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BELLATOR 97 MAIN CARD PREVIEW

The Bellator Fighting Championships “Summer Series” may have been cut short by one event this year, but the final “Summer Series” event of 2013 is easily the most loaded card in Bellator history. The event will be headlined by a pair of title bouts as both the lightweight and welterweight titles are on the line. Also, there are a pair of two tournament finals in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, plus a top featherweight fighter is in action.

Kicking off the card is a featherweight division fight as Jared “Demon Eyes” Downing (9-2-0) competes against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (19-2-0). Downing is coming off of a four fight run in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance, where he came away with three victories. Freire will be competing for the first time since losing a Bellator Featherweight Title bout to Pat Curran at Bellator 85. Freire is easily one of the best featherweights in Bellator and he will get back on track with a win on Wednesday Night.

A heavyweight tournament final is up next as Ryan Martinez (10-2-0) is in action against Vitaly Minakov (11-0-0). Martinez pulled a monster upset in the first round when he defeated Richard Hale by knockout on just a day’s notice. Minakov punched his ticket to the tournament finals when he defeated Ron Sparks in the opening round. This will be the best strikers duel on the entire card, but in will be Minakov ending the Cinderella-like run of Martinez.

The light heavyweight tournament final is up as Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (10-2-0-1NC) faces Jacob “The Psycho” Noe (12-2-0-1NC). King Mo earned his spot in the tournament finals when he defeated Seth Petruzelli in the opening round. Noe was able to call himself a tournament finalist after upsetting Renato Sobral in the tournament’s first round. There is a lot of legitimate hatred between both fighters heading into this fight, but it will be King Mo getting his title shot.

Up next is a Bellator Welterweight Title Fight as champion “Funky” Ben Askren (11-0-0) defends against Andrey “Spartan” Koreshkov (13-0-0). Askren has successfully defended to championship three times with victories over Jay Hieron, Douglas Lima and Karl Amoussou. Koreshkov earned the title shot after winning the season eight tournament, defeating Lyman Good in the finals. Askren has been finding his groove as the champion and he has far better tools than Koreshkov in the cage, which is what will help him hold onto the belt.

Headlining this card is a Bellator Lightweight Title Fight as champion Michael Chandler (11-0-0) puts the belt on the line against David “Caveman” Rickels (14-1-0). Chandler has successfully defended the gold once already, defeating Rick Hawn by submission at Bellator 85. Rickels earned the title shot by winning the season eight lightweight tournament, defeating Saad Awad in the finals. Chandler was recently given a huge contract by Bellator and he will reward the company with a successful title defense.

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