Patricio Freire will defend his Bellator MMA 145-pound championship against Emmanuel Sanchez in the semifinals of the promotion’s featherweight grand prix when they lock horns in the Bellator 255 main event on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The two men met once previously, as Freire walked away from their Bellator 209 encounter with a five-round unanimous decision two-plus years ago.

Bellator 255 “Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2”—which airs live on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT—also features a welterweight co-headliner matching Neiman Gracie with Jason Jackson, a heavyweight rematch pitting Tyrell Fortune against Jack May, a lightweight showcase pairing Usman Nurmagomedov with Mike Hamel and a women’s flyweight clash slotting Kana Watanabe opposite Alejandra Lara. Bellator’s YouTube channel carries the entire undercard at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, the eight-fight slate of prelims anchored by a bantamweight tilt between Magomed Magomedov and C.J. Hamilton.

A closer look at the Bellator 255 particulars:

THE LINEUP

145: Patricio Freire vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
170: Neiman Gracie vs. Jason Jackson
265: Tyrell Fortune vs. Jack May
155: Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Mike Hamel
125: Kana Watanabe vs. Alejandra Lara
135: Magomed Magomedov vs. C.J. Hamilton
170: Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Herman Terrado
155: Mandel Nallo vs. Ricardo Seixas
185: Fabio Aguiar vs. Khalid Murtazaliev
155: Roger Huerta vs. Christopher Gonzalez
205: Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros vs. Jonathan Wilson
170: Roman Faraldo vs. Trevor Gudde
185: Jordan Newman vs. Branko Busick

THE RUNDOWN

• Bellator 255 Virtual Media Day
• Preview
• Weigh-in Report
• By The Numbers: Freire vs. Sanchez
• By The Numbers: Fortune vs. May
• 5 Defining Moments: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

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Related Coverage »

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• Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
• Sherdog’s Pound-for-Pound Top 10 Rankings
• Sherdog’s WMMA Pound-for-Pound Top 10 Rankings
• Fight Facts: Bellator 254