Patricio Freire
Bellator MMA’s big June event will have a title fight co-headlining for the night’s Ken Shamrock vs. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson main event.
Officials today announced reigning Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire (23-2 MMA, 11-2 BMMA) will rematch Georgi Karakhanyan (24-4-1 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) in Bellator 138’s co-headliner. MMAFighting.com first reported the bout.
Bellator 138 takes place at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on MMAjunkie.
Freire, who’s ranked No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, first fought No. 15-ranked Karakhanyan in 2011 at Bellator 37. Freire scored a third-round TKO victory.
Heading into their rematch, Freire is surging after winning six straight fights and nine of his past 10. Most recently, the 27-year-old Brazilian scored a fourth-round submission victory over Daniel Straus in January. It marked the first defense of the longtime Bellator fighter’s title, which he won this past September with a decision victory over Pat Curran.
Karakhanyan, who went 2-2 in his first Bellator stint, recently returned to the organization after competing for WSOF. In January the 29-year-old Armenian fighter rebounded from a WSOF title loss to Rick Glenn with an upset of Bubba Jenkins via first-round submission at Bellator 132. Karakhanyan is now 10-1 since his initial loss to Freire.
The latest Bellator 138 card now includes:
- Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice
- Champ Patricio Freire vs. Georgi Karakhanyan – for featherweight title
- Derek Campos vs. Michael Chandler
For more on Bellator 138, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
Filed under: Bellator, MMA Rumors, News
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