Bellator vs. Rizin 2 Showdown Features ‘Pitbull’ TKO in Main Event, 25 Second No-Contest

Deadly leg kick! 🦵💥

The finish from @PatrickyPitbull in slow motion 👀

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Can he go all the way in the #BellatorLWGP? #BellatorXRizin pic.twitter.com/rCRgEII479

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 30, 2023

Bellator MMA staged its second big cross-promotional event with Rizin Fighting Federation at the legendary Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The venue was the sight of many of Pride Fighting Championships's greatest events, which mixed martial arts fans remember fondly to this day.

Appropriately, the Bellator MMA vs. Rizin 2 main event was a battle between two Brazilians with very different styles. Calling to mind the days of Chute Boxe versus Brazilian Top Team, Roberto Satoshi de Souza was the world-class submission grappler and Patricky Freire the devastating striker.

De Souza came in on short notice for the 161-pound catchweight contest, replacing A.J. McKee, but was still the favorite, being younger than Freire and having easily dispatched Spike Carlyle in his last outing. Freire is the former Bellator lightweight champion but is 37 and has lost his title after being dominated for 25 straight minutes by undefeated phenom Usman Nurmagomedov.

However, Freire showed that he still has plenty left. He repeatedly stuffed de Souza's takedown attempts and punished him with strikes, particularly a set of stinging low kicks. Finally, in the beginning of the third round, a Patricky calf kick left de Souza collapsed on the canvas and rolling over to cover up. Referee Kerry Hatley intervened, giving Freire a fantastic TKO victory, one of the best of his career.

The co-main was a historic first-ever Bellator flyweight championship match. On one hand was one of the greatest Japanese fighters ever in Kyoji Horiguchi, who had fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title years ago against Demetrious Johnson and had won bantamweight titles in both Rizin and Bellator. He faced sensational 23 year-old Makoto Takahashi. Despite being so young, Takahashi had already amassed a stellar record of 16-1-1, including winning 10 in a row. His last loss had come in early 2018, when Takahashi was a mere 17 years old. Alas, the hotly-anticipated duel was over in just 25 seconds due to an eye poke. The no contest will almost certainly mean these two will fight again on a future card.

Related » Bellator vs. Rizin 2 Round-by-Round Scoring

In a women's flyweight affair, Tokyo native Kana Watanabe confronted tough veteran Veta Arteaga. Watanabe was expected to win, but instead it was Arteaga who defended innumerable takedowns and beat up her opponent badly with strikes, including hurting her on multiple occasions. All three Sherdog scorers had it 30-27 Arteaga. Unfortunately, the three cageside judges disagreed, inexplicably giving it to Watanabe 29-28 across the board in what is a fine candidate for 2023's Robbery of the Year.

Elite bantamweight grapplers collided as American Danny Sabatello faced Dagestan's Magomed Magomedov. Sabatello had recorded a nice submission victory over Marcus Breno after losing a narrow split decision to Raufeon Stots for the interim title. Meanwhile, Magomedov had come into Bellator with considerable hype, holding an early win over Petr Yan, with his only defeat coming against Yan in a rematch. Magomedov had some success in Bellator, including a submission of Enrique Barzola, but dropped a decision to Stots and was submitted by the superb Patrick Mix in his last outing. It was expected to be close, but Magomedov showed a clear superiority in both the striking and grappling against Sabatello. With about a minute left in Round 1, Sabatello tried to get up too fast from a takedown and Magomedov pounced, locking in a tight guillotine to force a tap 3:55 into the fight.

In the opening contest, former Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov rematched long-time top contender in both Bellator and the UFC, Lorenz Larkin. Their first meeting was one of the best fights in all of 2019, ending in a split decision for Larkin. Moreover, both were in good form heading into the rematch, with Larkin having recorded one of the best knockouts of 2023, dispatching Mukhamed Berkhamov with a gorgeous elbow in just 101 seconds, as part of a 7-fight winning streak dating back to January 2018, and Koreshkov having won 4 in a row, three by stoppage, since the narrow defeat to Larkin. This time, Koreshkov leaned even more on his grappling, taking the first two rounds on most scorecards. Larkin came back to win the last frame, but it wasn't enough, as Koreshkov took the split decision.