Konan
02-07-2013, 09:22 AM
Just three weeks after his first defense of the Bellator featherweight title, champion Pat Curran has the date for his next assignment.
Curran (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BFC) will meet tournament winner Daniel Straus (21-4 MMA, 7-1 BFC) for the 145-pound belt as the headliner of Bellator 95 in April, which will be the promotion's eighth season finale.
Bellator 95 will take place April 4 at Ovation Hall at Revel in Atlantic City, N.J. The main card will air on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. In addition. promotion officials announced three other fights for the card. Former welterweight champion Lyman Good (14-3 MMA, 7-3 BFC) returns to meet fellow New Yorker Dante Rivera (15-6 MMA, 0-0 BFC)); Jessica "Evil" Eye (9-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC) takes on Muhah Holland (5-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC); and on the preliminary card, New Jersey native Tom DeBlass (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC) returns from retirement and will take on Carlos Brooks (4-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC).
Tickets for the event, which will be Bellator's first at Revel, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET at Ticketmaster locations.
Curran is coming off a split decision win over Patricio "Pitbull" Freire at Bellator 85 to open Season 8. He won the featherweight title 11 months ago with a brutal knockout of then-champ Joe Warren. That came after winning the featherweight tournament with wins over Luis Palomino, Ronnie Mann and Marlon Sandro.
Curran's drop to 145 came after a good run through Bellator's lightweight tournament, which he also won to get a shot at then-champ Eddie Alvarez in April 2011. He lost that fight by unanimous decision before deciding to drop.
The fight against Straus will be a rematch. With a 5-1 record early in his career, Curran fought Straus under the banner of XFO – the promotion run by his cousin, former WEC and UFC fighter Jeff Curran – and won by second-round knockout.
"This may end up being the most challenging fight I've faced up this point," Curran stated. "Daniel is going to make for a very tough challenge, but I know what I'm capable of. I feel like I'm always growing as a fighter, and the sky is really the limit for me. I've got the belt, and I'm not letting anyone take it away from me.
Since that loss to Curran, Straus has lost just once – a unanimous decision setback to Freire in the Season 4 featherweight tournament final. But he rebounded from that loss and went on to win the Season 6 tournament with wins over Jeremy Spoon, Mike Corey and Sandro. With Curran on the shelf with an injury before he could fight Freire, Straus took a stay-busy fight this past October and submitted Alvin Robinson in the second round.
The win over Robinson gave Straus five straight victories and 17 of his past 18 since his loss to Curran in April 2009.
"Fighting for the Bellator featherweight title against Pat just signifies how my career has come full circle," Straus stated. "It was my loss to Pat that motivated me to become a better fighter. Now I get to see how much better I've actually gotten. Getting a chance to show my skills on Spike TV is a huge opportunity for me. The stage keeps getting bigger and the viewers and eyes are growing. I welcome the challenge to perform well in front of millions against one of the world's best featherweights. I feel I have a lot to provide in this fight and I intend on doing so."
Good was Bellator's first welterweight champ, but he lost the title to Ben Askren at Bellator 33. He has gone 4-2 since then with a loss in the Season 7 tournament finals to Andrey Koreshkov and a semifinal loss to Rick Hawn in the Season 4 semifinals. RIvera makes his Bellator debut with a two-fight win streak and four wins in his past five bouts – but will be fighting for the first time since June 2010.
Eye is coming off a dominant 58-second submission of Zoila Gurgel this past December at Bellator 83. The quick win gave her six straight victories. Holland this past September lost to Michelle Ould at Bellator 74 to have a four-fight win streak snapped. She holds notable wins over Carina Damm and Kim Couture.
DeBlass returns after a short retirement following an 0-2 run in the UFC. Before signing with the promotion, he went 7-0 for the New Jersey-based Ring of Combat promotion. But his UFC fights resulted in decision losses to Cyrille Diabate and Riki Fukuda. Brooks, also a Ringo of Combat vet, has won two of his past three and has three of his four wins by knockout.
