Bellator is set for arguably the biggest fight in the promotion’s history.
Michael Chandler will defend his lightweight championship against the current featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main event of Bellator 221 on May 11 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The highly anticipated bout will be Chandler’s first title defense since reclaiming the belt from Brent Primus last December at Bellator 212. “Pitbull” will move up to lightweight for the first time since 2016, when he battled Benson Henderson in an anticlimactic fight that saw him lose by TKO as a result of a broken shin in the first round.
The co-main event features a welterweight grand prix semifinals match that will determine the next 170 lb. championship contender. After grinding out a close decision against Paul Daley, the undefeated Michael Venom Page will take on his toughest opponent yet in former welterweight champion Douglas Lima. “MVP” enters the contest for the first time in his career as an underdog against “The Phenom”, and while the fight is slated for five rounds, most don’t expect the bout to go the full 25 minutes between the two skilled strikers.
Elsewhere on the card undefeated featherweight prospect AJ McKee takes on former champion Pat Curran in a scrap that could have ramifications for the upcoming featherweight tournament later this year, and former WWE wrestler Jake Hager takes on relatively unknown beef plant worker TJ Jones in a bout that will look to showcase “Jack Swagger”’s wrestling pedigree.
Askar Askar, Jose Leon, and Christian Rodriguez all missed the bantamweight mark, with Askar vs. Moore being cancelled due to a rule in Illinois that requires fighters to weigh withing three pounds of each other for a fight.
You can watch Bellator 221 live on DAZN with the main card starting at 9 pm EST and prelims starting at 6:30 pm EST.
Weigh-in Results:
Michael Chandler(154.8) vs. Patricio Freire(154.7)
Douglas Lima(169.5) vs. Michael Venom Page(169.9)
AJ Mckee(145.8) vs. Pat Curran(146)
Jake Hager(239.1) vs. TJ Jones(263.7)
Tywan Claxton(145.8) vs. James Bennett(145.8)
Adil Benjilany(145.3) vs. Cris Lencioni (145)
Chris Gonzalez(155.8) vs. Charlie Radtke (155.5)
Bryan Bautista(134.8) vs. Rob Fenicle(135.7)
Adam Ward(155.2) vs. Amartuvshin Khuukhenkhuu (154.9)
Jose Leon(137.7)* vs. Christian Rodriguez(140)*
Askar Askar(140.8)** vs. Taylor Moore (134.8)
James Bochnovic(204.4) vs. Robert Morrow (204.5)
Dave Latoria(242.1) vs. Jason Belyew(243.8)
Joey Diehl(125.8) vs. Jesse Bazzi (125.8)
Scott Writz (170.3) vs. Josh Streacker (169.8)
