Bellator 284: Goiti Yamauchi earns uppercut knockout over Neiman Gracie

The story below contains details of what happened at Bellator 284. You can watch the event here and a highlights show here.

Goiti Yamauchi produced a clean uppercut to knock out Neiman Gracie in the second round of their welterweight contest at Bellator 284 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The 29-year-old dropped his hands, encouraging his fellow Brazilian opponent to come forward, before landing the shot to end the fight.

It is the first time Gracie, 33, has been stopped in his nine-year career.

Yamauchi said he channelled Kazakhstani boxing great Gennady Golovkin - also known as GGG - to win the fight.

"I used to be a defensive fighter but this time I'm Triple G style, a big drama show," he said.

The main event was predicted by some pundits to be a submission chess match, with both fighters possessing world class jiu-jitsu.

Japanese-born Yamauchi holds 21 career submission wins with nine of them in Bellator, while Gracie has nine in total, submitting six of his previous seven opponents.

Yamauchi had spoken of his admiration for the Gracie family's legacy before the fight, with its members being pivotal to the growth of jiu-jitsu.

However, it was in the stand-up that the fight was decided, with Yamauchi getting the better of the striking exchanges throughout.

Yamauchi wobbled Gracie with a left hand in the first round, and preferred to keep the fight on its feet throughout, rather than following him to the ground.

Gracie landed a combination in the second round, which prompted Yamauchi to taunt Gracie and drop his guard, before countering with the finishing uppercut.

Yamauchi paid tribute to fifth-ranked Gracie and called for another ranked opponent following his second win since moving up to welterweight from lightweight.

"This is very meaningful, not just because it's my first main event but because it's Gracie, one of the best grapplers in history," he said.

"Everybody above me in the rankings, I'm sure these guys are watching today, so I want to fight all those guys to be a welterweight title contender - to win is my destiny."

Ukraine's Yaroslav Amosov is the current champion but is unable to defend his title because he is helping defend his country from Russia's invasion.

American Logan Storley holds the interim title after beating Britain's Michael 'Venom' Page in London in May.

The heavyweight co-main event ended in disappointment as an accidental eye-poke from Valentin Moldavsky left Steve Mowry unable to continue, resulting in a no-contest.

Ukrainian-born Russian Moldavsky, 30, was coming off a title loss to champion Ryan Bader in January, while American Mowry, 30, has quickly risen up to fifth in the Bellator rankings after winning his first 10 professional fights.

A win for either fighter would have seen them make a strong case for a bout with Bader, so the result leaves the immediate future of the division unclear with a rematch being the most likely option.

Elsewhere on the main card, Canada's Aaron Jeffery stunned Austin Vanderford, knocking the American out in the first round.

A win over the second-ranked middleweight represents a pivotal moment in 29-year-old Jeffery's career, with Vanderford now suffering back-to-back defeats after being victorious in his first 10 fights as a professional.

Gokhan Saricam earned a split decision win over Said Sowma in their heavyweight bout, while Ilima-Lei Macfarlane outpointed Bruna Ellen in their flyweight contest.