Bellator 225: Sergei Kharitonov stops Matt Mitrone as Vitaly Minakov bounces back
Monday 26 August 2019 13:31, UK
A round-up of Saturday's Bellator 225 card, in which all 14 fights finished inside the distance.
Sergei Kharitonov and Matt Mitrione met in the cage for a second time this year, after February's brawl was declared a 'no-contest' following an accidental groin strike which ensured the Russian was unable to continue.
On the second time of asking, Kharitonov moved to 30-7 with a second-round TKO of his American opponent.
Mitrione was edging the bout in the early exchanges, but issues with his mouthpiece which fell out three times stalled his momentum. Early in the second round, Kharitonov caught him with a vicious right hook, and followed it up with an uppercut and a knee which ended the contest.
Earlier in the card, Vitaly Minakov bounced back from his first career loss to defeat Tim Johnson within the first round. 'The New Emperor' overwhelmed former UFC star Johnson with a thunderous KO, as the former Bellator heavyweight champ got his career back on track following a controversial decision loss to Cheick Kongo in February.
After drawing attention to the plight of the Amazon Rainforest at the weigh-in, Colombian Alejandra Lara backed it up with a first-round TKO of Taylor Turner.
Elsewhere on the Connecticut card, Yaroslav Amosov moved to 22-0 with a second-round D'Arce choke submission win over David Rickels in a 175lb catch-weight fight.
Meanwhile, Tyrell Fortune (7-0) defeated Rudy Schaffroth thanks to a second-round rear-naked choke.
Bellator 225 results
Main Card:
Sergei Kharitonov (30-7, 2 NC) defeated Matt Mitrione (13-7, 1 NC) via TKO (punches) at 1:24 of round two
Vitaly Minakov (22-1) defeated Tim Johnson (12-6) via KO (punch) at 1:45 of round one
Alejandra Lara (8-3) defeated Taylor Turner (4-6) via TKO (punches) at 3:44 of round one
Yaroslav Amosov (22-0) defeated David Rickels (21-6, 2 NC) via submission (D'Arce choke) at 4:05 of round two
Tyrell Fortune (7-0) defeated Rudy Schaffroth (6-1, 1 NC) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:08 of round two
Preliminary Card:
Khonry Gracie (2-1) defeated Oscar Vera (0-2) via submission (armbar) at 2:50 of round one
Aviv Gozali (3-0) defeated Eduard Muravitskiy (9-9) via submission (heel hook) at :11 of round one
Sabah Homasi (13-8) defeated Micah Terrill (1-1) via knockout (punch) at :17 of round one
Austin Vanderford (8-0) defeated Joseph Creer (6-1-1) via TKO (doctor stoppage due to cut) at 5:00 of round two
Ricky Bandejas (12-3) defeated Ahmet Kayretli (8-4, 1 NC) via knockout (punch) at 1:21 of round one
Chris Disonell (3-3) defeated Mike Kimbel (3-2) via TKO (punches) at 4:54 of round one
Nick Newell (16-2) defeated Corey Browning (5-3) via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:5
Connor Dixon (1-0) defeated Kastriot Xhema (3-4, 1 NC) via submission (armbar) at 2:08 of round three
Jon Manley (12-6) defeated Thiago Rela (10-8) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:47 of round three
