4 Lightweight Quarterfinals Anchor Bellator 36

Former World Extreme Cagefighting champion “Razor” Rob McCullough will lock horns with Patricky Freire in one of four quarterfinals in the Bellator Fighting Championships Season 4 lightweight tournament at Bellator 36 on Saturday at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, La.

McCullough (Pictured) will carry a two-fight winning streak into his promotional debut. The 33-year-old Huntington Beach, Calif., native last fought under the Tachi Palace Fights banner in September, when he posted a unanimous decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 alum Corey Hill. McCullough, who has secured more than half (11) of his 19 career victories by knockout or technical knockout, owns other notable victories against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 semifinalist Nam Phan, Team Quest’s Ryan Healy and Strikeforce veteran Isaac DeJesus. In 25 professional appearances, he has been finished only once.

The once-beaten Freire has rattled off three consecutive victories since suffering his lone defeat -- a technical decision loss to UFC veteran Willamy Freire in September 2007. The brother of Bellator Season 3 featherweight tournament finalist Patricio Freire, he last fought at Arena Gold Fights 2 in July, when he notched a unanimous decision against Yure Machado at the Curitiba Military Circle Gymnasium in Curitiba, Brazil. All eight of Freire’s professional bouts have been contested on Brazilian soil.

In another lightweight quarterfinal, Polish prodigy Marcin Held will toe the line against the unbeaten Michael Chandler.

Held, who turned 19 in January, has won-back-to-back fights. He last appeared under the Infinite Fighting Federation banner in October, when he submitted Bojan Kosednar with a second-round kneebar at the Centrum Arena in Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, Held has delivered eight of his 10 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. He made his professional debut in 2008 at the age of 16, winning his first eight bouts.

An Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts representative, Chandler wrestled collegiately at the University of Missouri, where he teamed with current Strikeforce welterweight contender Tyron Woodley and 2008 Olympian Ben Askren. The 24-year-old spent time at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., before he put down roots at Xtreme Couture. A Missouri native, Chandler has opened his professional mixed martial arts career with five consecutive victories, all of them finishes. He has not competed since October, when he submitted Chris Page with a first-round guillotine choke at Bellator 32 in Kansas City, Mo. Chandler ended it in just 57 seconds.

The two other quarterfinal matchups will pit two-time tournament finalist Toby Imada against Ferrid Kheder and Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts representative Carey Vanier against Lloyd Woodard.

Bellator 36
Saturday, March 12
Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
Shreveport, La.

“Razor” Rob McCullough vs. Patricky Freire
Ferrid Kheder vs. Toby Imada
Carey Vanier vs.Lloyd Woodard
Marcin Held vs. Michael Chandler
* Chad Leonhardt vs. Kelly Leo
* Matt Hunt vs. Kevin Aguilar
* Javon Duhon vs. Booker Arthur
* Josh Shockley vs. Kelvin Hackney

* Not Official