''Bellator 278: Velasquez vs. Carmouche'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 22, 2022, at the

Neal S. Blaisdell Arena The Neal S. Blaisdell Center is a community center near downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. The complex has a multi-purpose arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, galleria, meeting rooms, Waikiki Shell and others. Constructed in 1964 on the historic Wa ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States.

Background

Bellator 278 was dedicated for military and first responders meaning that there will be no tickets on sale to the general public. The event was headlined a Bellator Women's Flyweight Title Bout between undefeated flyweight champ, Juliana Velasquez and challenger

Liz Carmouche Liz Carmouche (born February 19, 1984) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently signed to Bellator MMA, where she is the current Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion. Carmouche competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

. The event also featured two wild card qualifier bouts for the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix due to injuries removing Bellator Bantamweight World Champion

Sergio Pettis Sergio Jerome Pettis (born August 18, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bellator MMA, where he is the current Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Pettis competed in the Ultimate Fi ...

and James Gallagher from the tournament. Josh Hill was to face

Enrique Barzola Enrique Johnatan Barzola Acosta (born 28 April 1989) is a Peruvian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA. He was the lightweight winner on The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2. and he competed in the ...

with the winner later meeting Magomed Magomedov in the opening round, while the winner of the second qualifier between Jornel Lugo and Danny Sabatello would face Leandro Higo in the first round of the tournament. Due to Covid, Hill had to pull out of the bout and was replaced by Nikita Mikhailov. A bantamweight bout between Cee Jay Hamilton and Jared Scoggins was scheduled for this event. However, Scoggins pulled out of the bout for unknown reasons and was replaced by

Érik Pérez Érik Gregorio Pérez Ruvalcaba (born November 19, 1989) is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Bellator MMA promotion. A professional competitor since 2008, he has competed for Shark Fights, BAMMA, U ...

. Pérez in turn pulled out of the bout and Hamilton was not rebooked, instead being paid his show money, despite not weighing in or fighting. A lightweight bout between Tofiq Musayev and Zach Zane was scheduled for this event. However, the bout was scrapped after Zane pulled out due to unknown reasons and Tofiq wasn't rebooked against a new opponent.

Results

References

{{2022 in mixed martial arts Sports competitions in Honolulu Bellator MMA events 2022 in mixed martial arts April 2022 sports events in the United States 2022 in sports in Hawaii Mixed martial arts in Hawaii Sports competitions in Hawaii

Background

Results

See also

References