Bellator 153 adds ex-champ Freire vs. Teixeira, Ward vs. 'Cyborg'

Patricio Freire

The fight card is staking shape for next month’s Bellator 153 event in Connecticut.

Bellator 153 takes place April 22 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie. As previously announced welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov (18-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) meets promotional newcomer and ex-UFC titleholder Benson Henderson (23-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in the headliner.

In a newly announced co-headliner, Patricio Freire (24-3 MMA, 12-3 BMMA), who fights for the first time since losing his featherweight title to Daniel Straus in November, takes on fellow 145-pounder John Teixeira (19-1-2 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), a onetime UFC fighter who’s picked up three split-decision wins – over Scott Cleve, Fabricio Guerreiro and Gleristone Santos – since joining Bellator in 2014.

Also on the main card, former welterweight title challenger Brennan Ward (13-3 MMA, 8-3 BMMA) looks for his fifth straight stoppage win when he takes on promotional newcomer and big-show vet Evangelista Santos (20-16 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). “Cyborg” most recently earned a unanimous-decision win over Artenas Young at Legacy FC 50 in January.

Officials also announced four preliminary-card bouts, listed below.

The latest Bellator 153 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike, 9 p.m. ET)

• Andrey Koreshkov vs. Benson Henderson – for welterweight title
• Patricio Freire vs. John Teixeira
• Evangelista Santos vs. Brennan Ward

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 7 p.m. ET)

• Dean Hancock vs. Sam Watford
• Chris Foster vs. Felipe Lavandoski
• Jay Bakanowski vs. T.J. Hepburn
• Mike Mangan vs. Pete Rogers

For more on Bellator 153, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.