HONOLULU – Raufeon Stots has another one for the highlight reel – and a gold belt, too.
In the Bellator 279 co-main event, Stots (18-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) defeated former champion Juan Archuleta (25-4 MMA, 7-3 BMMA) by knockout 16 seconds into Round 3 to win the interim bantamweight title and move on in the promotion’s grand prix. The event took place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
Up until the final exchange, the fight was a relatively grapple-heavy affair. Archuleta scored a takedown early before Stots got one of his own. The second round was mostly striking, topped off by some cage control by Archuleta to close out the frame.
In the third round, Stots erased all meaning of the opening two when he threw a high kick that cracked Archuleta across the skull. The shot clipped and floored Archuleta, who was unable to recover as he was met with brutal follow-up punches.
.@raufeonstots gets it done, becoming the @BellatorMMA bantamweight interim titleholder and advances to the semi finals of the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/CU9oGBULVk
— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) April 24, 2022
With the win, Stots also advances to the semifinals of the tournament where he will face the winner of the Bellator 282 matchup between Leandro Higo and Danny Sabatello scheduled for June 24.
The interim title was implemented after undisputed titleholder Sergio Pettis suffered a knee injury in training that knocked him out of the tournament.
The thrill and the agony: Raufeon Stots and Juan Archuleta made their post-fight exits with the former moving on in the grand prix.#Bellator279 results: https://t.co/HOfHPCaMHB pic.twitter.com/VuOgu86rlE
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 24, 2022
The up-to-the-minute Bellator 279 results include:
- Raufeon Stots def. Juan Archuleta via knockout (head kick and punches) – Round 3, 0:16 – , for interim bantamweight title, grand prix opening round
- Justine Kish def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Patchy Mix def. Kyoji Horiguchi via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) – bantamweight grand prix opening round
- Yancy Medeiros def. Emmanuel Sanchez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Goiti Yamauchi def. Levan Chokheli via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:49
- Bobby King def. Keoni Diggs via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Dayana Silva def. Janay Harding via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Justin Gonzales def. Kai Kamaka via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Lance Gibson Jr. def. Nainoa Dung via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
