Bellator 288 is primed and ready to go down later TONIGHT (Fri., Nov. 18, 2022) inside Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Ill., featuring a championship doubleheader. In the main event of the evening, Light Heavyweight kingpin, Vadim Nemkov, will rematch Corey Anderson in the Grand Prix finale. Co-headlining the event will be a highly-intriguing Lightweight title fight as Patricky Pitbull puts his 155-pound belt on the line against Usman Nurmagomedov.
Many readers check in before, during, and after the fights to share their thoughts on all of the action, which will begin at 6 p.m. ET with YouTube “Prelims” and then transition to Showtime at 9 p.m. ET for main card action. Feel free to leave a comment (or 288) about the bouts and chat with all the other Maniacs during the show — it’s always a lot of fun!
Bellator 288 Quick Results:
205 lbs.: Champion Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson
155 lbs.: Champion Patricky Pitbull vs. Usman Nurmagomedov
145 lbs.: Daniel Weichel vs. Timur Khizriev
265 lbs.: Tyrell Fortune vs. Daniel James – James via second-round TKO
170 lbs.: Roman Faraldo vs. Levan Chokheli – Chokheli via unanimous decision
185 lbs.: Imamshafi Aliev vs. Sean Fallon – Aliev via first-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
155 lbs.: Archie Colgan vs. Jesse Hannam – Colgan via first-round TKO
185 lbs.: Jordan Newman vs. Jayden Taulker – Newman via second-round submission (guillotine choke)
155 lbs.: Killys Mota vs. Jairo Pachecho – Mota via unanimous decision
205 lbs.: Sullivan Cauley vs. Jay Radick – Cauley via first-round knockout
145 lbs.: Laird Anderson vs. Rob Fenicle – Anderson via second-round TKO
145 lbs.: Isaiah Hokit vs. Matias Nader – Hokit via second-round TKO
265 lbs.: Vlad Gouvea vs. Kory Moegenburg – Gouvea via second-round TKO
Bellator 288 Play-By-Play:
Champion Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5:
Final result:
Champion Patricky Pitbull vs. Usman Nurmagomedov
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5:
Final result:
Daniel Weichel vs. Timur Khizriev
Round 1: Both men a bit tentative to start. They exchange a couple of body kicks but nothing major. Overhand right from Khizriev is blocked. Weichel eats a clean one-two from his foe. Midway through the opening round. Jab from Weichel and he lunges in with a left hook. Kick to the body lands for Khizriev. Low kick form Weichel, Khizriev comes over the top with a looping right hand. Jab from Weichel and a good counter right from Khizriev bounces his foe’s head back. Kick to the body against from Khizriev and Weichel comes in with a flying knee that catches air. Double jab from Khizriev. 10-9 Khizriev
Round 2: Both come out aggressive and Weichel lands a clean left hook. A one-two from Khizriev land. They are exchanging strikes in the center of the cage, a bit more urgency from both men here in round two. Counter right hand lands for Weichel. Uppercut barely misses its mark for Khizriev. Weichel’s striking can’t catch thier target, while Khizriev is busy throwing clean shots, but nothing that has really hurt his foe. Kick to the head is blocked by Khizriev and he throws his opponent down to the mat. Khizriev kicking the legs, but it isn’t enough action for the referee, who brings the fight back to the standing position. Double jab splits the guard of Weichel. Another nice jab for Khizriev. Weichel is cut under his left eye. He once again tries a flying knee that hits air. 10-9 Khizriev
Round 3:
Final result:
Tyrell Fortune vs. Daniel James
Round 1: They touch gloves. Hard low kick from Fortune to start things off. Another but James catches it and sends him down to the canvas. Fortune gets up and James gets a hold of him and pushes him up against the cage, Fortune reverses position. There is a stoppage in action after Fortune knees his foe in the groin area. Fortune shoots for the takedown once action resumes, and he gets it. There is not much action on the ground. Fortune delivers some shots to the side of James, but nothing seems to be hurting him. James is a sitting duck with Fortune on top of him. James tries to get up and Fortune takes his back and sinks in a rear-naked choke. It’s tight and James is fighting the hands and he reverses position and he starts landing bombs on Fortune to close out the round. Wild! Super close round. 10-9 Fortune
Round 2: James lands a huge uppercut in the opening seconds of round two that drops Fortune! He pounces and starts letting his elbows fly. One after another. The referee is giving Fortune time to recover but he has seen enough. Wow! What a debut from James!
Final result: James def. Fortune via second-round TKO
Roman Faraldo vs. Levan Chokheli
Round 1: Both men come out swinging and Chokheli goes for an early takedown, and he gets it. Chokheli nearly had a choke but Faralod escapes. Back to their feet and Chokheli is letting his fist fly and he rocks Faraldo momentarily. Chokheli goes in for the takedown, stuffed and a nice judo throw from Farlaldo, who ends up in mount position. That was smooth. Farldo is starting to let the elbows fly and Chokheli somehow reverses position and he is now in guard. Chokheli not doing much from this position. He gets some space and starts with the ground-and-pound. Faraldo tries to get back up but Chokheli is maintaining position. Faraldo scrambles, but he can’t get away from his opponents tight grasp. This was a close round but Chokheli takes it. 10-9 Chokheli
Round 2: Faraldo lands a right hand and Chokheli once again goes for a takedown, but it is stuffed. They are swinging for the fences, but Chokheli doesn’t like it one bit and grabs a hold of Faraldo and pushes him up against the cage. Chokheli is in Faraldo’s open guard. Chokheli takes Faraldo’s back and is now on the hunt for the rear-naked choke. Faraldo escapes but he eats a kick to the face from Chokheli. Chokheli grabs a hold of Faraldo and drags him to the fence, but he is eating some elbows to the side of the head for his troubles. Chokheli with a nice right but Faraldo drops him with a nice right hand and he pounces. Chokheli trying to survive while Faraldo unleashes hell with his fists. He is out of trouble for now. Faraldo now landing several blows to the side of the head and he is deducted a point for grabbing the fence. He ends the round with non-stop elbows. He would’ve won the round had it not been for the fence grab. 9-9
Round 3: Faraldo needs a finish because if he wins this round the fight will be a draw. Faraldo is swinging hard but nothing connecting clean. Chokheli shoots for the takedown but it is stuffed again. Both men have slowed quite a bit in the third and final round after throwing some major heat in the first two rounds. Left hook from Chokheli and Faraldo returns fire with a clean right hand. Chokheli changes level and he finally gets the takedown. It’s a critical takedown that will score him points in the round. Faraldo needs to work his way up to attempt to get the knockout or try to secure a submission from the ground. Chokheli has great position and he isn’t about to let it go. Chokheli gets a warning from the ref to work a bit more. Faraldo is working hard to get up, but Chokheli isn’t budging with one minute remaining in the fight. The fight ends in the same position with Chokheli on top and Faraldo trying to get up to his feet. 10-9 Chokheli
Final result: Chokheli def. Faraldo via unanimous decision
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