Undefeated lightweight prospect Usman
Nurmagomedov will return to action in October when he meets
Patrik
Pietila at
Bellator 269.
The promotion announced the booking on Tuesday. Additionally,
ex-heavyweight champ Vitaly
Minakov, who was initally slated to lock horns with Tyrell
Fortune, will instead face Said Sowma
on the card. An undisclosed injury knocked Fortune out of the
matchup.
Bellator 269 takes place at the VTB Arena in Moscow on Oct. 23 and
is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Fedor
Emelianenko and Timothy
Johnson. The event marks the California-based promotion’s debut
in Russia, and the main card airs on Showtime, with specific
broadcast details to be revealed soon.
The 23-year-old Nurmagomedov, who is the cousin of retired former
UFC lightweight champ Khabib
Nurmagomedov, has kicked off his professional career with 13
straight victories. After stints with Gorilla Fighting
Championships, UAE Warriors and Brave FC, the American Kickboxing
Academy product has earned triumphs over Mike Hamel
and Luis
Muro to begin his Bellator tenure.
Finland’s Pietila made his promotional debut at Bellator 227, where
he dropped a unanimous verdict against Ryan Roddy on
Sept. 27, 2019. The Primus Fight Team representative, who owns an
11-8 career mark, has not competed since that bout.
Minakov will fight for the first time since August 2019, when he
knocked out Timothy
Johnson in the opening stanza at Bellator 225. The 36-year-old
Russian is 22-1 as a professional, a record that includes a 6-1
mark in Bellator.
After dropping a decision to Fortune in his promotional debut at
Bellator 251, Sowma rebounded to score a 69-second KO of Ronny
Markes in his sophomore outing at Bellator 262. The 28-year-old
Titan FC veteran is 7-2 over the course of his professional
career.
Four bouts were also confirmed for the Bellator 269 preliminary
card: Brian Moore
vs. Nikita
Mikhailov at bantamweight; Grachik
Bozinyan vs. Ross
Houston at welterweight; Irina
Alekseeva vs. Stephanie
Ielo Page at flyweight and Alexey
Shurkevich vs. Christian
Eckerlin at welterweight.