While Bellator 228 saw ‘Pitbull’ defend his title, the highlight of the night’s bloody proceedings came from a post-lim brutal knee to the face.
Adrian Najera won his fight against Jason Edwards with a rear-naked choke in the third round – but that isn’t the moment people are talking about.
In a clip posted on Bellator MMA’s Facebook, Najera sends Edwards’ gum flying across the ring after landing an explosive, face-shifting knee.
Check out the video below:
Najera and Edwards’ bout was the last of the evening at The Forum in Inglewood, California – one of three fights following the co-main events.
Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire defended his title from Juan Archuleta, claiming victory through unanimous decision after going the full three rounds.
As reported by MMA Fighting, ‘Pitbull’ said of Archuleta following the fight:
This dude is a warrior. I want to thank him for this fight. We did a great battle here.
Friere will continue to fight in the ongoing Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix – a knockout tournament which will see the winner earning themselves $1 million.
The second main event of the night was between Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida and Gegard Mousasi.
The middleweight rematch between former world champions saw Mousasi emerge victorious by split decision, again after going the full three rounds – the pair met before while contracted to the UFC in February 2014.
In the final round, Machida attempted to end the fight with a guillotine choke – but Mousasi would go the distance to take the win.
The Grand Prix quarter finals will see AJ McKee take on Derek Campos this December, Adam Borics fight Darrion Caldwell in January 2020, Daniel Weichel tussle with Emmanuel Sanchez in February, and Freire exchange blows with Pedro Carvalho – for the featherweight title – in March.
Speaking after the fight, Mousasi turned his focus to Rafael Lovato Jr – whom he originally lost his middleweight title to in June this year at Bellator 223.
As reported by MMA Fighting, Mousasi said:
Next fight I’m going to kill him. I swear to God if I don’t knock him out, I don’t count it as victory. Because I know what I can do and he will die, literally. You will see. I will knock him out 100 percent. I guarantee you that.
If I lose [the rematch], I’ll retire I’ll promise you. I’m not kidding, because I’m not trying to sell a fight. I know what I can do. Next fight will be extra special because I’m going to be an extra special boy.
Imagine how unbearable the world would be if every guy had that much testosterone.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.