It was with a lot of emotion. Returning to defend his featherweight belt after just over a year, the Brazilian Patrick Pitbull showed why he is considered the biggest name in the history of the organization. In the main fight of Bellator 302, which took place this Friday (22), the featherweight legend achieved an electrifying upset over the Canadian Jeremy kennedy and knocked out his rival in the third round, defending once again the featherweight belt (up to 65,7kg).
Patrick Pitbull came to duel against Jeremy kennedy pressured by two consecutive defeats, against Sergio Pettis and Chihiro Susuki. However, in the circular cage set up in Northern Ireland, the featherweight champion delivered a strategic performance and knew how to hold off his rival's momentum to achieve a knockout in the third round and defend his belt for the second consecutive time in this new reign.
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THE FIGHT
The duel started with virtually no action for the first 30 seconds. Soon after, Patricio landed two low kicks in a row on the Canadian. Until halfway through the partial, the champion continued to insist on only the same blow, which began to cause a bruise on the challenger's left leg. Patricio landed a high kick on the Canadian, who, when trying to shorten and take down the native of Rio Grande do Norte, ended up hitting an unintentional headbutt.
The second half also saw little action between the fighters. Pitbull tried to be more aggressive and tried a series of crosses that grazed the Canadian's face. The challenger started to find the distance of his blows and the confrontation became more balanced. When Kennedy attempted a cross, Patricio saw a gap in the guard and launched a beautiful counterattack that caught the Brazilian.
With just over a minute to go, Jeremy got into Patricio's legs and pinned the champion to the fence looking for a takedown. Pitbull resisted the attempt to go to the ground, but ended the partial stop by the challenger for the featherweight belt. With just over 10 seconds left, Kennedy landed an unintentional low blow and forced the referee to stop the fight.
P. Pitbull (photo) returned to defend his featherweight title at Bellator 302 (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)
In the third round, Patricio returned ready to insist on low kicks again. However, Kennedy surprised by landing a cross that rocked Pitbull and made the Brazilian bend his legs and almost go for a knockdown. Immediately, the champion's face began to bleed and the two fighters began to exchange positions, glued to the fence.
After a good moment from the challenger, the two fighters returned to the center of the cage. Pitbull delivers the cross to the challenger who feels the blow and puts his hands to his head. Upon realizing that the Canadian did not receive the attack well, Patricio went all out on the challenger and punished Kennedy with a barrage of punches and elbows until the central referee interrupted.
Corey Anderson defeats Karl Moore and wins vacant light heavyweight belt
C. Anderson (photo) beat K. Moore at Bellator 302 (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)
After Russian Vadim nemkov moving up a division and vacating the light heavyweight belt (93kg), Bellator chose the veteran Corey anderson and Northern Irish Karl Moore as candidates for the vacant title of the category.
At the beginning of the duel, supported by the local fans, Moore started more aggressively, trying to close the distance to exchange blows with the North American, trusting in the power of his attacks. However, after realizing that he was at a disadvantage, Anderson imposed his traditional grappling style.
With a festival of takedowns, ground and pound and a lot of physical imposition, Anderson continued to nullify Moore, who found no answers to the American's efficient strategy. At the end of 25 minutes. Corey anderson He was declared the winner in a unanimous decision and became the new light heavyweight champion.
Leandro Higo beats James Gallagher on points and silences local fans
L. Higo also won a fight at Bellator 302 (Photo: Instagram/@bellatormma)
In the second fight of the main card, the Pitbull Brothers pupil Leandro Higo measured forces with the Northern Irish James Gallagher, home athlete. In the first round, the Brazilian struggled to close the distance and enter his rival's range of action. However, halfway through the session, the Brazilian landed a spinning punch that knocked his opponent down and the two tangled up on the ground until the end of the period.
The second round was uneventful and there were few exchanges of blows between the two fighters. In the second half, Leandro had his best moment in the confrontation: the Brazilian stuck and took down his rival at the beginning of the period and showed himself to be very active, looking for the submission at all times. In the final seconds, Higo made the transition and got the mount, punishing the Northern Irishman with ground and pound until the duel ended.
When opening the slips, Leandro Higo was declared the winner in the unanimous decision of the judges, amending his second positive result in the organization. At 35 years old, the Brazilian has an MMA record of 23 triumphs and just six setbacks.
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