his way into the fight, Honeycutt joked, only, “I don’t harass Bellator directly, I harass my manager.”

As to what he’s expecting from Van  Steenis, who has two straight TKOs in Bellator, “I expect him to be on the receiving end of a TKO this time.” Honeycutt feels a couple of good camps gives him an edge.

“I just came off two camps, not necessarily back-to-back because there was a little bit of a gap in there, but I came off camp for Rafael Lovato, who is arguably the best jiu-jitsu practitioner in the world,” he explained. Then, the next camp, against another solid grappler. “Leo Leite is no slouch himself.”

Being able to go from those, to his current camp, Honeycutt feels his opponent’s jiu-jitsu “doesn’t match up with my previous two opponents. So it’s a combination of training and being very very sharp, on my end.” He recognizes Costello van Steenis has some solid stand-up, but he’s more like a Dutch kickboxer style. “Typically, those shots you can see coming.” The kicks will hurt, regardless of whether he checks the kick or not, so for Honeycutt, the plan is, “when I’m working, I’m in, when I’m not, I’m on the outside.”

And while being wary of those low kicks, he’ll do what he does best. “I grind people out, and I take advantage of them once they’re more worried about their lungs.”

“I’m a different breed than he’s been fighting. He hasn’t fought a wrestler at my level before,” said Honeycutt. He’s feels Van Steenis may “circle away, fight from the outside.” And if he does that, he may be setting the table for Honeycutt to find a finish. “I think there’s a good chance I might get my first actual knockout in this fight too. Because if he does that, then he’s going into my heavy punches.”

Honeycutt is currently in search of a new gym, as his current home base in Fresno recently dismantled. In the meantime, he’s checked out Strong Style out in Clevehand (home to Stipe Miocic), which he spoke highly of, but is hoping to check out a few more before making a decision. That’s first on the agenda after Bellator 210. But with a win over Van Steenis, ‘The Cutt’ is “hoping that Lovato gets the win over Mousasi,” at Bellator 214 in January, so that he has a case to challenge for the title against a fighter he put in a valiant effort against. “I got a good chance of getting that first title shot” should that happen, he finished.

Bellator 210 takes place Friday, November 30 at the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The preliminary card airs right here on Cageside Press followed by the main card on the Paramount Network.

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“Ear to ear smiles.” That’s how Chris Honeycutt described the feeling after his big win over Leo Leites at Bellator 202 on Friday night in Thackerville, Oklahoma. It was Honeycutt’s second straight fight against a jiu-jitsu expert. The last, against Rafael Lovato Jr., did not go in his favor. Against Leites, however, Honeycutt was firing on all cylinders, and while Leites was game, he had no answer. None, as three 30-25 scorecards reflected.

Speaking to Cageside Press and other media outlets after the bout, Honeycutt discussed the win, and who he wants next. A big name, in fact.

“Having that loss definitely changed my attitude going into this fight,” Honeycutt said of his tango with Lovato in December at Bellator 189. “Obviously you saw me in this fight, where ‘we gotta get to the cage.’ And I rotated him and I put him against the cage.” Yet while he felt Leite wasn’t necessarily working as hard as his previous opponent to escape the position, Honeycutt didn’t sleep on his opponent.

“I felt not content of winning positions,” Honeycutt explained, “because against Lovato, I had him against the fence almost the entire fight, and I was just assuming I was winning because I was controlling the ring. I was putting the pressure, and being more offensive. And when the fight was over, obviously it didn’t come out in my favor, it came out in his.”

Lesson learned. “From here on out, for probably the rest of my career, even though I’m winning positions, getting him against the cage, I will always question if I’m even winning that exchange or not,” Honeycutt continued. “I’ll give it ten seconds or so, throw a couple of knees, and then either let go, go back and start over, or go for a takedown or something.”

As for who’s next, Honeycutt, who didn’t get any time on the mic in the cage post-fight, has someone in mind. ‘The Dragon,’ no less.

“I’m sure there’s a long list already calling him out, but I’d like to fight Machida,” Honeycutt told us. “He’s in Bellator now, he’s a big name. I’ve been fighting for a long time now, I’d like to really step it up, and fight somebody that’s well known and really challenge myself.”

