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Bellator make their debut in Milan on Saturday, October 12th from the Allianz Cloud.
On Saturday, October 12th, Bellator return to Italy for the seventh time as their expansion across Europe continues. The event is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Alessio Sakara (20-13, 2NC) and Bellator newcomer, Canaan Grigsby (8-7), and marks the debut of the promotion in Milan. This will be the fourth time that Bellator have called upon Sakara to headline in his home country and they will be hoping that he can help draw a big crowd to the Allianz Cloud.
Since signing with Bellator in 2016, Sakara has competed exclusively in Italy and has gone 3-2 in the promotion. None of those fights went the distance and have seen the Italian either knock someone out, or get knocked out. In his last outing this past December, Sakara was stopped in the first round by Kent Kauppinen which silenced the partisan crowd. He will be looking to give them something to cheer this time around while trying not to take any more damage.
Grigsby is a veteran of Legacy Fighting Championship and has shared the cage with current Bellator middleweight champion, Rafael Lovato Jr., Ian Heinisch and Brian Rogers. Seven of his eight professional victories have come via knockout which indicates that he could well look to exchange with Sakara on the feet. The 39-year-old is coming off of two defeats so will be looking to get back into the win column while taking out a recognisable name in the process.
The event will also see the return of Bellator Kickboxing where Chingiz Allazov steps back into the ring after he came up short in his lightweight world title contest last year. More bouts for the card are expected to be announced over the coming weeks so stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for the latest updates.