As reported last week, Bellator will launch its 2013 summer series on June 19, and the main card is now set, with a stacked lineup including a championship match.
Undefeated lightweight titleholder Michael Chandler attempts to defend the belt against challenger Dave Jansen in the night’s headliner.
Chandler (11-0) won the belt in Nov. 2011, and had his first successful defense in Jan. 2013, when he defeated Rick Hawn via rear naked choke submission. Jansen comes in riding a six-fight win streak, having advanced to a title match after capturing season seven tournament victories over Magomed Saadulaev, Ricardo Tirloni and Marcin Held, respectively.
The show also features the opening round of a four-man light-heavyweight tournament. The opening round matchups include Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Seth Petruzelli and Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Jacob Noe.
The main card will be rounded out with a welterweight fight pitting Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver against Blas Avena.
The show takes place at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and the main card begins at a special 7 pm ET start time on Spike. The Wednesday night event will serve to introduce viewers to the promotion’s new reality show: “Fight Master: Bellator MMA” that will debut on Thursday night.