Bellator 183 results: Goiti Yamauchi hands Adam Piccolotti 1st loss with record submission

Goiti Yamauchi’s decision to move up to the Bellator lightweight division continued to pay off on Friday when he submitted Adam Piccolotti in the first round at Bellator 183.

Yamauchi (22-3 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) improved to 3-0 since he moved up from the featherweight division in October when he threw an onslaught of submission attempts at his opponent until Piccolotti (9-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) was forced to tap out to a rear-naked choke at the 3:19 mark of Round 1.

The lightweight bout aired on Spike as part of the Bellator 183 main card, which took place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. Prelims streamed on MMAjunkie.

The fight opened with a brief feeling-out process on the feet. As soon as they got close, Yamauchi jumped on a guillotine choke attempt. It looked good at first, but Piccolotti remained calm and waited for his moment to get free.

The grappling exchanges continued from there, with Piccolotti getting on top and landing some punches. Yamauchi eventually used the cage to stand up, then proceeded to jump on Piccolotti’s back. He locked in the rear-naked choke from a standing position before Piccolotti fell to his back and was forced to tap out.

Piccolotti suffered the first loss of his 10-fight career, and Yamauchi said he had all the confidence that would happen.

“I’ve been training a lot since my last fight,” Yamauchi said in his post-fight interview. “This is just the result of all my hard work. Adam’s a great and tough competitor, but I was better than him and I’m glad I got the win.”

With the finish, Yamauchi tied Marcin Held for the most submission victories Bellator history with six. He said he wouldn’t mind taking sole possession of the record against current Bellator lightweight champ Brent Primus (8-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA).

“Work hard and good luck in your career, because the monster is coming, baby,” Yamauchi said.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 183 results include:

• Goiti Yamauchi def. Adam Piccolotti via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:19
• Tony Johnson def. Mike Ortega via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:49
• Kaytlin Neil def. Brooke Mayo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Brandon Laroco def. Gaston Bolanos via technical submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:16
• Jaimelene Nievera def. Corina Herrera via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
• Fernando Gonzalez def. Alex Lopez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Ricardo Vasquez def. Justin Tenedora via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:39
• J.J. Okanovich def. Luis Jauregui via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 0:42
• Daniel Gonzalez def. Anthony Castrejon via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:03

For complete coverage of Bellator 183, check out the MMA Events section of the site.