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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The finals for Bellator's season two featherweight tournament are now set, as Joe Warren and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire were victorious at Bellator 18 in Monroe, La. on Thursday night.
Warren pulled out another unanimous decision victory despite being caught in several submission attempts, more than one of which came very close to finishing the fight. Karakhanyan was put on his back and kept there for much of the fight, but he continually stayed active from the bottom during the fight.
Karakhanyan did some damage in the third round as well, landing multiple knees that cut Warren open before bleeding him out with a tight guillotine choke as the round was nearing its end. None of it was enough to negate the slams, takedowns, top game and knees from Warren, however, and Warren swept the judges scorecards to earn his spot in the finals.
Freire himself won a unanimous decision as well to earn his spot in the final, outworking fellow BJJ black belt Wilson Reis in the second and third rounds to take the victory. After a very even first round, "Pitbull" was able to beat Reis to the punch while stuffing almost every takedown attempt from his opponent and he cruised to the decision.
Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney commented on both fighters, saying "“He’s done some amazing things in Brazil that nobody’s gotten to see, and now we’re all getting a chance to see it. And Joe Warren proved yet again what a great, determined fighter he is with another gutsy performance. It’s gonna be a great final round."
Penick's Analysis: Both fighters had good performances last night, but Freire is absolutely going to be the favorite going into the finals. Warren gets himself into bad spots on the ground against fighters adept at submissions, and though he'll likely take Freire down on multiple occasions in the fight, if "Pitbull" locks him in a submission it's not likely he'll be able to power his way out.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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