A lightweight rematch between Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (14-6) and Derek Anderson (12-2, 1 NC) has been added to the main card of “Bellator 147: Thomson vs. Villaseca” on Friday, December 4 at The San Jose State University Event Center in gorgeous San Jose, Calif.
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire takes on Derek Anderson at Bellator 147
In addition, the preliminary portion of the card is also beginning to take shape, with the news that undefeated top featherweight prospect A.J. McKee (2-0) meets JT Donaldson (1-0). If you haven’t seen McKee in action, look no further than his impressive stoppage of James Barnes at“Bellator 141: Guillard vs. Girtz.” James Terry (16-8) returns to the Bellator MMA cage to face Mauricio Alonso (10-7) and American Kickboxing Academy product Thomas Diagne (5-4-1) battles Erick Sanchez (5-2).
The newly announced matchup joins two previously confirmed fights on the main card of “Bellator 147: Thomson vs. Villaseca,” which includes a main event of Josh Thomson (21-8, 1 NC) versus Pablo Villaseca (10-1) and a marquee featherweight contest, when Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (24-4-1) goes toe-to-toe with Daniel “The Weasel” Weichel (35-9).
The contests will air live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while preliminary bouts will stream on Spike.com at 5 p.m. PT. Tickets for “Bellator 147: Thomson vs. Villaseca” are on sale now at the San Jose State University Event Center Box Office, as well as Ticketmaster and Bellator.com. Ticket prices start at only $30 and doors for the event open at 4 p.m. local time, with the first bout taking place shortly after.
In what surely was an emotional victory for Freire, the elder of the two “Pitbull” brothers defeated Saad Awad via unanimous decision in the co-feature of “Bellator 141: Guillard vs. Girtz.” With the victory, Freire has won four out of his last five contests and moved closer to a matchup with Bellator MMA’s current lightweight champion, Will Brooks. The December matchup will be Freire’s 13th appearance under the promotional banner and could likely end up being the fight that grants the Brazilian his first crack at the 155-pound title.
Anderson will look to replicate his first performance against Freire at “Bellator 98” in 2013, where he was able to nullify the world-class striking of “Pitbull” and walk away with the win. The fight was “Barbaric’s” debut with the Scott Coker-led promotion, and immediately propelled him to the forefront of lightweight contenders. Since then, the 25-year-old San Diego, Calif., resident has dropped two out of four appearances, but with a second win over a fighter the likes Freire, the San Diego-based fighter will have a strong case for a run at the championship in 2016.
“Bellator 147: Thomson vs. Villaseca” Updated Card
Bellator Lightweight Feature Bout: Josh Thomson (21-8, 1 NC) vs. Pablo Villaseca (10-1)
Bellator Featherweight Feature Bout: Georgi Karakhanyan (24-4-1) vs. Daniel Weichel (35-9)
Bellator Lightweight Feature Bout: Patricky Freire (14-6) vs. Derek Anderson (12-2, 1 NC)
Preliminary Card:
Bellator Featherweight Feature Bout: A.J. McKee (2-0) vs. JT Donaldson (1-0)
Bellator Welterweight Feature Bout: James Terry (16-8) vs. Mauricio Alonso (10-7)
Bellator Featherweight Feature Bout: Thomas Diagne (5-4-1) vs. Erick Sanchez (5-2)
