P. Pitbull wins Bellator belt: Photo: Sherdog.com
Friday night (05) was not productive for Brazilian MMA only in the UFC. In the second largest organization today, Bellator, there was also a fighter from Brazil who stood out and reached the highest position in his category. In the main event of Bellator 123, Patrick Pitbull he beat champion Pat Curran and won the featherweight division title (up to 66kg). In a very disputed duel, the athlete from Rio Grande do Norte managed to gain an advantage in striking and took the title from his rival in a unanimous decision by the judges.
The triumph marked a rematch for Pitbull. In January 2012, also in a fight valid for the belt, the Brazilian was defeated in a split decision by the judges. The result was heavily contested by Patrício. But tonight, the Tupiniqum athlete washed his soul to take the title.
Patrício started the fight cautiously, but soon became looser in his striking and applying the best blows and even risking a rear-naked choke after taking the fight to the ground. However, Curran defended very well. In the second round, the Brazilian soon scored a knockdown, but the North American showed good blow absorption and managed to get up.
In the third part, the dispute was balanced again. Pitbull already had a cut on his mouth when he managed to knock Pat down. He tried to finish the fight with strikes on the ground, but the then champion managed to get up.
With an advantage in paperwork, Patrick Pitbull saw Pat Curran going for it all or nothing in the last rounds. But the Brazilian managed to avoid the takedown attempts and balance the contest on his feet, without taking any risks, to win the unanimous decision of the judges (48-47, 49-46 and 49-46)
"My dream came true. I waited for this for a long time. I have to thank my team, my brother and everyone for this victory”, said the Brazilian still in the circular cage.
In the second most important fight of the night, King mo Lawal, former Strikeforce champion, went through dustin jacoby and beat him by technical knockout in the second round. In the duel between former UFC fighters, Cheick Kongo submitted Lavar Johnson with a rear naked choke in the first round.
Check out the full Bellator 123 results below.
MAIN CARD
Patrick Pitbull defeated Pat Curran via unanimous decision;
Muhammad King mo Lawal defeated dustin jacoby by technical knockout in R2;
Tamdan McCrory defeated Brennan ward by knockout in R1;
Bobby Lashley submitted Josh Burns with a rear naked choke in R2;
Cheick Kongo submitted Lavar Johnson via rear naked choke in R1;
PRELIMINARY CARD
Dan Cramer defeated Perry Filkins via unanimous decision;
Scott Cleve defeated Matt Bessette via unanimous decision;
Josh Diekmann defeated Mike Wessel by knockout in R1;
Steve Garcia defeated Kin Moy via split decision;
Rico Disciullo defeated Marvin Maldonado via unanimous decision;
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