A ACL injury has forced season 7 Lightweight tournament winner Dave Jansen (19-2) out of his Bellator 96 Title shot against Micheal Chandler (11-0). Chandler will instead make his second title defense at Bellator 97 against season 8 tournament winner Dave “The Caveman” Rickles (14-1).
This now means that two title will be on the line July 31 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico; as “Funky” Ben Askren (11-0) will defend the Bellator Welterweight title against season 7 tournament winner Andrey “Spartan” Koreshkov.
Ben Askren since winning the Bellator Welterweight title at Bellator 33, has made 3 successful title defenses over Jay Hieron (SD), Douglas Lima (UD), and Karl Amoussou (TKO). Andrey Koreshkov won the season 7 Welterweight tournament by defeating Jordan Smith (UD), Marius Zaromskis (KO), and Lyman Good (UD).
The season 8 Welterweight tournament winner will also be decided when Douglas “The Phenom” Lima (24-5) battle Ben “Killa-B” Saunders (16-5-2). A featherweight bout pitting Patrico “Pitbull” Freire (17-2) against Robert “The Saint” Emerson (12-10) has also been added.
The summer series Light Heavyweight finals are also expected to take place at Bellator 97 and will be set after Bellator 96 when Muhammed Lawal faces Seth Petruzelli and Renato Sobral meets Jacob Noe.
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