Bellator Fighting Championships returns to Atlantic City this Friday, Dec. 7 headlined by the finals of the featherweight tournament pitting Rad Martinez (14-2-0) against Shahbulat Shamhalaev (11-1-1). The bout is one of three main-card fights airing live on MTV2 with winner earns a title shot at champion Pat Curran.
Martinez (West Jordan, Utah) rumbled through the tourney with tough victories over Nazareno Malegarie and Wagnney Fabiano. In Shamhalaev (Dagestan, Russia), Martinez faces a guy who earned his way to the finals with two first-round knockouts of previously unbeaten Cody Bollinger and Mike Richman.
Co-headlining the event is 115-pound women's champion Zolia "The Warrior Princess" Gurgel (12-1 MMA, 6-0 BFC) competing in her second contest after a torn ACL kept her out of action for 19 months. Her opponent, Jessica "Evil" Eye (8-1 MMA, w-0 BFC), is riding a five-fight winning streak, the last a decision victory over Angela Magana in the Ohio-based NAAFS promotion, and is healthy after a foot injury that postponed the originally-scheduled matchup at Bellator 78. Gurgel defeated Eye's replacement, Casey Noland, via unanimous decision and takes a seven-fight win streak into this critical bout.
Event: Bellator 83
Date: December 7, 2012
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, N.J.
Broadcast: MTV2, Spike.com prelims
Click here for the full card.
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