Well, Freire quieted those who doubted him by knocking out Chandler in just 61 seconds to add the Bellator lightweight title to his featherweight championship at the Allstate Arena on Saturday night and becoming just the second fighter in the promotion’s history to be crowned a “double champ.”
“He was sleepy,” Freire said at his post-fight presser. “He kissed the floor.”
The animosity between the two has run deep for almost three years and you could cut the tension with a knife as they stood across from each other inside the cage. To the shock of many, Freire and Chandler touched gloves and after a short feeling out process, Freire clipped Chandler with an overhand right hand to send him crashing to the canvas. Freire immediately seized the moment and uncorked a barrage of short left uppercuts. One of the shots made Chandler’s body go limp and the referee jumped to stop the fight.
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To some, the ending may have been premature. Freire (29-4) couldn’t have cared less, though, avenging his brother Patricky’s losses to Chandler and taking his belt.
“I don’t give a f—,” Freire told John McCarthy in his post-fight interview. “I’m the champ-champ now!”
While he didn’t think it warranted a stoppage loss, Chandler (19-5) was gracious in defeat.
“I threw a jab off the center line, Chandler said. “He was able to come over the top and hit me in the back of the head. Put me on my butt. As you can see, I was completely fine there. Maybe it’s my fault for not wrestling fast enough. But a lot of times, I put myself in positions. You call it a shell, you call it shrimp, you can call it whatever you want. I’ve been on the other side of that and thrown a thousand punches against a Benson Henderson. A guy is who extremely durable and I punch myself. Before you know it, he’s the one huffing and puffing and I’m coming back. A little game of possum.
“Did I get hit? Absolutely. Was I out? Absolutely not,” he continued. “It’s one of those things where we enjoy the fight game. We love it for its blessings and we love it for its curses as well.”
In the co-main event, Douglas Lima continued his torrid run through the Welterweight Grand Prix, knocking out Michael Page to advance to the finals, where he’ll take on the winner of the bout at Bellator 222 between champion Rory MacDonald and Neiman Gracie.
After a feeling out process in the first round, Page began the second round by going right at Lima and getting the Brazilian’s attention with a sharp right hand. Lima regained his senses and put everything he had into a thunderous leg kick, which sent Page to a knee. Not wanting Page to get up, the former two-time 170-pound titleholder blasted him with a thunderous short, left uppercut to end it and punch his ticket to the final round, with a chance to regain his belt and net $1 million.
“Right now that feels like the top highlight of my career,” Lima said at his post-fight presser. “I think this was the biggest fight. I said it before that I was going to finish him. I went and executed it.”
Here is what happened at Bellator 221.
Bellator 221 live updates, results
Patricio ‘Pitbull’ knocks out Michael Chandler in the first round to win Bellator lightweight title
10:33 p.m.: Freire def. Chandler by knockout at 1:01 of the first round to become the Bellator lightweight champion. Both guys were gauging distance when Freire nailed Chandler with an overhand right behind the ear to send Chandler to the mat. Freire landed a couple left hands and the referee stopped the fight.
11:23 p.m.: It is now time for the main event of Bellator 221 as Michael Chandler defends the lightweight championship aginst featherweight titlist Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.
Chandler (19-4) became the first three-time Bellator world champion his last time out when he dominated Brent Primus from start to finish at Bellator 212 in December.
Freire (28-4) captured the 145-pound belt for the second time in April 2017 when he submitted Daniel Straus in the second round at Bellator 178. Freire has successfully defended the belt twice, beating Daniel Weichel and Emmanuel Sanchez, respectively.
The rivalry runs deep between the two world champions. Can Chandler and Freire keep their emotions in check? If they do, we shoud see a great main event.
Douglas Lima KOs Michael ‘Venom’ Page in 2nd round, advances to Welterweight Grand Prix final
11:05 p.m.: Lima def. Page by knockout at 0:35 of the second round. Like the first round, Page came and buzzed Lima with a right hand to the top of the head. Lima took a second to clear the cobwebs and then put everything into a hard leg kick to the calf that buckled the Englishman. As soon as Page fell to his knees, Lima uncorked a short, vicious uppercut for the knockout.
Lima punches his ticket to the Grand Prix final, where he will meet the winner of the other semifinal between champion Rory MacDonald and Neiman Gracie. At this point, Lima (31-7) is the man to beat. The Brazilian has been the best so far. He’s going to be extremely hard to defeat.
Round 1: Lima and Page came out firing; Page went right at Lima with a straight right hand and missed. Lima wildly threw an overhand right that also missed. Page was dancing around and threw two slow right hands, which Lima blocked, and then Lima took Page down. Lima didn’t do much of anything while inside Page’s guard. Don’t get why referee Mike Beltran refused to stand them up as there wasn’t anything going on for a good minute. (Lima, 10-9)
10:45 p.m.: Time for the co-main event of Bellator 221 as Douglas Lima takes on Michael “Venom” Page in the semifinals of the Welterweight Grand Prix.
Lima (30-7) was one of the stars of the opening round of the tournament. He dominated former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov in winning by fifth-round submission at Bellator 206 in September.
One of the most dynamic strikers in MMA, Page (14-0) advanced to the final four by having a tougher than expected contest at Bellator 216 in February, when he beat Paul Daley by unanimous decision.
This should be a barnbuner. Expect a striking battle between two of the best in Bellator.
A.J. McKee defeats Pat Curran by decision to remain undefeated
10:35 p.m.: McKee def. Curran by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27). The crowd may not have liked it, but McKee fought a smart, tactical fight against a former two-time featherweight champion.
