With Freire injured, Curran steps into to face champion Warren
An injury to Bellator Fighting Championships’ top featherweight contender has moved Pat Curran up in line for a sooner-than-expected title…
An injury to Bellator Fighting Championships’ top featherweight contender has moved Pat Curran up in line for a sooner-than-expected title shot.
The winner of Bellator’s recent Summer Series tournament, Curran will leapfrog sidelined Season 4 tourney winner Patricio Pitbull Freire to face reigning champion Joe Warren at an as-yet-unannounced February event. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney on Monday confirmed the switch to MMAJunkie.com, adding that the title bout could land on the same off-season card as a lightweight super-fight between Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez and Dream ace Shinya Aoki.
Freire, who lost a controversial split decision to Warren in June 2010, was originally slated to fight for the title in July before a broken left hand put him on the shelf. After physical therapy failed to solve the problem, the 24-year-old Brazilian underwent surgery on Nov. 4 and afterward stated that he expects to return to action in the first half of 2012.