The final “tent pole” event for Bellator in 2015 will take place on Friday as Bellator 145 will come from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and will be headlined by a trilogy bout as Patricio “Pitbull” Freire defends the featherweight title against Daniel Straus.
The fight card will begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT with the online preliminary card and the five fight main card will start at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Spike TV.
Along with the title fight in the main event, the co-main event will also be a title fight as Will Brooks defends the lightweight title against season ten tournament winner Marcin Held.
Check out a breakdown of the five fights that will be on the main card broadcast on Spike TV.
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (24-2) vs. Daniel Straus (23-6,1 NC)
Pitbull will be making his third featherweight title defense and he has won both of the previous meetings against Straus. In their first meeting, Pitbull won by unanimous decision at Bellator 45 in 2011 and he submitted Straus in their rematch at Bellator 132 in January.
- Most wins in Bellator history (12).
- Currently tied with Will Brooks for the 2nd longest active winning streak in Bellator.
- Holds the 3rd latest victory in a Bellator title fight with his submission win over Straus at Bellator 132 (4th Round, 4:49).
- Tied with Alexander Shlemenko and Mike Richman for the 3rd most TKO/KO wins in Bellator history.
- With a victory, he will become the first Bellator featherweight champion to make three successful title defenses.
Straus secured this title shot by scoring a submission victory in June against Henry Corrales and is looking to become the 4th fighter in Bellator history to be a two-time champion. He is 2-2 in his last four fights and both of the defeats have come in title fights.
- Currently tied with Alexander Shlemenko, Michael Chandler, Rich Hawn, David Rickels and Marcin Held for the 3rd most wins in Bellator history.
- 3rd most cage time in Bellator history (2:57:51).
- 2nd most wins in Bellator featherweight division history (9).
- Holds the 5th fastest win in Bellator featherweight division history (:50 vs. Justin Wilcox at Bellator 127).
- Tied with Pat Curran, Alexandre Bezzera, Marlon Sandro, and Goiti Yamauchi for most submission wins in Bellator featherweight division history.
Will Brooks (16-1) vs. Marcin Held (21-3)
Brooks became the interim lightweight champion last year when he defeated Michael Chandler at Bellator 120 and became the unified champion nearly one year ago when he defeated Chandler for a second time at Bellator 131. He is coming off a decision victory at Bellator 136 against Dave Jansen and will be looking for his eighth straight win.
- Tied with Eddie Alvarez for 2nd most wins in Bellator lightweight division history (8).
- His win over Chandler at Bellator 131 is the 4th latest stoppage in Bellator title fight history (4th Round, 3:48).
- In 2013, he won 5 fights in the Bellator cage and this is tied with Andrey Koreshkov for most wins in a calendar year in Bellator history.
- With a victory, he can tie Liam McGeary for the longest active winning streak in Bellator.
Held won the season ten lightweight tournament last year when he defeated Patricky “Pitbull” Freire by unanimous decision and he is currently on a six fight winning streak. During his winning streak, five of the victories have come by finish and four of those wins have come by submission.
- Most submission wins in Bellator history (6).
- Tied with Chandler for the most wins in Bellator lightweight division history.
- 12 career wins by submission.
Justin Lawrence (8-2) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (11-2)
Lawrence made his Bellator debut in June and defeated Sean Wilson by TKO in the first round. He is currently on a four fight winning streak since his exit from the UFC and entered Bellator after being the RFA featherweight champion.
- His last 2 wins have come by TKO in the first round.
- 4 of his 8 wins have come by finish (3 TKO/KO, 1 Submission).
- Undefeated when the fight goes to the scorecards (4-0).
Sanchez stepped up on short notice to replace former champion Pat Curran to face Lawrence on Friday night. He is 3-1 in Bellator and is coming off a split decision win against Henry Corrales in September at Bellator 143.
- 2nd fight for Sanchez in 42 days.
- 5 wins by submission, 1 by TKO/KO.
- 5 of his 6 stoppage victories have come in the first round.
Michael Chandler (13-3) vs. Dave Rickels (16-3, 1NC)
Chandler is coming off a win against Derek Campos at Bellator 138 in June and this will be his second fight in Rickels. In their first meeting in 2013, Chandler only needed 44 seconds to defeat Rickels by knockout to retain the Bellator lightweight title.
- The victory over Rickels at Bellator 97 is the 2nd fastest victory in Bellator title fight history.
- Tied with Rick Hawn and Rickels for the 3rd most TKO/KO wins in Bellator lightweight division history.
- Holds the 5th and 7th fastest victories in Bellator lightweight division history.
Since losing to Chandler at Bellator 97, Rickels has gone 2-1, 1NC and his most recent fight came in June against John Alessio. He appeared on his way to a victory in that fight, but he landed an illegal knee and the fight would be declared a no-contest.
- Tied for the 4th fastest victory in Bellator welterweight division history (:22 vs. Jordan Smith, Bellator 63).
- Currently tied with Patricio Pitbull and Rick Hawn for the 2nd most fights in Bellator history.
- 10 of his 16 wins have come by stoppage (4 TKO/KO, 6 Submissions).
Bobby Lashley (13-2) vs. James Thompson (20-14, 1NC)
Lashley enters this event on a six fight winning streak and his last defeat came in 2012 against Thompson. That fight took place at Super Fight League 3 and Thompson won by unanimous decision.
- Tied with several fighters for the 3rd most TKO/KO wins in Bellator heavyweight history.
- Currently tied with multiple fighters for the 4th most wins in Bellator heavyweight division history.
- All of his wins in Bellator have come by stoppage (2 TKO/KO, 1 Submission).
Thompson made his Bellator debut last year and defeated Eric Prindle by TKO in the first round. He is unbeaten in his last six fight and his last defeat came in 2010 against Yusuke Kawaguchi at Dream 16.
- First fight since defeating Prindle (518 days ago).
- 11 wins by TKO/KO, 11 defeats by TKO/KO.
- Only gone to the decision 4 times (2-1, 1NC).
The current Bellator 145: Vengeance fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike TV – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Patricio Freire (24-2) vs. Daniel Straus (23-6, 1NC)
Will Brooks (16-1) vs. Marcin Held (21-3)
Justin Lawrence (8-2) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (11-2)
Michael Chandler (13-3) vs. Dave Rickels (16-3, 1NC)
Bobby Lashley (13-2) vs. James Thompson (20-14, 1NC)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Alex Huddleston (6-1) vs. Augusto Sakai (8-0)
Adam Cella (6-4) vs. Chel Erwin-Davis (2-1)
Garrett Gross (6-4) vs. Jeff Crotty (0-0)
Steve Mann (11-2) vs. Kyle Kurtz (4-1)
Kain Royer (1-2) vs. Clay Mitchell (1-0)
Adam Meredith (3-1) vs. Jordan Dowdy (2-0)
Garrett Mueller (2-0) vs. Scott Ettling (3-0
Brandon Lowe (0-0) vs. Rashard Lovelace (1-0)