Bellator put on another one of its tentpole events on Saturday with Bellator 220, which took place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., with a main card on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
There were two championship fights on the card, and each produced a very different result. In the main event, Rory MacDonald (20-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 BMMA) held on to his welterweight title, but only because his matchup with Jon Fitch (32-7-2 MMA, 1-0-1 BMMA) was deemed a draw. And in the co-headliner, one of the worst cuts in recent memory gave Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) a women’s flyweight title defense over Veta Arteaga (5-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA).
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for 25 post-event facts from Bellator 220..
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General
Betting favorites went 4-0 on the main card. One fight ended in a draw.
Betting favorites remained 4-1 (with one no contest and one draw) in Bellator main events this year.
Total fight time for the five-bout main card was 1:08:22.
Main card
MacDonald is 2-3-1 in his past six fights dating back to July 2015.
MacDonald vs. Fitch marked the first title fight in Bellator history to end in a draw.
Fitch is 7-1-1 in his past nine fights, dating back to October 2013. His only loss in that stretch came to Rousimar Palhares.
Fitch’s six-fight unbeaten streak is his longest since 2010.
Macfarlane’s three consecutive Bellator title defenses are tied for most among current champions.
Macfarlane’s nine Bellator victories are most among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s nine-fight Bellator winning streak in the third longest active streak in the organization behind A.J. McKee (13) and Michael Page (10).
Macfarlane’s nine-fight Bellator winning streak in the longest among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s seven stoppage victories in Bellator competition are most among female fighters in the organization.
Macfarlane’s seven stoppage victories in Bellator flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Macfarlane has earned eight of her 10 career victories by stoppage.
Macfarlane earned the second knockout victory of her career and first since her MMA debut on Jan. 17, 2015 – a span of 1,561 days (more than four years) and nine fights.
Arteaga suffered the first stoppage loss of her career.
Benson Henderson’s (27-8 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) improved to 4-2 since he returned to the lightweight division in August 2016.
Henderson’s three-fight MMA winning streak is his longest since 2011.
Henderson’s three-fight Bellator winning streak in lightweight competition is tied with Michael Chandler for the second longest active streak in the division behind Patricky Freire (five).
Henderson improved to 2-3 in decisions under the Bellator banner after going 9-1 on the scorecards during his UFC career.
Liam McGeary (13-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) has lost four of his past six fights after starting his career 12-0.
Gaston Bolanos (5-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage.
Nathan Stolen (7-5 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) suffered his fourth consecutive loss to extend the longest skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since July 2017.
Stolen fell to 1-5 in his past six fights dating back to May 2017.
Stolen suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
For complete coverage of Bellator 220, check out the MMA Events section of the site.