Catch the full Bellator 202 post-fight scrum with Chris Honeycutt above!

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Bellator MMA has slowly been building an extremely competitive middleweight division, with names like Rafael Carvalho, Gegard Mousasi, Alexander Shlemenko, John Salter, and, of course, Rafael Lovato Jr. Lovato earned his stripes in the jiu-jistsu world first, earning gold at the world, European, Pan-American, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu championships over the years.

Now, he’s made the jump to MMA, and has found success under the Bellator banner.

One of the most fascinating aspects to the mixed martial arts game is that it attracts elite athletes from other sports. Often these athletes can’t resist the temptation and go all in on this MMA thing.

Such is the case for Rafael Lovato Jr.

Cageside Press caught up with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace to talk about his recent victory at Bellator 189, who he wants next, and more.

Lovato had been running through competition inside the Bellator cage, having finished every one of his professional fights inside three rounds. That is until Lovato faced Chris Honeycutt at Bellator 189. He still picked up the win, but for the first time as a pro, the finish was not forthcoming.

The BJJ wiz clearly dominated every round of the fight but was he satisfied with his victory? “Immediately after I was not happy, I was pretty disappointed,” Lovato said.
“I felt like I had some opportunities that I wasn’t able to capitalize on and I was disappointed it went the distance.”

Lovato added, “After thinking about my performance, I’m happy with it. That’s what I needed, a guy to grind me, try to neutralize my game, and I needed that full 15 minutes.”

Lovato continues to grow as a martial artist despite jumping into MMA well into his 30s; and unlike so many fighters nowadays, he doesn’t have grandiose beliefs.

“For sure I’m looking at the belt,” says Lovato. “Realistically, I’m looking at the second half of 2018, I’m thinking two more fights, three at the very most, and I should have my [title] shot.”

You’ve just got to appreciate someone who is grounded in reality.

So just who would the undefeated Lovato like next?

“Chidi [Njokuani] just got a big win on the same night as me,” said Lovato regarding his next opponent. Lovato also mentioned, “John Salter has been on a huge winning streak. I don’t even know when the last time he lost was.”

Salter is riding a seven-fight winning streak and may just be next in line for a title shot. I have a funny feeling Salter and Lovato will be seeing each other sometime soon. Gold may very well be on the line.

At 7-0 Lovato is starting to open some eyes. One thing that caught my eye last Friday night was just how big Lovato is as a middleweight. Yet he has never missed weight and never looks dehydrated.

“I’m tall for the division,” said the black belt. “I’m not hulking though, I can still fit into size 32 pants.”

The life-long Oklahoma resident has a sense of humor, but in all seriousness, is making 185lbs becoming an issue?

“This was the easiest cut I’ve ever had,” Lovato said. “My body responded so well, I only had to lose four pounds on Thursday [Weigh Ins].”

Lovato has quickly mastered the art of weight cutting. Just as quickly, the middleweight division has become must watch TV for Bellator MMA. As a fan of the sport, it’s truly special to watch an athlete like Lovato grow into a complete mixed martial artist.

Look for the Jiu-Jitsu ace to step back in the Bellator cage sometime in early 2018.

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A pair of top Bellator middleweights were set to face off a Bellator 189 in Thackerville, OK on Friday night. In a key bout for a division buoyed by the arrival of Gegard Mousasi, undefeated BJJ ace Rafael Lovato Jr. put his perfect record on the line against Chris Honeycutt.

In a methodical first round, the pair went through a feeling out process, with Lovato Jr. showing he wasn’t afraid to stand with Chris Honeycutt. Going as far as to launch a flying knee attack, Lovato showed he was a well-rounded mixed martial artist. Honeycutt, meanwhile, fell back on his wrestling, pinning his opponent against the cage in the latter half of the round. The big question was whether he would want to take the fight to the ground with the dangerous submission specialist. A standing guillotine defense by Lovato Jr. managed to keep the fight standing in the dying seconds of round one.

Round two saw Honeycutt looking for the takedown, but once again Lovato Jr. utilized a standing guillotine to defend the show. The submission specialist, however, was determined to stay on the feet rather than pull guard against the wrestler. A jumping front kick and spinning back fist attempt moments later displayed the varied arsenal of a fighter best known for his submissions. Honeycutt, however, finally got the fight to the ground at the halfway mark of the second.

