Juliana Velasquez made the first successful defense of her flyweight title when she faced Denise Kielholtz in the headliner of Bellator 262. MMA event aired live on Showtime from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT on Friday July 16.
The scheduled for five rounds championship bout went a full distance. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Velasquez. One judge gave the same to Kielholtz. As a result, the champion retained her title by split decision.
In addition to the win Velasquez remains udnefeated and updates her record to 12-0. Kielholtz, who is a reigning kickboxing champion, drops to 6-3 in MMA.
“I think I would be clinching a bit more, her striking didn’t surprise me, but I felt that I did enough to retain the title,” Juliana Velasquez said after the fight.
“I beat her with my jab, if you look at her face, it’s messed up, if you look at mine, my face is fine. I think people in the audience favor her because she has a kickboxing style and I counter, but I think it was my boxing that was the difference tonight.”
“When I come in here, I don’t think of myself as a champion, I think of myself as someone who needs to earn the belt and tonight I felt that I did that.”
Get the full fight results from Bellator 262.
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