Fight Facts: Bellator 257

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: 2,864
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 259

Bellator MMA put on its third rematch in as many headliners, this time with light heavyweight gold on the line. Two of the remaining quarterfinal grand prix matchups at 205 pounds largely went as expected, and several more massive betting favorites all came out with their hand raised. The “business as usual” Bellator 257 featured the surprising emergence of a young contender, a champ a step above his competition and an aging vet who still holds thunder in his fists.

No Oddity for These Odds: Four fighters came in to Bellator 257 as massive favorites of -600 or above, and all four won their bouts. Lance Gibson Jr. and Julius Anglickas closed at -600 and -900 respectively, while Steve Mowry hit the -1000 mark and ex-champ Julia Budd clocked in at a mighty -1375.

Powered by Sprite: Needing 25 minutes to defeat Phil Davis for the second time, Vadim Nemkov lowered his career finish rate to 85 percent. The only man Nemkov could not defeat by stoppage is Davis.

Good Luck with the Next One: Nemkov became just the fourth man in company history to successfully defend his light heavyweight throne. He achieves this feat alongside Emanuel Newton, Liam McGeary and Ryan Bader – in his six Bellator appearances, he has beaten two of those three men.

Beastin 26/9: Corey Anderson moved on to the semifinals by putting away Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the third round with punches and elbows on the ground. The stoppage marked the first time that “Overtime” has ever notched back-to-back stoppage wins under the same banner.

Controlled Demolition: Overcoming a spot of adversity, Paul Daley put Sabah Homasi away in the second round. In the process, “Semtex” scored his 34th career knockout victory, good for 81 percent of his wins. He has more knockouts on his ledger than any other fighter on the card held total wins.

Diaz vs. Daley Was 10 Years Ago: The knockout was Daley’s seventh inside the Bellator cage, tying him with Andrey Koreshkov, Hector Lombard and Michael Chandler for the fifth-most in company history. Patricio Freire holds eight, with brother Patricky Freire nine along with Douglas Lima and Michael Page.

Find the Target, Destroy the Target: While Lima is also the king when it comes to knockouts in the second round (six), Daley placed himself in second in this category by notching his fourth Round 2 knockout in the promotion. He is now tied in this spot with Ed Ruth and Patricky Freire.

Homasi Hammer: Win or lose, Homasi’s career has been largely defined by knockouts. “The Sleek Sheik” celebrates exactly two-thirds of his wins due to strikes, while two-thirds of his losses have also come by knockout.

Jewel on a Journey: The overwhelming favorite Budd took home a close split decision over promotional newcomer Dayana Silva to earn her sixth decision win as a Bellator fighter. In the process, “Jewel” set the record for the most decision victories of any female fighter in company history, breaking a tie she held with Zoila Frausto.

No Bargain on Budd: At an astounding -1375 upon closing against Silva, Budd competed as the heaviest betting favorite in Bellator women’s divisional history.

Aruban Arrival: In a losing effort, Gregory Milliard returned to the Bellator cage against Anglickas. The Aruban first made his promotional debut at Bellator 59, where he won a decision over Brandon Saling. At that time, 16 of the other 25 Bellator 257 competitors including his opponent had yet to make their professional debuts.

Tall Steve: Staying flawless as a pro by putting Shaun Asher away in 55 seconds, Mowry has finished all nine of his foes before the final bell. The 55-second drubbing marked his quickest career victory.

Ray-Ray All Day: As an MMA fighter, longtime kickboxer Raymond Daniels went the distance for the first time in his career. In fact, his decision win over Peter Stanonik was the first time that he had even competed past the six-minute mark.

Like Father, Like Gibson: It took Gibson three full rounds to defeat Marcus Surin, but he is now a perfect 4-0 in MMA. The decision nearly tripled his career cage time, which had totaled 6:22 leading up to this appearance.

The Nemkov Hunter: Karl Albrektsson captured a unanimous verdict over the debuting Viktor Nemkov, the champion’s brother. He is now the only man in the sport who has claimed victories over both Nemkovs, as he previous won a split decision against Vadim at Rizin 1 in 2016.

A Jay by Any Other Name: On the card opener, Jay-Jay Wilson came in on short ntice, missed weight and destroyed Pedro Carvalho. “The Maori Kid” is now a perfect 8-0 since making his debut in 2018, with seven wins including six finishes inside the Bellator cage.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 257, Vadim Nemkov had never competed beyond the third round (14 fights), Desiree Yanez had never lost consecutive bouts (seven fights) and Asher had never been knocked out (17 fights).