5 takeaways from Bellator 277
Bellator 277 was quite an eventful one for the promotion. The event was capped off by a featherweight championship rematch between A.J. McKee and Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire.
It was a rematch of the Grand Prix final that saw McKee submit Freire to capture the 145-pound gold last year. The recent event marked McKee's first title defense and was an important bout for the champ and the challenger. This time, ‘Pitbull’ got revenge as he earned a unanimous decision to regain the featherweight belt.
The co-main event saw the highly-anticipated light heavyweight Grand Prix final. It unfortunately ended in controversial fashion after an accidental headbutt towards the end of the third round forced a stoppage. As a result, the final will now have to be postponed to a later date.
There were certainly plenty of takeaways from this past Friday’s event. This list will look at the five major talking points from Bellator 277 .
#5. Linton Vassell deserves a Bellator heavyweight title shot
WHAT A COMEBACK!
After being dropped, "Big Swarm" Linton Vassell gets the stoppage win in Round 1! 🔥
#Bellator277 is LIVE on @SHOsports. https://t.co/0qDg0tpmVM
Linton Vassell continued his successful run in Bellator’s heavyweight division with an incredible come-from-behind win against Tim Johnson.
The bout began with ‘Big Swarm’ landing kicks to the body and maintaining distance. Johnson was able to find success in the clinch early and dropped Vassell with a left hand. He immediately rushed to the ground to try and take advantage of the positioning.
In an unlikely turn of events, ‘Big Swarm’ was able to escape and gain a favorable position. He took Johnson’s back and then landed a flurry of punches before the referee stepped in to stop the fight. It was another impressive win for Vassell, who extended his winning streak to four.
During his appearance at the post-event press conference, Scott Coker spoke about Vassell's performance and his ability to recover to win the fight.
“Linton is a seasoned veteran. And I’m not surprised that he was able to turn it around and with heavyweights you never know. One punch, one knee, one wrong move, it could change the tide right away. So I think that’s what you saw.”