Bellator Fighting Championships has made the main card official for Bellator 44’s MTV2 broadcast for the upcoming May event.
Official for the event is the Season Four Lightweight Tournament final between Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (9-1) vs. Michael Chandler (7-0), a non-title middleweight bout between Bellator champ Hector Lombard (27-2-1) vs. Falaniko “Niko” Vitale (29-9), a fight between Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle (22-4) vs. Lyman Good (11-2) both of who lost bouts in the Season 4 Welterweight Tournament, and a middleweight fight between Season Two Tournament winner Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (38-7) vs. Brett Cooper (13-6).
Bellator XLIV will take place on May 14 at Caesars Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the main card airing live on MTV2.
“Pitbull” Freire moved into the lightweight finals with a highlight reel win at Bellator 39. The Brazilian landed a flying knee in the first round, putting opponent Toby Imada to the mat, and following it up with strikes to earn his fifth straight victory.
Chandler earned his way into the lightweight finals last weekend at Bellator 40, by earning a unanimous decision over Lloyd Woodard. Judges scored the bout 29-28 across the board for Chandler.
This will be Lombard’s first Bellator bout since defending his title against Shlemenko last October at Bellator 34. The Cuban born fighter recently defended his Cage Fighting Championship title last month in Sydney, Australia by earning a first round TKO (doctor stoppage) over Canadian Joe Doerksen.