Bellator 267 results and highlights: MVP ekes out debatable split over Lima

It’s the biggest win of MVP’s career, but it’s a somewhat controversial one.

Michael Page at long last has a marquee win on his resume, but it’s not exactly one that was memorable for action and one that will be considered controversial.

In front of a partisan crowd in London, the flashy welterweight striker edged out former champion Douglas Lima by split decision over three rounds. Lima handed Page his first and only loss back in 2019 by second-round KO but now MVP has evened the score. Page started brightly with quasi-knockdowns of Lima twice in the opening round off of straight rights. Only one of those two really looked like a clean knockdown and not a case of being off-balance with Page charging forward. Lima had Page on his back for the latter part of round one through a takedown off of a missed MVP right hand. Not a lot of offense was generated from Lima but he got in sporadic ground-and-pound on Page’s head.

Round two saw Page get another potential flash knockdown in the final minute, and again while a punch landed it could’ve been seen as a mixture of the punch and a colliding of bodies that led to Lima going down. He sprung back up again but otherwise it was an all-striking affair with zero serious pace put on by either fighter. Page narrowly avoided a repeat result when he had to dodge the same uppercut off of a leg kick from Lima that felled him in their first matchup.

Page looked to have a good handle of the early part of round three but an easy body lock takedown from Lima kept him rooted to the mat for the remainder of what was frankly a lackluster fight. Many believed Lima deserved the nod but there weren’t exactly many obvious brilliant moments from either fighter to really get worked up about this one. These two combined to average about 7 strikes thrown per minute.

Doug Crosby and Eric Colon had Page up 20-18 entering the final round, whereas Ben Cartilage had it 19-19. All of the judges gave Page the 2nd and Lima the 3rd, so the opening round was the fight decider.

Lima has now unthinkably lost three straight and his offense has been closer to zilch all the way. Page could be line for a title shot against Yaroslav Amosov, and it’d finally be MVP’s first title fight of his Bellator career.

As for the rest of the card, the co-main event saw Leah McCourt notch a win over Jessica Borga in a contest that can best be described as having happened. McCourt is the #5 ranked women’s featherweight contender in Bellator and while she’s not known for striking, this is pretty much how she beat a quickly fatigued Borga.

UFC veteran Robert Whiteford saw his fight with Andrew Fisher end in a no contest after one too many pokes from Fisher proved too much for Whiteford’s eye balls. You honestly could’ve considered this a DQ given it happened three times but this is MMA.

Light heavyweight Luke Trainer put away Yannick Bahiti with strikes, but really it was a clever elbow to the eye that left Bahati collapsing in a heap. A few more punches ended things but it was definitely the elbow that proved to be the real fight ender. The main card opener saw lightweight Tim Wilde win a well-paced fight over Yves Landu in his first fight since November 2019.

Rest of the main card

Leah McCourt def. Jessica Borga via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Robert Whiteford vs. Andrew Fisher ruled a no contest due to eye pokes at 2:50 of Round 2

Luke Trainer def. Yannick Bahati via TKO (strikes) at 2:50 of Round 2

Tim Wilde def. Yves Landu via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card results

Lewis Long def. Michael Dubois via submission (rear-naked choke) at :41 of Round 1

Davy Gallon def. Kane Mousah via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Elina Kallionidou def. Petra Castkova via submission (heel hook) at 2:07 of Round 1

Jack Grant def. Nathan Jones via TKO (punches) at 2:16 of Round 1

Fabacary Diatta def. Nathan Rose via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Chiara Penco def. Katharina Dalisda via submission (armbar) at 2:45 of Round 1

Khurshed Kakhorov def. Jair Junior via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)