Fight Facts: Bellator 276 ‘Borics vs. Burnell’

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: 3,071
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 287

Bellator MMA returned to the Show Me State for the first time since 2018 with a card that started extremely strong and tapered off after the prelims. The event, largely built off the backs of undefeated prospects, mostly went in Bellator’s favor as the majority of unbeaten fighters won in decisive fashion. Bellator 276 featured a longtime vet that has made his home in Bellator, a crusher named Roman that only moves at one speed and a thriller that placed itself on the shortlist for “Best of the Year” lists.

Close to a Clean Sweep: Throughout the course of the event, the first nine victors all closed as betting favorites. The only underdog at Bellator 276 to notch a win came in the headliner, when +225 Adam Borics upset Mads Burnell.

We Know What You Did Here: The promotion put forth a 10-fight event that brought six undefeated fighters in largely showcase matchups. Of those six, only one fighter lost: Jay-Jay Wilson, who fell short to Gadzhi Rabadanov on the scorecards.

Pace and Adjustments: In their five-round main event, Borics and Burnell battled it out to the bitter end, with Borics getting his hand raised by decision. Neither Borics nor Burnell had ever fought beyond the fourth round as pros prior to this match.

Best Non-Champ in Bellator: Phil Davis handled Julius Anglickas and picked up a unanimous decision win. The victory was Davis’ 11th since joining the roster in 2015, extending his own record for the most triumphs in Bellator’s 205-pound division.

See Also “Shogun” and Pride FC : Davis engaged in his 14th Bellator outing when he faced Anglickas. He has now competed more times with this organization than the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he fought 13 times with the UFC from 2010 to 2015.

Wonderful Fighter, Not So Wonderful Style: All six of the decision wins for “Mr. Wonderful” have come at light heavyweight, doubling the tally of the next closest fighters – four of them, including Anglickas, with three apiece.

That Fight Finder Photo Though: For just the second time in his career, Wilson went the distance. Rabadanov took him there, and the Dagestan native won on the scorecards.

Johnny Seven-Up: Claiming a decision over John Salter, Johnny Eblen improved his perfect career record to 11-0 while making it seven wins in a row as a Bellator fighter. He is tied with Brett Cooper and champ Gegard Mousasi for the fourth-most victories in Bellator middleweight history, and Alexander Shlemenko reigns supreme with 12.

Cleanest Knee You’ll Ever See: After a battle worthy of “Fight of the Year” accolades, Alex Polizzi submitted Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros early into the third round. As a pro, “Eazy” has recorded 80% of his wins by stoppage.

Gugu Can’t Go Deep: Falling short by submission to Polizzi, Augusto still managed to reach the third round for the second time in his career. The 12-fight vet known as “Gugu” has not yet left a fight in the hands of the judges, win or lose.

100% Cotton: Romero Cotton finds himself at 6-0 as a pro after laying waste to Freddy Sandoval in 99 seconds. Since his MMA debut in 2017 that went to a split decision, Cotton has recorded five straight finishes, all with Bellator.

The Law Won: It took Cody Law 77 seconds to decimate James Adcock with a series of punches. The 26-year-old has only fought under the Bellator lights, and he is now 6-0 with five wins by stoppage, and four in the opening round.

Assembling the Roman Legion: A 44-second drubbing of Kelvin Rayford led to Roman Faraldo getting his hand raised for the seventh time in seven tries. The undefeated Floridian sports a 100% knockout rate, while never needing to go beyond 9:09 of a fight yet.

Local Guy, Local High: Missouri’s Jordan Howard lifted his stoppage rate to 82% by putting Trevor Ward away with elbows after the midpoint of Round 2. Eight of his last nine wins have come within two rounds.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 276, Burnell (19 fights), Anglickas (12 fights) and Salter (23 fights) had never lost on the scorecards; Wilson had never been defeated (eight fights) and Rayford had never dropped consecutive bouts (eight fights).