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On May 11th, Saturday night had an amazing night of action from both Bellator MMA and the UFC.
Almost every moment at Bellator 221 had jaw-dropping moment before ending it with a milestone earned by one of the best in the business. AJ McKee stayed undefeated with a unanimous decision win over Pat Curran, before Douglas Lima ended all chances of hype for Michael Venom Page.
To end off a night after that shocking moment, Bellator had themselves a moment to always remember when Patricio Freire did what he said he was going to do and that was finish Michael Chandler. Freire is still Bellator’s Featherweight champion, but is the new Lightweight champion with a record of 29-4.
This has now set up scheduled fights that just may happen, it would be obvious for them to book McKee and Freire in an exciting fight, to see who wins between Rory MacDonald and Neiman Gracie so that they can go to the Finals and have a true classic with Lima. It’ll be worth watching how Curran, MVP and Chandler attempt to bounce back from these brutal moments.
The UFC created hostile territory in Brazil when stars like Ryan Spann, Irene Aldana, Laureano Staropoli, Alexander Volkanovski and Jared Cannonier had to do whatever it takes to represent their own flags against Brazil’s.
Spann shocked Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Aldana forced Bethe Correia to tap out, Staropoli had an amazing performance against a long time UFC fighter against Thiago Alves, Volkanovski did the impossible when he made a one-sided decision for himself to defeat Jose Aldo and Cannonier then finished off an all-time great in Anderson Silva with brutal leg kicks.
The main event was called hostile territory for a reason, and when Rose Namajunas had to defend her Strawweight crown against Brazil’s own Jessica Andrade, it was a fight that also ended after Andrade finished off Namajunas with a powerful slam to become the new Strawweight champion. This had shades of when Robbie Lawler slammed, but still lost to Ben Askren at UFC 235.
The aftermath of this event could be a treat for all to see, it will be very important to see who Spann faces next, Aldana is going to be looking for more classics against someone in the Bantamweight division, Staropoli will look to continue with the momentum he holds, plus with huge wins for Volkanovski, Cannonier and the new Strawweight Queen Jessica Andrade.
It’ll be exciting to see the rising Volkanovski fight Max Holloway for the Featherweight title or see him fight for an interim title in the Featherweight division.
Cannonier will continue to be ready for anyone that attempts to block any chances he can get for a shot at fighting for the Middleweight title one day.
Andrade will see what’s next after she beat Namajunas who contemplated retirement at the post fight show. Andrade could rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk who once defeated Andrade to retain the title. The UFC can also book a fight between Andrade and a worthy contender in Michelle Waterson or take a wild approach with the winner of Tatiana Suarez vs Nina Ansaroff who are set to fight very soon.
Bellator 221 and UFC 237 had a theme, Volkanoski and McKee defeated Aldo and Curran who are both former Featherweight kings, Cannonier and Lima both put an exclamation point in wins over MVP and Silva, the main event had Freire become the new Lightweight champ and Andrade won the Straweight title to stamp a huge statement on all the hard work inside that they put inside of that octagon.
Both promotions will definitely have to book many more of these fights for the future, seeing the UFC and Bellator continue to put on title or contender fights is most definitely worth watching when they end up with bigger opportunities afterwards.
Featured Image: MMA Junkie
