BAMMA Adds Lightweight Title Bout, Escudero to Sept. 10 Bill

In a BAMMA lightweight title fight, hard-hitting champion Rob Sinclair will put his belt on the line against Sengoku veteran Leonardo Santos (Pictured; file photo). An additional lightweight tilt will see “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero square off against Englishman Tim Radcliffe, while Matt Ewin and Valentino Petrescu will lock horns at middleweight.

Sinclair, 31, claimed BAMMA gold in February 2010 by punching out previously unstopped Welshman Nathan Beer, and defended his title three months later with a first-round TKO of current M-1 Global signee Daniel Weichel. His Brazilian opponent, 31-year-old Nova Uniao product Santos, earned his title shot with a May decision over Jason Ball, Santos’ third win in a row.

“This is going to be a very explosive fight,” stated Jude Samuel, BAMMA’s head of talent, in an official release. “Leo is a world-class BJJ fighter, but when he fought Jason Ball, he actually out-boxed a boxer! Rob Sinclair, on the other hand, is one of the most explosive lightweights I’ve ever seen.”

Escudero had recorded three straight wins since his September 2010 release from the UFC, but that streak was halted by fellow Octagon vet Fabricio “Morango” Camoes at May’s Tachi Palace Fights 9. Radcliffe, who will return to the BAMMA cage for the first time since the promotion’s inaugural event in 2009, has won three of four in the past 12 months.

Ewin returned from a nearly three-year hiatus in April and quickly recorded back-to-back wins over Ivan Salaverry and Shaun Lomas. Romanian-born kickboxer Petrescu has also won two in a row and was last seen notching a majority decision over Mauricio Rua training partner Joao Paulo “Tuba” de Souza at BAMMA 6. Between them, Ewin and Petrescu have gone the distance only eight times in 46 fights.