Bellator MMA has bolstered its lightweight division after the Viacom-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion came to a deal with former RIZIN lightweight tournament champion Tofiq Musayev, pere Ariel Helwani.
Musayev is coming off a loss to Roberto de Souza at RIZIN 28 in June 2021. Prior to that, the Russian grappler was on a 14-fight win streak and was coming off a win over current Bellator 155-pound kingpin Patricky Freire. The two fought at RIZIN 20 in Dec. 2019 which saw Muyasev defeat “Pitbull” via unanimous decision to win the tournament and lightweight strap.
He also holds wins against former UFC veterans Daron Cruickshank and Johnny Case. With the 32-year old losing his title to the aforementioned Souza, inking a deal with Bellator makes sense given his win over Freire. Speaking of Freire, he won the title by knocking out Peter Queally at Bellator 270 in Nov. 2021.
There is no information regarding Musayev’s pending debut, but booking him in a rematch against “Pitbull” for the Bellator championship is looking good right about now.
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