| Bellator 261: Johnson vs. Moldavsky | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for Bellator 261: Johnson vs. Moldavsky | ||||
| Promotion | Bellator MMA | |||
| Date | June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25) | |||
| Venue | Mohegan Sun Arena | |||
| City | Uncasville, Connecticut, United States | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bellator 261: Johnson vs. Moldavsky was amixed martial arts event produced byBellator MMA that took place on June 25, 2021, atMohegan Sun Arena inUncasville, Connecticut.[1][2]
With current heavyweight championRyan Bader moving on in theBellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament,Timothy Johnson andValentin Moldavsky competed for anBellator Interim Heavyweight World Championship.[3]
A title eliminator women's flyweight bout betweenLiz Carmouche andKana Watanabe served as the co-main of the event.[4]
A light heavyweight bout between Christian Edwards and Ben Parrish was scrapped after weigh-ins atBellator 259 after Edwards wasn't cleared to compete by the Mohegan Sun Athletic Commission.[5] After being cleared by a commission doctor on May 26, 2021, the bout was rebooked for this event.[6]
The reigning WBC Muaythai World Featherweight championLena Ovchynnikova was scheduled to fight Kyra Batara in the event prelims.[7] However, the bout was cancelled the week of the event with one of Batara's corner testing positive forCOVID-19.[8][9]
A featherweight bout between Keoni Diggs and two-timeBellator Featherweight title challengerDaniel Weichel was announced for the main card.[10]
A middleweight bout between Taylor Johnson and Lance Wright was to take place atBellator 260.[11] However, a week before the event it was announced that it was moved to this event.[12]
Light heavyweight bouts between Simon Biyong and Lee Chadwick and Christian Edwards and Ben Parrish were scheduled for this show. However, Chadwick tested positive forCOVID-19 and Parrish had to pull out of the bout, so Biyong and Edwards were matched with each other.[13]
| Main Card (Showtime) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Valentin Moldavsky | def. | Timothy Johnson | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 49–46, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Women's Flyweight | Liz Carmouche | def. | Kana Watanabe | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:35 | |
| Lightweight | Sidney Outlaw | def. | Myles Jury | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 4:44 | |
| Featherweight | Daniel Weichel | def. | Keoni Diggs | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Christian Edwards | def. | Simon Biyong | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV) | |||||||
| Featherweight | John de Jesus | def. | John Macapá | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Taylor Johnson | def. | Lance Wright | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 2:58 | |
| Bantamweight | Jaylon Bates | def. | Cody Matthews | Submission (armbar) | 2 | 4:04 | |
| Lightweight | Corey Samuels | def. | Isaiah Hokit | KO (punches) | 1 | 0:10 | |
| Lightweight | Søren Bak | def. | Bobby Lee | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
