PATRICKY PITBULL RECLAIMS NO. 1 CONTENDER’S STATUS WITH KNOCKOUT OF RIZIN CHAMP ROBERTO ‘SATOSHI’ DE SOUZA, ADVANCES TO LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD GRAND PRIX SEMI-FINALS
 
CONTENDERS MAGOMED MAGOMEDOV, KANA WATANABE, AND ANDREY KORESHKOV ALL RISE IN RANKINGS WITH KEY VICTORIES
 
Los Angeles — The world-famous Saitama Super Arena played host to BELLATOR MMA’s most recent show, the latest iteration of the innovative co-promotion between BELLATOR and Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation: BELLATOR X RIZIN 2. The action-packed night of fights saw Patricky Pitbull (25-11) reclaim the No. 1 contender’s position in the lightweight division with his main event third-round leg kick knockout of RIZIN champion Roberto ‘Satoshi’ (15-3) and Russia’s No. 4-ranked Magomed Magomedov (20-3) snatch up a signature guillotine choke against Danny Sabatello (14-3), who fell to No. 6 in the bantamweight Top 10. Plus, former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov (27-4) avenged his 2019 defeat to Lorenz Larkin (25-8) to climb to No. 4 in the 170-pound rankings, and hometown Japanese favorite Kana Watanabe (12-2-1) jumped one slot to become BELLATOR’s No. 6 pound-for-pound female talent with his decision victory over Veta Arteaga (7-6). 
 
 
Pitbull’s victory over ‘Satoshi’ now finalizes the semi-finals of the $1,000,000 BELLATOR Lightweight World Grand Prix. Three of the four quarter-final matchups ended by finish; reigning Lightweight World Champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) submitted MMA legend Benson Henderson (30-12) by rear-naked choke and No. 2-ranked Russian contender Alexander Shabliy (23-3) knocked out No. 3-ranked Tofiq Musayev (21-5) at BELLATOR 292, then Pitbull finished ‘Satoshi’ with a leg kick this past weekend. With the opening round of the tournament in the books, Nurmagomedov will now face former champion Brent Primus (12-3) with the Lightweight World Championship on the line, while Shabliy meets BELLATOR’s all-time KO king in Pitbull.
 
Next, BELLATOR returns to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the talent stacked BELLATOR 298: Storley vs. Ward on Friday, Aug. 11. In the main event, hometown hero and former Interim Welterweight Champion Logan Storley (14-2) takes on fan-favorite finisher Brennan Ward (17-6) in a showdown of Top 10 contenders. Also on the card, top-ranked heavyweights Valentin Moldavsky (11-3, 1 NC) and Steve Mowry (10-0-1, 1 NC) will rematch one another in the same venue almost exactly a year to the date of their first meeting, and middleweight title hopefuls Dalton Rosta (8-0) and Aaron Jeffery (13-4) will stake their claims to a chance at the championship next. Plus, Irish star James Gallagher (11-2) will return to face James Gonzalez (10-6), and three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and U.S. Olympic Team wrestler Jordan Oliver will make his professional MMA debut. 
 

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For more information on upcoming BELLATOR MMA events, visit BELLATOR.com. 

Updated schedule of BELLATOR events - click links for updated fight cards

Fri. Aug. 11 // BELLATOR 298: Storley vs. Ward // Sanford Pentagon // Sioux Falls, SD
Sat. Sept. 23 // BELLATOR 299: Eblen vs. Edwards // 3Arena // Dublin, IRE

About BELLATOR
BELLATOR MMA is a leading global mixed martial arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, BELLATOR events take place in major cities worldwide and can be seen on television in over 160 countries to an available audience of over one billion people. In the United States, BELLATOR can be seen on SHOWTIME. BELLATOR is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity, and commission relations. BELLATOR is based in Hollywood, Calif. and owned by entertainment giant Paramount, home to the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.
 
About SHOWTIME
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount, owns and operates the premium service SHOWTIME®, which features critically acclaimed original series, provocative documentaries, box-office hit films, comedy and music specials and hard-hitting sports. SHOWTIME is available as a stand-alone streaming service across all major streaming devices and Showtime.com, as well as via cable, DBS, telco and streaming video providers. SNI also operates the premium services THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as on demand versions of all three brands. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
 
BELLATOR
Danny Brener - (818) 577-8215 – [email protected]
C.J. Tuttle - (310) 496-9110 – Christopher.Tuttle@bellator.com
 
BZA PR
Michael Fiedel - (954) 614-4121 – [email protected]
Jim Aguirre - (408) 394-0436 – [email protected]