James vs Saricam

Who won James vs Saricam?

Gokhan Saricam beat Daniel James by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of Bellator 297, on Friday 16th June 2023 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Gokhan Saricam.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 265 pounds (18.9 stone or 120.2 KG).

James vs Saricam stats

Daniel James stepped into the octagon with a record of 15 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw, 11 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Gokhan Saricam made his way to the cage with a record of 8 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

Daniel James' Bellator record stood at 2-1-0, while Gokhan Saricam's came in at 5-2-0.

The stats suggested James had a slight advantage in power over Saricam, with a 73% knock out percentage over Saricam's 63%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested James had a slight advantage over Saricam, with a 20% submission rate over Saricam's 13%.

Daniel James was the older man by 43 years, at 43 years old.

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

James was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 12 more fights, and made his debut in 2014, 11 years and 1 month later than Saricam, whose first professional fight was in . He had fought 30 more professional rounds, 51 to Saricam's 21.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Gokhan Saricam had been fighting more than Daniel James.

Going to this contest, Daniel James had last fought 2 years, 1 month and 3 days ago, while Gokhan Saricam's last outing had been 2 years, 2 months and 9 days ago.

James' last 4 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 11 months and 10 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 27 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

Saricam's last 4 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 5 months and 29 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months and 15 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.5 rounds on average.

What were the odds on James vs Saricam?

Daniel James was a 19/20 (-110) underdog going into the contest, while Gokhan Saricam made his way into the ring at 10/13 (-130) with oddsmakers.