Bellator 145 Results: Daniel Straus Takes Featherweight Title from Patricio Freire

We have a new Bellator featherweight champion.

Daniel Straus went to war with Patricio Freire for 25 minutes before grabbing a unanimous decision to earn belt at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday night.

Despite a hand injury in the first round, Straus came away with a unanimous decision and scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47.

“There’s a lot of people out here that deserve this belt more than me,” Straus said. “I broke my hand in the first round … and my striking wasn’t really getting there.”

The two featherweights went back and forth for much of the fight. Struas had a big knockdown in the second round, while Freire was a prime position to finish the fight while securing his opponent’s back late in the bout.

In the end, however, Straus was declared the victor and stopped his opponent’s seven-fight win streak. Also, he avenged his two previous losses to Freire.

In the co-main Will Brooks showed his wrestling was superior to his opponent, Marcin Held, and retained his Bellator lightweight title.

The win was Brooks’ second in a row since earning the title from Michael Chandler at Bellator 131. The victory is the champion’s eighth in a row.

Chandler was also on the card and finished off Dave Rickels in the second with a technical knockout at 3:05 of the round. Other main card winners included Bobby Lashley and his finish of James Thompson, and Emmanuel Sanchez with a split decision over Justin Lawrence.

Image courtesy of Bellator MMA

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