| Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Bellator MMA | |||
| Date | April 2, 2021 | |||
| Venue | Mohegan Sun Arena | |||
| City | Uncasville, Connecticut, United States | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 2, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event was Bellator's first of the year following a four-month break after Bellator 254. [1]
This was the first Bellator event to air on Showtime, and the first MMA event to air on the network since the Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event on January 12, 2013. [2] The event streamed for free in the United States on Pluto TV and YouTube, in addition to Hulu, FuboTV, and participating cable television providers. [3]
The event was headlined by the semi-final of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Tournament in a rematch between the current champion Patricio Freire and Emmanuel Sanchez. Freire won the last bout at Bellator 209 via unanimous decision. [4]
A bantamweight bout between Jared Scoggins and Magomed Magomedov was scheduled to take place at this event. However, on March 18, Scoggins pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Cee Jay Hamilton. [5]
Matt Mitrione was expected to face Tyrell Fortune at this event. [6] However, during the week of the bout, Mitrione had to pull out and was replaced by Jack May. [7]
Mads Burnell and The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber standout Saul Rogers was scheduled to fight at this event. However, the bout was cancelled due to visa issues. [8] It eventually took place on April 16, 2021 at Bellator 257. [9]
At weigh-ins, Aguiar missed weight by 1.7 pounds and Faraldo missed weight by .1 pounds. Both were fined a percentage of their purses. Mukhamed Berkhamov missed weight by 2.8 pounds, leading to the bout between him and Herman Terrado being pulled from the lineup due to Berkhamov’s miss. [10]
| Main Card (Showtime) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Patricio Freire (c) | def. | Emmanuel Sanchez | Technical Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 3:35 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Welterweight | Jason Jackson | def. | Neiman Gracie | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Tyrell Fortune | def. | Jack May | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:16 | |
| Lightweight | Usman Nurmagomedov | def. | Mike Hamel | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Kana Watanabe | def. | Alejandra Lara | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (Youtube/Pluto TV) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Magomed Magomedov | def. | Cee Jay Hamilton | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:22 | |
| Lightweight | Mandel Nallo | def. | Ricardo Seixas | KO (superman punch) | 1 | 3:23 | |
| Catchweight (187.7 lb) | Khalid Murtazaliev | def. | Fabio Aguiar | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Catchweight (160 lb) | Chris Gonzalez | def. | Roger Huerta | TKO (submission to punches) | 3 | 3:01 | |
| Light Heavyweight | José Augusto Azevedo | def. | Jonathan Wilson | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 4:58 | |
| Catchweight (171.1 lb) | Roman Faraldo | def. | Trevor Gudde | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:30 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| Middleweight | Jordan Newman | def. | Branko Busick | TKO (elbows) | 2 | 2:30 | |
Patrício Freire, known professionally as Patrício Pitbull, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in Bellator MMA where he is the current three-time Bellator Featherweight Champion and former Bellator Lightweight Champion. He is the younger brother of lightweight fighter Patricky Pitbull. He is the second-ever simultaneous two-weight champion in Bellator MMA history, and is widely considered to be the best Bellator fighter of all-time. He is also considered one of the best ever, pound-for-pound, to have never fought in the UFC.
Daniel Weichel is a German former professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division for Bellator MMA. He has also competed in M-1 Global and Shooto.
Emmanuel Sanchez is an American mixed martial artist currently in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2011, Sanchez has formerly competed for Bellator MMA, where he was a contender for the Featherweight World Championship, and Resurrection Fighting Alliance.
A. J. McKee is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight and Lightweight division, where he is the former Bellator Featherweight Champion.
2018 in Bellator MMA was the tenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2015.
Mads Burnell is a Danish mixed martial artist who competes in featherweight division of Bellator MMA. Professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Burnell has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Cage Warriors, where he was a Featherweight champion. He was the European Championship European No-Gi Champion in 2014.
2019 in Bellator MMA was the eleventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 27 events in 2019.
2020 in Bellator MMA was the twelfth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 18 events in 2020.
2021 in Bellator MMA was the thirteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 18 events in 2021.
Bellator 262: Velasquez vs. Kielholtz was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on July 16, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on July 31, 2021, at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The event marked Bellator's first outside of the Mohegan Sun bubble and the first Bellator show on the road.
Magomed Magomedov is a Russian mixed martial artist who competes in Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA.
Bellator 268: Nemkov vs. Anglickas was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on October 16, 2021, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.
2022 in Bellator MMA was the fourteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
Bellator 274: Gracie vs. Storley was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on February 19, 2022 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Bellator 277: McKee vs. Pitbull 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 15, 2022, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, United States.
Bellator 283: Lima vs. Jackson was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on July 22, 2022 at Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel in Tacoma, Washington, United States.
Bellator 286: Pitbull vs. Borics was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on October 1, 2022, at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, United States.
Bellator 288: Nemkov vs. Anderson 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on November 18, 2022, at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
PFL vs. Bellator: Champs was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Professional Fighters League and Bellator MMA that took place on February 24, 2024, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was the first MMA event held in Saudi Arabia.
