Eduardo Dantas vs. Darrion Caldwell headlines Bellator’s debut in Hungary

Eduardo Dantas’ Bellator bantamweight title will be on the line in Budapest, Hungary.

Bellator is heading to Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Friday, April 14th for an MMA-Kickboxing twinbill. The main event of Bellator 177 is a bantamweight title fight between champion Eduardo Dantas (19-4) and Darrion Caldwell (10-1), while the Bellator Kickboxing headliner is a welterweight title rematch between champion Zoltan Laszak (11-2) and Karim Ghajji (97-13-1).

Dantas had initially won Bellator gold when he submitted Zach Makovsky in 2012, but after two successful defenses, he lost his title to Joe Warren in October 2014. He later recaptured the belt with a dominant decision win over Marcos Galvao last June. The 28-year-old took the rematch over Warren in December, with one judge turning in a completely bizarre 47-47 scorecard in a fight Dantas had seemingly clearly won.

Caldwell is coming off a unanimous decision win over Joe Taimanglo in last December’s Bellator 167 main event. The fight was an immediate rematch of their July encounter, which saw “The Wolf” suffer a shocking 3rd round guillotine choke loss to Taimanglo. What most likely prevented Taimanglo from getting a title shot was his failure to make weight. Caldwell’s best win was a sensational suplex and rear-naked choke finish of former two-division champion Joe Warren, which put the 29-year-old former college wrestling standout on the map as a future title contender.

In case you’re wondering, Bellator 177 will air on tape-delay on Spike at 9 PM ET/8 PM CT, and Bellator Kickboxing 6 will be broadcast immediately following the conclusion of the MMA portion of the show.

Eduardo Dantas’ Bellator bantamweight title will be on the line in Budapest, Hungary.

Bellator is heading to Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Friday, April 14th for an MMA-Kickboxing twinbill. The main event of Bellator 177 is a bantamweight title fight between champion Eduardo Dantas (19-4) and Darrion Caldwell (10-1), while the Bellator Kickboxing headliner is a welterweight title rematch between champion Zoltan Laszak (11-2) and Karim Ghajji (97-13-1).

Dantas had initially won Bellator gold when he submitted Zach Makovsky in 2012, but after two successful defenses, he lost his title to Joe Warren in October 2014. He later recaptured the belt with a dominant decision win over Marcos Galvao last June. The 28-year-old took the rematch over Warren in December, with one judge turning in a completely bizarre 47-47 scorecard in a fight Dantas had seemingly clearly won.

Caldwell is coming off a unanimous decision win over Joe Taimanglo in last December’s Bellator 167 main event. The fight was an immediate rematch of their July encounter, which saw “The Wolf” suffer a shocking 3rd round guillotine choke loss to Taimanglo. What most likely prevented Taimanglo from getting a title shot was his failure to make weight. Caldwell’s best win was a sensational suplex and rear-naked choke finish of former two-division champion Joe Warren, which put the 29-year-old former college wrestling standout on the map as a future title contender.

In case you’re wondering, Bellator 177 will air on tape-delay on Spike at 9 PM ET/8 PM CT, and Bellator Kickboxing 6 will be broadcast immediately following the conclusion of the MMA portion of the show.