Bellator got back to work Friday with its first event in 2021 and a new broadcast home on Showtime.
In the main event, lightweight and featherweight champion Patricio Freire (32-4 MMA, 20-4 BMMA) defended his 145-pound title with relative ease with a first-round technical submission of Emmanuel Sanchez (20-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) in a rematch. The win pushed “Pitbull” into the final of Bellator’s featherweight tournament, where he’ll take on the unbeaten A.J. McKee later this year.
Also on the main card, Jason Jackson (14-4 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) worked through an odd eye injury to get past Neiman Gracie (10-2 MMA, 8-2 BMMA); Tyrell Fortune (10-1 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) let the bad blood come out and took care of Jack May (11-8 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in their rematch from a no contest; Usman Nurmagomedov (12-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) looked good in his promotional debut against a gritty Mike Hamel (7-5 MMA, 0-2 BMMA); and Kana Watanabe (10-0-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) stayed unbeaten in a close fight against former title challenger Alejandra Lara (9-4 MMA, 3-3 BMMA).
You can check out the highlights from the main card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., in the video above. And don’t miss our photo gallery from the event below.
