Bellator is in Inglewood, California for Saturday’s Bellator 228 fight card. In the main event, 145-pound champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire puts his title on the line against the surging Juan Archuleta. The headlining bout is the final first-round fight of the Bellator featherweight grand prix.
Freire is in his second run as Bellator’s featherweight champion. His first stint as titleholder lasted from September 5, 2014, through November 6, 2015. He defended his crown twice during that run before dropping the title to Daniel Straus via decision.
The title returned to Freire on April 21, 2017, when he submitted Straus. The Brazilian has defended the belt twice since then. In May, Freire added the lightweight title to his mantle with a TKO victory over Michael Chandler. Freire has been with Bellator since April 2010.
Archuleta joined Bellator as a free agent in 2018. He surrendered four King of the Cage titles to make the jump to his new promotion. The American competitor is 5-0 with Bellator and is coming off a second-round knockout win over former two-time Bellator bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas.
The co-main event of Bellator 228 sees ex-UFC lightweight champion Lyoto Machida face off against former Bellator middleweight titleholder Gegard Mousasi.
HOW TO WATCH OR STREAM BELLATOR 228
Bellator 228 takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The main card streams on DAZN at 10 p.m. ET following prelims on the Bellator app at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Bellator 228 Main Card (DAZN 10 p.m. ET)
Lyoto Machida (26-8) vs. Gegard Mousasi (45-7-2)
Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Selection Show
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (29-4) vs. Juan Archuleta (23-1)
AJ McKee (14-0) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (28-9-1, 1 NC)
Darrion Caldwell (13-3) vs. Henry Corrales (17-3)
Daniel Weichel (39-11) vs. Saul Rogers (13-2)
Bellator 228 Preliminary Card (Bellator app 7:30 p.m. ET)
Adrian Najera (1-0) vs. Jason Edwards (2-0)
Johnny Santa Maria (3-4) vs. Benji Gomez (8-13)
Andre Walker (5-2) vs. Ozzy Diaz (3-1)
Emilio Williams (4-2, 2 NC) vs. Ian Butler (6-6, 1 NC)
AJ Agazarm (1-1) vs. Jonathan Quiroz (3-3)
Ava Knight (Pro Debut) vs. Shannon Goughary (4-3)
Antonio McKee (29-6-2) vs. William Sriyapai (14-8)
Mike Jasper (13-5) vs. Johnny Cisneros (12-7)
Shawn Bunch (9-3) vs. Leandro Higo (18-5)
Weber Almeida (2-0) vs. Castle Williams (4-2)
Joshua Jones (8-4) vs. Dominic Clark (14-8)
James Barnes (11-4) vs. David Duran (8-5)
