Pat Curran shocked me and many others when he stopped Marlon Sandro in stunning fashion during the finals of the Bellator Fighting Championship’s summer featherweight tournament. In a flash, Curran went from being behind on the scorecards to standing over a completely prone opponent.
At exactly four minutes into the second round, Curran caught Sandro trying to back away with his head low. A right head kick that caught the ducking Sandro squarely in the face left him sprawled out on the mat. Curran dropped an additional but unneeded punch on Sandro as the referee jumped in to call things over.
With this win, Curran became the first man to ever win two Bellator tournaments in separate weight classes, as he was also the lightweight tournament champion at the end of season two. However he was defeated by current champion Eddie Alvarez back in April of this year.
Sandro was the aggressor in this bout, and should have been ahead on the scorecards before he was knocked out. He was beating Curran to the punch in a bout that was contested on the feet. He was pushing the pace of the bout, and seemed to be landing more solid punches, keeping Curran at distance, and chasing him around the cage. By the end of the first round Curran’s face was bloody due to a cut above his right eye.
This victory means that Curran earned an opportunity to compete for the Featherweight championship. However, with the busy schedule of the current featherweight champion Joe Warren, Curran may have an interesting wait before he is able to make good on that title shot. Warren is planning on taking part in the upcoming bantamweight tournament while making a run at joining the American National Greco-Roman wrestling team. Furthermore, last season’s Featherweight Tournament winner, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, has yet to receive his shot at Warren’s belt.
With this victory Curran improves to 16-4 with a 6-1 record in Bellator. Sandro, who had never been finished before this past Saturday, fell to 19-3 and 2-1 in Bellator.
