A pair of talented Bellator MMA flyweights will grace the cage at the
Pechanga Arena this September.

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The promotion released a number of fights this week, bolstering a
lineup for a show held on Sept. 7 in San Diego. The first of three
for this next
Bellator Champions Series event comes at 125 pounds between
flyweights Keri
Melendez (6-0) and Sumiko
Inaba (7-1).
MMA Junkie first broke the news of this pairing, with Bellator
locking it
down shortly thereafter.

Melendez, 40, has put together an unbeaten record since debuting in
the sport in 2016. The former kickboxer has seen her whole career
take place under the Bellator banner, first appearing at Bellator
165 against Sheila
Padilla. The Skrap Pack representative has been fairly inactive
as of late, competing once since 2020 when she tapped out Sabriye
Sengul via guillotine choke. The win, like the one before
against Emilee
King, was marred as Melendez could not properly make
weight.

Once-beaten Inaba bounced back from her first pro loss—a decision
setback against former title challenger Denise
Kielholtz—by taking a split nod over Saray
Orozco when shared with parent company Professional Fighters League this June. That
appearance marked the first time Inaba had fought for any promotion
other than Bellator as a pro, although they are owned by the same
company now. Before falling short to Kielholtz, Inaba strung
together six straight wins, notably claiming a decision over
Veta
Arteaga and submitting Randi
Field.

Additionally, according to Hawaiian outlet
KHON 2 on Thursday, Yancy
Medeiros (16-8, 2 NC) will be squaring off with Armenia’s
Zhora
Ayvazyan (14-1) at this same event. The two lightweights will
likely toe the line on the prelims. It will serve as Medeiros’
first outing in over a year, as he strangled Charlie
Leary at Bellator 295 and then saw the win overturned after
failing a post-fight drug test. His foe Ayvazyan has seen even less
activity as of late, as he last competed at Eagle FC 51 in 2022 and
put himself on a five-fight win streak. Should the bout come to
fruition, it will be the 29-year-old’s first match in the Western
Hemisphere.

Finally, Bellator announced
a middleweight contest for Bellator San Diego on Friday between
Jordan
Newman (6-0) and Imamshafi
Aliev (9-0). “Not Human” has developed entirely under the
Bellator umbrella, with six fights since 2019 all going his way.
Newman has finished four of those opponents within two rounds.
Standing across the cage from him will be Dagestan native Aliev,
who made a brief splash in Bellator by slashing up Sean
Connor Fallon with elbows in late 2022—but he has not fought
since then.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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