Next month’s Bellator return to Connecticut now is complete with the addition of six fights for the preliminary card, including the highly touted pro MMA debuts of a pair of elite collegiate wrestlers.
Officials today announced the new bookings for Bellator 163, which is set for Nov. 4 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., with a main card on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie. In the main event, light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary puts his title on the line against former UFC standout Phil Davis.
Added to the prelims today were a middleweight fight between Ed Ruth (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Mark Mangiardi (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), both of whom will be making their pro debuts; a heavyweight bout between debutants Tyrell Fortune (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Cody Miskell (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA); a catchweight fight between Neiman Gracie (4-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and Rudy Bears (16-14 MMA, 2-6 BMMA); Keenan Raymond (3-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) vs. the debuting Kastroit Xhema (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA); Tom English (6-6 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) vs. Chris Foster (9-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at featherweight; and James Boran (6-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) vs. Vinicius De Jesus (4-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at welterweight.
Ruth, a three-time national wrestling champion at Penn State, will make his long-awaited MMA debut when he takes on Mangiardi. Ruth signed with Bellator in May 2015, but wasn’t expected to debut until after making a run at the Olympics – though that dream didn’t come to fruition.
Fortune signed with Bellator not long after Ruth did. He, too, had Olympic hopes for Rio de Janeiro. But now the Blackzilians-based heavyweight will finally make his pro debut when he takes on Miskell, who has seven amateur bouts on his resume with seen finishes.
With the additions, the Bellator 163 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (Spike, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 7:50 p.m. ET)
For more on Bellator 163, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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