Patricio Freire Ousts A.J. McKee, Reclaims Featherweight Title in Bellator 277 Headliner

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire avenged a July 31 submission defeat and reclaimed the Bellator MMA featherweight throne for a third time, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over A.J. McKee in the Bellator 277 headliner on Saturday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47.

McKee (18-1, 18-1 Bellator) struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The resourceful Freire (33-5, 21-5 Bellator) kept him off-balance with repeated kicks to the inside and outside of his lead leg, pieced together occasional punching combinations and threatened him with a guillotine choke in the third round. McKee did his best work in Round 5, where he executed multiple takedowns, stayed busy with his hands and zeroed in on the Brazilian’s midsection with kicks. Those efforts ultimately fell short in the eyes of the judiciary.

Freire—who moved to a perfect 6-0 in rematches—has won eight of his past nine bouts.

Meanwhile, an inadvertent clash of heads in the third round of the co-main event resulted in a no contest between reigning light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 19 winner Corey Anderson. Due to the accidental foul and the massive cut above Nemkov’s left eye that resulted 4:55 into Round 3, the Russian retained his title and the final of the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix was left unresolved.

Nemkov (14-2, 7-0 Bellator) dictated much of the action in the first round, where he mixed kicks to the body and legs with crisp punching combinations. Anderson (16-5, 3-0 Bellator) turned the tide in his favor with a dominant Round 2, as he secured a takedown roughly a minute into the period, controlled position and stayed busy with ground-and-pound. The third round appeared to be headed in the same direction—Nemkov threatened with a few submissions from his back but was otherwise ineffective—until the head butt led to an unfortunate finish.

Elsewhere, Jackson-Wink MMA export Aaron Pico struck down Adli Edwards with punches in the third round of their catchweight attraction at 150 pounds. Pico (10-3, 10-3 Bellator) brought it to a close 55 seconds into Round 3 and left the cage on a run of six straight victories.

Edwards (9-2, 0-1 Bellator) could not cover the enormous talent gap between the two men. Pico let fly with violent punching combinations to the head and body, delivered repeated takedowns and piled up points with ferocious ground-and-pound. Edwards reached the end of his road early in the third round. Pico set him on unsteady footing with thudding right hand, swarmed with punches until he was on all fours and continued his onslaught to prompt the stoppage.

The loss was Edwards’ first since Aug. 5, 2017.

Finally, Sanford MMA’s Linton Vassell took care of Tim Johnson with mounted ground-and-pound in the first round of their chaotic heavyweight feature. Vassell (22-8, 11-5 UFC) drew the curtain 4:21 into Round 1 and extended his current winning streak to four fights.

Johnson (15-9, 3-5 UFC) bull rushed into clinch range, uncorked power punches from both hands and had the Englishman reeling. He sprawled on a desperate takedown attempt from Vassell, moved into top position and applied his ground-and-pound. It was not enough to seal the deal. Vassell sprang the reversal, climbed to full mount and cut loose with elbows and punches until referee Blake Grice had seen enough.

The 37-year-old Johnson has suffered three consecutive defeats.

In preliminary action, Tyrell Fortune (12-2, 12-2 Bellator) subdued Rakim Cleveland (22-15-1, 1-1 Bellator) with punches 1:38 into the first round of their heavyweight skirmish; Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (19-7-1, 1-2 Bellator) dismissed Rafael Carvalho (16-7, 7-6 Bellator) with elbows and punches 4:04 into the second round of their light heavyweight confrontation; Bobby Seronio III (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) knocked out Calob Ramirez (1-2, 0-1 Bellator) with a crushing straight right hand 2:14 into the second round of their bantamweight affair; Gaston Bolanos (6-3, 6-3 Bellator) wiped out Daniel Carey (7-6, 3-5 Bellator) with punches and hammerfists 4:59 into the first round of their featherweight rematch, evening their head-to-head series at 1-1; Kyle Crutchmer (9-1, 5-1 Bellator) took a unanimous verdict from Michael Lombardo (12-3, 1-1 Bellator) in a three-round welterweight scrap, earning 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 scores from the cageside judges; Tyson Miller (3-0, 2-0 Bellator) forced a doctor stoppage against Rhalan Gracie (0-4, 0-2 Bellator) in between the first and second rounds of their welterweight encounter; Edwin De Los Santos (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) outstruck Alberto Mendez (0-1, 0-1 Bellator) to a unanimous decision in a three-round flyweight clash, drawing 30-27 marks across the board; Rogelio Luna (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) stopped Socrates Hernandez (0-2 Bellator) with punches 4:48 into the third round of their featherweight battle; Laird Anderson (2-0, 2-0 Bellator) dispatched J.T. Donaldson (4-6, 0-2 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 2:44 into the first round of their featherweight tilt; and Theo Haig (1-0, 1-0 Bellator) put away Alan Benson (1-3, 1-1 Bellator) with a rear-naked choke 2:08 into the first round of their light heavyweight pairing.