Robert Cartagena

Bellator flyweight DeAnna Bennett delivered an impressive performance at Bellator 266 Saturday night, shocking and emphatically defeating Alejandra Lara via unanimous decision. Bennett won via shutout across the judges’ scorecards, earning scores of 30-27 and 30-26 (twice). SFBay scored the bout 30-27 for Bennett. As big as her Showtime-televised victory was, the bigger victory, though, was realizing her dream of competing at home in the Bay Area.

Newly-crowned Bellator Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader appeared on his way to a dominant title defense against Cheick Kongo Saturday night inside the SAP Center in San Jose. But an inadvertent eye poke to Kongo derailed a definitive finish and resulted in the Bellator 226 main event being declared a no contest. Though he technically retained his title, Bader (27-5, 1 NC) said post-fight that it was unfortunate the fight ended under such circumstances.

Robert Cartagena/SFBay Ilima-Lei Macfarlane answers questions during the Bellator 220 post-fight press conference at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 27, 2019. Bellator Women’s Flyweight Champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane made her third successful title defense against Veta Arteaga Saturday night inside the SAP Center – but not in the manner she may have expected.