Bellator 155’s main card is now complete with the addition of two new fights, including lightweight contenders Marcin Held and Dave Jansen, plus the return of Joey Beltran to the heavyweight division.
For the first time in Bellator MMA’s history, the promotion is staging an event in Idaho. The May 20th card already had its main and co-main events announced last month, the main card is now finalized thanks to two newly announced matchups. On Thursday, a Bellator press release confirmed a lightweight rematch between Marcin Held and Dave Jansen, as well as a heavyweight bout featuring Joey Beltran and Chase Gormley.
Jansen held a perfect 7-0 record in Bellator en route to a lightweight title shot vs. Will Brooks last April. The Oregonian suffered a unanimous decision loss, which represented his first defeat since a WEC fight against Ricardo Lamas in 2010. Jansen’s title shot would’ve come sooner (vs. Michael Chandler in 2013) but he had to withdraw due to injury and was out of action for more than a year. Held rattled off 6 wins in a row after losing to Jansen by unanimous decision in the season 7 lightweight tournament final, and secured his own title shot with a win over Patricky Pitbull in 2014. The Polish submission specialist got his own shot at Brooks in November, and while he was competitive in the early stages, Brooks took a unanimous decision win.
Beltran spent 10 fights in the UFC (at heavyweight and light heavyweight) before he was released in 2013. “The Mexicutioner” quickly signed with Bellator and was stopped by Quinton Jackson. Beltran bounced back with a north-south choke vs. Vladimir Matyushenko, which netted him a title shot against Emanuel Newton, who KO’d him with a spinning backfist. In a surprise move, Beltran dropped to middleweight in 2015, winning his weight class debut vs. Brian Rogers before suffering a TKO loss to Kendall Grove. He returned to light heavyweight and won a fight outside of Bellator, and now he’s headed back up to heavyweight. Gormley was bounced from the UFC after an 0-2 record, but embarked on a successful run of 5 straight victories from 2012-2015, including capturing the Titan FC heavyweight title against Jon Madsen. The 32-year-old debuted in Bellator against Dan Charles, but his winning streak ended with a 2nd round KO loss.
Bellator 155 is headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Rafael Carvalho and Melvin Manhoef. The full main card is as follows:
Middleweight World Title Fight: Rafael Carvalho (12-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (30-12-1)
Featherweight Co-Main Event: Pat Curran (21-7) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (24-5-1)
Heavyweight Feature Bout: Dan Charles (10-3) vs. Augusto Sakai (9-0)
Lightweight Feature Bout: Dave Jansen (20-3) vs. Marcin Held (21-4)
Heavyweight Feature Bout: Joey Beltran (17-12) vs. Chase Gormley (12-5)
Featherweight Co-Main Event: Pat Curran (21-7) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (24-5-1)
Heavyweight Feature Bout: Dan Charles (10-3) vs. Augusto Sakai (9-0)
Lightweight Feature Bout: Dave Jansen (20-3) vs. Marcin Held (21-4)
Heavyweight Feature Bout: Joey Beltran (17-12) vs. Chase Gormley (12-5)