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While the UFC is making a splash with their 20th Anniversary event, Bellator will be making a splash of their own this Friday Night. That splash will be the promotional debut of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson as he fights UFC veteran Joey Beltran. Also, The Bellator Heavyweight Title will be defended and a featherweight tournament finals takes place.
Kicking off the action is a middleweight division bout as Nah-Shon “The Rock-N-Rolla†Burrell (10-3-0) competes against Dante Rivera (15-7-0). Burrell has been undefeated since his UFC release, defeating Mike Wade at a Richmond Rumble MMA event. Rivera has won four of seven since his UFC release, primarily competing in the Ring Of Combat promotion. This is an interesting clash of past UFC veterans, but it will be Burrell notching his second win since getting ousted from the UFC.
Bantamweights will be stepping into the cage next as Marcos “Loro†Galvao (14-6-1) is in action against Tom McKenna (7-3-0). Galvao will be returning to Bellator for the first time since losing a bantamweight title fight to Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 89. McKenna has rotated wins and losses in his last five MMA bouts, which includes a loss to UFC veteran Sergio Pettis. Galvao is a former title challenger for a reason and he will show why as he handily defeats McKenna in this one.
The season nine featherweight tournament final is next as Patricio “Pitbull†Freire (20-2-0) battles Justin “The Silverback†Wilcox (13-5-0-1NC). Freire earned his way into the tournament’s finals after defeating both Diego Nunes and Fabricio Da Silva. Wilcox earned himself a position is the last round of the tournament with victories over Akop Stepanyan and Joe Taimanglo. Wilcox has been the Cinderella story of the entire tournament and his story will have a bad ending as Freire wins the finals.
Up next is a Bellator Heavyweight Title bout as champion Alexander “Drago†Volkov (19-3-0) defends against Vitaly Minakov (12-0-0). Volkov will be making the first defense of his belt, which he won by defeating Richard Hale in the season eight tournament finals. Minakov earned a shot at the championship when he defeated Ryan Martinez in the 2013 Summer Series Finals. This is the highest profile Russian vs. Russian MMA bout ever in North American, but it will be Volkov holding onto the championship in the end.
Headlining this card is a light heavyweight division encounter as Joey “The Mexicutioner†Beltran (14-9-0-1NC) faces Quinton “Rampage†Jackson (32-11-0). Beltran will be competing for the first time since his second UFC release, which came after a loss to Fabio Maldonado at UFC Fight Night 29. Jackson will also be competing for the first time since leaving the UFC and will make his promotional debut riding a three fight losing streak. There is no way that Bellator would give Jackson an easy fight in his debut, but that is exactly what they did and Jackson will get a victory here.
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