Patricio
“Pitbull” Freire avenged a July 31 submission defeat and
reclaimed the Bellator
MMA featherweight throne for a third time, as he laid claim to
a unanimous decision over A.J. McKee in
the
Bellator 277 headliner on Saturday at the SAP Center in San
Jose, California. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47.
McKee (18-1, 18-1 Bellator) struggled to find an offensive rhythm.
The resourceful Freire (33-5, 21-5 Bellator) kept him off-balance
with repeated kicks to the inside and outside of his lead leg,
pieced together occasional punching combinations and threatened him
with a guillotine choke in the third round. McKee did his best work
in Round 5, where he executed multiple takedowns, stayed busy with
his hands and zeroed in on the Brazilian’s midsection with kicks.
Those efforts ultimately fell short in the eyes of the
judiciary.
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Freire—who moved to a perfect 6-0 in rematches—has won eight of his
past nine bouts.
Meanwhile, an inadvertent clash of heads in the third round of the
co-main event resulted in a no contest between reigning light
heavyweight champion Vadim
Nemkov and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 19 winner Corey
Anderson. Due to the accidental foul and the massive cut
above Nemkov’s left eye that resulted 4:55 into Round 3, the
Russian retained his title and the final of the promotion’s light
heavyweight grand prix was left unresolved.
Nemkov (14-2, 7-0 Bellator) dictated much of the action in the
first round, where he mixed kicks to the body and legs with crisp
punching combinations. Anderson (16-5, 3-0 Bellator) turned the
tide in his favor with a dominant Round 2, as he secured a takedown
roughly a minute into the period, controlled position and stayed
busy with ground-and-pound. The third round appeared to be headed
in the same direction—Nemkov threatened with a few submissions from
his back but was otherwise ineffective—until the head butt led to
an unfortunate finish.
Elsewhere,
Jackson-Wink MMA export Aaron Pico
struck down Adli
Edwards with punches in the third round of their catchweight
attraction at 150 pounds. Pico (10-3, 10-3 Bellator) brought it to
a close 55 seconds into Round 3 and left the cage on a run of six
straight victories.
Edwards (9-2, 0-1 Bellator) could not cover the enormous talent gap
between the two men. Pico let fly with violent punching
combinations to the head and body, delivered repeated takedowns and
piled up points with ferocious ground-and-pound. Edwards reached
the end of his road early in the third round. Pico set him on unsteady footing with thudding
right hand, swarmed with punches until he was on all fours and
continued his onslaught to prompt the stoppage.
The loss was Edwards’ first since Aug. 5, 2017.
Finally,
Sanford MMA’s Linton
Vassell took care of Tim Johnson
with mounted ground-and-pound in the first round of their chaotic
heavyweight feature. Vassell (22-8, 11-5 UFC) drew the curtain 4:21
into Round 1 and extended his current winning streak to four
fights.
Johnson (15-9, 3-5 UFC) bull rushed into clinch range, uncorked
power punches from both hands and had the Englishman reeling. He
sprawled on a desperate takedown attempt from Vassell, moved into
top position and applied his ground-and-pound. It was not enough to
seal the deal. Vassell sprang the reversal, climbed to full mount
and cut loose with elbows and punches until referee Blake Grice had
seen enough.
The 37-year-old Johnson has suffered three consecutive defeats.
In preliminary action, Tyrell
Fortune (12-2, 12-2 Bellator) subdued Rakim
Cleveland (22-15-1, 1-1 Bellator) with punches 1:38 into the first round of their
heavyweight skirmish; Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov (19-7-1, 1-2 Bellator) dismissed Rafael
Carvalho (16-7, 7-6 Bellator) with elbows and punches 4:04 into the second round
of their light heavyweight confrontation; Bobby
Seronio III (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) knocked out Calob
Ramirez (1-2, 0-1 Bellator) with a crushing straight right hand 2:14 into the
second round of their bantamweight affair; Gaston
Bolanos (6-3, 6-3 Bellator) wiped out Daniel
Carey (7-6, 3-5 Bellator) with punches and hammerfists 4:59 into the first
round of their featherweight rematch, evening their
head-to-head series at 1-1; Kyle
Crutchmer (9-1, 5-1 Bellator) took a unanimous verdict from
Michael
Lombardo (12-3, 1-1 Bellator) in a three-round welterweight
scrap, earning 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 scores from the cageside
judges; Tyson
Miller (3-0, 2-0 Bellator) forced a doctor stoppage against
Rhalan
Gracie (0-4, 0-2 Bellator) in between the first and second
rounds of their welterweight encounter; Edwin
De Los Santos (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) outstruck Alberto
Mendez (0-1, 0-1 Bellator) to a unanimous decision in a
three-round flyweight clash, drawing 30-27 marks across the board;
Rogelio
Luna (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) stopped Socrates
Hernandez (0-2 Bellator) with punches 4:48 into the third round of their
featherweight battle; Laird
Anderson (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) dispatched J.T.
Donaldson (4-6, 0-2 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 2:44 into the first round
of their featherweight tilt; and Theo Haig
(1-0, 1-0 Bellator) put away Alan Benson
(1-3, 1-1 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 2:08 into the first round
of their light heavyweight pairing.