With the fight on the canvas, Lovato Jr. immediately began looking for submission opportunities. With Honeycutt unable to make much progress, the ref soon opted to stand them up. When the action went to the fence again, Lovato switched to a kimura rather than a guillotine, but either way, he stayed standing.

The third saw more of what had been a stalemate in the takedown department. Nearly every time Honeycutt pressed for a takedown along the cage, Rafael Lovato Jr. was able to threaten with a standing guillotine or kimura to keep on his feet. Honeyctt, however, would score a couple of brief takedowns on round three — but was unable to stay in control or do any damage.

Rafael Lovato Jr. def. Chris Honeycutt by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

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Budd had teased an announcement about the fight earlier on her official Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ4rgNLhisK/

Canada’s Budd (10-2) defeated Marloes Coenen to capture the inaugural Bellator women’s featherweight championship at Bellator 172 this past March. Prior to that, the 34-year old B.C. native had defeated Blencowe by majority decision in their first meeting. Budd is a perfect 4-0 in her Bellator MMA run thus far, and went a perfect 4-0 in Invicta FC prior to that.

The Canadian started her career in Strikeforce, where she amassed a record of 2-2. Outside MMA, she’s also an accomplished kickboxer.

Arlene Blencowe (10–6) has won three straight since her defeat at the hands of Julia Budd last October. Two of those victories came outside of the promotion, but her most recent went down at August’s Bellator 182, where she captured a split decision against Sinead Kavanagh.

In the co-main event, middleweight Chris Honeycutt (10-1) will take on jiu-jitsu ace Rafael Lovato Jr. in a bout that could thrust the winner into title contention. Lovato is a perfect 6-0 in his MMA career, while Honeycutt has won four straight under the Bellator banner.

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In the co-main event, a catchweight bout between Brennan Ward and Fernando Gonzalez promised fireworks. It also marked Ward’s first fight back after that crushing flying knee loss to Paul Daley earlier this year.

In preliminary (and post-lim) card action, a number of key match-ups were featured, including significant bouts featuring Georgi Karakhanyan, and Chris Honeycutt vs. Kevin Casey. A total of ten female fighters were featured on the card as well, which boasted five WMMA bouts in the flyweight and featherweight divisions. Four of those fights went down outside of the main card.

Chris Honeycutt vs. Kevin Casey

After an early bout between Joey Davis and Justin Roswell ended in a first round TKO for Davis, Kevin Casey and Chris Honeycutt took the cage. The story early and often was Honeycutt’s ability to get the fight to the mat, which he did in both the first and second rounds. Casey, stacked up against the fence, had little answer. In round two, a little more a minute in, Honeycutt again had Casey down, and moving into mount was able to land a number of bombs from above, finishing with some vicious ground and pound before the ref moved in to wave off the fight!

Kate Jackson vs. Colleen Schneider

Flyweights Colleen Schneider and Kate Jackson were up next, exchanging early and often in the first. Jackson worked her kicks, with Schneider holding a clear strength advantage at least early on. Looking comfortable and at times smiling Schneider dropped her hands and seemed to egg Jackson into attacking; Jackson maintained her composure and with just over a minute in the opening frame remaining, managed to drop her opponent and follow her to the ground. The first wound end with Jackson in top control.

Between rounds, Schneider practically hopped back to her corner, with assistance. That, unfortunately, put an end to her night, as the fight was called on the advice of the ringside physician.

Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Daniel Pineda

Against Daniel Pineda, former WSOF champ Georgi Karakhanyan wasted no time getting going, pushing the pace early and landing some solid strikes before tying Pineda up against the fence. Pineda would reverse, and Karakhanyan would work to break free. Back in the center he worked in some leg kicks, but found himself on the wrong end of a Pineda takedown shortly after. Despite working back up it wasn’t long before he was put on his back a second time, with a little over two minutes to go in the opening round. ‘Insane’ would threaten with an arm-bar briefly but Pineda postured up and was able to maintain position. Georgi would make it back to the feet towards the end of the round only to be taken down a third time in a bit of a scramble.

