LONG BEACH, Calif. – Juan Archuleta put his wrestling to good use in his victory over Enrique Barzola at Bellator 286.
Archuleta (26-4 MMA, 8-3 BMMA) got at least one takedown on Barzola (18-7-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) in each round on Saturday, and as a result, got the unanimous decision nod by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27 at Long Beach Arena.
The fight was originally scheduled for the bantamweight division, but moved to a 141-pound catchweight on weigh-in day after Archuleta requested the change and Barzola obliged.
Archuleta came out of the gate extremely aggressively, throwing heavy shots and tagging Barzola to back him up. He shifted to a takedown roughly 90 seconds in, but Barzola denied him against the fence before breaking free. Barzola got his composure and tried to get back into the fight, but Archuleta maintained his pressure. He walked right into a Barzola takedown, though, and that prompted a scramble. Archuleta threw an illegal kick to a downed Barzola in the waning seconds, but to his luck, it only landed on the arm.
The second round started with some striking exchanges before Archuleta shot for the first takedown of the frame, which was denied. Barzola started to land some more solid strikes, which forced Archuleta to keep working for the takedowns. He got one with just over three minutes remaining, but he couldn’t do anything with it before Barzola got back up. Archuleta kept at it, though, and worked more cage control and brief takedowns in for the remainder of the round.
Archuleta knew what he needed to do in the final round, and he quickly landed a takedown. Barzola avoided being held down for too long, but valuable time got taken off the clock. Archuleta didn’t let Barzola have much space, and he kept working from the clinch and against the cage. Barzola had a late moment where he took the back and worked a rear-naked choke, but he couldn’t finish the fight.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 286 results include:
- Bobby Seronio III def. Miguel Peimbert via unanimous decision (30-27, 20-37, 30- 27)
- Islam Mamedov def. Nick Browne via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jay Jay Wilson def. Vladimir Tokov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Khalid Murtazaliev def. Khadzhimurat Bestaev via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:02
- Sumiko Inaba def. Nadine Mandiau via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 20-37)
- Weber Almeida def. Ryan Lilley via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lance Gibson Jr. def. Dominic Clark via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:49
- Cee Jay Hamilton def. Richard Palencia via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 0:12
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 286.
