Bellator v Rizin 2: Flyweight title fight ends in no-contest, Patricky Freire finishes Roberto de Souza
- Published
Bellator's inaugural flyweight title remains vacant after Kyoji Horiguchi's bout with Makoto Takahashi ended after 25 seconds because of an eye poke.
The flyweight title was on the line for the first time in the co-main at Bellator v Rizin 2 in Japan.
Horiguchi, 32, came out as the aggressor, landing a right high-kick.
However his follow up left jab ultimately ended the fight as Takahashi, 23, immediately stepped back and held his hand to his eye.
Referee Jason Herzog called a medical time out but Takahashi, who had won 10 fights in a row, was still struggling to see and the fight was deemed a no contest.
The main event on the cross-promotional card at Saitama Arena did not disappoint however, as Bellator's Patricky 'Pitbull' Freire, 37, earned a third-round TKO win against Roberto 'Satoshi' de Souza in a Bellator lightweight grand prix quarter-final.
Brazil's Freire, who lost the lightweight title via unanimous decision against Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 288, will face Russian Alexandr Shabliy in the semi-finals of the competition.
Rizin lightweight champion De Souza, 33, took the fight on just six days' notice after Bellator's AJ McKee withdrew because of a bacteria infection.
It was a tentative start as Freire and De Souza sized one another up, but 'Pitbull' began to go on the attack in the final moments of the opening round, landing a flurry of punches and just missing with a flying knee.
Patricky Freire is on a mission to reclaim the lightweight title he lost in November
Freire seemed to have a read on his countryman in round two as he started to dig in with some stinging leg kicks that stifled De Souza's ability to move out of danger.
'Pitbull' stuffed several takedown attempts then found a home with another flying knee, sending De Souza down to the canvas but being saved by the bell.
In full control, Freire continued to have success with low kicks and eventually chopped De Souza down before diving in with a flurry of punches to seal victory.
"I take my win, that's it. I just do my job and take the win," Freire said.
"It's my tournament, let's go. I believe in my mind and my team. I don't care about the $1m, I care about the tournament. I'm the king of knockouts."