The fight, which headlined the Bellator 295 tournament in Honolulu, ended 80 seconds into the first round after Meeks landed a devastating knee to the head on Stots, knocking him out.
On the way to the final, the American fighter defeated the Japanese Kyoji Horiguchi by unanimous decision and finished by guillotine choke of the Russian Magomed Magomedov.
Patrick Meeks’ next opponent will be the winner of a title fight between reigning Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, the organization’s top fighter regardless of weight.
In a post-fight interview, Meeks promised to attend the title match in person on June 16 at Bellator 297 in Chicago.
All Bellator 295 results.