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This Thursday Night will easily be one of the most important days in the history of the Bellator Fighting Championships, as they debut on Spike TV. The Bellator fans who check out the event will be rewarded with two title fights in the featherweight and lightweight divisions. Also, if that were not enough, former UFC fighter Renato Sobral makes his Bellator debut in a light heavyweight tournament fight.
Kicking off the action is a light heavyweight tournament opening round fight as Renato “Babalu†Sobral (37-9-0) battles Mikhail Zayats (19-6-0). Sobral has rotated wins and losses in his last five fights, with his last fight being a victory over Tatsuya Mizuno at One FC IV. Zayats enters the fight riding a five fight winning streak, with only one of those five fights going to a decision. Both fighters are excellent when it comes to the ground game, but it will be Sobral finding his way to the semi-finals.
Up next is a Bellator Featherweight Title Fight as champion Pat Curran (17-4-0) defends the gold against Patricio “Pitbull†Freire (17-1-0). Curran will be making his first defense of the title, which he won by defeating Joe Warren by knockout at Bellator 60. Freire earned the title shot well over a year ago, when he won a featherweight tournament by defeating Georgi Karakhanyan, Wilson Reis and Daniel Straus. This fight should be the most action packed of the entire evening, but will be Curran holding onto the title.
Headlining this card is a Bellator Lightweight Title Fight as champion Michael Chandler (10-0-0) defends against Rick “Genghis†Hawn (14-1-0). Chandler will be making the first defense of his championship, which he won by defeating Eddie Alvarez at Bellator 58. Hawn earned the title shot by winning last the season six lightweight tournament, defeating Ricardo Tirloni, Lloyd Woodard and Brent Weedman. This is a classic striker versus grappler encounter, but it will be the grappler in Chandler keeping the gold.
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