Numerous bouts have been recently added to Bellator’s April 2nd and 9th events. All of the fights are scheduled to take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA.
Nallo Given New Opponent, Newman Booked For Return Bout At Bellator 255
Mandel Nallo is back in the Bellator 255 lineup, as he is now being paired with Ricardo Seixas for the April 2nd event. News of the matchup was first reported by Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
Nallo was originally scheduled to fight Keoni Diggs, although plans changed last week after that fight was scrapped. Nallo is now facing Seixas, who is returning after defeating Dominick Clark in his Bellator debut last year.
Nallo will look to return to the win column after taking a loss and a no contest in his last two fights.
Undefeated Bellator prospect Jordan Newman will make his return on the card, fighting Branko Busick in a middleweight bout, per the promotion’s official website.
Newman, a former wrestler in college, made his pro debut in 2019 under Bellator. He picked up two wins in the year, including a first-round stoppage due to strikes.
Newman was scheduled to have his third fight in early 2020, although it was cancelled due to COVID-19 forcing the promotion to halt all events.
After over a year outside of the cage, Newman will return to face Busick, who has a pro record of two wins and one loss.
Four Featherweight Bouts Join Bellator 256
Bellator has booked three fights in total between their mens and womens featherweight divisions for Bellator 256, which will happen on April 9th.
Undefeated rookie Cody Law will look for his third Bellator win in April, fighting promotional newcomer Nathan Ghareeb. Law won his first two pro MMA fights via stoppage in the final quarter of 2020, defeating Orlando Ortega and Kenny Champion.
Ghareeb enters Bellator after picking up two stoppage wins on the regional scene.
Former UFC fighter Cat Zingano will return for her second UFC bout when facing Olivia Parker in a featherweight bout. Zingano had a successful Bellator debut in September, defeating Gabrielle Holloway via unanimous decision.
Parker makes her entrance into Bellator after five pro fights. She took her first pro loss in July, getting submitted by Chelsea Chandler on an Invicta FC card.
Talita Nogueira and Jessica Borga will return to Bellator on April 9th. Borga won her Bellator debut back in 2019, defeating Amber Leibrock via armbar.
Nogueira will return with the intent of breaking a two-fight losing streak that she has developed in Bellator. She last fought in late 2019, where she lost a fight to Jessy Miele via split decision.
Flyweights Porto and Carmouche Booked For Card
Invicta FC veteran Vanessa Porto will get her first shot in Bellator in April, fighting former UFC title challenger Liz Carmouche. Porto’s last run of fights saw her go on a four-fight tear through Invicta FC from 2017 to 2019. April will be her first bout in over a year.
Carmouche won her Bellator debut in September, submitting DeAnna Bennett in the third round with a rear naked choke.
Full Lineups
Here are the full lineups for Bellator 255 and Bellator 256 with the new matchups in place.
Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 – 4/2/21
Bout 10: Patricio Pitbull (31-4) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (20-4) (Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final)
Bout 9: Usman Nurmagomedov (11-0) vs. Mike Hamel (7-4) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Matt Mitrione (13-8) vs. Tyrell Fortune (9-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Kana Watanabe (9-0-1) vs. Alejandra Lara (9-3) (Flyweight)
Bout 6: Neiman Gracie (10-1) vs. Jason Jackson (13-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 5: Mads Burnell (14-3) vs. Saul Rogers (14-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Roger Huerta (24-12-1) vs. Chris Gonzalez (5-0) (Lightweight)
Bout 3: Roman Faraldo (4-0) vs. Trevor Gudde (2-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Mandel Nallo (7-1) vs. Ricardo Seixas (9-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Jordan Newman (2-0) vs. Branko Busick (2-1) (Middleweight)
Bellator 256: Bader vs. Machida 2 – 4/9/21
Bout 13: Ryan Bader (27-6) vs. Lyoto Machida (26-10) (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals)
Bout 12: Corey Anderson (14-5) vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (18-5-1 (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals)
Bout 11: Julia Budd (14-3) vs. Dayana Silva (9-5) (Featherweight)
Bout 10: Jeremy Kennedy (16-2) vs. Adam Borics (16-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 9: Diana Avsaragova (2-0) vs. Tara Graff (1-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 8: Nainoa Dung (3-2) vs. Izzy William (4-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Cass Bell (5-1) vs. Jornel Lugo (5-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Jaylon Bates (1-0) vs. Jeffrey Glossner (2-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Dalton Rosta (4-0) vs. Tony Johnson (9-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 4: Talita Nogueira (7-2) vs. Jessica Borga (3-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Cat Zingano (11-4) vs. Olivia Parker (4-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 2: Cody Law (2-0) vs. Nathan Ghareeb (2-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Liz Carmouche (14-7) vs. Vanessa Porto (22-8) (Flyweight)
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