New Bellator Featherweight Champion Crowned

MMA

Patricio "Pitbull" Friere is now a two-time Bellator MMA Featherweight Champion.

Pitbull capped off a long, storied rivalry with Daniel Straus at Bellator 178. The two competed four times, with Friere managing to win three of them, off the back of a second round submission Saturday night to regain the featherweight title he lost to Straus in November in 2015.

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Below in an excerpt from Fightful's live coverage of the event.

Round Two: The round begins with Freire nailing a swinging Straus with a knee strike to the midsection, Straus looks for a takedown and Freire goes for the guillotine choke to force a submission.

Official Result: #1 Patricio Freire def. Daniel Straus by submission via guillotine choke (0:37, R2) to win the Bellator MMA Featherweight Title

Pitbull will take on Daniel Weichel next in a rematch of their 2015 fight that Friere won via knockout. By the time that fight actually happens, rematches will have made up 6 of the last 7 Bellator Featherweight Title fights, with the only exclusion being the first Pitbull-Weichel fight. 

Straus, who never defended his title, seems likely to give 155 pounds a try after having trouble making weight in the past. 

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