PATRICKY ‘PITBULL’ FREIRE stole the show with a knockout performance to beat Peter Queally and claim the vacant Bellator lightweight championship at the 3Arena.

Waterford’s Queally was bidding to become Bellator’s first Irish world champion in front of a packed-out Dublin audience.

But it was Brazil’s Pitbull who silenced the crowd with a clinical stoppage after 1:05 of the second round.

The Bellator 270 main event was briefly stopped early in the second round to allow Pitbull to receive medical attention following an accidental eye poke.

But with brother Patricio cheering him on from cageside, he showed no ill effects when moments later he caught Queally with a clean right hand that spelled the beginning of the end.

Queally stumbled back to his feet under pressure but was quickly backed up against the cage and no longer able to defend himself, forcing referee Kevin MacDonald to wave off the contest.

Heartbreak for Peter Queally and this Dublin crowd.

Patricky Pitbull wins the fight via a second round stoppage to become the World Lightweight Champion!

Congratulations, @PatrickyPitbull.#Bellator270 pic.twitter.com/cZTKONKxe0

— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 5, 2021

It was a double disappointment for the home crowd following defeat for Strabane’s James Gallagher in the co-main event.

Gallagher was beaten by America’s Patrick ‘Patchy’ Mix when he tapped out in a guillotine early in the third round.

On the prelim card, Drogheda’s Ciaran Clarke extended his undefeated pro record to 4-0 when he beat Jordan Barton with a rear naked choke in the final minute of their featherweight contest.