Two Fights Added To Bellator 95: Richman vs Khasbulaev, Hawn vs Parisyan
Posted by Joseph Lee on 03.16.2013
The card is set.
MMA Junkie reports that the lineup is set for Bellator 95 which takes place on April 4 at the Revel Atlantic City in New Jersey. The main card airs on Spike TV after preliminary fights on Spike.com.
The main event is featherweight champion Pat Curran (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BFC) vs tournament winner Shahbulat Shamhalaev (12-1-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC). The co-headliner is Brett Cooper (19-7 MMA, 6-2 BFC) vs. Doug Marshall (17-6 MMA, 3-0 BFC) in the Season 8 middleweight-tournament final. There have also been two new fights added. A season 8 featherweight tournament final between Mike Richman (15-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) and Magomedrasul "Frodo" Khasbulaev (20-5 MMA, 4-0 BFC), along with Rick Hawn (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) vs. former Karo Parisyan (22-9 MMA, 0-0 BFC).
Richman lost in the semifinals of the season 7 tournament after losing to Shamhalaev, but went to the season 8 final after getting a TKO over Mitch Jackson and a split decision win over Alexandre "Popo" Bezerra. Khasbulaev advanced with stoppage wins over Fabricio Guerreiro and Marlon Sandro. He has won eight fights including seven by submission.
Hawn is fighting for the first time after losing by submission to lightweight champion Michael Chandler in January. The loss came after a season 4 tournament runner-up finish and then winning the season 6 tournament. Parisyan is making his promotional debut. He came back from a 1-4 losing streak in 2010-2012 with two back-to-back submission wins in the Gladiator Challenge promotion.
The full Bellator 95 card includes:
MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 10 p.m. ET)
Pat Curran vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev - for featherweight title
Brett Cooper vs. Doug Marshall - middleweight-tournament final
Magomedrasul Khasbulaev vs. Mike Richman - featherweight-tournament final
Rick Hawn vs. Karo Parisyan
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 8 p.m. ET)
Lyman Good vs. Dante Rivera
Jessica Eye vs. Munah Holland
Brian Kelleher vs. Jimmie Rivera
Shedrick Goodridge vs. Sam Oropeza
Carlos Brooks vs. Tom DeBlass
Liam McGeary vs. Anton Talamantes
Brett Martinez vs. Brylan Van Artsdalen
