| Bellator 262: Velasquez vs. Kielholtz | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for Bellator 262: Velasquez vs. Kielholtz | ||||
| Promotion | Bellator MMA | |||
| Date | July 16, 2021 (2021-07-16) | |||
| Venue | Mohegan Sun Arena | |||
| City | Uncasville, Connecticut, United States | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bellator 262: Velasquez vs. Kielholtz was amixed martial arts event produced byBellator MMA that took place on July 16, 2021 atMohegan Sun Arena inUncasville, Connecticut.
UndefeatedJuliana Velasquez made her first title defense of theBellator MMA Women's Flyweight World Championship against top-tier kickboxerDenise Kielholtz. The Brazil native has won all six of her fights in Bellator, including three by finish. Velasquez, 34, has a background in judo. Ranked #4 Kielholtz (6-2) is theBellator Kickboxing Women's Flyweight Championship and has won four straight in MMA. She is 6-1 under the Bellator MMA banner.[1][2][3][4]
Two heavyweight bouts were announced for the main card: the #5 ranked Tyrell Fortune faced the #7 rankedMatt Mitrione, while the #4 rankedLinton Vassell was expected to meet the promotional newcomerMarcelo Golm.[5] On July 12, the bout between Vassell and Golm was scratched after Vassell suffered an injury.[6][7]
FormerBellator Women's Featherweight title challengerArlene Blencowe foughtDayana Silva on the main card.[8]
Travis Davis faced the undefeatedJohnny Eblen in a middleweight bout, which served as the main card opener.[9]
A heavyweight bout betweenRonny Markes and Said Sowma took place on the preliminary portion of the event.[10]
A welterweight bout between the undefeated Roman Faraldo and promotional newcomer John Ramirez was announced for the event prelims.[11] However, Faraldo had to pull out off the bout after his wife went into labor.[12]
| Main Card (Showtime) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Women's Flyweight | Juliana Velasquez (c) | def. | Denise Kielholtz | Decision (split) (48–47, 47–48, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Tyrell Fortune | def. | Matt Mitrione | TKO (submission to punches) | 1 | 1:45 | |
| Bantamweight | Matheus Mattos | def. | Cee Jay Hamilton | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:33 | |
| Women's Featherweight | Arlene Blencowe | def. | Dayana Silva | TKO (punches) | 3 | 1:00 | |
| Middleweight | Johnny Eblen | def. | Travis Davis | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Said Sowma | def. | Ronny Markes | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:09 | |
| Featherweight | Cody Law | def. | Theodore Macuka | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:54 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Diana Avsaragova | def. | Gabriella Gulfin | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Adil Benjilany | def. | Johnny Soto | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Charlie Campbell | def. | Nicolas Giulietti | TKO (leg kicks and punches) | 2 | 1:30 | |
