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Turns in a vintage performance
Rickels defeated Guilherme Bomba via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) at Bellator 210 on Friday in Thackerville, Okla.
ANALYSIS
The story for Rickels is often the same. If he is able to land his power strikes and score takedowns, he will be in a position to win. That was the case in this fight. Large parts of this fight were spent in the clinch and on the ground. In those positions, Rickels had the advantage. He pushed the pace throughout the contest and looked solid. Rickels has struggled against tougher fighters in Bellator, but he has shown that he can consistently win fights at this level and hold a spot on Bellator main cards.
The story for Rickels is often the same. If he is able to land his power strikes and score takedowns, he will be in a position to win. That was the case in this fight. Large parts of this fight were spent in the clinch and on the ground. In those positions, Rickels had the advantage. He pushed the pace throughout the contest and looked solid. Rickels has struggled against tougher fighters in Bellator, but he has shown that he can consistently win fights at this level and hold a spot on Bellator main cards.
Fails to solve the Michael 'Venom' Page puzzle
Rickels lost to Michael Page via TKO (punches) at 0:43 of Round 2 at Bellator 200 on Friday in London.
ANALYSIS
Rickels is normally game for a brawl, but Page turned out to be too slick for him. Rickels tried to walk his opponent down for the majority of this fight but it only got him into trouble. In the second round, Page caught him with a hard straight. It cut Rickels above the eye, and he asked the referee to stop the fight. Bellator always seems to have a need for Rickels. He will most likely win more than he loses, but at this point he is mostly a gatekeeper to the stars.
Rickels is normally game for a brawl, but Page turned out to be too slick for him. Rickels tried to walk his opponent down for the majority of this fight but it only got him into trouble. In the second round, Page caught him with a hard straight. It cut Rickels above the eye, and he asked the referee to stop the fight. Bellator always seems to have a need for Rickels. He will most likely win more than he loses, but at this point he is mostly a gatekeeper to the stars.
Knocks off Adam Piccolotti on the main card of Bellator 189
Rickels defeated Adam Piccolotti via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at Bellator 189 on Friday in Thackerville, Okla.
ANALYSIS
The story of this fight was pressure from Rickels. He never stopped coming forward in this fight, and that strategy gave Piccolotti a lot of trouble. This might not have been as exciting as some of Rickels' performance in the past, but he handled all adversity and pulled out the victory. With the win, he improves to 19-4 as a professional and 13-4 in Bellator. He has not lost since falling against former lightweight champion Michael Chandler in 2015.
The story of this fight was pressure from Rickels. He never stopped coming forward in this fight, and that strategy gave Piccolotti a lot of trouble. This might not have been as exciting as some of Rickels' performance in the past, but he handled all adversity and pulled out the victory. With the win, he improves to 19-4 as a professional and 13-4 in Bellator. He has not lost since falling against former lightweight champion Michael Chandler in 2015.
Booked for Bellator 189
Rickels will face Adam Piccolotti in a catchweight bout at Bellator 189 on Dec. 1 in Thackerville, Oklahoma, Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Rickels is stepping in on short notice to face Piccolotti after Derek Anderson was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an undisclosed injury. The 29-year-old fighter is in the midst of a three-match unbeaten streak and has only lost one of his last six fights -- which came against former Bellator champion Michael Chandler. His opponent, Piccolotti, owns an overall record of 9-1 in professional fights but is coming off his first career loss (a first-round submission to Goiti Yamauchi).
Rickels is stepping in on short notice to face Piccolotti after Derek Anderson was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an undisclosed injury. The 29-year-old fighter is in the midst of a three-match unbeaten streak and has only lost one of his last six fights -- which came against former Bellator champion Michael Chandler. His opponent, Piccolotti, owns an overall record of 9-1 in professional fights but is coming off his first career loss (a first-round submission to Goiti Yamauchi).
Grinds away Aaron Derrow
Rickels defeated Aaron Derrow via TKO (punches) at 0:44 of Round 3 at Bellator 171 in Mulvane, Kan. on Friday
ANALYSIS
This fight was all one-way traffic. Rickels landed a lot of hard shots off the bat. Derrow is a veteran, and he survived the onslaught. However, he could not mount any meaningful offense. Whenever Derrow opened up, Rickels would land huge shots on the feet and on the ground. Towards the end of the second round, Rickels really began to turn it on. The referee probably should have stopped the fight at that point, but he allowed it continue. In the third, Derrow did not want anymore punishment. This time the referee saved him. Rickels will continue to be a gatekeeper to the higher levels of Bellator, but a title shot at lightweight or welterweight is unlikely.
This fight was all one-way traffic. Rickels landed a lot of hard shots off the bat. Derrow is a veteran, and he survived the onslaught. However, he could not mount any meaningful offense. Whenever Derrow opened up, Rickels would land huge shots on the feet and on the ground. Towards the end of the second round, Rickels really began to turn it on. The referee probably should have stopped the fight at that point, but he allowed it continue. In the third, Derrow did not want anymore punishment. This time the referee saved him. Rickels will continue to be a gatekeeper to the higher levels of Bellator, but a title shot at lightweight or welterweight is unlikely.