Patricky Pitbull is the new Bellator lightweight champion after stopping Peter Queally in the second round of their rematch in Dublin.

Pitbull follows in the footsteps of his brother two-weight champion Patricio to claim the lightweight strap, while Queally was left furious with the referee’s decision to stop the fight.

After suffering a loss in their first encounter just six months ago, Pitbull ends a long wait for a Bellator title after two failed attempts.

The Irish crowd were in special form, filling the arena from the undercard and reached fever pitch when Queally’s walk out song, the Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’, rang through the speakers.

It was an epic entrance and the crowd began another rendition in the opening seconds, with Queally and Pitbull feeling each other out.

Queally was constantly lifting his lead leg, clearly wary of Pitbull’s low kicks while the Brazilian was trying to catch the Irishman spinning away after stepping in at close range.

The second round began slowly as the doctor was called to inspect an eye poke on Pitbull. The stoppage was met with loud boos and the doctor was twice in the cage before the fight resumed.

Queally was patient in his work, but suddenly in a terrible position when he was caught by a lightning-quick, short counter from Pitbull.

The ‘Showstopper’ took a knee and as he tried to get back to his feet was dropped again by another sharp hook.

Queally flew backwards from the force of the punch and although he was able to get back up, he stood with his hands guarding his face pinned against the cage.

The referee jumped in to stop the fight as Pitbull unloaded – much to the frustration of Queally who clearly felt he had recovered.

Heartbreak for Gallagher as Mix puts on a show

Patchy Mix pulled off a stunning upset in the co-main event as he defeated another home favourite James Gallagher via guillotine choke in the second round.

It was a battle of the guillotines in a close-run fight, but Gallagher was undone by a superb fightback from Mix in the second round, suffering the second defeat of his pro career.

The Irishman emerged from backstage with the national anthem playing. The Irish flag was printed across his robe and fight shorts and the Strabane native bowed to a raucous crowd before entering the cage.

Almost immediately, Gallagher shot for a takedown and booked his first submission attempt quickly after that, but Mix evaded a crouched guillotine attempt.

The ‘Fields of Athenry’ rang out as Gallagher went about finding another opening, but then decided to bring the fight to the feet. Renowned for his grappling skills, Gallagher showed huge improvement on his feet, having spent the last year training in America under James Krause.

Gallagher tagged Mix, pushing him backwards at points and edged what was a close first round.

More exchanges on the feet took Mix to the ground and the Irishman sunk what looked like a deep guillotine attempt. But Gallagher was then forced to defend the American’s attempts to gain momentum on the ground.

Mix was unable to turn Gallagher onto his back as he would have liked, but did land some painful punches in the final seconds.

Gallagher could have walked away from the fight on Thursday after Mix missed weight by some margin. The 25-year-old was up against the toughest opponent of his career and Bellator’s number three ranked bantamweight.

The fighters quickly went to ground again in the third round, but this time Mix found his groove. The 28-year-old quickly worked into a guillotine choke position and wrapped his body around Gallagher as neither man had been able to do effectively before.

Gallagher tried to hold on in the centre of the cage, but was forced to tap. The submission silenced a stunned Dublin crowd and, as Mix celebrated on top of the cage, Gallagher was visibly rattled as he shook his head before heaving into a bucket.

“This crowd is crazy, I underplayed it before, but it’s like a movie man,” Mix said afterwards.

“I drew energy from the crowd, but they made me nervous. I came out really flat in the first round.

“But credit to James, we sold out this fight. I have mad respect for him, for his coaches, I know I came in overweight before. Happy birthday mum, it’s my mum’s birthday, I love you mum.”

‘An instant classic’

Pedro Carvalho snapped a two-fight losing streak with a thrilling win over veteran Daniel Weichel.

As a popular fighter among the SBG Ireland ranks, the Portuguese was given a home fighter’s welcome and appeared in confident mood.

Carvalho, however, began the fight on the back foot having been taken down early and was forced to fight off Weichel’s attempts to work a submission attempt.

The Portuguese got back on his feet, but moments later was in a perilous position on his back after being knocked down by Weichel. Again though Carvalho stayed calm and held off a rear-naked choke attempt.

Despite the crowd’s loud Oles, Weichel sent Carvalho to the deck again early in the second round, but Carvalho was able to bring the fight back to the feet and attempted an ambitious flying knee.

Just as the fight appeared to creep away from him, Carvalho burst into life in the final minute, sending his German opponent backtracking across the cage with slick shot selection.

A frantic final round saw some incredible action in the last 10 seconds as both men began to swing at will. Weichel tried a spinning back kick which went close and Carvalho landed punishing hooks of his own.

Despite appearing exhausted, Carvalho hauled himself onto the top of the cage to celebrate with the crowd before the scorecards were read out.

Weichel was hopeful he had done enough in a close fight, but all three judges saw it 29-28 in Carvalho’s favour.

Commentator John McCarthy fittingly branded the fight an ‘instant classic’ and Carvalho, 26, can now look forward to rebuilding his career after two successive losses.