Bellator 275 results: Gegard Mousasi steamrolls Austin Vanderford in 85 seconds to defend title

Gegard Mousasi handed Austin Vanderford his first pro loss in quick, devastating fashion.

“The Dreamcatcher” defended his middleweight championship against Vanderford in the main event of Friday’s Bellator 275 show at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.

Mousasi had the Irish crowd fired up walking out to “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond.

Both men traded shots early, but Mousasi hurt Vanderford quickly with a left hand. As Vanderford went for the takedown, Mousasi sprawled and unloaded on the challenger before getting the stoppage just 85 seconds into the bout.

Following the victory, Mousasi finally felt confident to declare himself the best middleweight in the world.

Sinead Kavanagh guts out knee injury to defeat Leah McCourt, earn rematch with Cris Cyborg

In a battle to determine Ireland’s best female featherweight, Leah McCourt took on recent title challenger Sinead Kavanagh in the co-main event.

McCourt got the fight to the mat quickly, right where she wanted it to go. Around the halfway point of the opening round, Kavanagh was able to scramble on top and search for a kimura. The SBG Ireland standout worked extremely hard for the submission, but McCourt battled out of it and got back to her feet before the bell.

With Conor McGregor cheering her on from the audience, Kavanagh was able to maintain control against the fence while landing strikes. McCourt saw an opening for a potential guillotine before securing a takedown, only to have Kavanagh use the momentum to get on top. All of a sudden, Kavanagh fell to her back with an apparent knee injury and McCourt ended the round on top. Upon the replay, it looked as if Kavanagh injured the left knee on a takedown attempt.

Knowing she was probably down two rounds, McCourt targeted the knee with kicks to start Round 3. Kavanagh gutted it out with control against the fence, but McCourt ended up on top as the fight hit the floor with around three minutes to go, before moving to full mount. Kavanagh battled out of the position, but McCourt looked for a leg lock. Again, Kavanagh gutted it out, ended up in full mount, and capped off the bout landing big shots to pick up a gutsy decision win.

Following the victory, the broadcast team announced that, per Scott Coker, Kavanagh will fight featherweight champion Cris Cyborg “very soon.” Cyborg needed just over a minute to stop Kavanagh in their first meeting just three months ago at Bellator 271.

Elsewhere on the main card, in an unfortunate ending, Ciaran Clarke picked up a TKO victory after opponent Abou Tounkara suffered a dislocated shoulder at the end of a competitive opening round.

Khasan Magomedsharipov — the younger brother of Zabit Magomedsharipov — also improved his pro record to 7-0 with a dominant grappling display against Jose Sanchez to sweep the scorecards, while Jornel Lugo remained undefeated in the main card opener with a unanimous decision win over Brian Moore.

Check out full Bellator 275 results below:

Main Card

• Gegard Mousasi def. Austin Vanderford via TKO (punches) — Round 1, 1:25
• Sinead Kavanagh def. Leah McCourt via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ciaran Clarke def. Abou Tounkara via TKO (shoulder injury) — Round 1, 5:00
• Khasan Magomedsharipov def. Jose Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jornel Lugo def. Brian Moore via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

• Brett Johns def. Khurshed Kakhorov via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 3:00
• Davy Gallon def. Charlie Leary via TKO (punches) — Round 2, 3:01
• Stephanie Page def. Danni McCormack via TKO — Round 1, 1:46
• Darragh Kelly def. Junior Morgan via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:47
• Vladimir Tokov def. Daniele Scatizzi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gokhan Saricam def. Kirill Sidelnikov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Nathan Kelly def. Scott Pedersen via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lee Hammond def. Jamie Hay via TKO — Round 1, 3:32