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Bellator 190 post-event facts: Rafael Carvalho Bellator's most successful champ – by a long shot

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Rafael Carvalho’s dominance of the Bellator middleweight division continued on Saturday when he beat Alessio Sakara for his third consecutive title defense in Bellator 190’s headliner.

Carvalho (15-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) remained unbeaten in the Bellator cage and tied the record for most consecutive 185-pound title defenses when he scored a 44-second finish of Sakara (19-12 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) in the Spike-televised headliner at Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy.

For more on the numbers behind Carvalho’s credentials, check below for 20 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 190.

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General

Betting favorites went 1-3 on the main card.

Betting favorites improved to 16-4 (with one even odds) in Bellator main events this year.

Total fight time for the four-bout main card was 31:50.

Main card

Rafael Carvalho

Carvalho’s three consecutive Bellator title defenses are the most among current champions and as many as all other champions combined. No one else has more than one.

Carvalho’s three consecutive Bellator middleweight title defenses are tied with Alexander Shlemenko for most in history.

Carvalho’s 44-second victory marked the second fastest title-fight stoppage in Bellator history. Only Brandon Halsey’s 35-second win at Bellator 126 was faster.

Carvalho extended his winning streak to 15 fights. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since his MMA debut in December 2011.

Carvalho’s six-fight Bellator winning streak is the longest active streak in the division.

Carvalho has earned 12 of his 15 career victories by stoppage.

Carvalho has earned all 12 of his career stoppage victories by knockout.

Rafael Carvalho and Alessio Sakara

Sakara fell to 3-1 (with one no-contest) since his UFC tenure ended in October 2013.

Sakara has suffered eight of his 12 career losses by stoppage.

Sakara suffered his first knockout loss since Apr. 14, 2012 – a span of 2,065 days (more than five years) and seven fights.

Brandon Girtz (15-7 MMA, 7-5 BMMA) snapped his three-fight losing skid for his first victory since November 2015.

Girtz has earned 11 of his 15 career victories by stoppage. That includes five of his seven Bellator wins.

Brandon Girtz and Luka Jelcic

Luka Jelcic (10-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.

Alejandra Lara (7-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) has earned six of her seven career victories by stoppage.

Lena Ovchynnikova (12-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) fell to 4-5 (with one no-contest) in her past 10 fights.

Ovchynnikova suffered her first submission loss since Mar. 11, 2012 – a span of 2,099 days (nearly six years) and nine fights.

Mihail Nica (6-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) had his six-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.

For complete coverage of Bellator 190, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.

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