Bellator 294 Results – Carmouche Defends her Title

Bellator 294 results went down for the first half of a 2 event weekend live from the Neal S Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, HI. The event aired April 21, 2023 and aired live on Showtime.

Main Event

The main event for Bellator 294 featured women’s flyweight world champion Liz Carmouche against top ranked Deanna Bennet. Carmouche elected to put her title on the line for the bout before the match began but Bennett missed weight and lost the opportunity at the title. However, Liz could lose it and the women’s flyweight championship would have been vacant.

In the first round, the women looked ready for some kickboxing. Liz threw a spinning heal kick that missed her mark and the two went to the mat where Bennett found herself on top in Carmouche’s half guard. Bennett moved Carmouche to the cage but was unable to achieve much of an assault as Liz Carmouche moved her to full guard. The round likely ended 10-9 for Bennett who remained in top position, though she proved incapable of doing much damage. 10-9 Bennett

Round 2 had Bennett throwing more punches and kicks but landing very few. Carmouche in contrast appeared to be loading for more power shots and conserving her energy. With just under 3:30 minutes in round 2, Liz Carmouche went for a takedown and ended up on bottom. Carmouche was back to her feet with 2 minutes left in the round. The two fought from their feet until Bennett secured a takedown with 30 seconds remaining and held the position to the bell. 10-9 Bennett

In round 3, of this 5 round fight, the fighters came out more aggressively and both seemed to find their range on the feet. Carmouche controlled the center of the ring for the most part and Bennett kept punching in with her head down. 3:30 minutes left and Bennett was shooting for another takedown. For the next two and a half minutes the fighters just peppered each other with shots until the round ended. 10-9 Bennett.

Round 4 started off Bennett appearing to be the aggressor. Carmouche threw a counter leg kick which stumbled Bennett and Carmouche quickly grabbed a front head lock. Bennett moved to a single leg takedown and Carmouche kept peppering her with elbows. After a brief adjustment, Carmouche looked like she was working toward a crucifix. Deanna tried to circle behind her but eventually wound fully mounted. A couple of good strikes and Bennett was looking for an arm triangle. Bennett started to panic as it became obvious the tap was at hand. In the end, Carmouche won by round 4 arm-triangle and defended her title.

Co-main Event

Tim Johnson vs Said Sowma was the co-main event of the night. The two heavyweights looked to have become great friends before the matchup but you couldn’t tell during the fight.

Tim Johnson came out and immediately clinched Sowma against the fence and began to work knees to the thighs. He pressed the action and was even able to secure a nice takedown with 1:30 left of round one. Sowma got back to his feet shortly after and the round ended in a likely 10-9 for Johnson.

The second round began and Sowma looked to be working the distance better. Johnson pressed Sowma back into the fence repeatedly wearing on the smaller fighters stamina. With half the round remaining Sowma was trying to get to work starting off with a lead leg front kick. Johnson continued to try and close the distance with some lunging punches but Sowma stayed aware and likely got the 10-9 round.

In the final round, Johnson went back to his wrestling and had Sowma against the fence. Sowma broke out and worked off a rear leg front kick. Johnson charged in and got a good slam on Sowma but couldn’t really apply damage as Sowma was quick to his feet. With under two minutes left Sowma began to open up with the punches and a rear leg front kick that seemed to interrupt Johnson’s breath. Johnson replied in kind and pressed Sowma against the fence again as he seemed to rest a moment. Johnson exploded in the last 10 seconds looking to either finish the fight or leave an impression with the judges. 10-9 Johnson.

In the end, it was Tim Johnson who took away a very close split decision victory.

Bellator 294 Results

MAIN CARD (AIRED ON SHOWTIME 10:00PM PT)

Liz Carmouche (19-7-0) vs Deanna Bennet (13-8-1) – women’s flyweight world championship – Carmouche by 3rd round submission? (rear naked choke)

Tim Johnson (16-9-0) vs Said Sowma (8-5-0) – heavyweight bout – Johnson by split decision

Arlene Blencowe (15-10-0) vs Sara McMann (14-6-0) – women’s featherweight bout – McMann by decision

Danny Sabatello (14-2-0) vs Marcos Breno (15-3-0) – bantamweight bout – Sabatello by submission (rear naked choke)

Levan Chokheli (12-2-0) vs Michael Lombardo (13-4-0) – welterweight bout – Chokheli by unanimous decision

PRELIMS (AIRED ON SHOWTIME 8:25PM PT)

Cris Lencioni (11-3-0) vs Blake Smith (7-4-0) – featherweight bout – Lencioni by submission

Tyrell Fortune (13-3-0) vs Sergei Bilostenniy (10-3-0) – heavyweight bout – Fortune by decision

Killys Mota (15-3-0) vs Kenneth Cross (13-4-0) – lightweight bout – Mota by submission

Anthony Adams (9-4-0) vs Sharaf Davlatmurodov (19-4-1) – middleweight bout – Davlatmurodov by decision

That wraps it up for the Bellator 294 results. If you enjoyed this article and want to see more of our Bellator News (and we certainly hope you do), follow the link. This is part 1 of a 2 fight weekend for Bellator. If you would like to see the next event check here for Bellator 295 results.

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