Juliana Velasquez maintained her undefeated record at Bellator 254 and managed to dethrone Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, earning the promotion’s Flyweight World Championship. It was a close matchup by all accounts, as was to be expected when the promotion announced that two unbeaten Flyweights would be clashing at the very top of their games. Surprisingly, the match was won on the feet more than anything as Velasquez shut down MacFarlane’s takedowns over and over again, landing the heavier punches in every striking exchange.
“This is like a gold medal I didn’t win in judo,” Velasquez said during her post-fight interview. MacFarlane was also gracious in defeat despite it being the first time for it in her career: “You could say I coulda, woulda, shoulda, but at the end of the day, she outperformed me. Her gameplan was spot on. She’s the champion. She deserves it.” Elsewhere on the card, Robson Gracie Jr fought in a delayed matchup with Billy Goff and ended up losing by knockout in the second round to suffer the first defeat of his professional MMA career.
🦵💥 That connected!@JuVelasquezMMA and @Ilimanator are headed into the championship rounds of their #Bellator254 main event LIVE & FREE now on @CBSSportsNet.#USOHolidays #MMA #Bellator pic.twitter.com/XYzq31wFEf
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) December 11, 2020
Bellator 254 Full Results
Juliana Velasquez defeats Ilima-Lei Macfarlane via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 48-47)
Magomed Magomedov defeats Matheus Mattos via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Linton Vassell defeats Ronny Markes via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:37
Romero Cotton defeats Justin Sumter via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:36
Billy Goff defeats Robson Gracie Jr. via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:46
Cody Law defeats Kenny Champion via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 4:44
Grant Neal defeats Maurice Jackson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:59
Shamil Nikaev defeats Kemran Lachinov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
