Clarke vs Mafi

Who won Clarke vs Mafi?

Ciaran Clarke beat Darius Mafi by submission in the 3rd round during the prelims of Bellator Champions Series, on Friday 22nd March 2024 at SSE Arena in Belfast.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 135 pounds (9.6 stone or 61.2 KG).

Clarke vs Mafi stats

Ciaran Clarke stepped into the octagon with an undefeated record of 8 wins, zero losses and 0 draws, 1 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 4 by submission.

Darius Mafi made his way to the cage with a record of 5 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

Ciaran Clarke's Bellator record stood at 9-0-0, while Darius Mafi's came in at 0-1-0.

The stats suggested Mafi had a massive power advantage over Clarke, boasting a 80% knock out percentage over Clarke's 13%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Clarke had a large advantage over Mafi, boasting a 50% submission rate over Mafi's 20%.

Ciaran Clarke was the younger man by 31 years, at years old.

Clarke was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 2 more fights, and made his debut in 2019, 2 months earlier than Mafi, whose first professional fight was in 2019. He had fought 15 more professional rounds, 24 to Mafi's 9.

Clarke vs Mafi form

Clarke remained undefeated as a professional, stopping 1 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Przemyslaw Gorny at Bellator 299 on 23rd September 2023 by submission in the 2nd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

Previous to that, he had beaten Leonardos Sinis at Bellator Dublin on 25th February 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Rafael Hudson at Bellator 285 on 23rd September 2022 by submission in the 3rd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin.

Before that, he was victorious against Abou Tounkara at Bellator MMA on 25th February 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

He had won against Jordan Barton at Bellator MMA on 5th November 2021 by submission in the 3rd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin.

Activity check

Clarke's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 5 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Clarke vs Mafi?

Ciaran Clarke was a 1/10 (-1000) favourite going into the contest, while Darius Mafi made his way into the ring at 11/2 (+550) with oddsmakers.