It wasn't the main event that people expected, but Patricky "Pitbull" Freire made Saturday night his at Bellator 172, defeating Josh "The Punk" Thomson via second-round TKO at SAP Center in San Jose, California.
MMAjunkie tweeted out the official result:
Both action-oriented lightweights started the fight off gauging their opponent. Neither fighter was particularly busy, but Pitbull provided some foreshadowing with a big right hand that knocked Thomson down in the round.
The knockdown was enough to give Pitbull the first round, per Sean Sheehan of Severe MMA:
Thomson was able to recover, but there wasn't much to be said about the action in the rest of the round.
Coming out in the second round, whether Thomson was recovered or not was inconsequential. An accidental headbutt rocked Thomson again. A few moments later, Freire once again landed a crushing right in the form of an uppercut to end The Punk's night early and give himself the victory.
Sherdog broke down the final moments of the bout:
Freire took the post-fight interview as an opportunity to say some things about current Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler that didn't make it past the Spike TV sensors, per MMA Fighting:
This wasn't the main event that Bellator was expecting for the card. The original main event was a heavyweight bout pitting MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko against former UFC veteran Matt Mitrione. However, a last-minute illness forced Mitrione off the card and promoted Punk's fight to main event status, per MMAjunkie.
The win is a momentum changer for Freire. Pitbull is coming off a Bellator title shot against Chandler that resulted in a first-round knockout loss. It's his second loss against the champion.
This win keeps the 31-year-old toward the top of the division, although he isn't expecting a rematch against Chandler anytime soon, per Mike Sloan of Sherdog:
Since I lost to Chandler and I have lost to him before, I think Bellator should have somebody else fight him first. I think the audience would want to see something different and see another person fight him. That would only be fair, and there are some other more deserving fighters who are in line right now; but if they do decide to have me fight Chandler again, I would be grateful for the opportunity.
Chandler might not be an option right now, but the Bellator lightweight division isn't quite as deep as its featherweight division, where Patricky's brother Patricio fights. Another win against quality competition could have him right back in the title picture.
Meanwhile, the loss means that Thomson's career might not have much left. The 38-year-old has been inactive for a little over a year and hinted at some of the wear and tear that comes with fighting professionally for 16 years, per Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting:
There are days you don't want to do this anymore. Days you don't want to go through the grind. You go through one too many long training camps and you just feel like having a beer instead of doing weight cuts. But then you get to the other side of it, and you're happy you're still able to do what you do. I want the fans to remember me as a guy who fought hard win or lose, and I'm just glad I still have the opportunity to prove it."
After a true journeyman career that featured fights in the UFC, Pride, Strikeforce (which included a championship) and Bellator, this was an opportunity to put himself right in the middle of the Bellator lightweight title picture.
Instead, it might be time for The Punk to hang them up.
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