bellator 87 full fight card...

The fight card for next week's Bellator 87 event now is official with the addition of seven preliminary-card bouts.

The preliminary-card lineup is filled with veterans and several Michigan natives, including one-time "Ultimate Fighter" hopeful Amir Khillah, plus Strikeforce vets Saad Awad, Ben Lagman and James Reese.

Bellator 87 takes place Jan. 31 at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. The main card features all four opening-round fights in Bellator's Season 8 lightweight tournament. David Rickels draws Lloyd Woodard, Guillaume DeLorenzi meets Patricky Freire, Will Brooks faces Ricardo Tirloni, and Thiago Michel takes on Alexander Sarnavskiy.

Saad Awad (12-4 MMA, 0-1 BFC) brings a four-fight win streak into his lightweight fight against meets Jason Fischer (5-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC). Awad went 3-0 in 2012 and is 4-0, all in regional competition, since a second-round submission loss in an April 2011 Strikeforce fight against Joe Duarte. Fischer, a Detroit aren native, will fight for the fourth time under the Bellator banner. In November, he dropped a unanimous decision to David Rickels at Bellator 82, which also took place in Mt. Pleasant.

Sam Quito (11-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC) makes his Bellator debut against fellow promotional newcomer Ben Lagman (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who will be fighting for the first time since a loss to Anthony Smith in a Strikeforce fight in July 2011. Quito has won four of his past five fights. Though Lagman has fought at middleweight in the past, he makes the drop to welterweight for this bout.

James "J.P." Reese (8-4 MMA, 1-0 BFC) returns to Bellator for the first time since a win over Martin Brown at Bellator 50. He is 3-3 since then, including a loss to Bobby Green at a November 2011 Strikeforce show. He takes on Michigan-based David Shepherd (5-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who will be fighting for the first time since April 2010.

In a lightweight bout, Season 12 hopeful for "The Ultimate Fighter" Amir Khillah (10-5 MMA, 0-0 BFC) gets his first official shot at a major promotion when he meets John Schulz (4-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC). Khillah, from Michigan, has won five of his past six fights, but in June dropped a split decision to James Krause at RFA 3. Schulz, also from Michigan, in November stopped Hector Garcia with a second-round TKO at Bellator 82.

Another Michigan native, Justin Houghton (5-2 MMA, 0-1 BFC), looks to snap a two-fight skid when he takes on Cody Stamann (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) in a featherweight bout. In a battle of unbeaten heavyweights, Jason Fish (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) meets British import Karl Etherington (7-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC).

And in a bantamweight bout, Nick Kirk (9-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) meets Tony Zelinski (3-2 MMA). Kirk, from Minneapolis, suffered his lone pro loss at Bellator 67 with a unanimous decision setback against David Harris. He's won two straight since then. Michigan native Zelinski got back in the win column in February after a November 2011 head-kick TKO loss to Sergio Pettis.

The full Bellator 87 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 10 p.m. ET)
David Rickels vs. Lloyd Woodard - lightweight tournament opening round
Guillaume DeLorenzi vs. Patricky "Pitbull" Freire - lightweight tournament opening round
Will Brooks (8-0) vs. Ricardo Tirloni - lightweight tournament opening round
Thiago Michel vs. Tiger Sarnavskiy - lightweight tournament opening round
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 8 p.m. ET)
Saad Awad vs. Jason Fischer
Sam Quito vs. Ben Lagman
James. Reese vs. David Shepherd
Cody Stamann vs. Justin Houghton
Jason Fish vs. Karl Etherington
John Schulz vs. Amir Killah
Nick Kirk vs. Tony Zelinski


http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/01/bellator-87-lineup-finalized-with-seven-prelims-start-of-lightweight-tournament

no shamil zavurov he was rumored to face fischer....

quito vs lagman is a nice undercard fight..

Etherington's debut in Bellator will be interesting as well. See how his cardio holds up if it goes past one minute.

Sonatine wrote:Etherington's debut in Bellator will be interesting as well. See how his cardio holds up if it goes past one minute.

true he has a 7-0 record all finishes...

They must be saving Zavurov for next season.

Regardless, I really like the Fischer/Awad fight.

Please, despite what ZuffaJunkie.com says, there is no such card as 'Bellator 87'. They dropped the numbering after last year. It only adds to the confusion to repeat their misinformation.

