Bellator’s inaugural pay-per-view has its third title fight.
Featherweight champion Pat Curran will look to defend his belt against Daniel Straus on the main card of the November 2, 2013 event, which takes place at The Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, CA.
Bellator officials announced the booking on Tuesday.
Curran vs. Straus joins a pay-per-view card featuring a championship rematch between undefeated Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alvarez, and a light heavyweight interim championship rematch between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Emanuel Newton. Rampage Jackson vs. Tito Ortiz headlines the event.
Curran (19-4) is undefeated at featherweight thus far in his Bellator career, having ripped through the Bellator 2011 Summer Series, seized the title away from Joe Warren, then defended it twice against Patricio Freire and Shahbulat Shamhalaev.
He and Straus fought once before, with Curran winning via second-round knockout back in 2009 at XFO 29.
“It means the world to me to be able to defend my title on our first pay-per-view, especially with such a tough fight ahead of me. I’m not taking Straus lightly,” Curran said in a statement. “He is an incredibly tough featherweight, and I’m not even thinking about our first fight in 2009, we are two totally different guys right now.”
After winning Bellator’s season six featherweight tournament, Straus was initially slated to challenge Curran in April at Bellator 95, however Straus suffered a broken hand in training and the match-up was subsequently delayed.
“It’s finally here. I’ve faced so many setbacks over the last year, and my title shot is finally here,” Straus said. “When Pat and I met in 2009, we were two completely different fighters. Both of us have developed so much in that time, but I still want that loss of my record. That fight taught me a lot about where I was as a fighter, especially considering I’ve gone 17-1 since we last met. I’m just excited to be able to get a chance to fight for a title on a huge stage like this. I really don’t know how this fight is going to end, but I envision it going quickly. This won’t be a long, drawn out process. I’m going in for the kill.”