The Pitbull legacy continues!
#AndNew @PatrickyPitbull
joins his brother @PatricioPitbull
in the history books as a Bellator Lightweight champion!
#Bellator270 pic.twitter.com/8TPMWWD9eF— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA)
November 5, 2021
Patricky
Freire stands alone after a decade-long climb.
“Pitbull” brought home the vacant Bellator
MMA lightweight championship, as he wiped out Peter
Queally with punches in the second round of their
Bellator 270 headliner on Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. Unable to
ride a wave of emotion that saw a ravenous crowd serenade him with
The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” Queally (13-6-1, 2-2 Bellator) succumbed
to blows 65 seconds into Round 2.
Freire (24-10, 15-8 Bellator)—who debuted with the organization in
March 2011—made his intentions known from the start, attacking the
Irishman with stinging leg kicks and hooks to the body from both
hands. After an eye poke briefly delayed the Brazilian’s march to
the title early in Round 2, he decked Queally with a devastating right hand.
The SBG Ireland rep tried to return to an upright position, only to
stumble across the cage on rubbery legs. Queally eventually stood
along the fence but turtled in a defensive shell, offering nothing
in terms of meaningful resistance. Freire unleashed a series of
thudding right hands in response, forcing referee Kevin MacDonald
to intervene.
Meanwhile, former King of the Cage champion Patrick Mix
submitted James
Gallagher with a guillotine choke in the third round of their
bantamweight co-main event. Mix (15-1, 4-1 Bellator), who missed
weight for the match by nearly two pounds, drew the curtain 39
seconds into Round 3.
Gallagher (11-2, 8-2 Bellator) surprised the Angola, New York,
native with darting combinations upstairs, threw in a few takedowns
and made passes at his own guillotines. Mix waded through fatigue
in the second round, where he seized the reins with top control and
ground-and-pound. Early in the third, he caught Gallagher ducking in for a takedown,
ensnared him in the choke and wrapped the Irishman in full guard,
ultimately securing his position with a body triangle. Mix then
moved to mount and prompted the tapout, temporarily silencing the
crowd.
The setback closed the book on Gallagher’s four-fight winning
streak.
Elsewhere, SBG Ireland’s Pedro
Carvalho withstood two knockdowns, as he leaned on stellar
defensive grappling, superior cardio and opportunistic multi-punch
bursts in a unanimous decision over former M-1 Global champion
Daniel
Weichel in a three-round featherweight showcase. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Carvalho (12-5, 5-2
Bellator).
Weichel (41-13, 10-5 Bellator) floored “The Game” with clean right
hands in the first and second rounds, pounced for a potential
stoppage on both occasions and ultimately transitioned to the back,
where he threatened with rear-naked chokes and armbars. Nothing
stuck. Carvalho maintained a brisk pace, pressed forward with
punches and slowly but surely turned the tide in his favor.
Resilience carried him to the finish line.
The win was Carvalho’s first since Sept. 7, 2019.
In other action, Ilias
Bulaid (3-0, 3-0 Bellator) took a split verdict—29-28, 28-29,
30-27—from Georges
Sasu (5-2, 0-1 Bellator) in a three-round featherweight match;
Ciaran
Clarke (4-0, 4-0 Bellator) submitted Jordan
Barton (6-2-1, 0-1 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 4:11 into the third round
of their featherweight confrontation; Daniele
Scatizzi (11-5, 3-1 Bellator) pocketed a unanimous verdict over
Brian
Hooi (16-9, 0-1 Bellator) drawing 29-28 marks from all three
judges; Lee
Chadwick (27-15-1, 3-2 Bellator) laid claim to a split
decision—28-29, 30-27, 29-28—over Arunas
Andriuskevicus (15-5, 1-1 Bellator) in a three-round light
heavyweight scrap; Gokhan
Saricam (6-1, 2-1 Bellator) put away Charlie
Milner (7-2, 0-1 Bellator) with punches 15 seconds into the first round of
their heavyweight encounter; Nicolo
Solli (4-1, 3-1 Bellator) eked out a split decision—30-27,
28-29, 29-28—over Bobby
Pallett (5-1, 0-1 Bellator) in a three-round welterweight
battle; Danni
Neilan (5-0, 4-0 Bellator) took care of Audrey
Kerouche (6-7, 0-1 Bellator) with punches 3:58 into the third round of their
women’s strawweight clash; and Yusuf
Nazokatov (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) submitted Stephen
Costello (0-1, 0-1 Bellator) with a heel hook 2:24 into the first round of their
welterweight pairing.