In round two it was Pineda trying to execute on the feet, while Karakhanyan initiated a takedown. Pineda, however, reversed and was soon on top in his guard. Karakhanyan got his underhooks in and tried to hold on from the bottom; Pineda would manage to get an arm free and drop an elbow, but it wasn’t long before the ref stood them up. A low blow by Pineda, however, followed on the restart. Once action was back underway, Karakhanyan loaded up on a punch that you could hear miss. Pineda, however, was more successful, securing a double leg to take things back to the ground. An upkick from Karakhanyan connected and bloodied Pineda, and a few moments later the fight was paused for the doctor to take a look. That was all she wrote, as the doctor decided the cut was too severe. Two straight fights waved off on the ringside doctor’s advice, but that was a nasty upkick and cut.

Noad Lahat vs. Henry Corrales

Noad Lahat vs. Henry Corrales was up next, with Corrales the aggressor early and working to take things to the ground. He would apply pressure throughout, and at one point back on the feet, Lahat appeared to signal an eye poke and briefly stopped protecting himself. The ref warned him to continue, however, and Corrales continued on in the attack throughout the round.

Round two saw Corrales look for a takedown early, but Lahat was able to stay on his feet. This allowed him to work a number of kicks into his attack, however Corrales remained the more aggressive fighter, pushing the pace and moving forward a good chunk of the time. Lahat attempted to catch a kick but missed about halfway into the second; he would attempt to invite Corrales into his guard, but Corrales wasn’t interested. The second wound up being a much more closely contested round on the feet, and Lahat would manage to stun and drop Corrales ever so briefly at the end of the frame.

Round three started with a spirited exchange that resulted in Corrales latching on for a single leg and taking Lahat down, landing a couple of hammer fists in quick succession before Lahat tied him up from the bottom. Back on the feet, the exchanges continued before a huge head kick landed by Lahat, making an impressive crack as it did. Corrales shook it off, however, while Lahat, already opened up and bloodied at that point, would later again try to invite Corrales into his guard. No taker the second time, either.

Ultimately it would go to the scorecards, with Corrales taking the unanimous decision victory.

Philipe Lins vs. Vadim Nemkov

Light heavyweight action was next on the docket in Lins vs. Nemkov. Nemkov was the aggressor early, with Lins looking to counter. A number of heavy shots from both men found only air until Lins went to the body, and Nemkov answered with a kick. A Nemkov right hand would land about three minutes in however, sending Lins crashing backwards to the mat. Any follow-up punches were simply window dressing, as Lins’ night was done.

Talita Nogueira vs. Amanda Bell

Talita Nogueira at long last was able to make her Bellator MMA debut Friday. Having not fought in MMA since 2015, she met Amanda Bell on the preliminary card of Bellator 182. After a brief bit of jockeying on the feet, this went to the ground quick. Bell proved to be game, but the ground was BJJ ace Nogueira’s world, and just under four minutes into the first round, she had Bell’s back, and the rear-naked choke was locked in for the finish.

Ricky Rainey vs. Marc Stevens

In welterweight action, Rainey and Stevens circled early with Rainey holding the center of the cage while the pair went through a feeling out period. That feeling out resulted in just a few strikes thrown within the first half of round one, but Rainey managed to connect with a glancing head kick around the midway point, following it up with strikes. Stevens had a small cut opened on the back of the head possibly as a result of the kick wrapping around. Stevens would catch a Rainey high kick with under a minute to go, scoring a big takedown which may have swayed things in his favor with the judges given the relative lack of action in the round.

Round two saw an early exchange, then Stevens shoot for the takedown only to have Rainey force his way up. Rainey continued to press and force Stevens to retreat until he again caught a kick. Stevens was unable to make another takedown happen, however, while Rainey unloaded with some shots along the fence before they tied up. Stevens would attempt to counter with leg kicks and right hooks as Rainey stalked him around the cage; late in the round with Stevens working for a takedown, Rainey landed a number of hammer fists before the two dropped down. There, Rainey took the back and looked for a choke, but Stevens would survive and it would go to a third.

The third saw Rainey open with a flurry of punches along the fence accented by a kick to the body. Stevens was under heavy fire, and while he would survive, he’d eat a knee moments later. Stevens was forced into retreat and later in the round found himself on the mat, with Ricky Rainey landing heavy shots from above. That send Stevens into defensive mode where he gave up his back and risked being finished, only to survive and force Rainey to reposition. Rainey, however, worked to flatten his opponent out from the back with both hooks in, and either way this was looking like a 10-8 round. Ultimately it would go the distance, with Rainey taking the unanimous decision, 29-27 on all three scorecards.

