Fight Facts: Bellator 271 ‘Cyborg vs. Kavanagh’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,014
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 273

Bellator MMA came back stateside after a brief international tour to post up in Florida for the first time since 2013. The headliner, which brought with it a champ that served as the biggest betting favorite in company history, prevailed in predictably destructive fashion. Bellator 271 featured a record-smasher four fights in and already changing the books, a flying knee among flying knees and the uncrowned Bellator kimura king doing his thing.

Shock and Awesome: Needing only 92 seconds to dismantle Sinead Kavanagh, Cristiane Justino put herself in the top 10 quickest knockouts in Bellator women’s divisional history. Only eight women have ended fights due to strikes faster than “Cris Cyborg,” one of which was Kavanagh herself, who needed just 34 seconds to put away Maria Casanova at Bellator 187 in November 2017.

Calling Any Contender: “Cris Cyborg” earned her fourth finish in as many appearances with Bellator. She is already tied for the third-most stoppage wins among all women in Bellator history with Arlene Blencowe, and behind only Denise Kielholtz (five) and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (seven).

Bellatoriat: Three of Justino’s four Bellator wins have now come by knockout. Tied with Amanda Bell and Julia Budd, they are all one shy of Blencowe’s four.

Does Kayla Want That Smoke? The Brazilian-American champ earned her 20th career win by knockout by laying waste to Kavanagh. This accounts for an astonishing 80% of her triumphs, with 12 of those coming in the first round.

Odds Are Not Just a Number: Blowing away the record set in April, Justino closing at -3500 against the +1750 Kavanagh made her the largest betting favorite in Bellator history. The old record was set at Bellator 255 by Magomed Magomedov, who faced C.J. Hamilton as a -3050 favorite.

On the Other Hand: Kavanagh’s five defeats in the Bellator cage sets a record for the most for any female fighter in company history. The loss broke a tie with six other women including Blencowe and Bell.

Pico Pace: For the first time in his career, Aaron Pico went the distance. Win or lose, each of his previous 11 outings had ended by stoppage. Pico won a decision over Justin Gonzales to improve his win streak to five in a row.

Veteran Savvy: Handling former Invicta Fighting Championships featherweight champ Pam Sorenson to win a one-sided decision, Blencowe earned her eighth victory under the Bellator banner. She now trails just Budd (nine) and Macfarlane (10) for the most triumphs among all female fighters to step foot in the Bellator cage.

Australian Judge Influencer: Four of the Aussie’s eight wins with Bellator have come on the scorecards, following her decision win over Sorenson. Zoila Frausto (five) and Budd (six) are the only two women in Bellator history to earn more victories at the hands of the judges.

Pam Not So Bam: By going the distance against Blencowe, Sorenson has been involved in 10 judges’ decisions in her 13-fight pro career. This includes four of her last five outings dating back the last four years.

Mowing Them All Down: Advancing his unbeaten record to 10-0, Steve Mowry tapped Rakim Cleveland in the first round. As a pro, Mowry has only fought into the third round one time, with all 10 of his victories coming inside the distance.

Big Man Subs Work: Eliciting the tap from Cleveland due to a kimura in the opening frame, Mowry is now one of the heavyweight recordholders for the most submissions in divisional history along with Blagoy Ivanov. They have both earned four submission wins with Bellator.

King Kimura: Wrenching the kimura to get the tap, three of Mowry’s last five victories have been by this move. He remains the only fighter in company history to have landed more than one kimura.

Called His Shot: Even though his opponent Robert Turnquest missed weight by nearly seven pounds, Roman Faraldo accepted the matchup and obliterated Turnquest in 77 seconds with a picturesque flying knee. Now 6-0 as a pro, the American Top Team prospect has won by knockout within two rounds in each of his six appearances.

Annual Knee Delivery: Exactly one year prior to his Bellator 271 appearance, Faraldo competed at Bellator 252 and wrecked Pat Casey with a flying knee. Faraldo is now the fourth fighter in promotional history to register multiple flying knee knockouts, joining Brian Rogers, Adam Borics and Michael Page.

Laying Down the Law: Cody Law met Colton Hamm and procured a stoppage due to elbow strikes. Unbeaten as a pro at 5-0, all five of his victories have taken place inside the Bellator cage, with three coming by first-round finish.

Bit of a Hype Train: As a member of the preliminary card, Law closed as a -3000 betting favorite against Hamm. Law is now one of four fighters in organizational history to come in as betting favorites of -3000 or higher, and one of six above -2500. All six of those overwhelming favorites won.

A Humbling Feeling: With +850 odds against him, Ethan Hughes sprang the fifth largest betting upset in Bellator history by dispatching -1300 favorite Mahmoud Sebie Fawzy in the third frame. It is the most substantial upset in a Bellator cage since +900 Joe Taimanglo tapped Darrion Caldwell with a guillotine choke at Bellator 159 in 2016.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 271, Tyrell Fortune (13 fights) and Muhammed DeReese (13 fights) had never lost on the scorecards, Gonzales had never been defeated (12 fights) and Taylor Turner had never competed into the third round (12 fights).