Fight Facts: Bellator 274 ‘Gracie vs. Storley’

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: 3,048
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 276

Bellator MMA staged a show stuck between a Ultimate Fighting Championship card and a blockbuster BKFC offering, and found itself fighting for airtime. Introducing its first five-round headliner without championship or tournament stakes, the league picked properly, as the fourth and fifth rounds proved most intriguing in the main event. Bellator 274 featured an organ-rearranging spinning back kick, an “Irish” slugger returning after a long layoff to his wrecking ways and a bantamweight record holder following his fifth fight with the company.

Worthy of Championship Rounds: For the first time in organizational history, Bellator put on a five-round headliner that was neither a title nor a tournament bout. Logan Storley used all 25 minutes to defeat Neiman Gracie on the scorecards.

They Call That a ‘Koreshkov’: In 38 seconds, Andrey Koreshkov destroyed Chance Rencountre with a spinning back kick and follow-up punches. The stoppage was the fifth from a spinning back kick in Bellator history, and the first since Koreshkov wrecked Vaso Bakocevic with one in 2018. Koreshkov is the lone Bellator fighter to record multiple finishes of this type.

The All-15 Club: Koreshkov became the seventh competitor in league history to notch 15 wins. All 15 came as a welterweight, extending his record as the winningest fighter in Bellator 170-pound history.

Koreshkov and Lima Will Meet Again: Across his 15 wins in the division, Koreshkov has now scored eight stoppages. He only trails former foe Douglas Lima and Michael Page (nine each) for the most Bellator welterweight history.

The K in Knockout Stands for K: All eight of Koreshkov’s wins inside the distance under the Bellator banner have come by knockout. He is now tied for the divisional lead alongside Lima and Page.

Picked a Peck of Pickled Georgis: After three rounds of combat, Georgi Karakhanyan fell short by unanimous decision to Adam Piccolotti. In the process, Karakhanyan suffered his record-tying 11th defeat as a Bellator fighter. He and Saad Awad share that unfortunate distinction.

Insane in the Membrane: Eight of Karakhanyan’s 11 Bellator losses have come at the hands of the judges. “Insane Georgi” further puts distance between himself and others in this category, as no other competitor in Bellator history has dropped more than five bouts on the scorecards.

Warding Off Retirement Talk: By laying waste to Brandon Bell, Brennan Ward earned his 10th finish in 10 wins with Bellator. He becomes the eighth fighter in promotional history to reach this number of stoppages.

Beating the Bell: The knockout of Bell for Ward lifted Ward’s career finish rate to 93%. Each of his last 12 victories dating back to 2012 came inside the distance.

Truest Form of a Glass Cannon: All 16 Bellator fights for Ward have ended by stoppage, win or lose. He is the lone fighter with more than 15 appearances with the organization to never go the distance.

It Was a Heavyweight Fight: Snagging a decision over Said Sowma, Davion Franklin improved his young unbeaten record to 5-0. The fight marked the first time he had fought 15 full minutes, as his decision over Ras Hylton came of the technical variety after the midpoint of Round 3.

Enter the New Breed: In this fifth appearance with Bellator – accounting for his whole career – Jaylon Bates came back to tap out Chris Disonell with a rear-naked choke. Since making his debut with a decision over Joseph Supino, “New Breed” has submitted all of his opponents.

Bates is in the Mix: As a Bellator bantamweight, Bates holds four finishes, all by submission. He is tied with Eduardo Dantas and Patrick Mix for the most stoppage wins in divisional history, and he and Mix both hold the most submissions in Bellator’s 135-pound category.

King Topples King: After a five-minute beating, the doctor advised that Aviv Gozali could no longer compete, awarding the win to Bobby King. “The King” Gozali had never before fought beyond the 4:25 mark in his previous six bouts.

Daily Dose of Vitamin D: Prevailing by decision over Justine Kish, DeAnna Bennett finds herself on her first win streak since starting her career at 8-0. “Vitamin D” has gone the distance in two-thirds of her fights in victory, and she has not finished a fight since a knockout of Michelle Ould in 2014.

Growing Up Marvelously: “Kid Marvelous” Justin Montalvo put Corey Samuels away in the first round. The 25-year-old New Yorker possesses an 80% finish rate, with four of his five wins coming within two rounds for the unbeaten fighter.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 274, Storley had never competed beyond Round 3 (13 fights), Mandel Nallo had never been stopped with strikes (10 fights, one leg injury) and Gozali had never been defeated (six fights).