Check back during the Bellator 182 event for a quick recap and results! You can catch the preliminary card below!

Bellator 182 Preliminary Card Results:

Ricky Rainey def. Marc Stevens by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Talita Nogueira def. Amanda Bell by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:44
Vadim Nemkov def. Philipe Lins by KO, Round 1, 3:03
Henry Corrales def. Noad Lahat by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Daniel Pineda by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 2, 4:05
Kate Jackson def. Colleen Schneider by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 1, 5:00
Chris Honeycutt def. Kevin Casey by TKO, Round 2, 2:06
Joey Davis def. Justin Roswell by TKO (punches), Round 1, 1:35
Arlene Blencowe def. Sinead Kavanagh by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

Bellator 182 Postliminary Card Results:

Matt Secor def. T.J. Sumler by Submission (keylock), Round 1, 4:00
Tom Regal def. Kastriot Xhema by KO (punches), Round 1, 3:21
Alex Potts def. Brandon Polcare by Submission (kimura), Round 1, 3:10
Josh Ricci def. Brandon Ware by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Kristi Lopez vs. Jessica Sotack ended in a draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28)

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The Dethrone fighter, originally from Ohio, spoke to Cageside Press ahead of his bout Friday about the fight, making the transition from wrestling to MMA, and more.

There’s little question that at some point during his Bellator 182 bout, Honeycutt will be looking to take this fight to the ground. With Kevin Casey training with the Gracies and holding a strong submission background, how does the wrestler feel this will go?

“I feel like my abilities in the other aspects, like striking, my kicking and my jiu jitsu, I feel like it meshes all together” he explained. “I don’t see myself just going out there and immediately taking Kevin Casey down and trying to wrestle him. I don’t think that will necessarily be my best game plan.”

When mention of Casey’s black belt pedigree came up, Honeycutt was frank. “It makes my opponent even stronger, you know, to spend fifteen minutes on the ground with a black belt regardless of my wrestling probably isn’t my best tactic, but to use my other strengths like my striking and my youth and athletic ability as well.”

So what are Honeycutt’s expectations in the end? “I’ve envisioned probably 28 different ways [the fight could end]. I think a lot depends on the mentality going into the fight. I feel like if he is doubting himself in any way then I’m gonna knock him out in the second round. If he goes in there and he’s being a bull and he’s a tough dude and he’s relentless, I see myself getting the TKO in the third.”

And there are advantages that the wrestler feels he has over the slightly older Casey. “I think that having youth on my side, I’m 29 years old so I’m not young but I’m younger than him. No one has the mentality and the physical, always go forward and never get fazed
and just continue to work, work, work [mindset like] a wrestler. My cardio is unbelievable and I just think that once I settle in and get comfortable on my feet with Kevin Casey, I should be able to apply so much pressure so that he’s just not able to keep up.”

Having made his promotional debut back in 2014, seeing where things are today in Bellator, what does Chris Honeycutt make of all the changes? The fighter joined the company just a few months after Bjorn Rebney was replaced by Scott Coker, after all.

“I’m honored, when I first started fighting, Bellator was doing the tournament styles and that aspect. I feel like that ever since Scott Coker took over Bellator, obviously there was transition period but he got right to it. He brings Bellator to new levels every year” he told us. “I think even this day next year Bellator will be viewed much higher than it is today. He’s a very intelligent and smart man when it comes to the sport of MMA, just look what he did to Strikeforce. When someone says they are a former champ of Strikeforce that’s something to be said. Bellator is making all of the right moves and they are growing rapidly, in my mind.”

For Honeycutt, on a three fight win streak and back at middleweight, where does he see his place in the new Bellator?

“I think I’m always going up, I feel like I’m continuing to climb that ladder and I feel like the ladder is getting bigger as time goes on and that’s not a bad thing, that’s just the sport” he said. “It’s kind of hard to tell because I haven’t fought yet this year, this is my first fight. I’m just going to go out there and I’m going to try and get back into the cage as fast as I can.”

