Patricky Pitbull advanced to the Bellator lightweight grand prix semifinal after stopping current RIZIN champion Roberto Satoshi in the main event of Bellator vs. RIZIN 2 this Saturday in Saitama, Japan.
Satoshi replaced A.J. McKee on less than a week’s notice in the grand prix and attempted to take the fellow Brazilian down, but the ex-Bellator titleholder defended the attacks fairly easily to continue landing the better strikes on the feet. Pitbull rocked Satoshi with a vicious flying knee to the jaw but opted against following to the ground to work on his ground and pound out of respect for Satoshi’s jiu-jitsu skills.
Round three started and Pitbull kept targeting the lead leg of the experienced jiu-jitsu ace, who eventually succumbed to the calf kicks. Satoshi went down visibly in pain, forcing the referee to rescue him 49 seconds into the round.
Pitbull advances to face Alexander Shabliy in the lightweight tournament semifinal, while champion Usman Nurmagomedov meets Brent Primus for the second spot in the finals.
Bellator will have to wait a little longer to crown the first flyweight champion in its history after Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Shinryu ended prematurely and with no winner.
Horiguchi vs. Shinryu served as the co-main event bout for Bellator vs. RIZIN 2 and ended in just 25 seconds, as Horiguchi, a former Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight titleholder, unintentionally poked his opponent in the eye. Bellator has yet to announce plans for the vacant title.
Watch the eye poke below.
A pivotal bantamweight clash had Magomed Magomedov scoring a huge victory in Japan. The Russian talent took on former title contender Danny Sabatello and did a great job defending his submission attempts early on, especially a rear-naked choke in the opening round, before securing a tight guillotine choke in the second stanza, forcing “The Italian Gangster” to tap.
“I fought the Italian gangster, now I’m the Dagestan gangster,” Magomedov said after the win, his 20th in 23 professional bouts. “One time I lost to a king of the jungle, so I want a title.”
The card also featured two close decision wins for Kana Watanabe and Andrey Koreshkov over Veta Arteaga and Lorenz Larkin, respectively. Click here for the complete Bellator vs. RIZIN 2 results.
