Bellator officials announced Tuesday that former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov will face Chidi Njokuani in the main event of Bellator 182 on August 25th at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY.
Koreshkov (19-2) lost his welterweight title to Douglas Lima via a third-round TKO loss at Bellator 164, which snapped his six-fight win streak. The 26-year-old has only lost to Lima and Ben Askren in his 21-fight career. Njokuani (17-4-1) heads into this matchup on a nine-fight unbeaten streak, including a unanimous-decision victory against Melvin Guillard at Bellator 171. The 28-year-old hasn’t lost a fight since 2013.
Also added to the card is a welterweight matchup in the co-main event which pits Brennan Ward (14-5) against Fernando Gonzalez (26-14). In addition, undefeated prospect A.J. McKee (8-0) will be featured coming off a highlight-reel win over Dominic Mazzotta at Bellator 178 in April. The 22-year-old currently doesn’t have an opponent.
Here’s an updated look at the card…
Andrey Koreshkov vs. Chidi Njokuani
Fernando Gonzalez vs. Brennan Ward
A.J. McKee vs. opponent TBD
UFC on FOX 25 adds four more matchups
UFC officials annouced four new matchups to their UFC on FOX 25 card in Uniondale, NY on July 22nd.
These matchups include a welterweight tilt between Ryan LaFlare vs. Alex Oliveira. The lone loss for LaFlare (13-1) is to UFC contender Demian Maia in 2015. Since then, the New York native is coming off back-to-back wins over Mike Pierce and Roan Carneiro. Oliveira (17-3-1) heads into this matchup on a three-fight win streak, including victories over Tim Means, Will brooks and James Moonstasri.
Staying in the welterweight division, Lyman Good will take on Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Good (19-3) hasn’t competed since a 2015 because of a PED suspension and is coming off knockout victory against Andrew Craig in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 71. Dos Santos (16-5) has gone 2-1 in the UFC with wins over Omari Akhmedov and Keita Nakamura after suffering a setback in his Octagon debut against Nicolas Dalby.
A heavyweight matchup between Damian Grabowski and Christian Colombo also takes place on this card. Grabowski (20-4) is looking for his first UFC victory after losses to Derrick Lewis and Anthony Hamilton. Colombo (8-2) is also in need of a win after fighting to a draw against Jarjis Danho and a submission defat to Luis Henrique in his last two fights.
Finally, a middleweight tilt between Rafael Natal and Alessio Di Chirico rounds out these string of annoucements. Natal (21-8-1) is riding a three-fight losing streak and will be looking for his first win since January 2016. Di Chirico (10-2) is coming off a first-round submission loss to Eric Spicely.
With these new additions, here’s an updated look at the card…
Chris Weidman vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Thomas Almeida vs. Jimmie Rivera
Patrick Cummins vs. Gian Villante
Ryan LaFlare vs. Alex Oliveira
Lyman Good vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Frankie Perez vs. Chris Wade
Dennis Bermudez vs. Darren Elkins
Shane Burgos vs. Godofredo Pepey
Kyle Bochniak vs. Jeremy Kennedy
Christian Colombo vs. Damian Grabowski
Alessio Di Chirico vs. Rafael Natal
Junior Albini vs. Timothy Johnson
UFC 212 Embedded – Episode 2
