Returning from a gripping world title fight against Patricio Pitbull, Emmanuel Sanchez stepped back into the cage and the win column at Bellator 218 from Thackerville, Oklahoma. The 28-year-old Sanchez’s opponent was a familiar one, fighting with Georgi Karakhanyan in a rematch of their 2017 tussle. Sanchez back then pulled off a majority-decision win. This weekend, the fight also went to the ringside judges for unanimous decision verdict in favor of Sanchez, improving his record to 18-4.
Karakhanyan, 33, fell to 28-9-1. But it was not without trying. After Sanchez proved a menacing foe on the feet in their previous encounter, Karakhanyan would try to plan his man on the mat. The change in strategy even stole Round 1. But eventually it was no use as Sanchez’s grappling prevailed. Karakhanyan found himself on the receiving end of ground-and-pound and slippery transitions throughout the second and third periods.
All three judges agreed that Sanchez was too much, scoring the contest 29-28 across the board.
The victory sets up Sanchez for a bid in Bellator’s upcoming 16-man featherweight tournament, set to go down this fall as reported by ESPN last month. “The first round of the tournament will play out in eight fights held in one night or at least one weekend,” promotional president Scott Coker told ESPN.
Here are the rest of the results from Bellator 218:
Emmanuel Sanchez def. Georgi Karakhanyan via unanimous decision
Valentin Moldavsky def. Linton Vassell via unanimous decision
Anatoly Tokov def. Gerald Harris via R2 submission (guillotine)
Norbert Novenyi Jr. def. Will Lavine via R2 submission (head-arm choke)
Deborah Kouzmin def. Ky Bennett via unanimous decision
Johnny Eblen def. Chauncey Foxworth via unanimous decision
John Macapa def. Kevin Croom via unanimous decision
Jordan Newman def. Joseph Holmes via unanimous decision
Vladimir Tokov def. Ryan Walker via unanimous decision
Victoria Leonardo def. Malin Hermansson via R1 submission (armbar)
Nation Gibrick def. Nick Page via submission R1 (rear-naked choke)
Isaiah Gutierrez def. Aaron Vickers via unanimous decision
Luis Erives def. Craig Fairley via R2 TKO
