King vs Cruz

Who won King vs Cruz?

Aalon Cruz beat Bobby King by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of Bellator 295, on Saturday 22nd April 2023 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Aalon Cruz.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

King vs Cruz stats

Bobby King stepped into the octagon with a record of 12 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 5 by submission.

Aalon Cruz made his way to the cage with a record of 10 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by knock out and 2 by submission.

Bobby King's Bellator record stood at 3-3-0, while Aalon Cruz's came in at 1-1-0.

The stats suggested Cruz had an advantage in power over King, with a 40% knock out percentage over King's 25%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested King had a large advantage over Cruz, boasting a 42% submission rate over Cruz's 20%.

Bobby King was the older man by 6 years, at 40 years old.

Cruz had a height advantage of 3 inches over King. That also extended to a 6-inch reach advantage.

King was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 3 more fights, and made his debut in 2016, 2 years and 5 months later than Cruz, whose first professional fight was in 2013. He had fought 8 more professional rounds, 43 to Cruz's 35.

King vs Cruz form

King had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Gadzhi Rabadanov at Bellator MMA on 22nd July 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel, Tacoma, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Keoni Diggs at Bellator 279 on 23rd April 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Aviv Gozali at Bellator 274 on 19th February 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Before that, he had been beaten by Alexander Shabliy at Bellator MMA on 3rd December 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

He had defeated Nick Newell at Bellator 260 on 11th June 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Activity check

King's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 10 months and 17 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 29 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on King vs Cruz?

Bobby King was a 4/5 (-130) favourite going into the contest, while Aalon Cruz made his way into the ring at 10/11 (-110) with oddsmakers.