Bellator Inks Unbeaten Lightweight Alexander Sarnavskiy for Season 7 Lightweight Draw

“The Bellator tournament will be a difficult test for me,” Sarnavskiy said in the official release. “I will train and prepare myself the best I can. I have a huge responsibility to my coach, my manager, my fans and my country. I won’t disappoint them, and I want to show them a spectacular performance.”

Just 23 years old, Sarnavskiy is a four-time veteran of the M-1 Challenge series, notching wins over Sergio Cortez, Beau Baker and Victor Kuku during his time with the Russian promotion. The Rusfighters Sport Club representative has already earned a pair of finishes in 2012, tapping Len Bentley with a triangle choke in February before knocking out Maykel Becerra with a knee on May 26.

“Alexander Shlemenko has put [forth] a high standard of Russian dominance in Bellator by winning two middleweight tournaments,” Sarnavskiy said. “Now my teammate Andrey Koreshkov fights for Bellator as well, and he recently won two fights by spectacular knockouts. Vitaly Minakov also just signed with Bellator, and I expect him to become Bellator's next heavyweight champion. I want to follow in the footsteps of those men and make Bellator proud.”