It's the dawn of a new era for Bellator MMA on Friday when the promotion makes a full-time move to its new U.S. broadcasting home of Showtime for the much-anticipated Bellator 255 event. The card is headlined by the final semifinal matchup in the Bellator MMA Featherweight World Grand Prix featuring reigning champion Patricio "Pitbull" Freire battling Emmanuel Sanchez in a rematch for the right to face unbeaten A.J. McKee in the final.
The action will take place inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and feature a number of interesting matchups throughout the card. Let's take a closer look at the biggest storylines entering this weekend.
1. Time for 'Pitbull' to get P4P respect he deserves
Freire, the 33-year-old younger brother of lightweight slugger Patricky "Pitbull," may have opened Bellator MMA's inaugural rankings that were released Monday as the promotion's P4P best male fighter. But it's past time most publications realized he's also among the very P4P best across the globe -- regardless of promotion. Will "Pitbull" receive such praise should he get past Sanchez in a rematch of their 2018 slugfest? It's hard to say, although Bellator's move to premier cable with Showtime, which has a noted combat sports reputation thanks to boxing and Bellator president Scott Coker's beloved Strikeforce promotion, probably doesn't hurt. Freire is as destructive a pure slugger as the sport currently has, and has impressively rounded out his game. Not only is he Bellator's reigning featherweight and lightweight champion, but he has openly talked about wanting to move down to 135 pounds and chase a third title at bantamweight.
2. Does Sanchez know the secret to claiming the title?
It's an interesting question considering how close Sanchez once came three years ago at Bellator 209 when he entered the final round against "Pitbull" with the fight even on the scorecards and survived a late barrage to settle for a decision defeat. Sanchez took Freire's best shots repeatedly and kept coming. He also hurt "Pitbull" earlier in the fight and believed he was close to scoring a stoppage. At age 30, Sanchez is entering the rematch at the peak of his prime, and has shown great improvement during his current three-fight win streak by slowing down his aggressive attack and picking his shots better. With the exception of a TKO loss due to injury, Freire hasn't been beaten cleanly in eight fights dating back to 2015. Yet it was Sanchez who seemed to come the closest by not backing down once he was hurt.
3. Who might A.J. McKee prefer advances to the final?
McKee (17-0), the 25-year-old homegrown sensation for Bellator, ripped through his side of the 145-pound bracket to earn a shot at the $1 million prize. When asked by "Morning Kombat" during the Showtime announcement press conference about who he would prefer to face next, the brash McKee said Sanchez, but only so he could then move up to lightweight and take that title from Freire immediately after. Regardless of whether Sanchez or Freire advance on Friday, the tournament final is expected to be a good one thanks to McKee's outrageous upside which makes it difficult to know just how great he really is. The winner of the tournament would also have a strong case for both 2021 Fighter of the Year globally and potentially as the best 145-pound fighter in the game today.
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4. Just how good can Usman Nurmagomedov be?
Considering the reputation of his last name and home region of Dagestan, Russia, the expectations are pretty high entering Friday's Bellator debut. The cousin of retired UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, the 23-year-old is off to a great start having gone 11-0 with 10 stoppage wins since making his pro debut in 2017. He was trained by his uncle, Khabib's late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who died last summer due to COVID-19 complications one month before Usman Nurmagomedov's signing with Bellator. Considered a more well-rounded fighter and capable striker than his more famous cousin, Nurmagomedov also brings with him a reputation as a capable wrestler. He'll also be given a good spot to potentially shine in the co-main event when he takes on fellow lightweight Mike Hamel (7-4), who pushed Adam Borics to the limit in a split-decision loss last August.
5. Watanabe-Lara bout could produce next title challenger
Talk about an interesting matchup at 125 pounds as Kana Watanabe (9-0-1), a native of Japan who scored a resounding TKO in her Bellator debut in 2019, returns against the former title challenger in Alejandra Lara (9-3). Both fighters are ranked within the top five of the division in the promotion's inaugural list, and the fight should be intensely competitive as Lara, the 26-year-old striker from Colombia, enters on a two-fight win streak. Lara's only defeats since making her Bellator debut in 2017 have come against former champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and current belt holder Juliana Velasquez. Given the lack of extended depth within the division, the winner will be in a prime spot to get the call for the next shot at Velasquez.
