The Sleeper: Pitbull vs. Straus 2 Is A Great Fight That Is Being Overlooked

By Adam Martin

The best featherweight fight outside of the UFC all year is happening this weekend, and it’s getting no love from the media or fans.

With the MMA spotlight entirely on Conor McGregor this weekend, the Bellator 132 card is flying under the radar, and its main event, a five-round title fight between Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and former champ Daniel Straus, is being entirely overlooked. But I want to change that.

Pitbull, 27, is 22-2 in his MMA career including a 10-2 overall record in Bellator. He is currently riding a five-fight win streak in Bellator, with his latest victory a decision win over Pat Curran at Bellator 123, which gave him the title. Pitbull already holds a win over Straus from four years ago, as well as victories over the likes of Wilson Reis, Georgi Karakhanyan, Diego Nunes, and Justin Wilcox, and his only career losses were controversial split decision defeats to Joe Warren and Curran. Pitbull is a devastating finisher and has won 16 fights by knockout or submission. He is easily one of the best featherweights in the world, and if he was in the UFC he would easily be in their top 10 rankings, maybe even in the top five.

Straus, 30, is 23-5 in his MMA career with a 10-2 record in Bellator, including wins over Curran, Wilcox, Marlon Sandro, and Mike Corey. His only losses in Bellator came to Curran in a 2014 Fight of the Year candidate and to Pitbull four years ago. Training at American Top Team, Straus’ game has improved leaps and bounds over the last few years, and I really do think he is one of the elite featherweights in MMA. He is huge for the weight class, and though most consider him a grinder, as he continues to improve his technique he will become an even more dangerous fighter. A winner of seven of his last eight fights, Straus can get back to the top of the Bellator featherweight division with a win over Pitbull this weekend in what should be an epic fight either way.

In their first fight at Bellator 45, Pitbull was able to stop Straus’ takedowns, keep the fight upright, and outstrike Straus for a decision. With his solid takedown defence and power boxing game, it’s likely that a sprawl-and-brawl game plan will be what Pitbull looks to implement in this rematch, but with Straus’ improvements in both the wrestling and striking departments, I expect a much more competitive fight than last time, and I would not be surprised at all if Straus pulls off the upset and wins the title.

As far as why the event is getting no love, I have to give some blame to Bellator, because I think Scott Coker and company have done a very poor job of promoting this card, and this fight between Pitbull and Straus in particular. I thought the new Bellator, with Coker in charge, would mean big fights like this would receive better promotion, but apparently I was wrong, because I’ve seen very little promotion for the event on Bellator’s part. I don’t think they’ve promoted Straus or Pitbull very well either, and it’s a shame because these two fighters are both fantastic, and both would easily be ranked top 10 in the UFC if they were there.

I also feel like the MMA media has overlooked this fight. I get it, as McGregor gets more page clicks and that’s (sadly) important in the modern day and age of online journalism, but Straus and McGregor deserve to be recognized too, and it would be great if the media gave them more attention. But with just days to go until the event, obviously nothing is going to change, and I wanted to highlight just how great of a fight this is and just how good both fighters really are.

I’ll be watching UFC Fight Night 59 like everyone else, but I’m really looking forward to this Bellator card, and I’ll say it right now: Do not be surprised if Straus vs. Pitbull is the best MMA fight this entire weekend. Just be sure you don’t forget to watch it.