Fight Facts: Bellator 293 ‘Golm vs. James’

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: 3,293
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 295

Bellator MMA wrapped up March with a bow thanks to a finish-filled event in the confines of the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The event lacked on star power but delivered with action and then some, providing plenty of knockouts and submissions to go around. Bellator 293 featured one of the biggest betting upsets in Bellator history, a slew of undefeated fighters losing their shine and a middleweight staple going out on his own terms.

Small Room, Big Violence: At night’s end, 11 of the 15 bouts ended by stoppage, including the main attraction. This tally is good for the highest number of finishes on a single Bellator card since Bellator 234 in 2019, which brought with it 20 matches to Israel.

A Much-Needed Shot in the Arm: The finish rate of 73.3% of Bellator 293 exceeded any of the promotion’s other recent events by a wide margin. The last show to eclipse that percentage was Bellator 249 in 2020, when eight of 10 bouts ended inside the distance.

When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong: Through the course of the evening, 11 fighters came in without having suffered a loss. Of those competitors, just five emerged unscathed, with Lucas Brennan (8-0) pushing his record higher than any of the others. Three different bouts pitted undefeated competitors against one another.

Fly in the Ointment, Monkey in the Wrench: Atop the bill, Daniel James punched out Marcelo Golm early into Round 3. As a pro, “The American Predator” has finished 14 of his 15 victories inside the distance, with this one coming as just his second beyond the second frame.

Turning 41 in July: Cat Zingano notched her fourth win in four appearances under the Bellator banner, taking a decision over Leah McCourt. “Alpha Cat” has already tied Olga Rubin and Sinead Kavanagh for the fifth-most victories in divisional history.

Farewell Salty: After outgrappling Aaron Jeffery to claim a decision, John Salter retired. The former title challenger amassed nine wins under the Bellator banner while only ever losing to current or future champions, seeing him in a second-place tie for the most at 185 pounds with Johnny Eblen. He and Eblen trail Alexander Shlemenko’s 12.

Archie def. Jughead: Archie Colgan kept his spotless record intact by putting Justin Montalvo away in the opening frame. “King Archie” has procured six of his seven pro wins by stoppage, with four coming in the first round.

Sully Couldn’t Land That One: Kicking off the main card, Luke Trainer tapped Sullivan Cauley with a rear-naked choke. The British fighter has earned all seven of his pro wins by finish, including five in Round 1.

So Much for That: In defeat, Cauley saw his streak of five first-round knockouts end. “Sully” has still never heard the bell to end a round as a professional, with his longest fight lasting 4:59 back in 2021.

Fun Times in Cleveland Today, Cleveland: Late into the third round, Rakim Cleveland throttled Christian Edwards with a guillotine choke. The upset earned Cleveland his 23rd career victory, which now includes a whopping 21 inside the distance.

A Kind of Magic: In only 42 seconds, “Magic” Mike Hamel stopped Nick Browne with a head kick and follow-up punches. While not the fastest in Bellator – there are eight quicker, with the list topped by Michele Martignoni’s six-second blasting of Simone D'Anna in 2018 – it is the first head kick stoppage to occur in under one minute without resulting in a clean knockout.

Bomb Choke, Bro: With less than 30 seconds remaining in the match, Adam Piccolotti landed a rear-naked choke on Mandel Nallo. Since joining the roster in 2015, “The Bomb” has performed six submissions, tying him with several other competitors for the fourth-most in company history. Goiti Yamauchi’s nine serve as the most.

Put on a Scarf, It’s Cold Outside: To move her young record to 4-0, Sara Collins hit a scarf hold armlock on former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder Pam Sorenson. In doing so, she notched the sixth in Bellator history, and just the second performed by a female fighter, joining Denise Kielholtz.

Jazz Hands: Via split decision, “Jazzy Jeff” Jefferson Creighton pulled off the massive upset over formerly unbeaten Joey Davis. While the biggest betting upset in organizational history took place when +1250 Christian Echols knocked out -2000 Pat Downey, the win for +1100 Creighton over Davis (-1700) checks in at the No. 2 spot.

Jar Jar Liked That: Recording the tap at 2:14 of Round 1, Brennan snared Josh San Diego with a rear-naked choke to earn his eighth pro win without a loss. “Skywalker” also ties the aforementioned Piccolotti with his own sixth submission under the Bellator banner. However, with all six coming in the first frame, he trails only Yamauchi’s eight in that speedy category.

Wake Up, Start Clapping: Vladimir Tokov needed 62 seconds to eject Lance Gibson Jr. from the ranks of the unbeaten with a swarm of punches. This knockout concludes the Russian’s stretch of five straight Bellator bouts that went all three rounds, spanning his whole tenure to that point.

Win One for the MMA Lab: Shortly after the midpoint of the second round, Bryce Meredith pulled off a rear-naked choke on Brandon Carrillo to boost his pro record to 4-0. All four wins for the neophyte have come by stoppage, with two knockouts and two rear-naked chokes to his credit.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 293, Montalvo (five fights), Cauley (six fights) and Gibson Jr. (seven fights) had never been defeated; Edwards had never been submitted (seven fights) and Browne had never been knocked out (15 fights).