Fight Facts: Bellator Champions Series San Diego ‘Nurmagomedov vs. Shabliy’

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.

* * *

TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,456
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 308

Bellator MMA boldly counterprogrammed the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday with a trim yet top-heavy fight card. The results were mixed, with a sleep-inducing main attraction for an unbeaten champ pitched as a future all-time great. Bellator San Diego featured the conclusion of a tourney that started in March 2023, an aging powerhouse getting his proper shine and an extremely rare armbar from a big man.

Russian Beat Russian: Getting past Alexandr Shabliy over five rounds, Usman Nurmagomedov prevailed in the Bellator lightweight grand prix. He joins Ryan Bader, Douglas Lima, A.J. McKee, Vadim Nemkov and Patrick Mix as tourney champs in the post-Bjorn Rebney era.

What Was the Drug: Nurmagomedov registered the second defense of his 155-pound strap—not counting his retention against Brent Primus when he failed a post-fight drug test for an undisclosed substance. He is the third Bellator champ at this weight to achieve this, joining Michael Chandler and Will Brooks. None have defended three times during their reign.

Nurmagomedov Things: By beating Shabliy on the scorecards, Nurmagomedov lifted his unbeaten record to 18-0 with a no-contest. He is now tied with brother Umar Nurmagomedov, as well as Movsar Evloev and Shavkat Rakhmonov, for the best undefeated record among active fighters in major promotions. Valentin Benishev (19-0) has never competed for a noteworthy organization, and Shamil Musaev (17-0-1) is incorrectly listed as 19-0-1 in other databases.

Much Like His Cousin: The Dagestan-born champ came into Bellator sporting a record of 11-0. Since then, three of his four career decision wins have come under the Bellator banner, with three of his last four bouts reaching the final bell.

Power Up: Sporting a knockout rate of 56%—while never landing or succumbing to submission—Lorenz Larkin wrecked Levan Chokheli in the first round. The longtime MMA vet has seen five of his last six outings end in the first round.

Losing Lima’s Luster: Aaron Jeffery outworked Lima to hand him his eighth defeat as a Bellator fighter. The former champ is now tied for the fifth-most losses in company history. He trails Derek Campos (nine), Patricky Freire (10), Saad Awad (11) and Georgi Karakhanyan (12).

Small Hawaiian Punches: Ejecting Mackenzie Stiller from the ranks of the unbeaten, Sumiko Inaba procured the stoppage due to strikes late in the second frame. Inaba’s five finishes as a Bellator flyweight tie her with Denise Kielholtz for the third-most in the weight division. Only Liz Carmouche (six) and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (seven) hold more.

Mostly Human: Jordan Newman moved to 7-0 as a pro by taking a close decision over Imamshafi Aliev. “Not Human” has earned all of his wins in the Bellator cage while creating a pattern of a decision win, two stoppages, and another victory via decision.

Body Kik: It took Masayuki Kikuiri over two and a half rounds to dispatch Herman Terrado with a body kick and follow-up punches. The fighter from Japan has reached the second round or beyond in eight straight outings dating back to 2019.

Did What He Should: As a substantial betting favorite of -950, Bryce Meredith handled underdog Jonathan Macalolooy and put him to sleep with a rear-naked choke. The undefeated Meredith celebrates all of his submission wins with this maneuver.

Buzzer-Beating Big Boy: Snagging an armbar on Sean Rose, heavyweight Josh Hokit elicited the tap with seconds to go in Round 1. His is the first armbar for a Bellator heavyweight since Vinicius Queiroz tapped Mark Holata at Bellator 75 in 2012.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into BCS San Diego, Chokheli (16 fights) and Terrado (22 fights) had never been knocked out, Aliev had never been defeated (nine fights) and MaCalolooy had never been submitted (five fights).