For the official Bellator press release, look at ADCC News: http://www.adcombat.com/bellator-mma-s-january-31st-fight-card-finalized

zuffajunkie.com that cracks me up. someone should by that domain.

What is the proper way to say it? Just bellator the season number followed by what round and what tournament?

nhbnews wrote:Please, despite what ZuffaJunkie.com says, there is no such card as 'Bellator 87'. They dropped the numbering after last year. It only adds to the confusion to repeat their misinformation.

For the official Bellator press release, look at ADCC News: http://www.adcombat.com/bellator-mma-s-january-31st-fight-card-finalized

my friend i know they drop the numbers but for us to follow the fight cards is easier beacuse they have announced 6 events already, if we want to know what fight card is confirmed is easier to say a number than a whole date....is not misinformation...

It is misinformation because in a few months only these web sites will be numbering the shows.

Focus like real sports do, on the fighters. I'm reporting on their cards, and I talk of Bellator show on Jan. 17 featuring 2 title fights, beginning of light heavyweight tournament, etc.

Jan. 24 is Askren-Amoussou title fight, King Mo debut, etc.

Jan. 31 is lightweight tournament quarterfinals.

When you watch boxing, do you say HBO or Showtime Championship Boxing #643? No, you say Cotto vs. Trout, etc.

nhbnews wrote:It is misinformation because in a few months only these web sites will be numbering the shows.

Focus like real sports do, on the fighters. I'm reporting on their cards, and I talk of Bellator show on Jan. 17 featuring 2 title fights, beginning of light heavyweight tournament, etc.

Jan. 24 is Askren-Amoussou title fight, King Mo debut, etc.

Jan. 31 is lightweight tournament quarterfinals.

When you watch boxing, do you say HBO or Showtime Championship Boxing #643? No, you say Cotto vs. Trout, etc.

You is mad for something so little. It's alright my friend. Your drug jar probably is empty. Get someone to blow a kiss to your dick and life will feel good.

Yeah, I don't know if i'd call it misinformation as much as I would miscommunication, as I don't recall Bellator ever officially announcing the switch.

Like Pancrase did this year, they officially announced the switch from Tours to a simple numerated base.

Bellator dropped the numbering scheme so everyone should follow. They should just add the main event to the title of the show like Eddie mentioned. Bellator MMA 422 does not sound all that great.

well see what ratings bellator does this week??? good numbers so far, well see how well the little guys can get the new mma fans attention...

A little more than a day before the event, Bellator 87 has lost its headliner.

Patricky "Pitbull" Freire (10-4 MMA, 3-3 BFC) has suffered a knee injury, and Guillaume DeLorenzi (10-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) now fights preliminary-card fighter Saad Awad (12-4 MMA, 0-1 BFC) in a Season 8 lightweight-tournament bout.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the change with Bellator officials following an initial report from TheMMAReport.com.

MMAjunkie.com was told a would-be co-headliner between Lloyd Woodard (12-2 MMA, 2-2 BFC) vs. David Rickels (11-1 MMA, 5-1 BFC) is now expected to take the main-event slot. Awad vs. DeLorenzi will remain on the main card, which exclusively features bouts from the opening round of the Season 8 lightweight tourney.

Bellator 87 takes place at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

Awaad's original opponent, Jason Fischer (5-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC), now will fight replacement Sevak Magakian (12-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC), a promotional newcomer who's perhaps best known as a cast member on "The Ultimate Fighter 12." It's the featured preliminary-card bout.

The full Bellator 87 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 10 p.m. ET)
David Rickels vs. Lloyd Woodard - lightweight-tourney opening round
Saad Awad vs. Guillaume DeLorenzi - lightweight-tourney opening round
Will Brooks vs. Ricardo Tirloni - lightweight-tourney opening round
Thiago Michel vs. Alexander Sarnavskiy - lightweight-tourney opening round
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 8 p.m. ET)
Jason Fischer vs. Sevak Magakian
Ben Lagman vs. Sam Quito
James Reese vs. David Shepherd
Justin Houghton vs. Cody Stamann
Karl Etherington vs. Jason Fish
Amir Khillah vs. John Schulz
Nick Kirk vs. Tony Zelinski

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/01/awad-replaces-injured-freire-woodard-rickles-likely-new-bellator-87-headliner