If Saturday was a Bellator tryout for Yancy Medeiros, consider it aced.
The 34-year-old Makaha native was the lone bright spot during a tough weekend for Hawaii mixed martial artists, winning a unanimous decision over Emmanuel Sanchez to open the main card of Bellator 279 at Blaisdell Arena.
Medeiros gave a crowd of 4,000 something to cheer about on a night that saw Ilima-Lei Macfarlane lose for the first time in her hometown.
Macfarlane, who hadn’t fought since losing the 125-pound world title in December 2020, dropped a unanimous decision to Justine Kish in one of the bigger upsets of the evening.
Fighters with Hawaii ties finished the two-day event 2-7, which doesn’t include Bobby King’s split-decision victory over Keoni Diggs in the only fight involving both fighters from Hawaii.
Macfarlane didn’t speak to media after her second loss in a row following 11 wins to begin her professional career. Two judges had the fight 29-28 while a third had Kish winning all three rounds.
Nine of 13 fights went to the scorecards with Medeiros winning by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
In his first fight at the Blaisdell and first following a run of 15 straight in the UFC, Medeiros put on an entertaining bout in knocking off Sanchez (20-8), who took the fight a class above his normal weight of 145 pounds, where he is ranked No. 6 in the organization.
“That is the most fun I’ve had being in there,” Medeiros said. “Take nothing away from Emmanuel, he came to fight. I definitely felt his mana. I thank Emmanuel for giving everyone a show too because without him I wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do in front of my fans.”
Medeiros won fight bonuses in five of his 15 bouts with the UFC and brought that exciting style to his Bellator debut.
Flashing his trademark smile throughout the bout, Medeiros won the striking game against Sanchez, landing the cleaner exchanges.
In a tip of the cap to good friend and training partner Max Holloway, Medeiros ended the bout pointing to the ground to finish the fight in the middle of the cage for the last 30 seconds, which they did.
Even in defeat, Sanchez jumped on top of the cage and licked his gloves, paying homage to former UFC world champion B.J. Penn, who was in attendance watching.
“If there’s anything I want to get better is (getting) finishes,” Medeiros said. “I seen it in (Sanchez) from the get, it’s why between every round I had to like (motion) ‘come on.’ That last 30 seconds I had to give the Holloway. This is it. I’m here for Hawaii. Let’s do this and give everybody a show.”
Macfarlane showed some rust following a 16-month break from the cage during which she had knee surgery.
After a cautious first round, the pace picked up in the second when Kish looked to submit Macfarlane with a guillotine choke and eventually fell onto Macfarlane’s back with the choke still in place.
Macfarlane transitioned to a kneebar to escape and both fighters eventually got back up before Kish scored a late takedown.
Macfarlane landed a right hand in the third round that buckled Kish, who managed to regain her composure and pick up and take Macfarlane down on her back.
When the fight was over, Kish raised her hands sensing victory while Macfarlane looked like she knew the decision that was about to be read.
The fight of the night took place in the main event as Cris Cyborg was deducted a point in the first round for an illegal knee to the head of Arlene Blencowe before winning comfortably, 49-45 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Despite the lopsided score, both fighters traded heavy shots for the full 25 minutes.
Bellator 279 results
Main card
145: Cris Cyborg (26-2) def. Arlene Blencowe (15-9), decision (unanimous), 49-45, 49-45, 49-45
135: Raufeon Stots (18-1) def. Juan Archuleta (25-4), KO (punch), :16, Round 3
125: Justine Kish (8-5) def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-2), decision (unanimous), 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
135: Patchy Mix (16-1) def Kyoji Horiguchi (29-5), decision (unanimous), 48-47, 48-47, 48-47
155: Yancy Medeiros (16-8) def. Emmanuel Sanchez (20-8), decision (unanimous), 29-28, 30-27, 30-27
Preliminary fights
135: Jordan Winski (11-4) def. Ryan Dela Cruz (12-9), decisión (unanimous), 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
120: Randi Field (3-1) def. Maraya Miller (1-2), submission (rear-naked choke), :48, Round 2
125: Sumiko Inaba (4-0) def. Whittany Pyles (3-5), KO (punch), 1:22, Round 1
170: Goiti Yamauchi (27-5) def. Levan Chokheli (10-2), submission (armbar), 3:49, Round 1
155: Bobby King (12-4) def. Keoni Diggs (9-2), decision (split), 28-29, 29-28, 30-27
145: Dayana Silva (10-7) def. Janay Harding (6-6), decision (unanimous), 30-27, 30-27, 30-27
145: Justin Gonzales (13-1) def. Kai Kamaka (9-5-1), decision (split), 28-29, 30-27, 29-28
155: Lance Gibson Jr. (6-0) def. Nainoa Dung (4-3), decision (unanimous), 30-26, 30-25, 30-25
