CHICAGO – Bellator 288 took place Friday, and MMA Junkie was on-site providing live and official results.
The event took place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card aired on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In the main event, light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov (16-2 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) put his title on the line against Corey Anderson (16-6 MMA, 3-1 BMMA). The fight was a rematch from an April title bout that ended in a no contest after an accidental clash of heads left Nemkov with too deep of a cut to continue.
This time, Nemkov looked much improved and swept the scorecards after five rounds. The fight also was also the $1 million final of Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament.
In the co-feature, unbeaten Usman Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) made history when he defeated Patricky Freire (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA) to become the first Bellator champion from Dagestan, ushering in a new generation of lightweights.
Official Bellator 288 results include:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
- Vadim Nemkov def. Corey Anderson via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) – for light heavyweight title; light heavyweight tournament final
- Usman Nurmagomedov def. Patricky Freire via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-44) – for lightweight title
- Timur Khizriev def. Daniel Weichel via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Daniel James def. Tyrell Fortune via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 0:27
- Levan Chokheli def. Roman Faraldo via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
- Imamshafi Aliev def. Sean Fallon via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 3:20
- Killys Mota def. Jairo Pacheco via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Archie Colgan def. Jesse Hannam via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:50
- Sullivan Cauley def. Jay Radick via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:01
- Jordan Newman def. Jayden Taulker via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:20
- Laird Anderson def. Rob Fenicle via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:28
- Isaiah Hokit def. Matias Nader via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:48
- Wladmir Gouvea def. Kory Moegenburg via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:46
