Fight Facts: Bellator 270 ‘Queally vs. Pitbull 2’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR FIGHTS: 3,003
TOTAL NUMBER OF BELLATOR EVENTS: 272

Bellator MMA stayed overseas a little while longer to put on a show in front of Dublin faithful. The night may not have gone well for hometown fans, but the organization did end up claiming a new lightweight king when the dust settled. Bellator 270 featured the longest path to a championship in company history, a pair of young unbeaten Irish upstarts getting it done and the 3000th bout in company history.

From Pitbull to Pitbull: In his 23rd fight with Bellator, Patricky Freire finally claimed a title by putting Peter Queally away in the second round. “Pitbull” needed the most fights of any fighter in organizational history to win a belt.

The Next Threshold: “Pitbull” celebrated his 15th win as a Bellator fighter by earning the belt. He is the sixth man to amass this win total, along with David Rickels (15), Michael Page (16), A.J. McKee and Michael Chandler (18 each) and his brother, Patricio Freire (20).

Freire vs. Page Catchweight, Make It Happen: The knockout was Freire’s 10th under the Bellator banner. By earning 10 stoppages due to strikes, he tied Page for the most all-time.

The Brothers Own the Record Books: All 10 of Freire’s Bellator finishes have come by knockout, making him the seventh fighter in promotional history to record at least 10 stoppage wins.

Guillotined in Town Square: Submitting James Gallagher in a battle of the guillotine chokes, Patrick Mix advanced his career finish rate to 80%. All but one of his stoppage wins have come by tapout, including each of his four Bellator victories.

Race to the Bottom: The main card opener between Ilias Bulaid and Georges Sasu clocked in as Bellator’s 3,000th fight. Since its foundation in 2009, Bellator has staged 272 events, while reaching 3,000 in 12 years. In comparison, it took the Ultimate Fighting Championship 21 years to put on its 3,000th fight.

Is He a Young Phenom? By tapping Jordan Barton with a third-round rear-naked choke, Ciaran Clarke improved his young unbeaten record to 4-0. All four of his victories have come after the 12-minute mark, including both of his rear-naked chokes in the Bellator cage.

Not an Hourly Laborer: Smashing Charlie Milner in 15 seconds, Gokhan Saricam retained his 100% finish rate in victory. He has still never reached the third round, win or lose, across seven career bouts.

Speed Kills, Even at 265: The 15-second knockout for heavyweight Saricam clocked in as the second-fastest finish in Bellator heavyweight history, tied with Ryan Bader’s drubbing of Muhammed Lawal in 2018. The fastest came at the hands of Eddie Sanchez in 2009, when he smoked Jay White in 10 seconds.

One for Ireland: Early on the prelims, Danni Neilan kept her undefeated record intact by stopping Audrey Kerouche with strikes. It marked the first time that the Irish strawweight had ever recorded a knockout.

Danni Dangerous: In all four of her Bellator appearances, Neilan has come in at 115 pounds. Victorious in all four, she is one win shy of the divisional record held by Jessica Aguilar, although one of Aguilar’s triumphs came after she missed weight in 2011.

Find the Opening, Then Attack: The finish for Neilan came at 3:58 of the third frame. Her stoppage was not only the latest in a three-round women’s strawweight bout, but it was also the sixth-latest among all three-round women’s tilts in Bellator history.

A Welterweight Phenomenon: To kick off the card, 170-pound newcomer Yusuf Nazokatov snared Stephen Costello with a heel hook in the middle of Round 2. Welterweights have accounted for more heel hook submissions than any other weight class in Bellator history.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Bellator 270, Queally (19 fights) and Barton (eight fights) had never been finished, Gallagher had never been submitted (12 fights) and Bobby Pallett had never been defeated (five fights).