Benson Henderson , even at 38 years of age, can still get the job done.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder ran circles around Peter Queally and strengthened his position in the Bellator MMA lightweight division with a lopsided unanimous decision in their Bellator 285 headliner on Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. All three judges arrived at the same verdict: 49-45 for Henderson (30-11, 7-6 Bellator), who was deducted a point for an inadvertent low blow in the second round.
Nothing worked for Queally (13-7-1, 2-3 Bellator). Henderson pulled when the Irishman pushed, lured him into a tarpit clinches, executed takedowns, racked up points with ground-and-pound—his knees to the thigh were particularly effective—and kept “The Showstopper” bottled up along the fence. Even at range, the MMA Lab mainstay was the superior fighter. He buried kicks into both of Queally’s legs and opened multiple cuts with standing upward elbows. The experience was nothing short of miserable for the hometown underdog.
In the co-main event, American Top Team’s Yoel Romero sent the retiring Melvin Manhoef out on his shield, as he battered the Dutch knockout artist unconscious with savage elbows from half guard in the third round of their pairing at 205 pounds. Romero (15-6, 2-1 Bellator) sealed the deal 3:34 into Round 3, winning for the second time in as many outings.
It was an exercise in unsurprising futility until the finish. Romero landed a takedown, made a brief pass at a forearm choke and then tuned up the brutality. He drove one elbow into Manhoef’s exposed face, followed with another and continued to fire away until the Dutchman lay supine and unconscious at the base of the cage.
Manhoef (32-16-1, 4-5 Bellator) closes out his remarkable mixed martial arts career—it began on Dec. 2, 1995—on a two-fight losing streak.
Meanwhile, Next Generation MMA representative Leah McCourt rebounded from her February defeat to Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 275 with a unanimous decision over Dayana Silva in a three-round women’s featherweight showdown. Scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27, all for McCourt (7-2, 6-1 Bellator).
Silva (10-8, 1-3 Bellator) did some damage with sneaky jabs, straight right hands and lunging left hooks but too often played into her opponent’s hands. McCourt drew the Nova Uniao-trained Brazilian into one close-quarters exchange after another, piling up points with knees to the body and short punches to the head in the clinch. It devolved into something of a slog down the stretch, though Silva largely failed to exploit the openings the onset of fatigue afforded her.
Elsewhere, crisp combination punching and undying stick-to-itiveness carried Pedro Carvalho to a unanimous decision over former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Mads Burnell in a three-round featherweight feature. All three judges sided with Carvalho (13-6, 6-3 Bellator): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Two closely contested rounds gave way to the decisive third. There, Carvalho worked over the Dane’s body with punches, kicks and knees, secured a takedown inside the first 90 seconds and swamped the Arte Suave standout with positional control and ground-and-pound. Burnell (16-5, 3-2 Bellator) was never in danger of being finished, but he lacked the gas and wherewithal to get back to his feet when doing so was paramount.
Further down the main draw, undefeated SBG Ireland prospect Ciaran Clarke dispatched Rafael Hudson with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their catchweight showcase at 150 pounds. The resilient Clarke (6-0, 6-0 Bellator) drew the curtain 2:50 into Round 3.
A short-notice substitution for Georges Sasu, Hudson (5-4, 0-1 Bellator) watched his shot an upset come and go. He staggered Clarke with a thudding right hand in the first round, powered into top position and fired away with punches in his bid for a finish. The Irishman kept his cool under duress, threatened with two armbars from his back and lured Hudson out into deeper water. Clarke turned the tide in Round 2 and carried his momentum into the third, where he executed a takedown, moved to his counterpart’s back and cinched the choke after an extended struggle in the canvas.
One of Clarke’s stablemates took notes. Former Cage Warriors champion Karl Moore made a triumphant return to the cage following a three-year absence and submitted Karl Albrektsson with a face crank in the second round of their featured light heavyweight attraction. Albrektsson (13-4, 2-2 Bellator) conceded defeat 3:36 into Round 2.
Moore (10-2, 2-0 Bellator) withstood a harrowing exchange at the end of the first period—Albrektsson felled the SBG Ireland rep with an elbow strike from the clinch, climbed to mount and flurried with ground-and-pound—that nearly resulted in his being finished. The respite between rounds allowed him to clear his head. Moore struck for a takedown midway through the middle stanza, progressed to the back and put himself in position for the crank. His crushing squeeze drew out the tap soon after.
The loss snapped a four-fight winning streak for Albrektsson.
In other action, Brett Johns (19-3, 2-1 Bellator) cruised to a unanimous decision over Jordan Winski (12-4, 1-2 Bellator) in a three-round bantamweight battle, earning 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26 scores from the judiciary; Luca Poclit (8-1, 1-0 Bellator) put Dante Schiro to sleep (9-4, 1-2 Bellator) with a reverse arm-triangle choke 4:31 into the second round of their welterweight pairing, launching himself into “Submission of the Year” consideration in the process; Brian Moore (15-9, 6-5 Bellator) outpointed Arivaldo Lima da Silva (19-10, 0-1 Bellator) in a three-round bantamweight scrap, sweeping the scorecards with 30-27s across the board; Kenny Mokhonoana (4-0, 1-0 Bellator) choked Alex Bodnar (4-2, 0-1 Bellator) with a mounted guillotine 2:42 into the first round of their featherweight tilt; Darragh Kelly (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) laid claim to a unanimous verdict—30-27, 30-26, 30-26—over Kye Stevens (3-2, 0-1 Bellator) in a three-round lightweight confrontation; Kane Mousah (14-4, 3-2 Bellator) took a unanimous decision from Georgi Karakhanyan (31-14-1, 9-12 Bellator) in a three-round lightweight affair, drawing 30-27 marks from all three judges; and Asael Adjoudj (4-1, 2-1 Bellator) cut down Jordan Barton (7-3-1, 1-2 Bellator) with a head kick and follow-up punches 2:39 into the first round of their featherweight encounter.
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