A NEW CHAMPION IS CROWNED, ANOTHER RETAINS AT ‘BELLATOR 145: WITH A VENGEANCE’

 Patricio Freire (24-2) and Daniel Straus (23-6) went to war at Scottrade Center on Friday night, sending a packed house home happy after 25-minutes of nonstop action. In the end, the judges crowned a new champion.

Straus walked away with the unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) and the belt tightly wrapped around his waist. The American Top Team product claimed that he broke his hand during the fight, but with all the punches thrown, it sure didn’t seem so.

In the first of not one, but two world title bouts, Will Brooks (17-1) dominated Marcin Held (21-4) on the mat, cruising to a unanimous decision victory (50-45, 49-46, 49-46).

After getting taken down in the opening round, Brooks came back and utilized his wrestling to gring out the Polish fighter over the course of the next 20 minutes. With the victory, Brooks has now successfully defended his title for the second time since defeating Chandler to win the title.

Michael Chandler (14-3) truly has Dave Rickels’ (16-4) number. The Missouri native managed to finish “The Caveman” for the second time in as many tries on the main card of “Bellator 145: With a Vengeance.”

“I’ve had so many people pour into my life for decades, I am thankful to all of them,” Chandler said. “I just listen to my coaches and luckily tonight I got the finish,” Chandler said. “I want that title so bad I can taste it. Scott Coker, give me the winner of Marcin and Held or else I’ll be forced to keep knocking out every lightweight on the roster until you do.”

The end came at 3:05 of round two, which saw “Iron” Mike pummel his foe with punches until the referee stopped the fight.

Revenge is a dish best served cold and Bobby Lashley (14-2) defeated James Thompson (20-15) so quickly, there was no time for the dish to get hot.

“The Dominator” did what he does best, shooting in on “The Colossus” and scoring the takedown which he then followed up with offensive shots to the head of his opponent, earning the technical knockout at 54-seconds of round one.

There’s not much doubt that Lashley moves inevitably closer to a title shot with the win and remains undefeated under the Bellator MMA banner. When he receives his title shot though, is yet to be seen.

The opening fight of the main card at “Bellator 145: With a Vengeance” featured a competitive bout between two young, up-and-coming featherweights. In the end, Emmanuel Sanchez (12-2) took home a split decision over Justin Lawrence (7-3) with scores of (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

With the victory, “El Matador” has now notched two consecutives wins via split decision, while the defeat is Lawrence’s first under the Bellator MMA banner and likely sets up sets up a fight that will propel him to the

Preliminary Card Results:

Fazlo Mulabitinovic defeats Scott Ettling via submission (armbar) at 1:52 of round one

Kain Royer defeats Clay Mitchell via submission (kneebar) at 3:41 of round one

Rashard Lovelace (2-0) defeats Brandon Lowe (0-1) via TKO (strikes) at 2:07 of round one

Augusto Sakai (9-0) defeats Alex Huddleston (6-2) via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Adam Meredith (4-1) defeats Jordan Dowdy (2-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:54 of round one

Kyle Kurtz (5-1) defeats Steven Mann (11-3) via submission (triangle choke) 2:59 of round one

Garrett Gross (7-4) defeats Jeff Crotty (0-1) via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Chel Erwin-Davis (3-1) defeats Adam Cella (6-5) via TKO (Punches) at :35 of round three