Rafael Carvalho entered hostile territory Saturday at Bellator 190 and came away with a victory and his middleweight title still intact.
Carvalho needed just 44 seconds to land an elbow that ended the night of Alessio Sakara in his home country of Italy. The bout headlined the MMA portion of the doubleheader and aired on Spike.
The Brazilian scored his third successful title defense since winning the belt in a bout with Brandon Halsey. Carvalho picked up a split decision over Melvin Manhoef before knocking Manhoef out in the rematch.
Brandon Girtz finished Luka Jelcic in the opening two minutes, Alejandra Lara upset Lena Ovchynnikova with a rear-naked choke in the third round and Carlos Miranda downed Mihail Nica.
Bellator Kickboxing 8 featured a main event win by Raymond Daniels, as he fended off the challenge of Giannis Boukis.
Bellator 190 results
• Rafael Carvalho def. Alessio Sakara via KO (elbow/strikes) at :44 of Round 1 to remain Bellator middleweight champion
• Brandon Girtz def. Luka Jelcic via TKO (strikes) at 1:57 of Round 1
• Alejandra Lara def. Lena Ovchynnikova via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:09 of Round 3
• Carlos Miranda def. Mihail Nica via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Gregory Babene def. Tony Zanko via submission (armbar) at 2:04 of Round 1
Bellator Kickboxing 8 results
• Raymond Daniels def. Giannis Boukis via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Joe Schilling def. Filip Verlinden via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• John Wayne Parr def. Piergiulio Paolucci via TKO (referee stoppage) at 2:32 of Round 3
• Hamza Imane def. Kevin Ross via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Garbiel Varga def. Roberto Gheorghita via TKO (referee stoppage) at 2:49 of Round 2
