Rivalries: Rafael Carvalho

Rafael Carvalho could be running out of time and opportunities.

The former Bellator MMA middleweight champion will set out in search of his first win since 2019 when he locks horns with Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov as part of the Bellator 277 undercard on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Carvalho, who turns 36 in July, enters the cage on a career-worst three-fight losing streak. He last appeared at Bellator 258, where he wound up on the wrong side of a split verdict against Lorenz Larkin on May 7.

Ahead of Carvalho’s pressure-packed prelim opposite Yagshimuradov, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped steer him to this point:

Brandon Halsey

Carvalho took out the previously unbeaten Californian with a liver kick and follow-up punches, as he laid claim to the vacant Bellator MMA middleweight championship in the Bellator 144 headliner on Oct. 23, 2015 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Festivities drew to a close 1:42 into Round 2. Halsey—who was stripped of the 185-pound championship after failing to make weight for a title defense five months earlier—dominated all but a few seconds of the fight. The HB Ultimate export secured multiple takedowns, achieved full mount twice and nearly submitted Carvalho with an arm-triangle choke in the first round. The Brazilian never panicked and survived to see a second frame. There, Carvalho doubled over Halsey with a body kick and ended it with a few punches on his temporarily paralyzed counterpart.

Melvin Manhoef

Carvalho was awarded a five-round split decision over the Dutch knockout artist and retained control of the Bellator MMA middleweight championship in the Bellator 155 main event on May 20, 2016 at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. All three cageside judges struck 48-47 scorecards: Michael Bell for Manhoef, Randy Anderson and Rob Hinds for Carvalho. The champion did virtually nothing noteworthy from an offensive standpoint, aside from meaningless takedowns in the third and fourth rounds. Both fighters were scolded for passivity by referee John McCarthy inside the first five minutes. Manhoef picked up his pace in the second round and beyond. Carvalho, who seemed disinterested for much of the match, did not follow suit. Worse yet, the Brazilian was warned for a pair of knees below the belt and two eye pokes during the 25-minute encounter. Manhoef navigated the fouls, attacked the champion’s legs and body with kicks and mixed in punching combinations upstairs. The Dutchman even threw in a fifth-round takedown, but his efforts went for naught in the eyes of judges Anderson and Hinds. They met for a second time some 11 months later at Bellator 176, and the result was far more decisive. A fourth-round head kick from Carvalho turned out Manhoef’s lights and closed the book on their head-to-head series.

Gegard Mousasi

“The Dreamcatcher” took care of business and did so with clinical precision when he stopped Carvalho with punches and captured the undisputed Bellator MMA middleweight championship in the first round of their Bellator 200 headliner on May 25, 2018 at the SSE Arena in London. Mousasi executed the finish 3:35 into Round 1 and handed the Brazilian his first loss in six-plus years. He made it look easy—like hot-knife-through-butter easy. Mousasi secured multiple takedowns, softened the American Top Team representative with ground-and-pound and climbed to full mount. Unable to escape and perhaps resigned to his fate, the Brazilian surrendered his back and covered up, with Mousasi cutting loose with right hands until the job was finished.

Vadim Nemkov

Carvalho failed to rediscover the magic that once made him a champion and saw his light heavyweight debut spoiled, as the methodical Russian submitted him with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their Bellator 230 main event on Oct. 12, 2019 at the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. Nemkov slammed the door 3:56 into Round 2. He established his dominance in the first round, then systematically dismantled Carvalho in the second. Nemkov executed a clean takedown in the center of the cage, worked from half guard and ultimately progressed to full mount. After eating elbows and punches, Carvalho—who had not been submitted in nearly eight years—surrendered his back, left his neck exposed and succumbed to the choke. He has since returned to his more familiar haunts at 185 pounds.