Darrion Caldwell's Bellator 19💞5 challenge ended up not bein𝕴g much of one for him.
Headlining Friday's show from the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, Caldwell successfully defended his Bantamweight Championship for the first time, defeating Leandro Higo in the first▨ round with a nasty guillotine choke.
Caldwell (12-1) is a huge 🌠bantamweight, standing 5'10", and used his size to dominate and quickly dispose of his opponent. Following the fight, analyst Chael Sonnen asked about the possibility of Caldwell taking on Taimanglo, who handed the champion his only career loss in 2016 in a bout that Taimanglo missed weight ahead of. The two would rematch months later with Caldwell 🅘earning the victory, and Taimanglo earned a big victory at Bellator 195 as well, over former champ Joe Warren.
While Caldwell seemed open to the idea of the fight, he caught the attention of Patricio "Pitbull" Friere -- Bellator MMA Featherweight Champion, and mentor of the just-defeated Higo. Caldwell indicated that in the future he'd knock off all of the 🍃"Pitbull" boys and would eventually move up to 145-pounds, however, said that what he's doing at bantamweight is working for him for the time being.
You can see our full Bellator 195 coverage, results and play-by෴-play at this l🌳ink, and we'll talk about the top fights on the show du෴ring o🧸ur UFC 222 post-show.