Curran (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BFC) will meet tournament winner Daniel Straus (21-4 MMA, 7-1 BFC) for the 145-pound belt as the headliner of Bellator 95 in April, which will be the promotion's eighth season finale.
Bellator 95 will take place April 4 at Ovation Hall at Revel in Atlantic City, N.J. The main card will air on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. In addition. promotion officials announced three other fights for the card. Former welterweight champion Lyman Good (14-3 MMA, 7-3 BFC) returns to meet fellow New Yorker Dante Rivera (15-6 MMA, 0-0 BFC)); Jessica "Evil" Eye (9-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC) takes on Muhah Holland (5-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC); and on the preliminary card, New Jersey native Tom DeBlass (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC) returns from retirement and will take on Carlos Brooks (4-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC).
Tickets for the event, which will be Bellator's first at Revel, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET at Ticketmaster locations.
Curran is coming off a split decision win over Patricio "Pitbull" Freire at Bellator 85 to open Season 8. He won the featherweight title 11 months ago with a brutal knockout of then-champ Joe Warren. That came after winning the featherweight tournament with wins over Luis Palomino, Ronnie Mann and Marlon Sandro.
Curran's drop to 145 came after a good run through Bellator's lightweight tournament, which he also won to get a shot at then-champ Eddie Alvarez in April 2011. He lost that fight by unanimous decision before deciding to drop.
The fight against Straus will be a rematch. With a 5-1 record early in his career, Curran fought Straus under the banner of XFO – the promotion run by his cousin, former WEC and UFC fighter Jeff Curran – and won by second-round knockout.
"This may end up being the most challenging fight I've faced up this point," Curran stated. "Daniel is going to make for a very tough challenge, but I know what I'm capable of. I feel like I'm always growing as a fighter, and the sky is really the limit for me. I've got the belt, and I'm not letting anyone take it away from me.
Since that loss to Curran, Straus has lost just once – a unanimous decision setback to Freire in the Season 4 featherweight tournament final. But he rebounded from that loss and went on to win the Season 6 tournament with wins over Jeremy Spoon, Mike Corey and Sandro. With Curran on the shelf with an injury before he could fight Freire, Straus took a stay-busy fight this past October and submitted Alvin Robinson in the second round.
The win over Robinson gave Straus five straight victories and 17 of his past 18 since his loss to Curran in April 2009.
"Fighting for the Bellator featherweight title against Pat just signifies how my career has come full circle," Straus stated. "It was my loss to Pat that motivated me to become a better fighter. Now I get to see how much better I've actually gotten. Getting a chance to show my skills on Spike TV is a huge opportunity for me. The stage keeps getting bigger and the viewers and eyes are growing. I welcome the challenge to perform well in front of millions against one of the world's best featherweights. I feel I have a lot to provide in this fight and I intend on doing so."
Good was Bellator's first welterweight champ, but he lost the title to Ben Askren at Bellator 33. He has gone 4-2 since then with a loss in the Season 7 tournament finals to Andrey Koreshkov and a semifinal loss to Rick Hawn in the Season 4 semifinals. RIvera makes his Bellator debut with a two-fight win streak and four wins in his past five bouts – but will be fighting for the first time since June 2010.
Eye is coming off a dominant 58-second submission of Zoila Gurgel this past December at Bellator 83. The quick win gave her six straight victories. Holland this past September lost to Michelle Ould at Bellator 74 to have a four-fight win streak snapped. She holds notable wins over Carina Damm and Kim Couture.
DeBlass returns after a short retirement following an 0-2 run in the UFC. Before signing with the promotion, he went 7-0 for the New Jersey-based Ring of Combat promotion. But his UFC fights resulted in decision losses to Cyrille Diabate and Riki Fukuda. Brooks, also a Ringo of Combat vet, has won two of his past three and has three of his four wins by knockout.