The first round was a feeling-out process, but McKee scored a late takedown to secure it. Both guys continued to fight at range in the second until Curran notched a takedown of his own. Immediately, McKee threw elbows while Curran kept looking for a better position.
The crowd urged Curran on to begin the third round. Curran stayed on the outside trying to dare McKee to come in and unload so he could counter or try for another takedown. About halfway through the round, McKee finally came out of his shell, throwing two-punch combinations and mixing in some body and leg kicks for good measure. McKee kept attempting a takedown and finally secured it with 25 seconds left and rode the position to the final bell, much to dismay of the crowd.
McKee showed too much respect for Curran and said as much during his postfight interview, saying he has been watching Curran fight since he was 6. Have to think the victory nets a shot at featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.
10:11 p.m.: Now at Bellator 221, A.J. McKee fights Pat Curran in featherweight action. The 24-year-old McKee (13-0) is one of Bellator’s rising stars. He comes in having won three of his last four via stoppage. Curran (23-7), a former Bellator featherweight champion, returns from a 19-month layoff on a three-fight winning streak.
Curran is by far McKee’s toughest test to date. How does McKee handle someone with Curran’s pedigree?
Former WWE star Jake Hager chokes out T.J. Jones to run record to 2-0
9:58 p.m.: Hager def. Jones by submission (head and arm choke) at 2:36 of the first round. This went pretty much as expected. After about 10 seconds, Hager took Jones right down to the mat. Hager kept looking for a kimura but made a smooth transition to the other side of Jones to try to secure the head and arm choke. The 37-year-old locked in and Jones tapped out. Hager held onto the choke even though Jones already gave up. Referee Mike Beltran had to push Hager off of Jones.
Have to question why Beltran didn’t disqualify Hager. The choke was in for way too long and could have caused more harm to Jones. Hager wants two more fights in 2019. Let’s see if he gets to step up in competition his next time out.
9:45 p.m.: Up next at Bellator 221, Jake Hager takes on T.J. Jones in heavyweight action. Hager (1-0), a former WWE world heavyweight champion, was successful in his MMA debut at January’s Bellator 214, scoring a first-round submission over J.W. Hiser. Jones (1-1), a worker in a beef plant by day, hasn’t fought since October 2017. Jones tried to get under Hager’s skin the entire week, to no avail. People feel Jones is a set-up guy for Hager. We are about to find out.
Tywan Claxton pounds out James Bennett
9:35 p.m.: Claxton def. Bennett by TKO at 2:09 of the third round. A dominant performance by Claxton. He battered Bennett from start to finish on the feet and the ground. Bennett had a glimmer of hope in the third when he had Claxton in a guillotine choke. Unfortunately for Bennett, he had the move in the wrong position. Claxton slipped out and started pouring down a series of hard elbows. Bennett wasn’t defending himself intelligently and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
Claxton runs his record to 5-0 with four stoppages. Still a long way to go, but a prospect to watch out for in the future.
9:15 p.m.: The main card of Bellator 221 begins with James Bennett (4-1) facing Tywan Claxton (4-0) in featherweight action. Bennett competes for the second in the promotion, having defeated Dustin Stusse at Bellator 198 in April 2018. All of Claxton’s bouts have been inside the Bellator cage, winning three of them via stoppage.
9 p.m: Welcome to Sporting News’ live coverage of Bellator 221. Grab the refreshments, kick back and relax as we are inside Allstate Arena for all the action.
Bellator 221 undercard results
Rob Fenicle def. Bryan Bautista via submission (heel hook) at 1:42 of the first round; bantamweights Khuukhenkhuu Amartuvshin def. Adam Ward by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28); lightweights Christian Rodriguez def. Jose Leon via submission (armbar) at 4:35 of the first round; catchweight (140 pounds) Robert Morrow def. James Bochnovic by knockout at 1:18 of the first round; light heavyweights Cris Lencoini def. Adil Benjilany via submission at 4:55 of the first round; featherweights Jason Belyew and Dave Latoria went to a no-contest; heavyweights Jesse Bazzi def. Joey Diehl via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27); flyweights Josh Streacker def. Scott Writz by knockout at 3:33 of the second round; welterweights
Bellator 221 fight card
Main card
Michael Chandler (c) vs. Patrício Freire for Chandler’s lightweight title Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page in the Welterweight Grand Prix semifinals A. J. McKee vs. Pat Curran; featherweights Jake Hager vs. TJ Jones; heavyweights James Bennett vs. Tywan Claxton; featherweights
Preliminary card
Adil Benjilany vs. Chris Lencioni; featherweights Scott Writz vs. Josh Streacker; welterweights Bryan Bautista vs. Robert Fenicle; bantamweights James Bochnovic vs. Robert Morrow; middleweights Chris Gonzalez vs. Charlie Radtke; lightweights Khuukhenkhuu Amartuvshin vs. Adam Ward; lightweights Jose Leon vs. Christian Rodriguez; catchweight (140 pounds) Dave Latoria vs. Jason Belyew; heavyweights
Bellator 221 latest news
— Bellator has presented some big fights. Sporting News explains why Michael Chandler vs. Patricio ‘Pitbull’ could be the best of them all.
— A.J. McKee and Michael “Venom” Page are Bellator’s two brightest prospects. Bellator 221 presents McKee and Page with a chance to shine.
— Jake Hager’s sophomore outing occurs at Bellator 221. The former WWE star talks to SN about a variety of topics heading into this all-important contest.
— Michael Chandler has been all business leading into Bellator 221. The lightweight champ tells SN how two people completely changed the way he looks at MMA.
— There’s only one way to watch Bellator 221. We tell you how to do so right here .
