Tag Archives: Juan Archuleta

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire to Find Japanese Kickboxer Chihiro Suzuki in Bellator-Rizin Co-Promotional Card in Japan

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Patricio “Pitbull” Freire has rizin to rush…

The 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, Bellator‘s franchise fighter will fight this weekend on short notice as part of the Bellator-Rizin co-promotional card at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Patricio "Pitbull" FreireFreire, the Bellator featherweight champion, will face Japanese kickboxer Chihiro Suzuki at a 154-pound catchweight on the Rizin portion of the card, just a little more than one month after falling to Sergio Pettis in a Bellator bantamweight title fight.

Freire vs. Suzuki will be contested under Rizin rules in a ring.

The Bellator portion of the card, with bouts in a cage, will begin the proceedings Sunday afternoon in Japan (Saturday night in the U.S.), with the Rizin card following immediately after it.

AJ McKee, the former Bellator featherweight champion, was supposed to headline the Bellator portion of the event against Patricky “Pitbull” Freire, Patricio’s brother, in a Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal fight. But McKee had to withdraw for medical reasons, it was announced Wednesday.

Rizin lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” Souza will replace McKee in the fight and in the tournament.

The Bellator card will include the promotion’s inaugural flyweight title fight, with former Bellator and Rizin bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi taking on Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi.

Mikuru Asakura — arguably Rizin’s most popular fighter, who also boxed Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year — will face Vugar Karamov in a Rizin featherweight title bout in the Rizin headliner.

In the Rizin co-main event, Bellator’s Juan Archuleta will fight Hiromasa Ougikubo for the Rizin bantamweight title.

And in another title bout, the undefeated Seika Izawa will defend her Rizin women’s super atomweight title against Combate Global’s Claire Lopez.

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire to Fight AJ McKee in Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinals

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Patricky “Pitbull” Freire has lined up his next opponent…

The 37-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist will take on fellow former Bellator champion AJ McKee in the Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinals on July 30 at the storied Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo in one of the headlining fights for a card billed as Bellator x Rizin 2.

Patricky "Pitbull" FreireIn addition to McKee vs. Pitbull, former Bellator and Rizin bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi will face Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi in the inaugural Bellator flyweight title fight. Kana Watanabe will take on Mexican American mixed martial artist Veta Arteaga in a battle of Bellator women’s flyweight contenders.

The card comes on the heels of a successful co-promotion between Bellator and Rizin on New Year’s Eve, which was headlined by McKee and Rizin lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza in a non title bout.

The event in July will be unique. The Bellator fights will take place in a cage under the Unified Rules of MMA. The Rizin fights will take place in a ring under Rizin rules, which include kicks and knees to the head of grounded opponents.

On the Rizin side, former Rizin bantamweight champion Kai Asakura will face former Bellator bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta for the vacant Rizin bantamweight title, and Mikuru Asakura will face Vugar Karamov in a Rizin featherweight title eliminator bout. The Asakura brothers are two of Rizin’s top stars, both popular YouTubers in Japan. Bellator’s Tofiq Musayev will also be on the Rizin portion of the event.

McKee (20-1) has won two straight at lightweight since dropping the Bellator featherweight title to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, the brother of Patricky. A native of California, McKee, 28, has the most stoppage victories (13) and most submissions wins in Bellator history (7). He won the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix in 2021, beating Patricio in the finals.

Patricky (24-11) lost the Bellator lightweight title to current champion Usman Nurmagomedov in November. The Brazilian-born striker has dropped three of four. Patricky is tied for the most knockout wins in Bellator history (10) with Michael “Venom” Page.

The McKee vs. Pitbull winner will face Alexandr Shabliy in the grand prix semifinals.

Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza to Fight AJ McKee in Bellator vs. Rizin Card on New Year’s Eve

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Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza will ring in the New Year in the ring…

The 33-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, Rizin’s lightweight champion, will fight in an ambitious Bellator vs. Rizin card on New Year’s Eve.

Roberto "Satoshi" de Souzade Souza will fight Bellator star AJ McKee in the main event of the December 31 card at Japan’s Saitama Super Arena. That will be a nontitle matchup.

In the co-main event, it will be both promotion’s featherweight champions — Bellator’s Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Rizin’s Kleber Koike Erbst — facing off in a superfight.

Also on the card, former Bellator and current Rizin bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi will face Ultimate Fighter veteran Hiromasa Ougikubo, and former Bellator bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta will meet ROAD FC featherweight champion Soo Chul Kim in a bantamweight bout.

