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Bellator 277 was quite an eventful one for the promotion. The event was capped off by a featherweight championship rematch between A.J. McKee and Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire.
It was a rematch of the Grand Prix final that saw McKee submit Freire to capture the 145-pound gold last year. The recent event marked McKee's first title defense and was an important bout for the champ and the challenger. This time, ‘Pitbull’ got revenge as he earned a unanimous decision to regain the featherweight belt.
The co-main event saw the highly-anticipated light heavyweight Grand Prix final. It unfortunately ended in controversial fashion after an accidental headbutt towards the end of the third round forced a stoppage. As a result, the final will now have to be postponed to a later date.
There were certainly plenty of takeaways from this past Friday’s event. This list will look at the five major talking points from Bellator 277 .
#5. Linton Vassell deserves a Bellator heavyweight title shot
Linton Vassell continued his successful run in Bellator’s heavyweight division with an incredible come-from-behind win against Tim Johnson.
The bout began with ‘Big Swarm’ landing kicks to the body and maintaining distance. Johnson was able to find success in the clinch early and dropped Vassell with a left hand. He immediately rushed to the ground to try and take advantage of the positioning.
In an unlikely turn of events, ‘Big Swarm’ was able to escape and gain a favorable position. He took Johnson’s back and then landed a flurry of punches before the referee stepped in to stop the fight. It was another impressive win for Vassell, who extended his winning streak to four.
During his appearance at the post-event press conference, Scott Coker spoke about Vassell's performance and his ability to recover to win the fight.
“Linton is a seasoned veteran. And I’m not surprised that he was able to turn it around and with heavyweights you never know. One punch, one knee, one wrong move, it could change the tide right away. So I think that’s what you saw.”
#4. Socrates Hernandez vs. Rogelio Luna steals the show at Bellator 277
Although there was some controversy on the main card, the Bellator 277 prelims certainly delivered. Rogelio Luna and Socrates Hernandez fought in an all-time classic that surely grew their respective fanbases.
It was a spectacular bout that saw both fighters exchange haymakers from the start. The bout turned into a slugfest early on and both maintained a quick pace throughout the first round. It looked like 'Socky Bombs' had the slight edge in the opening frame as he landed more combinations.
Luna had a much better showing in the second as he found success with his jabs. However, Hernandez used his grappling to take Luna’s back until the round came to a close.
Despite both fighters being bloodied, they still came out with an energetic pace in the final stanza. 'Socky Bombs' once again secured a takedown, but Luna managed to get back to his feet. Luna then found an opening and finished him Hernandez with strikes against the fence with just 17 seconds left.
#3. Bellator featherweight Aaron Pico is on another level
Aaron Pico showed that he’s on another with his TKO win over Adli Edwards at Bellator 277. It was a short-notice bout, as Pico was originally scheduled to fight No.7-ranked Jeremy Kennedy. After Kennedy was forced to withdraw from the card, Edwards stepped in for his promotional debut. He came into the fight having won his last seven and with a 9-1 MMA record.
Edwards' toughness and resilience were on display against the young phenom. 'Sunshine' absorbed a lot of powerful strikes to the head and body, but stayed in the fight and was active. But Pico was too strong and took him down, tiring him out on the ground.
Pico dropped Edwards in the third round and finished him with ground-and-pound to earn the TKO win. It’s become increasingly clear that Pico should be in the title picture at 145 pounds. There are intriguing matchups for the up-and-comer in the top give, so it’ll be interesting to see who he fights next.
#2. The Bellator light heavyweight Grand Prix final will need another date
Bellator's much-anticipated light heavyweight Grand Prix final ended in controversial fashion. Corey Anderson and reigning champion Vadim Nemkov were unable to determine who the best 205lber is.
Prior to the conclusion of round three, Anderson accidentally clashed heads with the champion while attempting an elbow on the ground. The clash of heads opened up a deep cut above Nemkov’s eye that resulted in the fight immediately being stopped. This was an unfortunate situation, especially for ‘Overtime’ as he was in control of the fight.
Nemkov got the better of him in the first round, but Anderson took over in rounds two and three. Obviously, it’s hard to count the champion out as he could have turned things around. Nevertheless, based on how the fight played out, it seemed as though ‘Overtime’ was ahead 2-1 and on his way to championship glory.
After the event, Scott Coker confirmed that the promotion will book the rematch as soon as possible.
#1. Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire regains the Bellator featherweight championship
Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire exacted his revenge as he defeated A.J. McKee via unanimous decision to regain the Bellator featherweight championship. Freire was a lot more composed in the rematch than he was in their first encounter.
‘Pitbull’ also had a much more tactical approach in the fight. He picked his spots for when to be explosive and when to be reactive. Despite the better showing by Freire, there was still plenty of backlash for the judges’ scorecards. Many took to social media to question how one judge scored the bout 49-46.
The main event was another reminder of why fighters need to avoid leaving the outcome in the hands of the judges. During his post-fight press conference, McKee spoke about his future plans as a fighter. He mentioned that he’s done fighting at featherweight and will be moving up to lightweight. The move makes a trilogy bout unlikely, so it looks like both fighters will be moving on for the time being.
