Bellator Champions Series Dublin Preview: Jackson vs. Kuramagomedov
Bellator MMA returns this Saturday (June 22) for a Champions Series card headlined by a welterweight title bout at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
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The Main Event
The main event for Bellator Champions Series: Dublin will see Jason Jackson attempt to defend his welterweight title for the first time against unbeaten challenger Ramazan Kuramagomedov.
Jackson is currently on an eight-fight win streak that includes a victory over former PFL champion Ray Cooper III at PFL vs. Bellator earlier this year, but he’ll face arguably the stiffest test of his career against Kuramagomedov after the Russian joined Bellator last year and picked up a pair of stoppage-wins that brought his record to a perfect 12-0.
The Co-Main Event
The card’s co-main event features former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paul Hughes making his highly-anticipated promotional debut against Bobby King.
“Big News” closed out his Cage Warriors career with a five-fight win streak that saw the former featherweight move up to lightweight and score a pair of first-round knockouts. Bellator veteran King will try to score a huge upset and snap a two-fight skid when he faces the highly-touted prospect in Dublin.
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Fights You Don’t Want To Miss
Sarvarjon Khamidov vs. Marcirley Alves
Khamidov has already added two finishes to his unbeaten record after debuting in Bellator in 2022, but he won’t have an easy night of work when he takes on Alves in Dublin. “Durin” looked impressive in his own Bellator debut last year, and the Brazilian has knocked out three-straight opponents overall following a loss to current UFC bantamweight Luan Lacerda at LFA 132.
Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Dalton Rosta
Coming off the first loss of his career, Rosta will attempt to spoil Novenyi’s perfect record in what should be a tightly-contested middleweight bout. “Magic” has only gone the distance once across a combined 10 amateur and professional matchups, and Rosta may well be the fighter capable of testing the Hungarian's cardio by dragging him into deep waters in the later rounds.
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Fighters to Watch
Simeon Powell
Powell suffered his first career loss and missed out on winning the PFL Europe light heavyweight title when he was stopped by Jakob Nedoh last year. Now making his Bellator debut against another PFL Europe veteran in Abdellah Er-Ramy, “Smooth” will try to get back on track and regain some of the hype that made him such a highly-touted light heavyweight prospect.
Khasan Magomedsharipov
The brother of former UFC featherweight standout Zabit, Magomedsharipov has collected three victories in Bellator and finished both opponents he faced last year. The 23-year-old already faces high expectations for his career, and a matchup with Tyler Mathison should provide the chance for Magomedsharipov to showcase his skills before moving on to a higher caliber of competition.
Nathan Kelly
Not to be confused with amateur flyweight Nate Kelly (who will open the card against Paul Nolan) Kelly returned to Bellator with an impressive win earlier this year when he stopped Vikas Sinh Ruhil with a brutal elbow in just 40 seconds. Now facing a replacement opponent in Jose Sanchez, the 27-year-old Irishman will look to thrill the Dublin crowd with what would be his eleventh win in a row.
MMA Knockout will be providing comprehensive coverage for Bellator Champions Series: Dublin all throughout fight week, so be sure to check back on our home page for live results and highlights from all the action on fight night.
Main Card (MAX, 12:00 p.m. ET)
• Main Event: Jason Jackson vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov – For the Bellator Welterweight Championship
• Co-Main Event: Paul Hughes vs. Bobby King
• Sinead Kavanagh vs. Arlene Blencowe
• Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Dalton Rosta
• Darragh Kelly vs. Mathias Poiron
• Kasum Kasumov vs. Matheus Mattos
• Khasan Magomedsharipov vs. Tyler Mathison
• Simeon Pwell vs. Abdellah Er-Ramy
• Sarvarjon Khamidov vs. Marcirley Alves
• Shinobu Ota vs. Roger Blanque
• Nathan Kelly vs. Jose Sanchez
• Michelle Montague vs. Karolina Sobek
• Nate Kelly vs. Paul Nolan
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