“Assuming that I take minimal damage,” he added. “That’s my personal goal obviously. Bellator’s gotta do what they have to do. I’m not a ‘special’ fighter, I don’t get to dictate when I fight, they have to take care of the [other] fighters that they have too. So that is what it is but I plan on going in there and getting the victory and getting the most efficient victory that I can get with as minimal damage as possible. I look forward to getting into the cage as fast as I possibly can.”

Does he have a number in mind for how many fights he’d like this year? “This year I would say if I could have my way at least I would like to fight three times because we are kind of running on the back end of the year now” he replied. “Preferable as a whole I would like to three to five times a year just because I’m a wrestler. As you said I’m a Division I wrestler, I’m used to being active, in my last three years I was 32-2, 38-2 and 40-2 and those are big numbers.” Of course, Honeycutt added, wrestling obviously isn’t MMA, and “you’re getting punched so you aren’t going to take the damage in wrestling that you would in fighting.” Still, it’s clear he’d like to pick up the pace if possible.

Speaking of that wrestling background, what was the switch like, from that to mixed martial arts? Honeycutt told us that “there was definitely a change — it wasn’t like I could work on skills for a couple of weeks and now I get to go out and use them in a live situation. I mean guess you could spar and do it that way but its different when you don’t have the headgear on, you don’t have the big gloves on, you don’t have a shirt on, the shin pads are off.”

In short, training’s not quite the same as live fight experience. “It’s not like you get to practice something, and then you get go do it, and then practice, and get to go do it [again] so there is more of a build up. Not being able to compete dozens of times a year, you have to be efficient and you got to make sure that [each] fight you are making the gains necessary in order to be the best.”

“There’s not a quick turn around where ‘well one week I wrestled bad, nest week I wrestled good’ so then I can build off of it” he explained. “There’s really not too much to build off of in fighting even if I did fight three times a year because, you just don’t really fight enough to build off of each fight. Its like a snowball rolling kind of thing, once you wrestle and win four or five matches in a row you tend to get that sense of confidence and you get your stride going and you just kind of snowball. Where in fighting that snowball effect takes place in the workout room, in sparring and in the ring before you actually get in the cage.”

If the transition from one discipline to MMA is challenging, what about handling setbacks, and particularly losses, which are handled differently in the wrestling world?

“It’s not as easy to make up for the mental aspect. I’m a true competitor, so when I take a loss I take it hard and having that opportunity to wrestle that following week and the week after and being able to get two wins after a loss all in the course of maybe a week or two, you kind of push that away” Honeycutt outlined. “Where now, it’s kind of like that one loss in MMA is kind of now in the rear view mirror but it sat there present for a while because you don’t compete as much. In MMA I’m 9 and 1, and that 1 is never going to go away, each year in wrestling you start over.”

After dipping down to welterweight despite starting his career at middleweight, Chris Honeycutt has returned to the 185lb weight class. It’s been a successful homecoming thus far, but would he look elsewhere again?

“I’m happy, I feel like middleweight, I’ve settled in pretty firmly now” he said. “I’m never opposed to fighting middleweight to get a fight, or if there is a fight that people want to see I’m always willing to do that. As far as competing for a belt and spending most of my focus, will always be at middleweight, unless something changes.”

When it comes to middleweight, Bellator obviously made a big splash by bringing in Gegard Mousasi – as a guy who’s been fighting it out in the promotion for a while, does it bother Honeycutt that a name from outside has a shot at skipping the line, potentially, to a title shot?

“It doesn’t really bother me that much, even if it did bother me, what’s that going to change, you know?” the fighter replied. “It is what it is and it’s not like he wasn’t doing anything. If he comes in a little higher in the ranks he kind of deserves it.”

“As far as I’m concerned as long as I can still get my fights in and I can continue to move up the belt will eventually come, the title fight will eventually come” he continued. “It might not be as fast as I want it to come but the more quality fighters that we can get into Bellator, the harder its going to be to get the belt but the more satisfaction a fighter will have having the belt.”

“I’d rather be the champ of Bellator than some organization that no one knows about. The benefits outweigh the negatives in the long run.”

Chris Honeycutt faces Kevin Casey at Bellator 182 on Friday at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York.

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