Bellator Season Four - Weekly Recap #2

“Pitbull”s fighting against “Razor”s, and Cupcakes being thrown into the cage, Bellator 36 had it all as it hosted its Lightweight Quarterfinal from Shreveport, Louisiana on Saturday.
The action kicked off as Michael Chandler squared off against Marcin Held. Held came into the fight, only 19 years old looking to end Chandler’s five-fight, undefeated streak. Held, though only 19 had much more professional experience under his belt, sporting his own 10-1 record. As an amateur, he posted a 25-0 record that began when he was just 16.
Held began the fight defensively, and rightly so. All of Chandler’s five wins had been by early stoppage. The fight quickly went to the ground, where Held attempted a kneebar. After some ground-and-pound from Chandler, Held attempted another kneebar, but Chandler quickly escaped. Chandler attempted to pound Held out, but the young fighter wouldn’t quit, attempting submission after submission. Patience proved to be the key, as Chandler sunk in an arm triangle choke at the 3:56 mark of the first round.
The next fight on the main card featured another undefeated fighter in Lloyd “Cupcake” Woodard. Woodard faced veteran Carey Vanier. The fight began with early clinch grappling and Vanier got the best of Woodard to start, but Cupcake would have the last laugh. He dropped Vanier with an early straight left in the second round. Woodard then attempted to get the sure finish by kimura but Vanier flipped back to his feet. Shortly thereafter, a knee to the body took him to the mat, and Cupcake finished him there with strikes for the TKO victory.
Toby Imada fought an unexpected opponent in Josh Shockley because his original opponent, Ferrid Kheder failed to make weight. The replacement occurred at the last possible minute. The fight ended very quickly when Shockley took the judo black belt, Imada to the ground. Imada locked up for an armbar and Shockley attempted to slam him to escape. The slam was accompanied by pained shouts from Shockley, and the referee stopped the fight due to verbal submission. It was unclear to what extent Shockley had damaged his arm.
The main event of the fight card featured ““Razor”” Rob McCullough against Patricky “““Pitbull””” Freire. “Pitbull”, the older brother of Bellator season 3 featherweight runner-up, Patricio Freire, took the fight in stunning fashion. He opened with a combination that pushed McCullough back. The former WEC Lightweight Champ, McCullough, got smashed to the mat and Freire mounted him. McCullough’s face bled badly, and he rolled over allowing Freire to take his back. Freire attempted to sink in a rear-naked choke, but McCullough escaped and rolled into “Pitbull”’s guard. “Pitbull” attempted an armbar so “Razor” backed up to his feet to end the first round.
The second round saw a lot of standup action from both fighters. McCullough continued to eat punches, but answered with a few kicks and punches of his own. Freiere, again mounted McCullough but was quickly rolled onto his back. McCullough threw hammerfists to end the round.
In the final round, McCullough landed several effective leg kicks that slowed “Pitbull” down. “Pitbull” countered with a right hook that sent “Razor” to the mat for good at 3:11 of the third round.