All the fights on the card will take place in a ring, rather than a cage, as is tradition in Japanese MMA. The bouts will be held under Rizin rules and not the Unified Rules of MMA, meaning kicks and knees to the head of grounded opponents will be legal. This card is the last addition of an annual big MMA event in Japan on New Year’s Eve.

De Souza (14-1), a Brazilian-born fighter who lives in Japan, has won five straight and is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist.

Freire (34-5) is the greatest fighter in Bellator history, a three-time Bellator featherweight champion and former Bellator lightweight champion. The Brazilian MMA fighter has won nine of his last 10 fights.

Koike (31-5-1), a 33-year-old Brazilian-born fighter who lives and trains in Japan, has won seven straight and has 27 submission finishes in 31 career wins.

Juan Archuleta is Bellator’s New Bantamweight Champion

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Juan Archuleta is officially a world titleholder…

The 33-year-old Spanish and Mexican American mixed martial artist, who has stayed mostly under the radar during a successful run that extends back half a decade, scored his highest-profile win in the main event of Bellator 246, defeating previously unbeaten Patchy Mix by unanimous decision to earn the vacant bantamweight championship.

Juan Archuleta

Archuleta (25-2) has won 19 of his past 20 bouts; his only loss during the run was a decision loss to two-division champion Patricio Freire a year ago. Freire, known as “Pitbull,” was defending his featherweight belt that night in the first round of the Bellator World Grand Prix tournament.

But now Archuleta finally wears a belt.

Two judges scored Saturday’s bout 48-47 and the other had it 49-46.

“Oh, my God,” Archuleta told Bellator’s John McCarthy in his post-fight interview inside the cage. “My family, John, they deserve this. My teammates, they deserve this, man. My country, Spain, where my ancestors come from, the fighting Spaniards, the conquistadors, they deserve this. They have fighting spirit. It shows in me.”

Archuleta, fighting out of Hesperia, California, had a rough first round and a half as Mix, who had finishes in each of his first three Bellator fights, repeatedly seized dominant grappling positions, threatening finishes.

But Archuleta persevered. He took control in Round 3 with body shots complemented by slick footwork. That kept him at long range, where Mix could no longer make the fight a grappling contest. For the rest of the fight, Archuleta was consistently first in launching strikes, and his incessant movement left Mix (13-1), a 27-year-old fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, often swinging at air.

In Round 5, Archuleta sealed the deal, slowing Mix with a relentless attack of body punches. That secured for Archuleta a Bellator bantamweight title that had been vacant since Kyoji Horiguchi surrendered the championship last November while recovering from an injury.

Sergio Pettis Defeats Ricky Bandejas in Bellator MMA’s Return After Five Months

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Sergio Pettis is proving to be a contender…

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American mixed martial artist, the  younger brother of former UFC champion Anthony Pettis, defeated Ricky Bandejas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) this weekend in the bantamweight main event of Bellator 242.

Sergio Pettis

Bellator, the second-most prominent MMA promotion in the U.S. after the UFC, hadn’t held an event since February 22 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The card took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, overseen by the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation. 

COVID-19 protocols were implemented, including multiple coronavirus tests and the keeping of fighters, corners and staff within a kind of bubble at the Mohegan Sun resort and casino.

The original Bellator 242 main event was supposed to be a bout for the bantamweight title between Juan Archuleta and Patrick Mix, but Archuleta withdrew. The expectation is that bout will be rebooked for the belt.

During his fight, Pettis put himself in the No. 1 contender conversation. He had an economical performance against Bandejas, outstriking the taller man and piling on the calf kicks through the first two rounds. At one point, Bandejas seemed to lose his footing due to the damage caused by those repeated kicks to the lower part of his left leg.

In the third round, both men opened up. Pettis wasn’t content to cruise to a decision and put forth several flashy techniques, clearly looking for a knockout. Pettis threw spinning kicks, and Bandejas came back with some of his own, including a wheel kick to the head that was just barely blocked by Pettis. Pettis threw another spinning kick with seconds remaining that narrowly missed as well.

Pettis (20-5) has won three straight, including his first two in Bellator. The Milwaukee native left the UFC as a free agent last year with a 9-5 record in the organization, going back and forth between flyweight and bantamweight. Pettis owns a victory over Joseph Benavidez, who just fought for the UFC flyweight title last weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Bandejas (13-4) had a two-fight winning streak snapped. The New Jersey native propelled himself up the Bellator bantamweight ladder in 2018 when he stunningly knocked out Conor McGregor protégé James Gallagher. Bandejas, 28, trains out of the vaunted American Top Team in Florida.