Fight Facts: Bellator 298 ‘Storley vs. Ward’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,364
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 301

Bellator MMA continued its August tradition of staging a show at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As it has done in three of those events now, the organization put local combatant Logan Storley on the marquee, only this time as the main attraction. While much of the main card did not deliver, Storley made it count in his showcase appearance. Bellator 298 featured a number of unbeaten fighters losing their shine, a late comeback shocker knockout and a historic postlim mismatch.

No Records Are Safe: Not counting MMA debutants, five combatants came into Bellator 298 with undefeated records: Steve Mowry, Dalton Rosta, Diana Avsaragova, Jaylon Bates and Lucas Brennan. Of those five, only Brennan emerged victorious at night’s end.

Two for Sioux: Bellator has posted up in Sioux Falls four times since first traveling there in 2018. After Storley dispatched Brennan Ward in Round 2, all four of the headlining matchups for Bellator in that city have ended in the second round.

Alright, Storley Time: Putting Ward away with a barrage of punches, Storley earned his first knockout since 2019, when E.J. Brooks injured his arm and had the fight stopped at the end of the first round. It is his first finish via strikes since taking out A.J. Matthews at Bellator’s first card in Sioux Falls.

Home Away from Home: Since his 2015 professional debut against Bill Mees, Storley has competed inside of the Sanford Pentagon six times. He has emerged the victor in all six of those outings, while recording five of those wins by knockout.

Forgettable Main Card: Running back a no contest from 2022 with Mowry, Valentin Moldavsky outgrappled “Tall Steve” en route to a decision. The win on the scorecards was Moldavsky’s sixth with the promotion, passing Cole Konrad and putting him one shy of heavyweight leader Cheick Kongo.

Luck of the Irish: After over 21 months away and up a weight class, James Gallagher pulled off a split nod over James Gonzalez. The outspoken Irishman went to the scorecards for just the third time as a pro, earning his first victory at the hands of the judges since mid-2019.

Not Lightweight: Across Bellator history, a large number of bouts have been scheduled at 160 pounds, whether due to late-notice weight issues or for fighter preference. Sidney Outlaw faced Islam Mamedov at this pre-planned catchweight and won a decision, making him one of nine Bellator fighters to compete at this specific weight multiple times.

Stop It: In the lone postlim, Bellator trotted out 0-4 Eli Mefford to ultimately lose to monumental -1800 betting favorite Michael Blockhus. Mefford’s winless record checks in as the worst of any fighter to compete for the promotion in recent memory, surpassing the likes of 0-3 Keyes Nelson, as well as 0-2 and then 0-3 Rhalan Gracie.

Kish Squished: Pulling off the upset atop the prelims, Justine Kish topped formerly undefeated Avsaragova by unanimous decision. Kish has gone to decision in all four of her Bellator outings, with 12 of her 15 pro bouts hearing the final bell.

Putting the ZZZ in Barzola: Dating back to his 2015 Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, Enrique Barzola has competed 16 times. After beating Bates by unanimous verdict, he has reached the third round in all 16, with decisions rendered for 14 of those.

The Force Is with Him, Always: Brennan kept his spotless record intact by starching Weber Almeida to earn the comeback victory. “Skywalker” notched just his second knockout, while picking up his first finish outside of the first two rounds.

Chalk Up One More Russian: Debuting with Bellator and snagging a split decision call over Josh Hill, Kasum Kasumov earned just his third career win courtesy of the judges. It is the first time he has prevailed in a complete 15-minute fight, as his previous two were 10-minute affairs.

Another Day, Another Pitbull: With a guillotine choke, Leandro Higo throttled Russia’s Nikita Mikhailov in the second stanza. The man known as “Pitbull” boosted his overall finish rate to 73% with his win, and the lion’s share of his stoppages have come via sub.

A-A-Lon Done Messed Up: Outdueling Aalon Cruz, Alfie Davis picked up the decision win to put himself on his first win streak since 2020. The final horn has been heard in each of Davis’ last nine matchups, win lose or draw.

Daywoman, Fighter of the Nightwoman: Albeit losing by decision to Katerina Shakalova, Dayana Silva made her fifth walk to the Bellator cage on Friday. Just seven women have competed more times in the division than the Brazilian. Her four losses at 145 pounds tie her with three other ladies for the second-most in divisional history, all behind Arlene Blencowe’s six.

Successful Rebound Takeoff for Sully: Bouncing back from his first career defeat, Sullivan Cauley put Hamza Salim to sleep with an arm-triangle choke. “Sully” has still not competed beyond the first round after seven pro encounters.

How Very Chute Boxe of You: Lifting his knockout rate as a pro to 83%, Chute Boxe Joao Emilio product Marcirley Alves da Silva smashed Jerrell Hodge in Round 1. He has earned each of his last four wins by knockout within two rounds.

That Kind of Matchmaking: Massive -2500 favorite Jordan Oliver debuted in the sport by strangling Andrew Triolo with an arm-triangle choke in 65 seconds. Three fighters closed at Bellator 298 with lines at -1800 or above, including Blockhus and Cauley, and all three prevailed by first-round finish.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 298, Cauley had never landed a submission (six fights), Cruz had never lost on the scorecards (15 fights) and Almeida (eight fights) and Hodge (13 fights) had never been knocked out.