Contract signed fighting September 18th at
the SAP Center San Jose CA vs Saul Rogers
#Bellator266— Georgi Karakhanyan (@georgimma)
September 7, 2021
A longtime Bellator MMA vet will try to avoid a dubious record in
his next appearance.
On Monday, Georgi
Karakhanyan (31-11-1, 1 NC) announced that he would joining
Bellator 266 as the replacement fighter against Saul Rogers
(14-4). Karakhanyan will be replacing an injured Adam
Piccolotti. The organization confirmed this new matchup on its
official site.
The Russian-born Armenian Karakhanyan relocated to lightweight in
early 2020, and it has largely worked in his favor, winning three
with a lone defeat a split decision setback against Myles Jury.
“Insane Georgi” does hold the second-most defeats in company
history with nine, and he and Derek
Campos both trail the recordholder of Saad Awad with
10. A win for the 18-fight Bellator vet would lift his record with
the company over .500.
Rogers, a highly acclaimed prospect that surged through his season
of “The Ultimate Fighter” only to be forced out of the finale with
visa issues, has alternated wins and losses since making his
Bellator debut in 2019. A decision win over Aiden Lee was
followed by a decision loss to Daniel
Weichel, while a rear-naked choke of Arbi
Mezhidov saw a subsequent rear-naked choke loss to Mads
Burnell occur for the Brit. “Tha Hangman” posts a majority of
his wins by submission, but all of his stoppage defeats have also
come by sub.
Additionally, the promotion has added a pair of preliminary
contests between MMA newcomers. Both fights will take place a
bantamweight, as Robert
Seronio III (0-0) faces Erin Hunter
(0-0), while Socrates
Hernandez (0-0) comes to blows with Pedro
Juarez (0-0). The bouts are currently the first two on the
10-fight lineup.
Bellator 266 will be held at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on
Sept. 18. Light heavyweights will lead the bill when Yoel Romero
squares off against Phil Davis in
a three-round affair. Serving as the co-main event is a
welterweight scrap putting Neiman
Gracie against Mark
Lemminger. The other currently slated main card billing sees
Alejandra
Lara take on DeAnna
Bennett at flyweight.