Lewis Long becomes first Welsh fighter to gain victory on Bellator roster with classy return win

Pontypridd's Lew Long won via first round submission at Bellator London in Wembley Arena at the weekend

Pontypridd fighter Lewis Long made his comeback to the cage at Bellator London last weekend following 18 months on the sideline through injury.

The 30-year-old MMA veteran, faced off with Walter Gahadza in a high-profile match up at Wembley Arena, in his promotional debut with Bellator MMA.

And he wasted no time in getting himself back in to the win column with an impressive first round submission on the night.

Despite giving up a huge size advantage to Gahadza, the Welsh grappler was able to stun the crowd into silence as he finished the hometown fighter within minutes of the opening bell.

It was a dominant performance from start to finish, with the ground specialist closing the distance on Gahadza, and taking the aggressive Londoner to the mat early on.

From there it was one-way traffic as the Welsh man out-muscled his opponent, transitioning to the back and forcing him to tap out with a tight rear naked choke.

With the win he becomes the first Welsh fighter to gain a victory on the star-studded Bellator roster, and is currently the only fighter in Wales to sign for the global promotion.

Bellator is considered the second biggest MMA promotion in the world behind the UFC.

The return performance marks 18 months since the eccentric fighter injured his leg during a freak training accident in 2018.

Long, who trains out of MAT Academy in Pontypridd, believes this win will be only the first of many as he begins to re-discover his form after a long spell out of the game.

He said: "I was mainly trying to work on my stand up for this one, but I know as soon as I get my hands on people they seem to pass out.

"It all goes quite quickly when you're in there but to be honest I'm just happy to get back to it and get a win. I've been ready to come back for a while now so it was important for me to make a statement here.

"If there's another fight for me before the end of the year then I'll take it, but the most important thing for me is that I'm back in the mix.

"I have a great team behind me and a gym that's looking stronger and stronger every day so I was prepared for every eventuality here. We'll enjoy celebrating this win but then look to get back in there as soon as possible."

Bellator London aired live from Wembley Arena on Channel 5, as the promotion continues to grow its following across the UK with a new European fight series.

In the main event of the evening, fan favourite Michael Venom Page gained a stunning knockout win over Italian Gianni Melillo, and will hope he's done enough to secure a title shot with Bellator champion Douglas Lima early next year.