Patricky Freire was having success on the feet against Peter Queally, but a takedown in the second led to his demise.

Freire (23-10 MMA, 14-8 BMMA) put Queally (13-5-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) on the canvas late in the middle frame. But Queally hit Freire with three elbows from his back. The third sliced Freire open, and he started to bleed all over. In between rounds, with the cut still gushing despite the work from the cutman, the cageside doctor called the fight off.

Freire, brother of Bellator lightweight and featherweight champion Patricio Freire, was disappointed the fight was stopped. Queally, a longtime training partner of Conor McGregor, was elated – and said he thinks he should be in line for a lightweight title shot.

The lightweight bout was part of the Bellator 258 main card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The fight aired on Showtime.

Queally came out gunning with kicks and punches. Freire stayed on the outside and fired back. After a brief timeout for Queally from a low blow, they came out firing again. Freire worked kicks to Queally’s lead leg, then kicked to the body again. They traded right hands, then talked back and forth. With 45 seconds left, after Freire tried a spinning back elbow and jumping knee, he went for a takedown and got it. But he ate a dozen punches and elbows while holding Queally down.

Freire put together perhaps his best combination of the fight midway through the second round when he threw a few up high, then finished to the body. But his face was bloodied up, and Queally continued scoring points with punches of his own. With 40 seconds left in the round, Freire again landed a takedown. There wasn’t a lot of time for him to work on top, but Queally landed a massive elbow from his back and sliced Freire open. The Brazilian bled all over the Irishman.

In between rounds, the doctor was brought in to look at the cut, and even though the cutman tried to plug it, it wouldn’t stop. With blood still flowing, the doctor waved the fight off for a TKO win for Queally.

“We’ll watch the video together if you want”

There was some tension between @PatricioPitbull and @peterqueally following the doctor’s stoppage. #Bellator258 pic.twitter.com/O2LouNYDRB

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) May 8, 2021

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 258 results include:

• Peter Queally def. Patricky Freire via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 3, 0:01
• Michael Page def. Derek Anderson via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
• Raufeon Stots def. Josh Hill via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Lorenz Larkin def. Rafael Carvalho via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Patchy Mix def. Albert Morales via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:40
• Omar Hussein vs. Logan Storley* – scrapped due to Hussein failed medicals
• Johnny Eblen def. Daniel Madrid via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:44
• Johnny Campbell def. Henry Corrales via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:12
• Johnny Soto def. Weber Almeida via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Erik Perez def. Blaine Shutt via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)