Bellator MMA kicked off its 2021 year on Friday, April 2 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT — with the featherweight title on the line in the main event.
Nearly five months after his defeat of Pedro Carvalho, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire was finally back in action in the Bellator featherweight grand prix. His opponent on the marquee of Bellator 255 was a familiar name, Emmanuel Sanchez — who Pitbull had defeated in 2018 to retain 145lb gold. Awaiting the winner, a shot at the undefeated AJ McKee, along with a million dollars for winning the entire tournament.
In the co-main event, meanwhile, Neiman Gracie would go up against Jason Jackson in an interesting contrast of styles. The welterweight scrap also had clear implications for the title picture in the division. Also on the card, Alejandra Lara, former flyweight title challenger, faced off with Kana Watanabe, and Usman Nurmagomedov, cousin of ex-UFC champ Khabib, made his promotional debut.
Bellator 255 did not just mark the resumption of the grand prix. It was also Bellator’s coming out party on Showtime — and in a rare treat, the card, in its entirety, was offered up free to viewers in the U.S. and Canada across multiple platforms.
Tune in starting at 6PM ET to watch the entire Bellator 255 card, the live stream of which can be found above. Full results can be found below!
Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 Results
Main Card
Patricio Pitbull (c) def. Emmanuel Sanchez by technical submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 3:35 – for the Bellator featherweight world championship / featherweight grand prix semifinal
Jason Jackson def. Neiman Gracie by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tyrell Fortune def. Jack May by TKO, Round 1, 3:16
Usman Nurmagomedov def. Mike Hamel by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Kana Watanabe def. Alejandra Lara by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Magomed Magomedov def. Cee Jay Hamilton by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:22
Mandel Nallo def. Ricardo Seixas by knockout, Round 1, 3:23
Khalid Murtazaliev def. Fabio Aguiar by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Christopher Gonzalez def. Roger Huerta by submission (strikes), Round 3, 3:01
Jose Augusto def. Jonathan Wilson by submission (arm triangle choke), Round 1, 4:58
Roman Faraldo def. Trevor Gudde by TKO, Round 1, 1:30
Jordan Newman def. Branko Busick by TKO, Round 2, 2:30
