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While Wrestlemania is the big thing this weekend, there is a lot of major MMA events to keep an eye on as well. Bellator is going to end their fantastic eighth season with a huge event on Thursday Night, featuring featherweight champion Pat Curran defending the title. Also, there will be a pair of tournament finals as well in both the middleweight and featherweight divisions.
Kicking off the action is a welterweight division fight as Rick “Genghis†Hawn (14-2-0) competes against Karo “The Heat†Parisyan (22-9-0-1NC). Hawn will be competing from the first time since losing a Bellator Lightweight Title bout to Michael Chandler at Bellator 85. Parisyan has only won three of six since his UFC release, which came after a loss to Dennis Hallman at UFC 123. Parisyan has been dealing with a lot of mental problems that have hurt his MMA career and Hawn will take advantage of that to get the big win.
The season eight featherweight tournament finals is up next as Magomedrasul “Frodo†Khasbulaev (20-5-0) battles Mike “The Marine†Richman (15-2-0). Khasbulaev has found himself in the tournament finals with victories over Fabricio Da Silva and Marlon Sandro. Richman earned himself a spot in the tournament finals after he achieved victories over Mitch Jackson and Alexandre Bezerra. This will be a classic striker versus grappler encounter, but it will be the striker in Richman winning the tournament.
Up next is a season eight middleweight tournament final as Brett “Fudoshin†Cooper (19-7-0) faces Doug “The Rhino†Marshall (17-6-0). Cooper punched his ticket to the tournament finals when he got victories over Norman Paraisey and Dan Cramer. Marshall was able to call himself a tournament finalist after garnering victories over Andreas Spang and Sultan Aliev. These are two of the more exciting fighters in Bellator at the moment, but it will be Cooper winning the tournament.
Headlining this card is a Bellator Featherweight Title Fight as champion Pat “Paddy Mike†Curran (18-4-0) defends against Shahbulat “Assassin†Shamhalaev (12-1-1). Curran has successfully defended the championship once already, having defeated Patricio Freire at Bellator 85. Shamhalaev has earned the opportunity at the gold by winning the season seven tournament, defeating Rad Martinez in the finals. Shamhalaev is coming off of a short layoff before accepting the title shot and Curran will take advantage of this to keep his title belt.
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